𝒫𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒮𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃 𝒮𝒽𝑜𝑒𝓈

𝟤𝟢𝟥. 𝒷𝓇𝑜𝑜𝓀𝑒'𝓈 𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓃𝓉

"𝐻𝑒𝓎, 𝒽𝑜𝓃, 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒹𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝒽𝑒𝓈. I'm taking Rue to dance. I need to start dinner soon when I get back so we can go to Iris' field hockey championships," Mommy shouts to Logan outside as he's doing his soccer drills.

Logan, deciding to barely give us the time of day, merely mumbles an, "Mhm."

"What are we having for dinner?" I ask, tying my ballet skirt under my sweatpants.

"I think chicken spaghetti with garlic bread and green beans. Something nourishing," Mommy reports and I smile. I love chicken spaghetti.

🧡🧡

"I can't believe you beat Maddie," Nia exclaims, flopping on the carpet dramatically.

"I know. It was very unexpected," I sigh. "It'll never happen again. They want me to do an interview about it."

"Be careful with what you say. They're going to edit it into unfathomable sentences that make you sound like a brat," Maddie warns.

"They edited one of mine and I think they pitched Paige's voice into mine. It was so weird," Chloé laughs.

"Anyway, are you guys excited for fall break coming up?" Brooke asks, stretching her back out.

"Isn't Josh's hockey team coming to our Thanksgiving?" Paige asks.

"We all know you have a crush on Brad from the hockey team," Chloé scoffs.

"Shut up!"

"Girls, come on!" Miss Abby screams. "Let's go!"

We all quickly sit up and race to Studio A. I'm so nervous. Will I be on the top of the pyramid? I definitely have a chance. I retie my dusty teal ballet skirt again as I power walk in the line. My pink leotard doesn't make the best combination, but it still looks cute.

"I cannot believe he didn't do the dishes. We're gonna be so behind on dinner," Mommy sighs as she rants to Melissa. "He doesn't do jackshit around the house."

"Give him some time. He needs to find his place now that he's living with two kids," Melissa reasons and Mommy closes her eyes and nods.

As I enter the room, my hands start to get clammy. I start pinching my hand again. The skin folds against itself and lifts up, the nerves sending shockwaves through my hand in pain. Each pinch makes me feel like I'm in control. I can handle the responsibility of building my own career. Of getting to the top.

As I stand on the end to Mackenzie, Miss Abby states, "Let's have a big round of applause. I think we made applesauce, don't you?"

I nod. Brooke got first place against Erica and we won the group dance against the Candy Apples altogether. Cathy had come to congratulate us in the dressing room right after the awards, but it was not because she was happy. She was pissed.

"Now, the group won. They won the overall. But you know what? That was one competition. For this week, we are going to Starbound in New Jersey. We walk into Starbound, you need to be those national champions," Miss Abby tells us.

I think back on Nationals. "This Is My Beauty, Abby Lee Dance Company! Make some noise," the announcer announces and my mouth opens in shock, my arms being jostled from the other girl's jumping up and down.

I look at Mommy, then Nonno and Nonna, then Iris, then Miss Abby. All of them are clapping and whooping. WE DID IT! WE WON! I begin jumping up and down with them, hugging Mackenzie tightly.

"Alright. On the bottom... Nia. Simply because of the mistake in the choreography. And that dance is easy. It's simple," Miss Abby says, and Nia frowns, recalling the mistake. It was a big mistake to be fair, but it was just one mistake.