Ready? Not Really.. (Fem USUK) •IN EDITING•

Maddie

It devastated me to watch Alice peek out from behind the grand drape backstage, looking around for Amelia. With each sweep she took of the area, I saw her shoulders droop more and more. Eventually, Alice gave up and leaned against me.
"She didn't show up," she said softly. The sadness in her voice absolutely shattered my heart into pieces.
"I'm sure she will," I reassured Alice. "She wouldn't miss your performance for anything in the whole world."
All I knew was that I was going to fucking throttle my sister when she decided to come.
Alice was allowed to have family help her before she went onstage, and since she didn't have any family come, I was the one that was chosen to assist her. Not like Alice needed any assistance. She was perfectly capable of putting on her stuffy-looking costume and touching up her makeup. I stood awkwardly off to the side the entire time, offering some conversation.
It was obvious that Alice was nervous. She looked paler than normal and kept shifting from foot to foot. Her eyes were so big that they almost looked comical. Despite the recital being late at night, Alice had refused to eat dinner the few hours beforehand because her stomach hurt. I insisted she eat something or she wouldn't have the energy to dance. It took a while, but I eventually convinced her to eat a bit of a power bar.
I was furious that Amelia decided to be late even though she left at almost the exact same time that I had. The only reason I could think of was that she backed out of talking to Alice. I had blown up her phone with angry texts demanding answers, but either her phone was dead or she was ignoring me. Gil had promised to text me if Amelia showed up, but my phone had yet to buzz in the pocket of my jacket.
Alice sighed and pulled the curtain back with her finger to check once more. "Maybe she just didn't want to come."
"That's ridiculous, Alice. You know that. She's been to every single one of your performances."
"You dragged her to all of them," Alice reminded me. "But not to this one. Not necessarily. So she ditched."
I shook my head. "No, I don't think so. Amelia wanted to take a separate car in case..." Alice looked up at me curiously, and I quickly evaded the topic. "She wasn't lying. I know when she's lying."
Alice seems dubious, but didn't say anything else.
"Alright, ladies!" Miss A shouted over the chatter. All of the girls stopped talking almost instantly. Even Alice got out of her slump to listen to her teacher. She was a pretty lady. Silvery hair draped down her back, and her eyes were caring while steely. Odd. "You know this. We've rehearsed a trillion times-" a few giggles emerged from the group. "-and you're going to do absolutely amazing." She clasped her hands together and smiled proudly. "As I have told you all, you are all my children, and I love you dearly. Do wonderfully." Her class ran up to give a group hug, and that was my cue to leave. I touched Alice's shoulder. She was the only one that didn't go over to Miss A, which worried me.
"Hey, I'm going," I whispered. "Just look out into the crowd every now and then, okay? Amelia will be there soon, I guarantee it."
Alice nodded but looked at the ground. "The lights will be in my face."
"Then just look when you stop this dance and start your individual one. Don't give up on her." I embraced my friend. She was always so small and thin, as though the years of teasing and being an outcast had actually taken a physical toll. I grabbed her shoulders and smiled, admiring how beautiful she looked. I loved Alice, as well, but like a sister. We went through this whole journey together, and now I had to let her do the next part alone. "Gil's recording it for your mom. I'm going to go find Ames, but I'll try to be back on time. Do awesome, Ally."
That coaxed a smile out of Alice. "Thank you."
I quickly kissed her on the cheek before rushing offstage and through one of the back exits.
As soon as I was in the hallway, I was pissed.
Where the fuck was Amelia?
I stormed through the building, looking for my twin. It shouldn't have been hard to spot her. At least, that's what most people would think. 'Oh yeah! You can easily find your twin in a crowd! It's your own face!' Well, wrong, metaphorical person. Not when your sister didn't want to be found.
I roamed around the building, going up to the balcony seats, peeking in the multiple dressing rooms, and calling her name in the bathroom. Eventually, I went and sat on a curb bordering the parking lot, even angrier then when I had first started looking for Amelia. How dare she miss something so important to Alice? This was the most amazing opportunity to really connect with the girl she was in love with, and she had already blown it. It would've been better if I actually had a clue where she was. But no. Amelia decided to disappear off the grid for once in her life. I clenched my hands into fists. The one chance. The one fucking chance to remember why she loved Alice and remind her why they should've hooked up years ago. And the collateral damage... Alice was crushed. She wanted to look out into the crowd so badly and make eye contact with the love of her life-
Oh. Speaking of which.
I stood up when I saw a blue Jeep screech around a curb haphazardly into the parking lot. All of the spaces were filled, so it parked in the back corner of the lot near a bunch of trees. As soon as I could be sure it was Amelia, I stomped across the asphalt to her car. The heels I was wearing weren't threatening enough to walk in, so I took them off halfway through the journey to scream at Amelia so that I could be more scary looking.
"Amelia!" I snapped. Her head shot out above the car. Amelia started to raise her hand to wave, but slowly put it back down at my expression. "Where the hell have you been? You're late!"
"Err, traffic?" she lied horribly, jumping out of her car.
"Traffic?" I dug my fingers through my hair. "We left at the same time! You said you'd follow me there!"
Amelia fumbled with something in the passenger seat before getting out of her Jeep and slamming the door shut. "I know, I just... I needed time to think before I left.."
"You didn't follow us there?" I tried to recall when we first left the school. Nothing came up. I must've been absorbed in whatever I was talking to Gil about. I think it was a debate whether the chicken came first or the egg. Super mature of us. I frowned. "Then... where did you go?" I noticed the flowers in her hands and pointed at them. "What..?"
"I got lost," Amelia explained shortly. "And got some roses." She looked embarrassed. Did she actually come late and bring flowers? I didn't know what to think of that.
I shook my head. "You broke Alice's heart."
Amelia immediately looked horrified. "Wh- How?"
"She kept trying to find you in the crowd. Of course, when you weren't there she decided to stop looking." I sighed and rubbed my face with my hand. "Well, she kept looking anyways, but..."
"Fuck. Fuck!" Amelia shouted. She ran past me. When I looked down, she had actually had the nerve to change from wearing heels to converse. I was going to murder her.
I resisted the urge to chuck my shoes at Amelia's head and followed behind her at a slower pace, still boiling with rage.
Amelia better go ask that girl out and do it that night.