'This is going to be so much fun!' She smiled thinly and looked down at her red sweatpants. Our routine is going to be so much better.' I couldn't understand why she looked so pale and unhappy, her brown eyes wide. I elbowed Elizabeth and hissed, 'This is so boring. They were followed by another pair, who did exactly the same thing to exactly the same song. The glittering dancing girls shimmied across the gym mats, swaying and jumping in time to Kris Kross's 'Jump' and giggling nonstop. Their outfits hadn't been borrowed from a real-life gorilla researcher. Not one of them had a green bandanna wrapped around her head. They all look like Angelina Ballerina, I thought, feeling a small swell of pride in my chest. I looked around the room at the fifty girls from my class all sitting patiently around the blue gym mats waiting for their chance to perform. Their blond hair was tied back with glittery silver ribbons, and under their pink leotards they wore tights with sparkles on them. The first pair of girls from my second-grade class were called up to do their dance routine.

My heart pounded and the glare from the overhead lights made my dark hair feel heavy and hot. The slippery laminate floor felt smooth under my bright blue sweatpants and I ran my fingers idly along the grooves in the wood, needing something to do with my hands and wishing I was outside instead. I always had trouble sitting still, but today it was much harder than usual. I wasn't allowed to move, but I was so excited I thought I might explode. I sat quietly on the gym floor and wiggled my toes. PROLOGUE Gorilla Man and Fifty Tiny Ballerinas

Wild life by keena roberts