⎼⎼⎼ 𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 ➵ 𝑏.𝑓.

016

brady

it was snowing. gia pressed her nose up against the glass and watched the snowflakes fall. it was a lucky sign for her. her grandmother was with her.

and all the moms were currently screaming at each other.

"alright," abby said, ending the yelling. "gianina, you said you needed lyrical to win. we gave you all of that, so i hope this is your 'it' dance, or it's gonna be the end. hannah. jazz about gypsy rose lee, you have to portray the character. you can't let her beat you!

brady, contemporary ballet, this is your swan song. make this memorable, understand?" i nodded.

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"up next we have brady with swan song!"

i tried. i used my technique and everything i could remember from miss abby's yelling. this was her favourite broadway show and she expected me to win. that's a lot of pressure, in case you didn't guess.

"let's go brady!" lilly yelled from the wings, the team piling through to hug me.

"you don't deserve this," mouse sighed, going through to wish gia luck.

"please welcome to the stage, hannah with tainted rose!"

hannah looked like she loved the dance, but it was lacking technically. she fell out of her turns and stumbled. it wasn't clean. i winced. when she did come off stage, she was beaming with happiness.

"that was the most fun i've had since i came on the show," she gasped, hugging savvy back.

"up next, please welcome to the stage, gianina with snowflake!"

she was incredible. the emotion really shone through on her face as she danced. it showed that she cared and loved her dance. i guess lyrical really was her thing.

"farrari, i think you're going down," mouse whooped. i rolled my eyes.

"sure," i drawled, but i was a little worried. gia's performance was amazing. we rushed backstage again to get ready for our group routine.

the moms cheered as we walked in. gia rushed to her mom and threw her arms around her.

"i think you were awesome," mom said, stitching a headpiece in her hands.

"thank you," i grinned.

"woohoo!" abby cheered, "brady, so good, so effortless, i thought it was phenomenal.

"hannah. i saw attitude, i saw a little sass, you exceeded my expectations.

"gianina. i told you that being a member of this team was on the line. and when i put your head on that chopping block," she made a squishing motion with her hands, "you stepped up. that shouldn't be the relationship. i shouldn't have to threaten you to get you to be the best you can be."

"you'll never have to do that again," gia assured.

"alright then, let's go."

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mikki

i wasn't looking or anything, but it was a little hard to concentrate on fixing my hair into a ponytail when brady had his shirt off.

"tricia, how are you feeling about brady's last group?" ashley asked.

"i'm upset because he doesn't want to leave."

can we please stop talking about this? i begged mentally.

"well i'm excited for next week to see these six girls rise up," mom shrugged. shut up mom. please don't.

"it'll give the girls a chance to shine," ann agreed.

"i can't wait," tricia said sarcastically, "you guys go out, kill it next week without him, you'll be crying for him to come back."

"the queen is here!" abby announced grandly, a red crown perched lopsidedly on her head and carrying a silver radio microphone. i laughed.

"all right. everybody has to pull their weight. is every eye going to be on brady? not mine! girls, brady's not going to be here next week. you have to own the stage. let's go!"

"ok," gia said as we waited in the wing, "we're going to channel freddy mercury and we're going to-"

"-kill it," i finished, "let's do the thing the original junior elite team used to do!"

"one two, one two, one two, one two, kiss kiss, knee knee, knock knock," we chanted, "one two three, we are abby lee!"

"and next we have abby lee dance company with king of queens!"

i thought that it was incredible. we were together, we were clean and we danced like it was the last time we'd ever dance. which it was, for brady. he performed the lead part incredibly.

"woo!" i screamed bringing everyone into a hug. "that was so amazing!"

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"our 12 to 14 solos. seventh overall, hannah with tainted rose!" i grimaced. seventh? "sixth, naomi with neverland. fifth place, roman with smiling face!" the mc went through all the awards until second without abby lee dance company. "in second place, brady with swan song!"

i applauded. that meant gia was first! i was sure of it.

"and in first place, gianina with snowflake!"

i cheered myself hoarse. this was the one week where gia was dancing for something that meant a lot to her. but i felt bad for brady, going home with a second place trophy.