My Time to Shine (Dance Moms/Harry Potter Crossover - Part 1)

Chapter 2: Mackenzie, Not "Maddie's Sister"

Mackenzie
August 1, 2015

Ok, I don't really know where to begin. I mean, wow! I have waited for so long for an opportunity this amazing to come along. I want to know everything I can about the shift that my life is going to take, but don't even know where to start. I've read everything I can get my hands on and asked my sister a thousand and one questions but I can't possibly be ready. I want to be though. When we set foot in Diagon Alley to buy Maddie's things for her new school a year ago, my heart swelled with sickly green jealousy, unsurpassed by any I have ever felt. Which, given the circumstance, has been a lot to handle over the years. This new place was full of magical things none of us had ever imagined. We left laden with books on subjects I hadn't heard of, ingredients that were downright crazy, several robes that almost resembled my fluffy pink housecoat, scales, a big pot-like thing like they use in that Shakespeare play (The Scottish Play? Eeeek!), a cat (I don't think Molly and Maliboo will get along with her), and last but certainly not least, a magic wand. All of these things were for Maddie. She didn't even have one glimmer of wonder in her eyes at being introduced to this new world that would surely take her far away from the old one. Although I suppose that's the difference between her and I. At that exact moment in time, I would have given an arm and a leg to be in her position and it made my blood boil with frustration that she didn't even want it.

Maddie is used to the world that she thrives in, where she's the best. She loves being "Abby's Number One", and "The Golden Girl", and being praised on the "Maddie face". One time, my solo placed higher than hers, winning me first place and putting her in second and the entire fiasco seemed to focus on her because no one can be better than her. Of course, I love my sister. We have so many laughs and she truly is one of my biggest role models but it's just hard to be around someone that successful all the time. My life up until now has been in the shadow of my sister, in a world where everyone knows my name and watches a condensed version of my life through a biased lens compressed into a 42-minute segment each week. For me, the opportunity to study abroad means an escape, a chance to be Mackenzie and not "Maddie's sister". So many people want me to be Maddie. It means a chance to succeed on my own, rather than piggybacking my sister's accomplishments and being expected to produce the same thing.

This past year I waited anxiously for my letter and was so hopeful but also terrified. What if I never received it, just not being the right fit? Whenever my sister was home on break in her first year, I perused her school books when she wasn't paying attention. Whenever I pressed the subject on what it was like at school, she didn't really say much despite my constant badgering. She seemed uninterested in the work, although I knew she was getting okay-ish grades (I read her reports). I knew she wanted to go back to the Abby Lee Dance Company full time. I spent the year living with only my mom which was a strange dynamic, especially with tension in the air about whether or not I would receive my letter. Finally, though, it did come. Today, in fact. I am now proud to say that come September 1st, I will be starting my first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and I couldn't be more thrilled.