"Her or me?" A tear rolled down Michelle's puffy cheek, "You have to make a decision."
For Michelle, life has always been about control-control in the studio, in her friendships, and even in the secrets she hides. But with an unexpected pregnancy...
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"What was that all about?" I ask Emily as she stands in the doorway.
She looks flustered. I know the dancers can be a little over the top sometimes, but Emily needs to learn how to take charge. From experience, if you show weakness in front of them, then they take advantage of that. You have to show them that you're in control.
"She- she just wanted to know more about the solo." She tells me.
"I'm assuming that she wants to be soloist, right?"
Emily hesitates before nodding, "Yeah. But, I mean, don't they all?"
"Tell me about it." I agree with her, "Richelle is driving me crazy this year! 'Can I have the solo?' 'Have you decided who's soloist this year?' 'When are the solo auditions?' Jesus, she's driving me insane!"
"Yeah, she's pretty much devoting her life to it right now." Emily smiles. "She's really dedicated."
"She's really stupid, you mean?" I show my hatred towards Richelle. "She thinks that being good just automatically assigns you the solo! Little does she know that you actually have to show emotion to be good enough to earn the solo!"
"Anyway, Summer came here just to ask you about the solo?" I decide to change the topic of our conversation back to Summer and what I'd just walked into.
"Y- yeah." Emily says, finally moving away from the door for once.
"Just tell her to piss off; she's a freak!" I say.
But, unexpectedly, Emily feels the need to defend her "No she's not."
I roll my eyes, speaking sarcastically, "Sorry."
Emily is her dancers' biggest cheerleader. She sometimes protects them as though they're her own children. I know that she just likes to mother them, as she doesn't have her own children to do that with. I guess in doing it it makes her feel important.
But, sometimes, she gets a little too friendly with them. Last year, when Piper sprained her ankle, Emily decided to stay overnight at the hospital because she couldn't stop worrying. But Piper was okay, and Emily just looked like an idiot for doing it.
"Anyway, can we not talk about her anymore?" Emily asks me.
I immediately unlock my phone when I hear a quiet buzz coming from it. I see a notification that distracts me from my boring conversation with Emily.
"I- I gotta head out." I let Emily know, trying not to seem too suspicious.
"You do?" She's clearly confused as to why I need to leave so quickly.
