Isabelle Dances Into the Spotlight Page #6

Okay, you got me there.

(BOTH LAUGHING)

The show is

happening so soon.

I don't know if I'm ready. I

still need to work on my turns.

Enough. You know

what your problem is?

You've forgotten that

you're a really good dancer.

No, I haven't.

Yes, you have!

When you really let yourself go,

no one dances better than you.

And I can't believe

you are going to let

some mean girl make

you forget about that.

Do you really want Renata to have

that kind of power over you?

I don't know.

Come on.

(UP-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING)

They've got a good beat going.

Yeah.

It's time for the BFF Jam!

I don't know.

Oh, come on. Let's give everyone

at this school, including Renata,

a chance to see the

Isabelle that I know.

The Isabelle

that can dance.

Come on. It'll be fun.

All right.

I'm not sure

if this is a good idea.

Come on! Come on!

Five, six, seven, eight.

Keep going.

STUDENTS:
Ooh!

Top that.

Okay.

Oh, my gosh!

I know.

That's all? Seriously?

You got this, lzzie!

STUDENTS:
(CHANTING) Go, lzzie! Go, lzzie!

Go, lzzie! Go, lzzie!

You top that.

Come on!

Oh, topped.

(ALL CHEERING)

(LAUGHING)

LUISA:
You were awesome!

That was so amazing!

Thanks.

Renata, in Portuguese,

we call that getting served.

(ALL LAUGHING)

JADE:
I can't believe it.

That was so much fun.

LUISA AND JADE:
We loved it.

Thanks.

You're a good dancer, Isabelle.

Thanks. You, too.

No hard feelings?

Yeah, you really nailed the art of

dancing on a table in the cafeteria.

Too bad they don't offer that here

at Anna Hart instead of ballet.

'Cause you're really

not very good at that.

And how many times did you

audition to get into this school?

Three?

Lucky for you, your

sister is such a star.

Anna Hart only let you in because they

give preference to younger siblings.

And everyone knows you only got into The

Nutcracker as a favor to Jade, too.

It's the only

explanation.

You totally screwed up your audition just

like you're going to screw up the show.

Renata, that's enough!

Is that true?

No.

Is that what you guys

really think?

You know I don't.

(SOBBING)

You leave my sister alone or

you'll have me to answer to.

Understand?

Isabelle, wait!

Come on, let's go.

(SOBBING)

Iran after you the whole way

home from the bus stop.

You are fast.

Look, don't listen

to Renata...

Go away!

Renata is a total jerk.

Not Renata.

It's you.

You're my problem!

What?

I'm never going to be

as good as you are.

You're Little Miss Perfect,

and I'm sick of it.

I'm sick of being

in your shadow.

You're not in my shadow.

I'm gonna drop out

of the show.

No! And I want to go

back to my old school

where I'm not

"Jade's little sister."

You know what, Isabelle?

It's always about

how you feel, isn't it?

Have you ever even thought

about how I might feel?

No, of course you haven't.

But I can't complain about my problems

'cause I'm supposed to be perfect.

My room is always clean.

My grades are all A's.

And I don't mess up

when I dance.

No one ever thinks that I

might need encouragement.

Am I supposed to feel sorry for you

because everything is too easy for you?

Easy?

Who says it's easy? It's not.

I feel a lot of pressure.

Sometimes I just

want to scream.

But I know that no matter how loud

I scream, no one would hear me.

How could they? They're all

too busy listening to you.

Don't blame me

for your problems.

Then stop blaming

me for yours!

How could I, when just having you as my

sister makes everything even harder?

Ugh!

JADE:
Great.

That was my nutcracker, too.

And you know what?

Maybe you should drop out

of the show and Anna Hart.

Because ballet

isn't for quitters.

(SOBBING)

Wow, I know Isabelle likes to sleep

in, but this is late, even for her.

Oh, I hope she's okay.

This is a big week for her.

She needs support

from all of us right now.

Don't worry.

I have nothing better to do than worry

about Isabelle and all her problems.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

What does that mean?

It's just...

Everyone in this family

worries about Isabelle

and her problems all the time.

And then there's me.

There's you, what?

Well, I'm always up on time...

Yes, you are.

My homework is done, my room is clean.

Mmm-hmm.

Yes.

I practice ballet

all the time.

Yes, you do practice.

You practice very hard.

And I study really, really

hard to get all A's. Mmm-hmm.

That's true.

So how come it's like

I'm invisible around here?

Is that really

how you feel?

Sometimes.

Sweetie, give me your hand.

We do not expect

you to be perfect.

We expect you to be you.

And I don't know, maybe we don't focus

enough on all of your accomplishments.

But that's because,

as wonderful as they all are,

they don't mean anything to us

if you're not happy.

Are you haw)?

Lately it just feels like a lot of

pressure, and I'm scared to mess up.

Jade, we all mess up. You

should never be afraid of that.

You know why

I love my job?

Because the hours are good and

you can spend time with us?

(LAUGHS)

I like spending time with you.

Yeah, I love that.

But also, because

I spend my time

fixing antique textiles

that are very, very, very old.

And they're hand-made and

full of flaws and mess-ups.

That they're imperfect.

But I don't fix those flaws because that

is what makes the textiles authentic.

Sweetie, it's our flaws, it's our mess-ups

and our mistakes that give us our texture.

And you don't have to

be perfect all the time.

Just be you.

Does any of that make sense?

Yeah.

Makes a lot of sense.

Thanks, Mom.

NANCY:
You're welcome, honey.

Is there something else?

It's just Isabelle and I got into

a really big fight last night.

Sweetie?

It's time to get up.

You are gonna be

late for school.

I don't feel very

well today, Mom.

Hmm.

Hmm.

You don't have a fever, honey.

I know.

I just feel kind of blah.

It seems like maybe

you need to rest.

I'm gonna work from home today,

so if you feel like talking...

That's okay.

I just wanna sleep for a bit.

Okay.

Well, I'm here if you need anything.

Thanks.

Love you.

Love you, too.

RENATA:
Good morning, Jackie.

Good morning.

Hi. How are you?

Hi.

Where's Isabelle?

She didn't say she was

going to be late today.

Is everything okay?

Um...

Actually, no.

Isabelle decided to

drop out of the show.

What? Why?

She doesn't think

she's good enough.

And I don't know if there's any

way to convince her that she is.

We'll see about that.

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

Come in.

You have a visitor.

A visitor?

Hi.

I can't believe

you're in my living room!

What are you doing here?

A little birdie named Jade told me you

might be dropping out of the show.

Is that true?

Why?

I don't know.

I know that Mr. Kosloff only let me

in the show because of my sister.

That's not true.

He let you in because of me.

What do you mean?

You have a special connection

with people when you dance.

And that comes from

having a generous spirit.

That day at

the Halloween Benefit,

I saw that little girl

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