𝐌𝐈𝐀𝐏𝐒 - MBAPPÉ, BELLINGHAM, FÉLIX

Chapter Four

Pre-emptively, everyone looked over to Jude, who only registered our gazes when he took his eyes off of Neymar. "Oh, I just wanted to say the same as what they said." He told us, quite flustered. "I didn't actually join in making fun of you but I didn't think to stop anyone either so I kind of feel guilty by association..."

"It's fine guys." I said, with a grimace. "You didn't know and it's all in the past now anyway -"

"It's not fine at all." João spat, interrupting me. "Just wait until I find out who posted that video, Ro. I'll make them pay for it, believe you me..."

"Please don't." I sighed. "I just want to forget about it and move on, okay?"

I could tell that João was still angry, but he calmed down a bit with my words, and shied away from the confrontative air which had been consuming him before. Meanwhile, Kylian took a step forward and met my eyes with a sincere look.

"We really mean what we said about making up for it. Are you sure there's not anything that we can do to apologise?"

I shook my head with a tight smile. "No it's really not necessary for you to -"

Before I could finish my sentence, a lightbulb suddenly switched on in my head. From an emotional standpoint it made no difference to me whether they made up for what they'd done - but from a practical point of view...

"Anything?"

They boys all nodded vigorously. "Anything." Kylian affirmed.

A smirk grew across my face as I looked at them. My Mother always told me I should try to take the evils I encountered and turn them into good, and that day - the opportunity was handed to me on a silver plate.

"Then what I really want... is for you, and all your teammates who ran away from my ballet lesson yesterday to turn up to the next session, and to actually complete it."

Suddenly the vitality that had been overflowing in the boys just moments before seemed to drain away. Within an instant they were almost pale, and if I wasn't so proud of my scheme I would have found it amusing.

"But -" Jude began.

"No buts." Interrupted João. "I don't particularly want to do it either but you did say you would do anything, and as far as 'anything' goes, this is the least you could do."

"Tell that to Haaland." Said Kylian, rolling his eyes. "How do you expect us to get him to turn up?"

I pursed my lips, letting out a hum in thought. "I don't know... I guess you'll just have to get creative, won't you?!"

Oh, I was going to have some fun with this...

Pushing out my chair, I picked up my lunch tray and tucked it back in before making my way out of the lunch hall. I didn't want to give any of the boys a chance to go back on what they'd said - not that I thought they'd have the courage to do it. Overnight my luck had gone from bad to inexplicably amazing, and with fortune on my side I felt as if I could do anything - including the double period of biology which I had next.

The dance lesson today had been scheduled before lunch, and I made sure to set everything up with time to spare. This time, I didn't hold back when it came to colour - donning a traditional pink leotard, white tights and a bright brink practice skirt which matched my cardigan. Before, I had been treating Ballet as if it was something I had to apologise for - but if I couldn't get the boys to respect me, I at least had to make them respect the sport they were so casually making fun of yesterday. The best way to do that, was by challenging their misconceptions.

As the lesson approached I began to worry that Kylian, Jude and Neymar might not make good on their promise. The task was simple in theory but I was sure it would be harder to put into practice, and as the clock ticked closer to 12 I found myself doubting the plan. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, and so many layers to the operation - but I had to believe that luck was on my side today.