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

Maddie

I snuck out of the auditorium a few routines before Alice's, taking off my shoes so I could run down to the group dressing room she was in to say good luck. This night would probably be the biggest in her life, no doubt about it. Deep down, I could feel it. As if everything were hanging by a thin little thread. After this, I would be almost useless for Alice's relationship questions since I was experiencing for myself the same things she would ask about. I was opening to bird cage and letting my two best friends free, and it was actually a little scary. They wouldn't be the same after the show, nor would I.
Everything depended on whether or not Amelia confessed, Alice came clean about everything she's ever done, and if they could maintain a stable enough relationship to last. I wanted it for them so badly. There was no way years of buildup could lead up to nothing, was there?
I took a deep breath before pushing open the door to the dressing room. Alice was all by herself in a corner, biting her nails and staring down at the floor. "Hey, gorgeous!" I called out. She looked up immediately, making me smile. I hoped she felt as beautiful as she looked. Alice had put on a darker shade of lipstick to match the mood of her song, and her eyes were a smoky gunmetal colour. "You look awesome, man."
"I guess." She took her hand away from her mouth. "I'm so fucking nervous, Maddie."
I frowned. "About your dance?"
"About everything!" Alice pushed herself up off the ground. "Is Amelia okay? Has she been talking about me?" Excitement flashed in her eyes as she clasped her hands together. "I can't stop thinking about her. Is that normal?"
"Err, a little," I laughed, walking over to her. "I thought she was always on your mind."
Alice shook her head. "That's ridiculous. I can't think about a person twenty-four seven." But her cheeks had turned pinker, and not just because of her powdered blush.
I held both of her hands in mine. "So you gotta rush down here after you're done, okay?" Alice nodded quickly. "You come straight down here- no pun intended- and wait in this dressing room for Amelia. She's going to take you somewhere quieter, so if you have anything in mind just keep that thought." She started to grin and nodded more. "And Amelia will do her thing, but then you have to fess up to everything, too, Alice."
She looked confused, a frown forming on her face. I was worried it might ruin her makeup. "To what?"
I sighed and shook my head. "To... just, how you've felt over the years. Say you're sorry for anything hurtful you've said, and that you're sorry for sleeping with-"
"I'm not apologising for doing anything with Fran," Alice interrupted, looking serious all of a sudden.
"Ally-" I began.
"I'm not kidding." She dropped her hands and turned away to fiddle with her makeup. "At first, it was mortifying that Amelia found out. But.." Alice shrugged, her back turned to me. "I don't regret anything. I just wanted to feel something. I was tired of being insulted and thrown around, and even if Fran was a sarcastic prick, she treated me very kindly. She wouldn't touch me if I told her to stop, and..." She turned back to face me. Alice's eyes were flashing, and her face was redder than before. "I won't do it again, not if I'm with Amelia, but I'm not sorry."
I scratched my head and tried to think. Hopefully, Amelia would avoid the topic altogether, but knowing her, it would come up sooner or later in an argument. "It really hurt Amelia," I explained quietly. "She doesn't want to have sex for a while, and she thought it was all her fault you slept with Fran."
Alice froze in her spot. "I don't... I don't need to have sex with..." She looked more flustered than before, her hands wringing and her eyes darting away from mine. "I mean, I would love to with, um, Amelia... but I respect her, too so..."
As entertaining as it was to watch her squirm, Alice was already anxious enough with everything about to happen. I smiled and shook my head. "I'm not saying that you two need to do anything. I'm saying she might still be torn up over you and Fran."
Alice kicked at the ground with her ballet shoe. She looked away in embarrassment and swallowed heavily. "It won't ever happen again when I'm with Amelia," she murmured. "I'll wait for her for as long as she needs."
I nodded and pushed my hair back anxiously. Why did I have to be the middle man in all of this? It was too stressful! This was my sister and my best friend's relationship on the line. If anything happened, I'd lose two of the most important people in my life.
"It'll be fine, Alice," I reassured her for the four trillionth time. "I promise." Alice refused to look at me. That wasn't going to work with me at all. I nudged my friend on the shoulder, and she looked up shyly. "Hey," I said. "She actually cleaned her car out for you."
"You're kidding me," Alice said in disbelief. I shook my head. "Jesus. She could live for two months on all the food she had in that thing!"
I laughed. "No kidding! She had to wear gloves and a mask!"
Alice grinned at the thought, and I couldn't help but smile back at her. Good, she wasn't nearly as stressed as before. "Maddie," she started. "You've been so amazing this whole time."
"You make it sound like I'm dying," I joked, but I knew the seriousness in Alice's words.
"No," she said. "You really are. Amazing, that is. You've helped me get with the love of my life, and I can never thank you enough."
I smiled more. "Love of your life? Already figured that out in high school?"
Alice rolled her eyes. "I've spent more than enough time on one doofus. I refuse to ever move onto anyone else."
"A special doofus, though," I corrected her.
"Very special." Alice took a step closer to me. "And every step of the way, you have been there. You're.. Why did you always stay with me? How did you never get fed up with me?"
I shook my head. "Well, my sister is sorta obsessed with you, and I have to deal with her crap, so I could never actually get rid of you..." Alice laughed and rubbed her arm sheepishly. "I'm kidding," I told her. "You're my best friend, Alice. I'm so happy that you love Amelia. I wanted to get you both together so that I knew the two most amazing people in the world would get to be happy."
"Aww, Maddie," Alice started with a smile, wrapping her arms around my neck. She was a little shorter than me, so I had to bend down to hug her back. "You've done so much. I don't know how to show how much I appreciate you."
"Ah," I broke away from her. "Just please date already. Seriously, Alice. Hurry up. I think everyone in the school knows by now that you two should be dating."
She pushed my shoulder. "I'm trying my best, but it's quite difficult."
"No pressure," I assured her. "Well..." Alice raised her eyebrows. "Okay, a little pressure."
She snorted and drifted away from me, standing in front of the mirror that stretched the length of the wall. "I'll go on soon." Alice tapped the toe of her ballet shoes, clicking the toe box- the hard part of the shoe that let her dance on her tiptoes- against the floor. "God, I don't want to mess up." She turned to me. It was times like this when I could see why Amelia loved her. Alice looked gorgeous in her outfit with a small smile on her face, and her feet pointed outward naturally after years of dancing. Even walking with her down the halls in school, she would start pointing her toes and dance a little to an imaginary room. "Gil's still recording it?"
"Yeah," I said. "Gil ran out of storage at one point and had to delete a few apps. She got kinda pissy."
Alice rolled her eyes and looked at her reflection. "She'll get over it, I'm sure." She studied her own face and brushed her hair away from her eyes.
"Are you going to, like, go over your dance or anything?" I asked, looking at myself as well. I was a little smaller than Amelia, but we still looked identical. The only people that never mixed us up were our parents, Gil, and Alice. Funny.
"No," Alice murmured half to herself. "I don't think so. It's more muscle memory than anything." She sat on the ground and started to stretch her legs. "I'm scared I might be even more anxious if I practice it again."
I nodded and fiddled with the handle of her bag. "Yeah, I'm sure you're good." Her phone started to buzz, and I frowned. "Uh.."
"You can answer my phone," Alice called, laying on her back and extending her leg so it was as straight as possible in the air. "Who is it?"
"It's.." I hesitated, scanning the caller ID. "Who's 'Obnoxious Piece of Shit?'"
Alice looked up. "Oh, that would be Gillian." She stood up and walked over, plucking her phone from my hands and putting it to her ear.
"I'm glad you love my girlfriend so much," I aid sarcastically.
She smiled apologetically before speaking. "Hello?" Alice's face turned pale. "Really? Erm, okay." I tried to ask her what was wrong, but she waved me off. "No, it's fine. Tell them it's okay if I go on sooner." My eyes widened. Go on sooner? Why would she need to do that? "Okay." Alice hesitated before asking, "Is Amelia there? Oh, uh, yeah. Put her on, I guess." She immediately started smiling and covered her other ear so she could hear better. "Hey to you, too."
That was my cue to leave. I rubbed Alice's shoulder in a silent good luck gesture before I left the dressing room, running up the one flight of stairs and heading back to the auditorium.
~•~•~•~
"Yeah," Gil sighed. "Some girl got dizzy and fell off the stage. Apparently she was so overwhelmed because she was in three dances that she just passed out from exhaustion."
"That's awful," I said, gripping the armrest. "Is she going to be alright?"
Gil nodded and rubbed the inside of my hand with her thumb. "She's okay, Mads. Some lady got on the stage and told us so. I think it might've been her instructor. She looked worried."
"Everyone is worried after shit like that happened," Amelia said. She had been acting different ever since I got back. Her eyes were big and her face was a rosy pink. Weird.
"I'm just saying that chick seemed genuinely concerned," Gil corrected herself. "Anyways, none of the other groups from that girl's studio are going to go on. I guess the girl is pretty popular, so they're all going to go with her to the hospital to make sure she's alright."
I frowned. "Well... how many dance numbers were from her studio?"
Gil looked at my brochure, now in her lap. "I think six or seven."
Amelia looked horrified. "What about Alice?"
"She'll just go on earlier," Gil said. "I told her just to make sure. Alice is fine with it. I mean, she gets to move up a spot and not need to wait an additional half hour or so."
Amelia leaned over my seat and tried to reach for the show program. "What number is she?"
Gil waved her away and looked down again. "Ah... forty- no, thirty-eighth?"
Amelia turned even redder. I put my chin on Gil's shoulder and read the program. The routine onstage was some stereotypical, fast-paced jazz number. Based on the lyrics of the song, it seemed to be the... "I think we're on the thirty-second?"
"I'm gonna die," Amelia whispered.
"You're fine, Ames. Just breathe." I turned to my sister and smiled reassuringly. "Alice is going to do amazing, and you're going to get the girlfriend of your dreams, alright? That's how it's going to go."
Amelia shook her head and hugged herself. "I don't even know what to say."
"Amy," I sighed, putting my hand on her shoulder.
"Seriously! I don't!"
"Amelia, you're going to be perfectly fine." I rested the back of my hand on her face. "Everything will be-" I stopped. Amelia was burning up. Sweat beaded at her hairline, and she was panting heavily. "Jesus Christ, Amelia. Are you feeling okay?" I let go of Gil's hand and frowned, turning my full attention to my sister. "Do you want to go outside? Do you need air?"
"No," she said and tried to shake my hand away. "I'm fine. I want to see Alice." Amelia glared at me when I didn't move away. "Seriously, Maddie. I'm fine." She moved my hand away with hers, the one that had been holding the cup. Some of the contents of it splashed onto my arm she pushed me.
"Gee," I sighed. "Thanks a lot."
"Sorry," Amelia squeaked, setting her drink on the floor. She looked mildly embarrassed. "Do you need me to get paper towels or something?"
"No, it's okay." I poked at the stain on my dress. "That annoying spot will just be there for all of eternity."
"It was so pretty, too," Gil grumbled.
"My dress?" She nodded, and I felt myself blush. "Oh, uh... Thanks." I reached up to scratch the back of my neck, but something smelled strange. Almost like fruit. I frowned and sat up. Was it the drink I had got on my fingers? "Amelia, what were you drinking?"
She hesitated. "Um, why?"
I stared at her. "Does it matter?"
"I..."
We stared at each other for a moment. "You did not," I said.
"Well," Amelia started.
"Oh my god." I buried my face in my hands.
Gil seemed utterly confused. "I'm missing something. Stop doing the telepathy thing and actually say stuff."
"So," Amelia began again. "I may have decided to drink shady guy's wine."
Gil brightened. "Oh, shit! How is it? Can I have a sip?"
"Stop it," I hissed. "Don't encourage her!"
"I drank it all," Amelia said sheepishly. "First drink at a pretty good time, you think?"
"I think you're being an idiot," I snapped. "You can't go ask someone out when you're tipsy."
Amelia narrowed her eyes. "I'm not that bad. If anything, I feel great."
I ignored her and shifted my body so that my back was facing Amelia. She sighed in exasperation and grumbled about how unfair I was, but I was too angry to care. Show up late then drink before going and asking someone out. Awesome plan.