Broken Guitar Strings

Chapter 44

(LAY'S POV)

I felt a lot better after stretching. Apparently we took 20 minutes to stretch, because just a few minutes after I finished eating my bagel it was seven. They started to call up people in the different age divisions to check in with the competitors and take roll. I become more and more anxious as they move up the list, from mini three and four year olds to petit to juniors and teens. Next was...my group, the seniors, ages 16 to 19. There were about seventeen people alphabetically called by last name, and I was the very last one because my last name was Zhang. The other competitors hadn't changed yet and so I felt very awkward, even more awkward beyond the fact that they actually had coaches.

Anyway, the lady in charge of the seniors division told us that we'd be performing by alphabetical order. That means that I'll be going last. "Just great," I said to Allie once I got back. "I'm going last. I hate going last."

She gave me a reassuring look and some encouragement. Breathe in, breathe out.

I went to the bathroom twice in the next hour and I went over my routine alone again for the umpteenth time. Soon, it was time. They called my age division from the waiting area to the stage/auditorium area. They said that I could watch, but I'd have to be ready and backstage three performances before mine, so the program would run smoothly and the judges wouldn't have to wait. There were a lot of people in the audience. Gulp. Take a chill pill, Lay, I tell myself. You've done miraculous things in front of large crowds before. Waiting for the other competitors to dance before me was very anxious, but Allie sat beside me as we watched them move gracefully across the stage.

The first to perform was this girl wearing a slim blue dress and white feathers. Her makeup was white and weird, but it gave her a very...airy look. She went for a "bird flying in the sky" concept. Her music was a combination of Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky and some other song that I couldn't recognize. The performance was...weird, but it was graceful in a, well, weird way.

All of the performances were so...amazing. These people are at nationals, after all. There was a TV station broadcasting this live. Oh boy. The whole nation could potentially be watching.

There was a boy doing a solo to a slowed down version of the song "Latch," a girl doing the classic "Queen of Hearts" dance of the red queen in Alice in Wonderland, and a girl who did a rainbow cotton candy thing. They sound weird, but trust me, they pulled it off so well. Maybe the MC announcing the titles of their routines helped. Allie told me that the girl who did the rainbow dance was the one who tripped Jason, so I immediately disliked her performance. Anyway, the MC then announced, "Next, we will be viewing Jason Wright with 'Wretched Love'!" Allie looks at me. "Oh my gosh, he's actually competing." Crazy, isn't it?

As I watched Jason step on stage wearing a black tuxedo with a red bowtie, I kept thinking of how strong he was and is. Even with a dislocated knee, he managed to...make it work. There was "blood" drawn, or shall I say splattered on his chin; his concept was of a vampire boy missing a girl that he bit to death. You could tell that he was leaning on his right leg a lot, but again, he made it work as he swayed from side to side, emotionally portraying someone who seems like he just lost everything. He did such an amazing job; he is so strong.

I will be strong like that too.

There were four more competitors before me, and so I told Allie that maybe I should go backstage and prepare. She gives me an ambitious look and says, "You. Can. Do it. I believe in you." My mom gives me a hug, and right before I go, Allie pulls me in for a kiss on the cheek. "There you go now," she says.

I get backstage and the person who is supposed to go next looks at me with a quiet scoff. She is in purple, royalty-like attire. I have no idea what type of dance she is going to do, and it doesn't look like she's going to talk to me. I don't pay attention at all when she is called onstage; I can only take deep breaths. So many people out there are going to watch me. And I have to leave a lasting impression. I have to live up to what people expect. I have to-

I know you can do it, Lay. I hear Allie's voice in my head. We are already so proud of you that you made it.

I am going to be strong. Just like Allie. Just like Jason. I'm going to make others proud, but most of all, I have to make myself proud.

"And last but definitely not least, we have Mr. Lay Zhang, presenting 'Dance Like This'!"

The purple girl comes into sight as she steps off stage. As I pass her, she looks straight ahead without looking at me and says, "Good luck, loser."

I smile and straighten my back as I confidently walk on stage.