𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖲𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗌 || 𝖣𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝖬𝗈𝗆𝗌

The Great Divide

It was down to Olivia and me, and we tried our hardest not to look at each other. Ava had just received her award for second runner-up, and I was starting to grow desperate. Of course, I wanted to win. I had come so far, and I didn't want to let it go to waste. Yes, Olivia was nice, but I wanted that title. I needed that title.

"And your new Miss Petite Dance of America 2010 is--"

Another dramatic pause. Of course.

"Contestant number thirteen-- Genevieve Turner from Chapter Ten!"

I couldn't even start to explain the relief I felt when my name was called, and everybody started cheering. Unlike every other time I had competed, relief was the thing I felt the most instead of joy or satisfaction. I had been so worried about what would have happened if I didn't win that I didn't stop to think about what would happen if I did win.

I was given the crown, the bouquet, the huge trophy, and the sash, and as I watched the audience cheer, I realized it had all been worth it. After long weeks of sweat, tears, and sacrifice, I had done it, and now, I was the reigning Petite Miss Dance of America 2010.

It feels so good to have achieved something so big, even if it's been nearly two weeks since it even happened.

It was December third, two thousand and fourteen, and hey, the Christmas spirit was getting to all of us. Last year, I didn't even realize what time of the year it was, but this year, I found myself planning a very stressful Christmas party.

Back when I left in twenty-twelve for Broadway, I was helping to plan a Christmas party, but of course, I wasn't able to come back until later on, so I ended up missing it. However, now I'm back and mostly normal, so I suggested the party to my mom. My aunt was also coming to visit, and I'll explain that real quick:

Meredith Falvey is my mom's older sister, making her my maternal aunt. She's also my only aunt, actually. Our family is mostly boring―My dad's an only child, we don't keep in contact with his parents, my maternal grandparents only had two daughters, and my aunt doesn't have kids―She isn't even in a relationship.

That's why I feel so lucky to have met my second family. The Zieglers are always with the Turners for Thanksgiving, and this year, it was a bigger deal than usual. It was the Turners, the Zieglers, the Vertes, the Fraziers, Lexi, Allison, and Ashley, and some of our families and friends. It was a very stressful afternoon, and then Maddie, Kendall ― we try to get along for Maddie's sake ―, and I begged our parents to let us go Black Friday shopping.

It didn't work.

Talk about disappointing.

But back to today, we had to act for this week's episode. It's the first day we'll be filming at the studio since the big blowout at the set for the music video, and we hadn't been at the studio since we left for Los Angeles last month, so it meant that we hadn't seen Abby in a while. Good thing.

Teagan was still reading my journal, and it's not like it was that long. The November nineteen entry was probably the longest thing I had ever written that wasn't school-related, and the November twenty-third only had "Great day!" written on it, and I wrote that the day after. I could tell she liked my progress, and honestly, so did I. It was rare, but I was proud of myself.

"Yay! Our own little studio!"

I wish Jill would just shut up for once.

We had to film a scene of us entering the den at least five times, and each time, Jill had a different comment to make. At least it was the first time she tried to sound cheerful; the rest of the comments had been rather depressing.