Can You Help Me?

chapter 1 ✨

I took a deep breath looking at the other side of the floor. I knew I had to get this skill in order to go to the championships that were in a month. I took one step back, getting the momentum I needed.

"Let's Go Maddie." I heard my coach say as I began to speed up.

Seconds later, I could feel my feet land on the floor. I looked down, making sure I wasn't out of bounds. A smile came across my face, knowing that I was going to be ready for the championships.

"Yes!" I heard my coach yell.

I ran over to him, hugging and thanking him for everything that he taught me. I walked over to my bag to grab my water.

"How is that family treating you?" He asked
"They aren't family. I just live with them." I said, taking a drink of my water.
"How are the other girls treating you?" He said
"Great!" I said, hinting a note of sarcasm that he never seems to get.
"Doesn't sound too great. Looks like you're gonna need a new foundation to cover up that bruise." He said, pointing to my eye.

I rolled my eyes. I didn't have the best family, which my coach knew. He let me continue my gymnastics career once my family died, he thought I had something in me.

Let me explain my life for you.
I had a wonderful family. I had both of my parents in my life, a wonderful sister named Mackenzie. My parents always wanted what was best for me. They put me in sports, gymnastics and dance, which I excelled at. They were always so supportive of me. My mom would always tell me that I would be in the olympics one day. That was a dream for me. This all changed 6 years ago.

Both of my parents died in a car wreck. I was only 9 years old. It was a life changing moment, knowing that I wouldn't have that perfect family anymore.

That night, police took my sister and I took a foster home. We have been in the system since.

Months ago, My sister was adopted. She begged for the family to take me under their care, but they didn't wanna deal with another one. I was left at the foster home.

Today, I still live there. The adults who own the place aren't the nicest. We don't know their real names, so we always have to call them Mr. and Mrs. We have to clean everyday, and if we don't do it the right way, we get punishments. Both of them are alcoholics, so the beating is worse. They don't know that I do gymnastics still. They're never home when I have practice, so I'm always sneaking out.

I also live with the other 6 girls there, sharing a room with 2 of them. The two girls that I room with actually like me. They are named Brynn and Brittany. The other people in the home don't like me at all. They believe that I'm just a stuck up person who doesn't deserve to live anywhere.

I stopped going to gymnastics and dance practice after the death. I couldn't afford all of the payments.

My coach found out what happened and where I was, since I didn't come to practices for weeks. He let me do classes for free, which was very generous of him. My dance teachers decided to let me go. They couldn't have someone who was dancing for free. It was a pretty good studio I must say. Everyone needed to pay though.

"You're free to go. Practice tomorrow at 5:30am." I heard my coach say, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I grabbed my belongings and ran out the door. I looked at my watch noticing that I had 30 minutes to get home, and my gym was 10 minutes away. I started walking fast so I could get their early. As I was walking, I heard people singing, and many crowding the area. I stopped to watch. A man with a ponytail was dancing while two people were singing. I started laughing and listened to the others sing. I looked over at the man, and noticed him staring at me with a concerned look. I remembered that my makeup came off during practice from me sweating, and my bruise was showing. I put my head down and kept walking.

Once I made it back to the house, I noticed that the foster parents were home. I gripped my bag, as i took a step forward, but then felt hands grab my shoulders.

"Are you okay?" I heard. I looked up, noticing it was the man that was dancing. He pointed to my bruise on my face.

"Oh! Yeah I'm fine! Just fell down the stairs." I said quickly, trying to get out of his grip.

"I can tell you're lying. Come with me. I won't hurt you." He said

For some reason, I trusted him immediately. I started walking with him back to the theater where I first saw him. He opened the door and led me inside. We walked into a huge dressing room.

"So, What's your name?" I asked

"Lin. Lin-Manuel Miranda" He responded.