⎼⎼⎼ 𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 ➵ 𝑏.𝑓.

034

brady

i could feel mikki's anxiety practically radiating off her as she stood in the wings next to me.

"are you ready?" i whispered. she nodded and i gave her a side hug, my heart beating straight out of my chest. wow. i must really be nervous for the dance.

or maybe it isn't for the dance. maybe it's for-

"next up is act number 25, the river, brady, mikki and connor!"

i thought we all did incredible. mikki was fluid and natural, like the river she was portraying, her facials on pointe, while connor and i were far more rigid and technical, symbolising the men who were polluting the river. i knew connor had a tough week with abby picking constantly on him, but he pulled through on this dance.

⤎⎼༌·⋱🩰⋰⋆༌⎼⤏

mikki

the dance almost made me cry. i felt like i was that river, polluted until i didn't want to flow anymore. i had to have another force of water before i could break the dam that i was currently stuck in. brady and connor supported me throughout the dance, just as they did in real life. i was grateful.

but i wanted pressley back.

⤎⎼༌·⋱🩰⋰⋆༌⎼⤏

maggie

the dance did make me cry. my daughter was up there, dancing with her two best friends. it was hard for a teenage girl to fight with her friends, and even though she hadn't told me, i knew something was going on with her and pressley. mothers know things like that.

connor made me proud. abby had been drilling him all week and he had endured it, even though inside he was bursting to let out his emotions. it was hard for a vocal kid like him to keep it in.

i knew something none of the other moms did. something about connor.

he was leaving.

⤎⎼༌·⋱🩰⋰⋆༌⎼⤏

connor

brady was a better person and dancer than i had ever expected him to be. i knew he'd helped mikki when she went through a rough patch and even if i did feel jealous that mikki hadn't told me what was plaguing her, she had someone to lean on.

the dance felt smooth and just as it should be. contemporary. new. harmoniously chaotic. kind of life the show. bittersweet too.

i was leaving.

⤎⎼༌·⋱🩰⋰⋆༌⎼⤏

pressley

i prayed none of us would get hurt. we practiced one time in the water and we weren't confident whatsoever.

i tried to dance well in the water dance. it was hard since my mind was almost entirely on mikki and our fight.

if only i'd said it nicer.

why did she lash out at me?

she knew i liked connor.

i should have been more sensitive.

i miss my best friend.

⤎⎼༌·⋱🩰⋰⋆༌⎼⤏

mikki

"top junior solo, in third place, elliana with carrie!"

i could see ellie's face drop.

"and our top scoring junior solo, with a perfect score, lilliana with straight escape!"

it was magic for lilly. absolute magic. her face lit up and the widest grin spread across her face.

"in second place for our teen duet trios, it's the river, mikki, brady and connor!"

i wanted to cry. second place? there was no way that abby would be nice after this.

"and second place for our junior group routines, the burmuda triangle from abby lee dance company!"

⤎⎼༌·⋱🩰⋰⋆༌⎼⤏

"lilly, you did incredibly, a perfect 300 does not happen often. i think, along with mikki's say something solo, it was one of the best solos to have ever competed from the aldc."

i could hear a but coming.

"but aside from lilly, this week was a huge disappointment. elliana. third. the trio. second. the group. fourth."