I Won't Let You Close Enough to Hurt Me

Chapter 11

     After talking to Abby, Kelly and Brooke rushed into the bathroom. She needed to have herself calmed down before they started group rehearsals, and there wasn't that much time.

     "Brooke, listen to me. I don't care what Abby says, I won't ever let you dance with someone that treats you so badly. You don't deserve anything he has said or done to you. You are such a beautiful girl, and I hope you see that," Kelly said as she dried Brooke's eyes. It killed her that Brandon had hurt her daughter so badly.

     "I know, I just don't want Abby to be mad at me. I guess I'll just try my hardest to have more chemistry with Nick," Brooke said quietly.

     Kelly pulled Brooke in for one last long hug before they walked into the dancers den. "Why don't you get a drink and relax for a few minutes. I'm going to head back upstairs, but you come and get me if you need anything, alright?"

     Brooke just nodded in response. She walked over to her bag to get a quick drink as her mom disappeared upstairs. Then, she pulled out her math homework to work on in the time she had left. She had only gotten through a few problems when Maddie was sent out of studio A to get her.

     "Hi Brookie, Miss Abby says it's time for group rehearsals," Maddie said cautiously. She could tell by looking in Brooke's eyes that she was still upset.

     "Alright, Mads," Brooke sighed. She knew she would have to dance sooner or later.

     Maddie had no idea what to say to make Brooke feel better, so she just gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and grabbed her hand. Together, they walked into the studio.

     "Brooke, I'm glad you could finally join us," Abby said sarcastically. "You can take a few minutes to stretch while the other girls run the group number."

     Brooke sighed and found a place off to the side to stretch. She slid down into the splits at the music began to blast through the speakers. The routine was actually very impressive. Not only was the choreography very fresh and new, but all of the girls got a chance to show off their best skills. Paige started the routine with a round-off back-tuck, Maddie got to show off a very complex set of turns, Chloe had a center leap when she took center stage, and Brooke was supposed to have a front ariel. The dance looked much cleaner than it had the day before.

     After a few times running the dance through, Brooke jumped in. From the moment she started dancing, it was a complete disaster. She was forgetting steps, running into the other girls, and falling on all of her tricks. The second the dance ended, Brooke knew that she was in trouble.

     "Brooke, until you can concentrate on the dance instead of those two boys in the next room, we have no chance of winning. I'm going to send all of you guys out while I teach Paige and Kendall their duet, but if you can't do the dance perfectly by the time their done, I'm going to have to pull you from the routine," Abby threatened.

     All of the girls except Paige and Kendall filed into the dancers den. After Brooke got a quick drink, she headed to studio C to practice the group number. She knew that all of the girls really wanted her to fill them in on the latest drama, but she couldn't risk being pulled from the group number. After practicing by herself for awhile, her mind started to clear, and her dancing started to improve.

     About an hour later, Abby called all the girls into studio A to practice the group number one more time. Even though Brooke was nervous that she would mess the dance up, she got in her beginning spot and took a deep breath. The music started, and all of her worries melted away. She had so much energy, and she knew that her facials were spot on. When the dance ended, Abby told her that she would remain in the dance. Brooke couldn't be more relieved.

     "Alright, that's enough group rehearsal for the day," Abby told the girls. "Brooke, go get Brandon and Nick. It's duet time again."

     Brooke hesitated, and Paige could see how uncomfortable she was. "I'll go get them," Paige volunteered. When she came back with them seconds later, all of the girls except for Brooke left the room. 

     "Alright kids, now I don't know what happened in the dancers den before, and I don't care. You guys aren't babies anymore, so you have to be mature. If Brandon looks better in the dance, Brandon will be in the dance. End of story. Now let's get to work," Abby told them.

     Nick walked over to Abby's laptop to start the music as Brooke and Brandon made their way to the center of the floor. They all knew that the next hour was going to be extremely awkward.