Designs by Isabelle by Laurence Yep

Author:Laurence Yep [Yep, Laurence]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Childrens, Fiction, Girls & Women, Performing Arts, Dance
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2014-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

When I was finished, I inspected the skirt. My heart was beating fast, as if I had just finished an intense dance routine. I slid the skirt carefully off the dress form and ran back upstairs to the bedroom, where Jade was sitting on the bed doing homework.

I nervously held up the skirt. Would Jade be as excited about it as I was? I wondered. “This is rough,” I said, “but I’m hoping it will do the trick.”

Jade cocked her head, as if she wasn’t quite sure what to make of the skirt. She reached for it and then slid off her jeans and stepped into the skirt. Standing in front of our full-length mirror, she studied herself from different angles and twirled several times.

“Hmm, maybe,” she said, smoothing her hands along the waistband of the skirt.

“Let’s try your routine downstairs,” I said, “where there’s more room.”

So we headed downstairs with Jade’s laptop. When she was ready, I started the music for her dance with the prince. I held my breath as Jade made her first turn. As she spun, the whirling V’s of fabric acted like arrows, pulling my eyes down toward her legs. The skirt was working!

Jade was dancing as light and gracefully as ever. At least for now, she’d gotten back some of her confidence.

When she finished her routine, Jade looked down at her skirt. “It feels nice,” she said, a pleased smile playing at the corners of her mouth. Then she lifted the edge of the skirt, and her expression changed. “Oh, no!”

I could see that some of the basted stitches had broken, and one of the lavender strips was hanging down. “Don’t worry,” I said quickly. “It’s only basted together. Mom can fix it.”

Just then, the front door creaked open. “It’s only little old me,” Dad called. A moment later, I heard him rummaging around in the hallway closet. I figured he’d done some holiday shopping before his gig. He always hid presents on a shelf there, assuming that covering them with a blanket would fool us. It hadn’t worked since Jade was five and could drag a chair into the hallway.

Mom came home a minute later, and Dad started to shout frantically, “Stay outside! Don’t come in!” Poor Dad.

When the gifts were safely hidden and Mom was allowed inside, she and Dad came into the living room together. Mom noticed Jade’s skirt instantly. “Are you trying out a new costume?” she asked.

Jade glanced at me. “We were just trying out one of Isabelle’s design ideas,” she said hesitantly. I could tell that she was still afraid to tell Mom and Dad about her height problem.

Mom fingered one of the hanging strips of fabric. “I could help you sew it up,” she offered.

“That’d be great,” I said.

Dad looked thoughtfully at me. “What inspired that masterpiece?” he asked.

“Oh, I don’t know,” I said nervously. “It’s sort of like when a new song comes to you.”

I glanced sideways at Jade, and Mom folded her arms. “You girls are acting weird,” she said.

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