Shooting Star

Chapter 1

"Turn," Ms. Ellis commanded.

I pushed off the ground and started spinning. I spun four times, but on the last one I stumbled and landed with a thump. I rubbed my foot, wincing.

"What's gotten into you, Brianna?" Ms. Ellis asked. "You used to turn quadruple pirouettes in your sleep!"

"I've gotten off form, I guess," I muttered. "I'll keep practicing."

"You will have to," Ms. Ellis said, sighing, "because if you lose the reigning title as the longest standing female soloist champion, I will lose my job."

I flinched. I stood up, dusting myself off, mentally prepared myself, and tried again. One, two, three, four. This time I landed steadily.

"Better," Ms. Ellis said approvingly. She glanced at her watch. "You'd better get ready for small group."

I ran my arm across my forehead and hurried out of the room to put my tap shoes on, since it was Thursday. I glanced at my schedule one last time to make sure I wasn't preparing for the wrong dance:

*Brianna Miller -- 2012 Dance Schedule*

Monday

5:00-5:30 - Int. Ballet Solo Training/Choreo

5:30-6:30 - Int. Ballet Large Group

6:30-7:30 - Int. Jazz Large Group

7:30-8:30 - Int. Musical Theatre

Tuesday

6:00-6:30 - Int. Hip Hop Solo

6:30-7:15 - Int. Hip Hop Duet+Trio

7:30-8:30 - Int. Lyrical Large Group

8:30-9:30 - Int. Lyrical Small Group

9:30-10:00 - Int. Lyrical Solo Training/Choreo

Wednesday

6:00-6:30 - Int. Contemporary Solo

6:30-7:30 - Int. Contemporary Large Group

7:30-8:15 - Int. Contemporary Small Group

8:30-9:30 - Int. Hip Hop Large Group

Thursday

5:15-5:30 - Int. Jazz 5 Solo Training/Choreo

5:30-6:30 - Int. Tap Small Group

6:30-7:30 - Int. Tap Solo Training/Choreo

7:30-8:15 - Int. Hip Hop Small Group

8:15-9:45 - Jr/Int/Sr Extended Jazz Line

Friday

5:30-6:30 - Int. Jazz Jumps/Turns

6:30-7:30 - Int. Ballet Jumps/Turns

7:30-8:30 - Int. Tap Training

8:30-9:15 - Solos, Duets, Trios

I shoved the list back into my bag and laced up my shoes. I still had almost five hours left of dance. Not to mention I was still completely exhausted from the drills we'd run at hockey practice today.

The only upside was that for some strange miracle, dance and hockey didn't collide. Practice started at 3, right after school ended at 2:45, and ended at 4:45, leaving me just enough time to rush from the rink to the studio and change. Plus, all my games were on weekends for hockey, and I didn't have dance on the weekends. The only problem for me was to find time to get homework done. Fortunately it was still only the first week of school. I just hoped I wouldn't be too stressed out in, say, January.