I Wanna Be With You

Chapter One: On the Dance Floor

I step onto the cool floor. I breathe in deeply. This is where I belong, on the dance floor. The pounding music is a beat I recognize. Swine. It's a song by my favourite artist, Lady Gaga. It has an incredibly complex beat, an amazing beat but difficult to dance to, especially improv. That's my task, they want to see how well I can dance under pressure, how well I can improv. They are a panel of judges that are rating me on a score based on my dancing abilities. Earlier they watched how well I could pick up choreography, then how well I could execute the choreography using facial expressions and passion. Now they will watch us improv to a random song.

I love any song by Lady Gaga and I dance ten times better when I am dancing to her music. The universe is in my favour today. I need to dance my best because if I impress these judges, my chances of getting a job as a dancer are high. The audience is filled with talent scouts, choreographers and other people of importance. I need to impress them, I need a job.

And why? Why does a fourteen year old girl need a job so desperately? I need to provide for my two younger sisters, I am responsible for them, I need to give them a better life. We live in a home for kids who don't have parents. I don't know if our mother is dead or alive. It doesn't matter as far as I'm concerned, she didn't want us anyway.

The beat gets faster, almost impossible. Triple turn into a layout... and... Nailed it! I'll show off my flexibility, that's my strong point. I grab my foot and pull it up straight above my head. Split jump with a developé. Yes! Everything I'm doing is on point! When Lady Gaga screams the word "SWINE!" One last time, the song is over.

I breathe in deeply and look out into the audience. A woman stands up and cheers and claps, but the lights pointed directly on me are too bright and I can't see her face. The judges are actually smiling as they write down my score! Did I impress them?!

I gracefully walk off stage. A proper entrance and exit off the stage is always mandatory. As Mary Ann would have said "You can't just walk on and off the stage like a bum, walk with elegance and grace!" Mary Ann is the woman who trained me for a couple of years before she died. We lived with her after our mother left. Since Mary Ann died we have been moved from many foster homes and child group homes. It kinda sucks. Now we're in a group home in New York City and there are lots of dancing opportunities for me. Any money I make goes directly to my sisters education funds, it's so important that they are educated after high school so they will have good lives.

I go backstage and collect my things. Most of the other people preforming have lots of stage makeup, expensive clothing and dance shoes. I look down at my outfit, plain grey leggings and a pink top. Bare feet. I'm hoping that the judges won't mind. Dance shoes are expensive and I prefer to dance bare foot anyways.

The competition director comes into the girls change room "Ladies, five minutes until the scores will be given out" she shouts. Suddenly I'm nervous, what if they didn't like me?

We pile out onto the stage and they one by one the announcer calls up the dancers and shout out their scores into a microphone. "Number 56, Rylin Wayde" Thats me! I stand up and walk to stand beside the announcer holding a microphone. "Well, Miss Rylin the judges were impressed with your ability to pick up choreography and were amazed by your stunning flexibility. However we were most impressed with your improvisation and would like to award you the Improv Award, a cash award of $500 and a score of 96 out of 100!" Five hundred dollars! That's going directly into the savings! The same woman who clapped for me before stands up and cheers.

The awards are over and all the dancers who got scores higher then 75 out of 100 freshen up and go to a special sitting room. This is where people interested in hiring you will get a chance to talk to you. A woman with short, curly black hair approaches me.

"Hello Rylin Wayde, I'm Cindy Benson, a talent scout for the choreographer Melissa DeSoto." She reaches out and shakes my hand. I smile at her.

"How are you?" I ask, only to be polite.

"I'm very good thank you. Now Rylin could I ask you a few questions?" She asks. "How old are you?" She continues quickly.

Shit. I know I'm going to be discriminated for my age, people usually want dancers over the age of eighteen because they aren't in high school anymore and it's easier to schedule work hours. "I'm fourteen." I say.

"Okay.." Cindy continues slowly. "How long have you been dancing for?" She asks

"I've been training since I was about 8 years old, so roughly six years." I say.

"Alright." Cindy says. "Can I have your number or some way of contacting you?" I give her my email, I don't have a cell phone and I can't give her the group home number, that would be embarrassing. She thanks me then quickly moves on to a girl who is much older then I am. I sigh, my chances of her contacting me again are not high.

From across the room I see a man and a woman whispering and looking at me. Its the woman who was clapping for me before. She points at me then whispers something in the mans ear. It's obvious that they are talking about me. I feel extremely self conscious and insecure. What are they saying about me? The woman catches my eye and I quickly look away. She grabs the mans arm and pulls him over to the couch where I'm sitting.

"Hello Rylin!" She says brightly and sits down beside me.

"Hi." I say shyly.

"You're an amazing dancer Rylin." She says.

"Thank you!" I say with a smile. I recognize that she was the woman who was cheering for me before. I get a better look at her. She looks familiar. She has long black hair and short black bangs. She has eyeliner with huge wings on the sides of her green eyes. She's wearing a vintage pale pink top with vintage lace on the neck and sleeves.

"Let me introduce myself, I am Lady Gaga, but you can call me Gaga and this is my choreographer Richy Jackson" my stomach drops. Lady Gaga, I am speaking to my favourite singer, Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga said I was an amazing dancer.

"You.. I... I danced to your song..I danced to Swine... You were watching?!" I can barely get the words out.

"Yes, I was." She says with a smile. "You were amazing. You are amazing Rylin."

"Thank you so much!" I blurt out. Snap out of it Rylin, act professional. I clear my throat. "Well it's nice to meet you, Gaga" I say and hold my hand out and shake her hand.

"Well, Rylin like I said before, you are an amazing dancer, you are an artist." She says her face growing serious. "Would you be willing to go out for lunch with me sometime tomorrow so we can talk about your dancing?" Talk about my dancing? Why does Lady Gaga want to talk about my dancing? Either way I would never give up an opportunity to eat a meal with Lady Gaga.

"Sure." I say trying to sound as normal as possible. "When and where?"

"My dad owns a restaurant called Joanne Trattoria. Wanna meet there around 11:30am tomorrow?" Gaga asks.

"Yes, that's perfect. I'll see you then." I say.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow Rylin." Gaga smiles and turns and walks away.