Une Fleure Fanée

Week 8 Part 7 (Saturday)

     "Wake up girls! The bus is leaving in an hour and a half!" Ms. Ashley shouts and I shoot up.

     It's just the hotel room. I see Hannah and Sarah waking up too. I'm also like, ten feet off the ground. I climb the ladder down and Gia's already on her phone. I don't want to hurt my heart with the social media comments right before a competition. People aren't mean to you, Lilliana. You just can't handle the truth because you are a little crybaby.

     An hour before I can take my medicine. I also have 300 calories that will most likely go to waste since it's competition day.

     "Who's ready for the competition?" Ms. Michelle asks, and we all make the weakest woops because we've just been woken up.

     I'm the last one to use the bathroom, slipping on the same pink ALDC hoodie and black leggings, along with black sneakers. Mom ties up my hair in a high ponytail and gives me my meds. I swallow the two bitter pills quickly, and then make sure I have all my competition stuff in the black suitcase. My duet costume, my group costume, my makeup, and my hair things are all there.

     There's a lot on the line here. We've lost twice. Plus, people haven't been getting along lately. Pressley and Gia keep scowling at each other. It also seems like there has been a real fight between Mom and Ms. Yolanda because they keep glaring at each other.

     I get on the bus next to Hannah, and I bounce my leg in half-anxiety, half-excitement. We need to win the group dance. I need to win against Elliana and Gia too. The bus, despite being six in the morning, is surprisingly chatty. As we arrive at the high school, I don't see any crowd. Nobody cares about you, Lilliana. So, they don't care about the rest of the team. You're the reason there isn't a crowd and the reason last week and the week before didn't have one.

     We retrieve our materials from the luggage and I skip ahead, trying to make myself seem chipper and happy and upbeat. I wish I was in the back, though. Because when we walk in, I'm right in the splash zone for a bunch of screaming fans in the hallway. I guess there is a crowd. Ms. Abby isn't with us when we get through the people.

     "Abby said to go in and start getting ready," Mom instructs all of us and we head into the dressing room.

     Mom starts putting that messy bun in my hair, teasing it to make it look crazy. I put on the fake jewel silver headband and begin doing my makeup. It looks natural bar the maroon lip and a very extravagant white eyeliner. You look so ugly without makeup, Lilliana. Your skin looks awful unless it's covered up. I check my arms one last time. When nobody is looking, I fix up the two barely visible scars and powder the hell out of them with setting powder.

     "So, are you guys excited for today?" Elliana asks us.

     "Yeah," we all reply, and I can already sense an argument forming.

     "I'm really excited for the duo and the group dance," Ellie comments, trying to start a conversation.

     "Well, I think we haven't been a team anymore, and I feel like, there's been, like, a separation between the team," Pressley adds.

     "Um, I think there was an incident that happened, that everyone was saying that Gia was trying to take me away from the team. She's not purposely trying to exclude me from the team and have me all for herself. She's just been really nice to me 'cause I've been the newcomer. Like, all of you guys have been nice to me, but she's been, like, especially nice," Elliana explains.

     I don't believe Gia was isolating Ellie from the team, but she was definitely not letting us hang out with her as much as we would have liked.