What It All Comes Down To (Book 2 in the Irish Dance Camp series)

Chapter 16

"The recall numbers are as follows..." We all grab hands and look at Claire.
"101..." Yes! Claire recalled! She looks relieved but doesn't react for the most part. This is like her sixth nationals anyway....
My number's next.
"104... 105... 107... 109... 110... 111... 112... 115... 118... 120... 121... 124... 126... 127... 128... 130... 132..."
My stomach churns and my hands are sweaty. The moment of truth...
"133... 134... 136..." Yes! I grin and sigh, relieved. Claire gives me a side hug. Now it's time to listen for Kylie, number 155. She looks so nervous...
"145... 147... 148... 151... 152... 153... 154... 158..."
Awww, no....
Kylie fakes a smile as tears start to stream down her face.
"It's okay..." She says quietly, "Congrats guys..."
"I didn't recall at my first nationals either." Julie says, "You'll get 'em next time!"
We still have to listen for Julie's number, 179...
"167... 171... 174... 175... 176... 179..."
So that's everyone from camp...
And then I remember that Carly still has to be called.
"191... 193... 195... 196... 199... 200..." NOW there's everyone.
The announcer finishes calling the numbers.
"I'm near the beginning of sets, so I'm gonna go get my shoes on and start warming up," Julie says. Claire and I still have a really long time before we have to go. Kylie walks back to our seats and Julie, Claire, and I go to the front to tell the stage hand our sets.
"I'm number 136, and I do Vanishing Lake at speed 68." I tell the man.
"Number 101, and Roving Peddler at 76. Thanks." Claire says. Her set round is amazing from what I saw at camp...
"I'm 179, and I do Planxty Davis at 76." Julie says.
"I still can't believe you do that set, Jules..." Claire says, "I don't even have enough stamina for the right foot!"
Julie laughs, "You get used to it, I guess..."
I decide to go stretch, and I'll put my hard shoes on after Julie does her set.
"Ciara!" I turn around and my mom is hurrying over. "Did I miss your recalls?"
"Yeah. But it's okay. I recalled!"
"Yay! Did Kylie or Carly?"
"Carly did, Kylie didn't..." I glance over and see her sadly taking her wig off her head. "I feel so bad for her... Did you hear anything about Marisa's group?"
"Yeah, they just did her recalls! She recalled, and so did Abby and Maddie!"
"That's great! When is Marisa doing her set?" I ask.
"There's like twenty sets before her... Karen is warming her up, and I'm sure she'll want to warm you up, too."
I nod. "I'm gonna watch my friend Julie's set, and then I'll get my shoes on."
"Okay. I'll text you when Marisa's about to go up."
Mom leaves and I'm left stretching. Suddenly Claire is sitting next to me.
"Okay. Now can you tell me what's going on with Carly?" She asks, "I feel like you keep getting interrupted."
"Of course! I just didn't want Kylie to hear because I don't really know her."
I take a deep breath.
"Carly was acting super rude to me after she broke her foot. Like, getting mad at me for no reason and flat out ignoring me. And then on Monday I saw her hanging out with a bunch of girls from the Brennan School, who she'd never met before then... And this morning she told me that she's transferring there, and the reason she was being mean was because she wanted to hate me so she wouldn't miss me, or something-"
"Wait, she's transferring?!" Claire says, bewildered. I nod. "Did she say why?"
"Something about wanting to do better or be in a more friendly atmosphere, even though I think Macmillan does a fine job of that..."
"Wow... Maybe she's jealous of you, too, you know? Like, you're always beating her, aren't you?" Claire asks.
Is that the real reason why she left? Maybe she just made up those other reasons to protect my feelings...
I shake my head. "I don't know," I say, "but I'm not letting myself worry too much about it, because I need to focus on today..."
Claire nods. "I'll try not to bring it up."

Soon enough, Julie's up for her set. Her bright red and white dress sparkles vibrantly onstage, today is the fist time I've seen it in person. Little white pearls line the designs and it has a ton of rainbow colored crystals.
The introduction for Planxty Davis at 76 starts. It feels like the introduction alone must be at least a minute long...
And finally, she starts.
Julie does some super loud, complicated, rhythm piece and then goes into a huge click. Already the crowd has gone silent.
The moves only get better and cooler as she goes on. Even though the right and left foot combined are longer than a full treble jig, she still manages to do the set part close to perfectly...
As she nears the end and goes into a last set of rhythms, you can see in her face that she's tired, but her sound and foot placement are still amazing.
Julie finishes strong and a relieved smile enters her face. The crowd erupts into cheers.
"Wow..." Claire says, astonished. "That was, like, perfect..." I nod.
When Julie walks off the stage, the smile leaves her face as she starts breathing heavily, exhausted. Claire and I hurry up to her.
"Julie, that was so good! I think you're going to win!" Claire says.
"Thanks," she breathes, "I forgot how long that set is... Mom says that I'm getting a new set now, though. I'm so happy."
"That was seriously amazing," I say as we walk back to our stuff, "I'm gonna get my shoes on now. Text me when your set is coming up, Claire."
I notice that I have some new texts on the camp group chat...
Gwacie💜: any news on u14B recalls????
Me: Claire, Carly, Julie, and I all recalled :) what about you guys in the A group??
Kate✌🏻️: everyone from camp in A group recalled too!
Gwacie💜: yayyyyy congrats everyone!!!
I pull on my hard shoes and then I leave the ballroom. I head to the practice room, and spot Karen giving Marisa what looks like a final pep talk.
"Hey Ciara," Karen says when she sees me, "we were just about to head to Marisa's ballroom. Her set's up soon. You still have a while till yours, right?"
"Yeah," I say, and then follow them to the u8 ballroom.
Karen helps Marisa tape her shoes, she gets her dress on, and then goes backstage.
In five minutes she's onstage, and the introduction to Job of Journeywork starts.
She points her toe, and then does a fabulous set. Her beats are clear, her foot placement is beautiful, and her stage presence is amazing.
I think she could really win this thing, but, then again, I haven't seen the rest of her competition dance.
Marisa's clearly happy with her set when she comes off stage. Karen and I head back to the practice room, and I have to basically re-warmup since it's been so long since I've danced...
It takes about ten minutes of jumping up and down before my muscles are ready to dance again. I go through my full set once, and then I run through some of the trickier spots.
"And Bang, and bang bang! Pull up, Ciara! And push and push! Nice! Keep your knees straight through these hit ups!"
I finish and grab a drink of water.
"I think we should go to your ballroom now," Karen says, looking at the time.
My stomach churns as I follow her back in.
They're on competitor 120, so I'm up pretty soon.
I do some more stretching in the back before I have to line up for real. As I'm leaving, Karen tells me to come back for her final words of advice.
"Ciara, remember, you're the last set. These judges have sat through all those other girls, they are probably getting pretty bored. Go wake them up and show them what you can do."
And with that, I head backstage.
This is it, my last chance...
In three sets, I'm up.
"And our final competitor, number 136 dancing the Vanishing Lake at speed 68." Here we go...
The introduction ends.
Treble and a drum and toe heel heel bang, treble and a toe, and a heel bang.
Wait, that was really good! I think as I move into the axel. I finish the right foot with plenty of energy left. One of the judges is nodding his head at me.
All of my rhythms feel clear and sharp, I think I'm hitting everything!
Onto the set part...
I start with toe work going into two front clicks.
Treble down up click down step up click-
I don't realize I'm falling until I'm sitting on the ground.