Chapter 5

Chapter 5 The dancers climbed onstage and split off into their groups. The older students left to practice offstage, while Millie's class and the little kids were guided to the dressing rooms to try on their costumes. Millie got ready quickly, then stood on the stage and looked out at the sea of chairs. The excited bubble in her tummy was disappearing fast, and a swirl of knots was growing instead. When Miss Luisa called her class to rehearse, Millie's throat was dry and her feet seemed frozen to the floor like solid ice blocks.

第五章 舞者们登上舞台，分成了各自的小组。 年纪大些的学生去台下练习了，米莉的班级和小一点的孩子们则被带到更衣室试穿演出服。 米莉很快就收拾好了，接着站在舞台上，望向台下密密麻麻望不到头的椅子。 她肚子里原本兴奋的小泡泡很快就消失了，取而代之的是拧成一团的慌乱。 当路易莎老师叫她的班级来彩排时，米莉喉咙发干，双脚好像冻在了地板上，像两块实打实的冰块。

"What are you doing?" Amber hissed at her. "Miss Luisa has called us." Millie opened her mouth to reply, but the words did not come. As the flower fairies song started to boom from the speakers, Millie found herself forcing her legs to move in time with her classmates—but she was concentrating so hard on not dropping her watering can that she was in plié when she should have been in relevé, and in relevé when she should have been in plié.

“你在发什么呆呀？” 安柏冲她低声急道。 “路易莎老师已经叫我们过去了。” 米莉张开嘴想回答，可一句话都说不出来。 花仙子之歌开始从音箱里大声响起来，米莉好不容易逼着自己的腿跟着同学们的节奏动——可她满脑子都想着别把手里的洒水壶掉了，该踮脚的时候她蹲了下去，该下蹲的时候她又踮起了脚。

"Millie," Miss Luisa said gently. "Why don't we take a break and practice offstage for a while?" Millie nodded and ran as fast as she could away from the stage and the rows and rows of seats. Samira followed her. "Wait for me," she whispered nervously behind Millie.

“米莉，”路易莎老师温柔地开口。 “我们先休息一下，去台下练习一会儿好不好？” 米莉点点头，拼尽全力跑开，离舞台和那一排又一排的座位远远的。 萨米拉跟在她身后。 “等等我呀。”她在米莉身后紧张地小声说。

But before Millie could say a word, the rest of their class had joined them. "You'd better not mess up like that on the night of our performance," Amber snarled. "You're going to make us all look bad." Millie frowned. Her stomach churned. She didn't want to make anyone look bad. What was she going to do?

可还没等米莉说句话，班上其他同学也都跟过来了。 “正式演出那天你最好别搞成这样，”安柏气呼呼地说， “你会害我们所有人都出丑的。” 米莉皱起了眉头。 她的胃里一阵翻腾。 她一点都不想害大家出丑。 她该怎么办才好呢？