⎼⎼⎼ 𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 ➵ 𝑏.𝑓.

010

brady

"any predictions on the overalls?" ashley asked, brushing press's hair.

"abby didn't give us any predictions yet on who she thought was gonna win," mum shrugged, the corners of her mouth down.

"well, honestly, it's like-" oh. my. goodness. not this again. joanne had been insisting all week that gia was definitely gonna win.

"i can only do what she gives me, so i'm just gonna make it my best and hope that i come out on top, because her words don't matter, her opinions don't matter," gia stated.

i was shocked. i didn't think that gia would be this rude. the other moms had their mouths wide open. mikki too.

"abby's words don't matter, and abby's opinion doesn't matter?" ashley repeated in shock.

"you said you can only do what she gives you, does that mean you don't like your dance?" stacey interrogated. this was getting out of hand. sooner or later, abby would know about this and gia...

"i love my dance!" that was weird. she was crying about it yesterday.

"but yesterday, i thought you said she was crying because she didn't like the dance," ashley retorted.

joanne leapt to her daughter's defence. "it's not that she doesn't like the dance, it's just, you know, gia doesn't do sassy jazz. if she does a jazz dance, it's-it's got strength to it, it's not pretty and sparkly."

i could see ashley rolling her eyes as i warmed up behind her.

"it just seems really fake," she said, "all of it's just really-"

"what's fake?"

"it just seems so...contradictory! like you say one thing, and then your saying something completely different." i thought that was fair. mikki was looking really uncomfortable. she shot me a 'drama!' look.

"her dance is-is-is like cheesy jazz!"

i looked at miss gianna. she looked shocked. it was her choreography after all.

"and, i'm her mom-"

"but she said she loved it!" ashley cut in, "that was what she was saying!"

i lost interest after that. everyone was talking over one another and it was too hard to follow the thread.

abby wheeled in. thank goodness it wasn't in the middle of the fight.

i left at that point. i didn't want to hear the remonstrations. mouse followed me into the corridor.

"let's go freak the others out," she grinned, "i'm allowed to dance today, but i haven't learned the choreo, that's the only reason i'm not in the dance."

we went backstage.

"pirouettes?" i suggested. mouse gave a thumbs up and we went into a turn sequence, spinning for as long as we could before going into an aerial.

gia and the rest of the team came out soon.

"stop crying!" abby yelled. she went into full flow lecture mode. i put my arm around gia and mouse hugged her tightly.

"don't listen to what she said. dance isn't about winning, but that's good, i guess. dance is about you. you and you only, ok? this isn't abby's solo, this is yours. fact," she joked. gia gave a dry laugh.

i watched gia's solo. if i was completely honest, i thought it was a hot mess. she had really let abby's words and her opinion get into her head and into her dancing. looking at mouse cringing beside me, i could tell she was thinking the same thing.

"it wasn't...her best dance," she admitted quietly, applauding as gia came off stage into the other wing.

"i know," i agreed, scooting off backstage. i hugged and congratulated gia, telling her it was a great dance. that wasn't a lie. it was a pretty good dance, just not competition level. we went back into the dressing room to get ready for the group dance.

the costume was pretty basic. a polo shirt with ripped jeans. mouse got changed too, even though she wasn't dancing, she would go with us if we won any awards.

"alright, time for the group dance!" abby yelled, waving us out the door three hours later. all of us shook out backstage as we waited for our number to come on. mikki found herself a comfortable spot and fell into conversation with a tall blonde with a grey costume.

"break a leg!" she whispered as our number was called.

all throughout the dance, i tried to think of things that were so wrong and broken in this world. things that should never happen but still do. things that are only caused by human selfishness and hate. things that are irrational and groundless. like the mass shootings that almost reached savannah's sister.

when we came off on the final note, i felt like we had smashed it.

"incredible," mouse whispered hoarsely, "that was incredible." she hugged each of us in turn and we went backstage to pack up our belongings.

"mom!" hannah yelled, "can we have a sleepover?"

"the whole team?" ann asked, shoving some needles into a plastic bag.

"no," mouse whispered, "just the president and a couple of dinosaurs."

i laughed.

"sure," erin agreed. everyone cheered.

"awards!" abby screamed an hour later.

we filed back out onto the stage and sat in the front row.

"alright, starting with our teen soloists, we have in fourth place..." we held each other tightly, "rich girl, gianina! in third place, mambo italiano! in second place, the last unicorn, hannah!"

we all applauded.

"and in first place, brady with ptsd!" i felt on top of the world as i received my trophy.

"one for each of us," mikki whispered. i remembered that she'd already had a solo. and won first place. and the overall.

"moving onto groups, and we have our top three awards in junior small groups. in third place, the boldy? children from interactive academy. in second place, we have your beat from interactive academy! and your highest scoring junior group, thoughts and prayers, abby lee dance company!"