" Daine come on." Valerie yelled and Daine sighed.
" I'm coming." She yelled back, " Are you always this impatient or do you just like annoying me?"
" I like annoying you." Valerie shouted, laughing as she spun round in a circle. Daine spun round as she heard several thumps. She saw Numair, Alanna and George sitting up and looking round.
" Daine?" George asked and she grinned.
" Nice of you to drop by." She commented and Alanna looked round, confused.
" Where exactly are we?" she asked and Daine nodded to pointedly to the tower behind them.
" You skipped three thousand years of time." She said, " This place is a school now."
There was a yell behind her and she turned just in time to dodge Lizzie Blair who turned and charged her again.
" Lizzie get lost." Daine shouted at her.
" Why are you telling me to get lost?" Lizzie asked, " I'm your best friend."
" As if." Daine snorted, " Ever since you first talked to me I've wanted to kick your fat ass out of this universe." Lizzie stared at her, mind obviously trying to produce a good comeback.
" Well you stink." She shouted eventually, running off.
" You're so kind." Daine yelled after her laughing as Valerie ran up and Numair, Alanna and George got to their feet.
" Who was that?" Numair asked.
" Trust me." Daine said, " You really don't want to know. An hour after I met her she called me an effing bitch. She didn't even know me."
" Daine?" a teacher's voice asked, " Who are these people?" Daine turned to see Miss Deneve standing a few feet away.
" Old friends." She replied, " They just time skipped."
" All right. Run along to class and I'll explain things." Miss Deneve said, " What have you got next?"
" Ballet." Daine and Valerie replied and ran off, fetching their bags from their rooms and going into the changing room next to the hall where they had their dance lessons. They pulled off their school uniform, chatting with the rest of the girls and pulled on cream coloured tights, leotards and point shoes, expertly pinning their hair into buns.
" Come in girls." Their teacher Ruth Nimmo called and they poured out of the room into the hall, going automatically to their places. Daine and Valerie stood in the front near the wall. Daine tested her point shoes, going right up onto the points, arms spread for balance.
Numair, Alanna and George were led in by Miss Deneve and sat on a bench by the wall near Daine who smiled at them and then looked back to Ruth as she called for the girls to listen.
" I want to test how flexible you all are today." She said and the girls groaned, " It's not that bad. We'll stretch first and then I'll ask you all to do certain things." They stretched as a class, stretching their legs and bodies. At last Ruth told them to stand in their lines.
" Right first row." She said, " Lift you right leg up, one hand on the arch of your foot." They all lifted their right leg, wrapping a hand round their foot and lifting until their legs went straight up.
" Good second row." Ruth said and the first row sat on the floor. Daine stretched her legs out in front of her, tapping her toes together. She lay flat along her legs and wrapped her hands round her feet.
" How can you do that?' Alanna asked softly, amid the other snatches of chatter. Daine sat up and smiled.
" Practice and a lot of stretching." She replied.
That evening after dinner Daine and Valerie changed into the clothes they had bought for the disco. Daine pulled half of her hair into a messy bun and did her makeup with practised ease while A5 whistled comments. Numair and the Coopers were talking to one of the teachers about something so they went straight down to the hall, which was decorated with streamers, disco lights spinning round the room.
" Oh good." Valerie shouted above the music, " the boys are here." Daine looked round and saw a large group of boys come into the room. she had been to clubs before, let boys buy her a few drinks but never flirted.
" I love this song." Valerie yelled as the music coming from the speakers at the front of the hall changed. All the girls began singing along and the boys laughed at them.
" I started singing, bye, bye miss American pie. Drove the Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry."
" Daine?" a voice asked and Daine turned round to see Numair, Alanna and George standing nearby, obviously only just having come in.
" Loud isn't it." Daine shouted, nodding to the speakers as she walked over.
" To loud." George shouted back and Daine shrugged.
" You get used to it." Valerie cried, stopping beside Daine.
" I'd say that more of a shirt than a dress Daine." Alanna said with a smile.
" That's her fault," Daine cried, pointing to Valerie, " She wouldn't let me buy the longer one."
" The longer one made you look fat." Valerie retorted.
" Talk to the hand cause the face aint listening." Daine laughed, holding up a hand.
" No thanks." Valerie said and then made a face, " Turn around and walk." She said to Daine, steering her friend out of the door.
" What was that for?" Daine asked, picking up a glass of juice from the table in the corridor outside.
" There were some ugly guys coming over, they looked a bit too interested." Valerie replied.
" And you could tell." Daine said, looking at her.
" Hey." Valerie cried, " I've been judging these things for years." Daine rolled her eyes
" Daine." A voice called, " Val." They turned to see Ruby running up the corridor in heels, a skirt and a halter neck top.
" Hey Ruby." Daine said as she finished her drink. Ruby held up the small camera she owned.
" Pose." She said laughing and Daine stood in the centre of the hall with her hands on her hips while Valerie slung an arm round her shoulders. Both girls smiled and then Ruby took the picture, turning it round so they could see the picture displayed on the screen at the back.
" Delete it." Valerie cried and Ruby clicked save, holding it out of Valerie's reach and running into the hall. Just then Ruth came along and began talking to Numair and the Coopers so Daine slipped back into the hall, dancing and singing along with the other girls, laughing when the boys tried to impress them.
