𝒫𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒮𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃 𝒮𝒽𝑜𝑒𝓈

𝟤𝟣𝟩. 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝒹𝒾𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓈𝑒𝒸𝓇𝑒𝓉

"Expliquez en détail les principales causes et conséquences de la mondialisation économique," I read in the textbook, beginning to scribble down an answer.

"La mondialisation économique est le résultat de la libéralisation des échanges, des avancées technologiques et de la recherche de nouvelles opportunités économiques. Ses conséquences incluent une intégration économique accrue, des inégalités et des défis environnementaux," I write down, trying to remember when to use du, de la, and des.

I love learning French. It's such a complicated and romantic language. Iris is learning Spanish and it doesn't look half as hard as what I'm doing. To be fair, she's in Spanish I and I'm already in French V, but I get a lot of downtime and I barely know how to speak the language. I can only read and write, while Iris is way better at speaking.

As I begin to read the next question, I hear a sharp rap at the door. Scooter begins to bark at whoever's at the door. I watch from the dining table as Mommy stops stirring the pot of chili she's making for dinner and marches to the front door. When she opens it, I see a man in a blue polo shirt and khakis.

"Good morning, ma'am. Are you interested in upgrading your home security system," he inquires, a pen tapping on his clipboard.

"Uh, no thank you," Mommy politely states, but as she begins to close the door, he slams his foot in the opening.

"Ah, but what if I told you that your lack of a security system could easily allow people with ill intentions to sneak in?" he pushes, and I can see Mommy trying to close the door.

"Well, I haven't had any issues so far, so I think I'm alright," she says.

"But you never know, do you? The world is a dangerous place, full of unexpected surprises. Don't you want to feel truly safe?" he asks and as Mommy tries to think of an answer, I hear Logan's footsteps bound up the stairs.

If I wanted to feel truly safe, I would run to Mackenzie's house. Her soon-to-be step-father is a lot nicer than Logan.

"Excuse me, what are you doing? My fiancée says we're good," Logan booms, towering over the man.

Quickly dissuaded from pursuing any farther, he shakes his head and turns on his heels. "Nope. Have a good day, sir."

My stomach sinks as Logan closes the door. Mommy's engaged to him?

🧡🧡 🧡🧡🧡

"Girls, let's go," Miss Abby shouts, beckoning us into the studio. "Come on. Come on. Come on. Hustle up. You should all run in here, wanting to be first."

I quickly walk to the studio, the first one in the doors. Staring at the pyramid, I know I'll be somewhat high up. Mackenzie has to be at the top, though. She was the only one to pull out a win on Saturday. Adjusting my black leotard in the mirror, I step in line next to Maddie on the end. Glancing at Miss Abby, I can tell she's mad, so I stare back at the mirror, noticing the paper reading, "Nine Weeks Until Nationals!" instead of ten.

"All right, so Energy Dance in Waterford Township, Michigan. Again, you were second. Any other would probably think, overall, high score, second place was wonderful. I'm not any other teacher. The feet were sloppy. We need to fix the feet," Miss Abby begins, her voice loud and gruff.

"And now the pyramid," Miss Abby immediately announces, slapping her hands together. "On the bottom, Paige and Brooke. Once again, you're still on probation. You never came to me and said, 'Hey, can I enter my solo?' Brooke, you should want to do that acrobatic routine. It was beautiful."

That style seems to only work with Maddie. If Paige and Brooke were to ask to do their solos they barely prepared for, they would've gotten screamed at. Sometimes Miss Abby puts kids on probation for no reason whatsoever.