Chapter 45: The Results
"The results are out already? That was fast."
Gabe nodded as we fast-walked through the backstage halls hoping to make it to the side of the stage in time to hear our age bracket being announced. Our fast-walking paid off as we made it to the wings just as they were finishing up announcing the winners of the Teen category.
All around us were teenage dancers cheering or crying or both. Emotions overwhelmed them all and knotted the nerves in my stomach even tighter.
In a couple minutes, that would be me, one way or another.
Today, Gabe and I could walk away with a few different titles or none at all. There were the Gold, Gold Elite, and Platinum scoring medals—Platinum being a perfect or near perfect score. Then, they gave out Best Overall performance per section: Soloist, Duos/Trios, and groups. After that, they gave out the award I was here for.
Best in Show.
It was the award given out to the performance that the judges scored top in technique, choreography, look, music choice, and highest of all: the overall impact of the piece.
Every dancer who won that award in the past went on to be somebody.
I came here today to prove to everyone back home that I could be somebody without them. When I left New York, I was a hollowed out version of myself. Over five years, Jonah slowly chipped away at every quality about me that made me unique until he was the only thing that shined in my world.
Today, I took my shine back.
"Okay, the Adult category is next." Gabe drew my attention back to him. "Hold my hand."
A laugh tumbled from my lips as I did as he asked. Hand in hand with Gabe, we waited for the applause from the crowd to die and the tense silence of our fates to set in.
The announcer smiled and clapped behind the podium, taking a pause to fluff her papers on the stand in prep for the next batch of winners. Gabe squeezed my hand hard, nerves exchanging between our sweating palms as the crowd settled and the announcer grabbed the microphone.
"And with that, we go into our final awards of the evening." She brushed a strand of chestnut hair back behind her ear, reading off of the papers in front of her. "The Adults division is always the hardest to judge, and this year was no different I'm told. There's so much talent in this room, it's inspiring. So, without dragging it out—" Thank you. "Here we go."
The announcer took a deep breath, and I took one with her.
From across the stage, she gave a once over of the names on the paper, and I wondered if one was mine. Then, she announced the first round of awards for our division.
Which were six performances that all scored high enough to receive the Gold award.
Gabe and I were not called.
Next, she announced Gold Elite winners.
Four names were called. None of them ours.
Up next were the Platinum winners, and I literally cut off the oxygen to my lungs because I was so afraid I'd miss her saying our names over the sound of my own breathing.
Three names were called and with the last one, my heart sunk as low as it'd ever been, deflating with defeat.
Our names were not called.
Ice cold disappointment trickled through my body into the cracks and space between my bones until I literally could not move.
How? How could we not make it even to Gold?
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Tempting /A Jordan Knight fanfic ✔️
Fanfiction(Completed) All my life, I had worked tirelessly to achieve perfection. Perfection was in my blood, and so was the art of dance. All that hard work had earned me my dream job as a professional dancer at the ripe age of twenty-four, the perfect boyf...
