On Top Of The World (book 3 in the Irish Dance Camp series)

Chapter 1

Ciara
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"In third place... Competitor 822, Ciara Sullivan from the Macmillan School!"

Ugh....

I fake a smile and get a sash and trophy from a feis volunteer. I step up on to the podium as I hear the crowd murmuring in surprise.

I'd be lying if I say I'm not surprised, too. I've been undefeated at every feis since Nationals, except for the All Ireland's, where I got sixth. I even won the oireachtas with first from every judge....

And here I am at a local feis, a week and a half before I dance at Worlds, getting third out of only 12 people, all of whom I usually beat. It doesn't feel that great.

The girls in first and second get their awards, and then I step off the podium and get my marks sheet.

I got second, fourth, and fourth from the judges. And I didn't get any comments. I sigh quietly and then walk back to my mom. My dance teacher, Annie, is standing with her too, lips pursed and looking slightly confused. I hand her my sheet and then my mom helps me take my dress off.

"Ciara, you should have won...." Annie whispers to me, shaking her head as she reads the marks. "I watched your whole competition, it was like you were a no-brainer-"

"Annie, it's okay. You don't have to try to make me feel better."

"No, Ciara, I'm serious. I wouldn't say that unless I meant it. There's something weird going on here..."
There's a moment of silence as she intently reads my scores.

"Ciara, I don't want this feis to make you doubt yourself about the Worlds. You danced fabulously today, okay?"

I nod and she hands me the results sheet again, and then walks off.

I know Annie means well, but I'm still pretty sure she just said all that stuff to boost my confidence. I probably deserved to get third. I'm probably not going to do well at Worlds, I probably don't even deserve to go.....

Ciara, stop! I think to myself, you're doing it again, you're pretty much sabotaging yourself.

I tend to have really low confidence in my dancing, especially right before majors. I keep catching myself basically attacking myself in my head....

I take off my hard shoes and put them in my bag. We're leaving now since Marisa danced earlier (she won, not surprisingly).

Her and I have kind of become Instagram-famous since nationals, since I won and she got second. Dance accounts will refer to us as the "Sullivan Sisters", which I think is kind of funny since people hadn't even realized we were related before.
Being recognized at feises and being seen as a role model is great and all, but it's a lot of pressure because I don't want to let anyone down...

I follow Mom and Marisa to the car.
"Ciara, can you give me Julie's mom's phone number? We've been chatting on Facebook but I want to have it in case you hang out with Julie when we're at Worlds." Mom says.

"Sure," I say, opening up my phone. I'm so excited to see all my friends again! I saw Claire at the All Irelands, and I've seen Grace at a few feises, but I haven't seen Julie since Nationals.

I scroll through my contacts but stop when I see a particular name: Carly Madison.

Worlds is going to be her first feis back since transferring. It's been kind of weird to not have her at feises with me. We used to always support each other, but now I haven't heard from her in months. I can't help but wonder how she's doing, and what her dancing is looking like. It makes me feel even more nervous for worlds...

[Hi! I hope you all are excited to get started with the third book in this series! I'm planning on making the chapters a bit shorter this time so I can update faster.]