𝙀𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙡𝙙. 𝘼 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙞𝙜𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙮𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚. 𝙈𝙚𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙞 𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙧𝙖 𝙆𝙞𝙢 𝙍𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚-𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙩 𝘼𝙇𝘿𝘾. 𝘽𝙖𝙗𝙮 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙡𝙚, 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜.

Being the favorite had its advantages... or at least, that's what everyone said. Brianna Calder had the best costumes, the most solos, and a name that was always announced last, saved for the moment that mattered most. People smiled at her more, praised her louder, expected her to win before she even stepped on stage. But what they didn't see, the part no one ever talked about, was everything that came with it. Perfection wasn't a goal for Brianna. It was the bare minimum. Every turn had to be cleaner, every leap higher, every expression sharper than the last time. A single wobble, a forgotten count, even the smallest mistake felt like the end of the world. Because when you were the favorite, mistakes didn't just belong to you, they disappointed everyone watching. The pressure never really left her. It sat heavy on her chest in the wings, followed her into rehearsals, and whispered in the back of her mind even when the music stopped. There was no such thing as "just doing your best." Not for her. Not when second place meant you were the first to lose. And Brianna knew it better than anyone. Because at eight years old, she had already learned that being the favorite didn't mean you were the happiest in the room. It just meant you had the most to lose. (DANCE MOMS FANFIC S1-S5)