Lucky Break #6 by Cindy Jefferies Read Free Book Online Page B

to his own bedroom. From then on things were as back to normal as they could be for a dancer who couldn’t dance. Sister was very pleased with the way he was looking after his injury.
    â€œContinue being patient and I’m sure it will heal really well,” she encouraged him. “It just needs time.”
    But Marmalade was getting more and more gloomy. He had lots of time to devote to all the work he liked least, while the lessons he loved most of all were denied him. He was sinking into a deep depression, and nothing his friends did could bring him out of it. Lots of students were practicing hard in the hopes of being picked for the Rising Stars Concert, and this made Marmalade feel even worse. He had been so sure he was going to be chosen as a Rising Star this semester, but now all his dreams had turned to disaster. Everyone around him was focused and busy, while Marmalade was totally miserable. But he hadn’t expected to argue with his best friend.
    Danny had been trying hard to keep Marmalade cheerful, but it almost seemed that Marmalade didn’t want to be happy anymore. Things came to a head when Danny came into their room to get changed after the general dance class. Marmalade was lying on his bed, reading a book. He didn’t even look up when Danny greeted him.
    Danny came over to Marmalade’s bed and took the book out of his hand.
    â€œHey!” Marmalade protested. “That’s not fair! I can’t fight you for it because of my knee.”
    â€œYou spend too much time thinking about your knee,” Danny told him, putting the book well out of Marmalade’s reach.
    â€œDon’t be so mean,” said Marmalade sulkily. “I thought you were my friend.”
    â€œI am your friend,” Danny told him. “And I’m worried about you. You spend all your time thinking about yourself, and it’s not doing you any good.”
    â€œ You’d be totally miserable if you couldn’t play the drums for months,” argued Marmalade.
    â€œI know,” agreed Danny. “Of course I would. But you have to get on with life, even when things go wrong.”
    â€œI can’t get on with life,” Marmalade told him. “My life is over.”
    â€œThat’s just not true!” Danny told him angrily. “And you’re not the only one who’s suffering. What about poor Jack?”
    Marmalade stared at Danny. “What do you mean?” he demanded. “Jack didn’t hurt himself. It was his fault I got injured. If he hadn’t come to Rockley Park, I would never have tried that jump.”
    Danny shook his head. “You can’t blame Jack for your mistake,” he said. “You’ve always fooled around, doing dance steps and jumps all over the place.”
    Marmalade didn’t answer. He couldn’t allow himself to admit that Danny was right.
    But Danny hadn’t finished. “Since you’ve been ignoring him, Jack has started to make friends of his own,” he told Marmalade. “But he’s so miserable about your injury. I told him it wasn’t his fault you got hurt, but he blames himself for explaining it in the dining hall. He feels really guilty, and he doesn’t know what to do. You made it clear that you didn’t want him hanging around you anymore, so he can’t even say he’s sorry. Why don’t you make up with him, Marmalade? I’m sure you’d feel better yourself if you did.”
    Marmalade lay back on his pillow and eased his sore knee into a more comfortable position. “But if I see him, it’ll just remind me of all the dancing I can’t do,” he told Danny.
    Danny picked up Marmalade’s book and tossed it back on the bed. “You’d feel a lot better if you stopped thinking about yourself all the time,” he told Marmalade again. “Make up with Jack instead of moping around here. Go on. It’s not fair to him