The next morning, Mackenzie’s first move after she woke up was grabbing her phone. The person she was about to call probably wouldn’t want to be woken up this early, but to be honest, Mackenzie didn’t really care about that. So, Mackenzie typed in the person’s phone number and waited.
“Why did you skip the dance?” Mackenzie asked as soon as Ava answered the phone. She didn’t even give her time to say hello.
“I just didn’t want to go,” she said. “So what are you doing today?”
Mackenzie frowned even though Ava couldn’t see her. “Don’t try to change the subject. Why didn’t you go?”
Ava let out a loud sigh. “I felt bad, and…I thought you’d have a better chance at talking to Tyler there if I didn’t go…can you forgive me?”
Mackenzie sighed, only hers was quieter than that of her friend, or maybe Ava was her ex-friend now. “I just don’t know if I can, Ava. You knew I liked Tyler, and you asked him to the dance anyway. I don’t know many true friends who would just do that.”
“Okay,” Ava replied. “Call me if you change your mind.”
With that, Mackenzie said “bye,” ended the call, and rolled out of bed to start her morning.
______________________________________________________________________________
Later that day, Mackenzie and the rest of the girls stood with Abby just before awards were set to begin
“Wait, Mackenzie!” Abby called, and Mackenzie scurried back over to her.
“You had better place in the top three,” Abby whispered so only Mackenzie could hear. “Maddie has a reputation here, and if you lose it for her…” She shook her head.
“Okay, Miss Abby,” Mackenzie said before joining the rest on her teammates on stage.
On one side of Mackenzie sat Paige, and on the other was Chloe. Both of them reached out and grabbed Mackenzie’s hands at the same time. Maybe they had planned it, or maybe it was their twinnie power in action.
Throughout the award ceremony, Mackenzie didn’t bother to pay too much attention to what was going on around her. All she could think about was hopefully winning at least third place.
“Up next is our teen solo division,” the announcer said.
Chloe squeezed Mackenzie’s hand.
Slowly, everyone was called up for an award until only Mackenzie, Cathy’s dancer, and another girl remained. Mackenzie sucked in a breath and shut her eyes tight.
“And in third place,” the announcer said. “is Miss Maddie with ‘Drop in the Ocean.’”
Mackenzie let out the breath she had been holding and hopped up to accept her award. She scanned the audience and her eyes landed on Abby who gave her a small nod.
Even though Cathy’s girl placed higher than Mackenzie, which got the dancer, her name was Grace or something, a ton of applause from the Candy Apples, it didn’t really matter to her. She had gotten third place, which was just fine. Next week, Abby might leave her alone, or maybe, she’d have a decent spot on the pyramid. Both of these would be pretty nice.
The rest of the awards kind of passed in a blur for Mackenzie. All of the other dances placed first, so for the most part, the weekend had gone pretty well. The only thing that could make it better would be if they didn’t see Cathy.
But that wish didn’t exactly come true when the moms, girls, and Abby went out into the lobby of the convention center when the competition was being held.
“Hey, girls!” Someone called . This someone, was Cathy.
“Hi, Cathy,” Chloe replied, giving her a tight-lipped smile.
“You girls were great this weekend. Especially you Mackenzie. Third place is great for you, right? I mean, I haven’t seen you place any-”
“Why don’t you just leave her alone,” Maddie said, taking a step forward on her crutches. “Mackenzie is better than you’ll ever be, so just go back over with your team. Well, actually, they aren’t even your dancers considering you didn’t even train them.”
Cathy gasped in a completely over the top way. “Didn’t you mother ever teach you to respect your elders?”
“She taught me to respect people who deserved that from me. You aren’t one of those people. So just leave…okay?”
At that, Cathy turned and went back to her team, a sour look on her face.
All of the girls
“Way to go, Mads!” Kendall said, and Maddie smiled at her.
“Thanks,” Maddie replied. “I’ve wanted to say that for a long time.”
All of the girls laughed at that and a steady stream of conversation flowed from them until Mackenzie felt something buzz in her backpack. So she slowly took her phone out only to find she had two texts. From Tyler.
Tyler: Do you want to go see a movie next week?
Mackenzie smiled at that.
Tyler: It would just be us…
As soon as Mackenzie read the two texts, she couldn’t help but giggle. These giggles turned into a full out “happy dance” usually Mackenzie usually only preformed in her head.
“You know what, kiddo,” Abby said. “You definitely aren’t Maddie.”
For once, that didn’t really bother Mackenzie. She was and only could be herself and that was good enough for her.
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I'm Trying ||m.z||
Fanfiction"Tell me, will it ever be my turn to show the world I'm ready, and it's my time to shine"
