"Are you ready?" Phil asked me.
"No," I breathed out. "I'm still distracted by the news of my boyfriend." I sighed and crossed my arms. "I'm sorry, I should be focusing on the dance." I played with the end of my white outfit.
"Use all of those emotions to dance. Don't hold them in, use them to your advantage," Phil told me. He placed his hands on my shoulders and turned me around so I could face him. "Is he going to be there?" I nodded. "Then you have to perform your best so he knows how great his girlfriend is. Everyone else is insignificant." I nodded slowly. "We should be going on soon." Ms. Amos approached us and gave us a hug.
"Although I would never admit it in class, you two are my favorite dancers. I would say good luck but you both know that you're going to do great," Ms. Amos told us with a smile on her face. "Have fun!" She left and helped a group who had costume problems.
"How many times do you think she's said that today?" I asked as we walked to the side stage. We should be walking on shortly. The lights dimmed and we were ushered on stage. We took our beginning position and waited for the music to start. I looked up slightly and saw the first row was occupied by my mom, Mikey, Frank, Gerard, and Ray. I smiled to myself for a brief moment. The music began and we danced. I did what Phil told me to do and used my emotions through my dance. We finished the dance and heard the applaud coming from the crowd. I smiled and took Phil's hand. We bowed down together as my close friends cheered at us. We walked off stage with a grin on our faces. Phil lifted me off the ground for an empowering hug.
"Iris!" I turned around as Phil placed me down and saw Mikey holding a bouquet of flowers. I smiled and ran up to him. I wrapped my arms around him and pecked his lips. "You did great, nerd."
"Thanks. I've practiced for it," I said and hugged him tightly. "Are these flowers for me?"
"No, they're actually for Phil," he said with a laugh. Phil gasped dramatically and accepted the flowers.
"Wow you're so kind!" he exclaimed and spun in a circle. "I'd take you out on a date, but Iris will kick my ass if I do." We all laughed. Phil handed me the roses, keeping one just for himself, and left with a smile on his face.
"So you bring roses to my partner, but not your girlfriend?" I asked Mikey. He pulled me tighter against his body and kissed me softly on the lips.
"Who's the one holding the flowers?" he asked. I grinned and held his hand. "Are you going to go change?"
"I can't yet. I wanna go home," I complained with a pout. "And you can't be here with the dancers." He pecked my lips, causing me to smile.
"I'll watch the rest of the show then," he said. "But I'll be bored out of my mind since I already saw you perform." I rolled my eyes and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you later." I waved goodbye at him before entering the gym where all the dancers were. I found Phil and sat next to him.
"Did you enjoy the rose my boyfriend gave you?" I asked.
"I did actually. You see, I even put it behind my ear so I look pretty." I laughed and nudged his shoulder. We goofed around for half an hour until the dance competition ended. We are all called onstage so the winners could be announced. I tuned out the person talking since she was boring. I started paying attention when she began announcing the winners.
"We had a close tie for first place," she said. "But after reevaluating the votes, we have our first, second, and third place winners. In third place, we have the team dancers of Wild Crew." A group of ten dancers walked up and accepted their small ribbon and reward of $50. "I would like for the duet of Matilda and Chris to step up along with the duet of Iris and Phil." Phil flashed me a smile and stepped forward, pulling me along with him. "It goes to say that these two teams are very talented."
