When Delphie had given her the shoes, she had said something odd – something about: “Watch out for King Rat”. Rosa didn’t have a clue what she had meant by that, and the few times she had seen Delphie in the summer, the dark-haired girl had refused to tell her. She had just kept smiling mysteriously and saying that the ballet shoes were very special.

And indeed, Rosa loved them and couldn’t wait to start dancing. Going over to the mirror, she fixed her long white-blonde hair into a bun. Then she put on her favourite hairclip before leaving the changing rooms to go to the ballet studio. She wished she could come to classes every day. When I’m older I will, she thought. She was determined she was going to be a ballerina just like her mum had once been. Her mother didn’t dance any more because she had been in a car accident, which had left her in a wheelchair, but she helped Rosa practise.

Rosa went to the long wooden barre that ran all the way around the walls and began to warm up. The red ballet shoes felt really comfortable, and it was so lovely to be back in the ballet studio again that she completely lost track of the time. A little while later she looked at the clock and gasped. It was only a few minutes until the class started. She had promised Olivia she would meet her in the changing rooms almost ten minutes ago!

As Rosa ran back to the changing rooms, she was worried that Olivia would be alone and upset. She burst through the changing room doors and stopped dead…

Olivia was standing there with two of the other girls from the class. She was laughing as one of them helped her tie her brown hair back and smiled, in what seemed to Rosa a casual way. “Oh, hi there, Rosa!”

“Hi. I’m…I’m sorry I wasn’t here to meet you,” Rosa said, feeling a bit silly to have burst in so quickly. She felt suddenly unsure of herself, seeing her friend so at ease.

Olivia smiled. “Don’t worry. Everyone’s been really friendly. Asha and Rebecca showed me round.”

Asha, who was fixing Olivia’s hair, smiled. “Madame Za-Za’s a cool teacher. I bet you’re going to love coming to classes here, Olivia.”

A mixture of emotions swirled around inside Rosa. She was pleased that Olivia wasn’t upset but she also felt a tiny twinge of jealousy that the other girls had been the ones to take her new friend around. “I was going to show you how it worked and help you get ready,” she said. She knew she sounded cross and grumpy but she couldn’t stop herself. Olivia looked surprised. “But you weren’t here, Rosa and…” She broke off. “Look, why don’t you show me round again after class?”