The next 12 hours went by in a blur. I remember waking up to my alarm, grabbing suitcases, getting into the car. I made sure to wear my Abby Lee Dance Co sweat pants, shirt, and jacket. We stopped by Mcdonald's for breakfast, and showed up to the bus in the parking lot. We were the first ones on the bus, so I climbed into my usual seat and fell asleep. I woke up later, about 9:30, and we were on the road, traveling. I peeked out and saw everyone in their usual seats. All the moms sat alone, Paige sat with Chloe, Brooke sat with Nia, Asia sat with Kenzie. I looked next to me, and Maddie was sitting making rainbow looms. She noticed I had woken up.
"Look Kendall, I made this one for you!" She handed me a bracelet, it was a simple fishtail. Around the bracelet were three sections. The first section was plain brown. The second alternated between bright yellow and an inchworm green. The third section was alternating black, red, and blue. I wuickly realized each section represented our duets, Sugar and Spice, Bodies Electric, and Who Cares If You're Gone. I gave her a hug and slipped it on. I was so excited for competiton. Maddie and I made rainbow looms, Instagram videos, and watched dancers on youtube the rest of the way to the competiton.
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We pulled up in the bus to the high school and piled out. As usual, there were tons of girls screaming for us. They all seemed to notice a piece of our team was missing. It was hard not to. We silently started setting up in the dressing room, and I starting running my solo to the new music as soon as I could. The music change was sudden, so I really wanted to make sure I had the new counts down. Every time I finished, Gianna told me I did perfect, but I wanted it to be better. Every time I asked Maddie one thing to work on. Then I ran it again, trying to improve. Finally, it was time to get into costume and perform.
We all gathered backstage to watch each other do our solos. Kenzie went, then Asia, then Chloe. Everyone went, and seemed to do a great job. Before me went Maddie. I hadn't talked to her about her text message yet, I didn't want to. Maddie is normally so upbeat. But all she had responded to my long, heart-felt message was "k". I was hurt at first, but I realized that she probably didn't want to hear anything I had typed and sent her. I heard the announcer call her name, and she began to dance.
Maddie has had wonderful solos before.
Leaving Berlin, Disappear, Hold On.
She's had great emotion before too.
But I don't think I have ever seen her actually truly understand what she was performing about. Not like today.
Maddie danced flawlessly and effortlessly. Everything flowed perfectly. After she finished, I went to clap, but my hands were numb. Instead, I found them wiping tears from my eyes. Maddie walked offstage and hugged me immediatley. We sttod there, hugging, for awhile. When she finally let go, she kept her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes.
"Kendall, I could not have done that without your help. You are the best friend ever. I mean it." Her voice quivered shakily.
She hugged me again, and I heard the announcer call my name. She squeezed my hand and whispered, "Knock em' dead."
Those were the only words I needed.
Not "knock em' dead."
but "You are the best friend ever. I mean it."
I had felt like I had been competing for that spot for years.
Whether it was with Paige, Chloe, Brooke, or a random guest like Sophia or Kalani.
I finally got a little confirmation.
And that's all I needed.
If you thought Maddie performed well today, you should've seen me. I let my mind go and totally just kept my sassy face. As the judges ended up putting on their score sheets, I performed like "A true broadway professional, dream big!"
And after I walked off stage, I told Maddie the same thing she told me. I couldn't have done it without her. Without her kind words, her constant perserverance that pushed the group further as a whole, without having her.
as a friend.
A best friend.
Author's Note- The photo in the sidebar is of Kendall performing Bring on the Boys, and I just thought it was a cute photo :)
