Her Escape, His Safe Haven

Chapter 49- Are You Jealous?

Athena's POV

"And my kiss?" I called after Eli who was about to walk away before finishing our ritual. He brought be a chocolate muffin this morning as the first part, but the kiss is my favorite.

"Like I could forget." He winked before walking back to me to place a kiss on my awaiting lips. He wrapped one hand firmly around my neck and the other on my hip before dramatically dipping me and deepening the kiss. I couldn't help the giggle he caused. "Good luck baby girl, not that you need it." He whispered in my ear after pulling me back to an upright position. 

"I'll see you after." I called after him as he went to find his seat with Charlie.

"I'll be cheering the loudest!" He yelled back causing people to give him silly looks. 

I chuckled and turned towards the dressing area where I'd be getting ready. Our first dance will be our group performance so I pulled on the gray two piece costume we were all assigned for this performance. The dance was a little different than anything we'd done before and I'm honestly really excited to dance it. 

I pulled my hair back and helped the other girls who needed assistance with either last minute makeup touches or their hair. Once we were all ready Ms. Mack pulled us all together for her usual pep talk.

"Okay guys, whos ready?" She asked and we all cheered. "Good. Now you're gonna go out there and do exactly what you know to do, okay? You know the choreo, you know the timing. You guys have this down and you're gonna do great, you're gonna qualify for nationals okay? We got this!" We all cheered again, just in time for us to be called to the wings. We are next.

We stood of to the side of the stage and I got a little glimpse of the group before us, they were good. No doubt about that, but there were two girls in the back that were a whole beat off in their timing. I watched a little closer and noticed another girl sickling her foot. I couldn't help but cringe. 

Their dance ended and we had about a minute before they would call us out. I pulled everyone into me for our second ritual, a group hug. "I believe in all of you, don't forget to enjoy the rush guys." I smiled and everyone cheered quietly before we were called on stage.

The music started and we performed.

We were a tad too close to each other for the first lift, but we made it work. I took a deep breath trying not to focus on any minor mistakes. Timing is good, my feet are perfect, no one has fallen. I let out another breath and began to enjoy the feeling of performing. The joy I get from dancing with these talented people. The pride I feel that I get to show them off to the world. 

The dance ends with Deliah standing in the middle of all of us, and she did beautifully. We exited the stage and made it back to our room that we have for last minute rehearsal or getting ready. On our way out I heard Eli in the crowd and sure enough he was cheering the loudest. For both me and Deliah.

"Beautiful guys. A few things could have been a tad cleaner, but overall I'm incredibly proud of you guys." Ms. Mack encouraged.

I pulled Deliah to me in a big hug. "You ready sweet girl?" I asked referring to our duet that we would be doing next.

"Beyond ready." She smiled. 

We pulled on our simple costumes complete with nude dance paws. We wore black spandex, light purple sports bra things and topped it off with flannel shirts unbuttoned.