𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖲𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗌 || 𝖣𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝖬𝗈𝗆𝗌

Abby Got Served

The holiday spirit was all over the studio, and I was starting to get really excited.

By the front desk, Mrs. Miller had pinned a Christmas-themed calendar, and every day, a different person would cross another day out. There were thirteen days left until Christmas, and Zane had already started making predictions of how many gifts Santa Claus would bring us.

For some weird reason, yesterday, there was a gift under the tree, and Elle asked Mommy about it. When we woke up today, the gift was gone, and Daddy was carrying something out to his car.

Every single afternoon ― at least Monday through Thursday ―, I'd skip into the studio, look up to the "December 2006" calendar, and get even more excited when I noticed that another day was crossed out.

There was one last competition some of the kids at the studio were going to before the break. It was this Saturday, and one of my closest-- my best friend, Chloe, was going to compete with her first solo. She was barely a year older, but we did everything together. She was really excited about her "Princess Chloe" solo, and I liked watching her rehearse.

I had also been rehearsing a dance of my own. It was called "Don't Rain On My Parade", and it was from a musical. Miss Jeninne ― who had just graduated ― had been helping me with it, and what she wanted to do was to have it ready by next year's dance concert. According to them, I was still too young to compete, and if I competed, then some of the older dancers should compete as well. Just like Chloe, Elle and Paige hadn't competed solos. Ever.

But I thought I was doing good with my solo. It was really funny, and I knew all the lyrics to the song. I was on a Broadway level of good!

On the afternoon of December twelve, Chloe and I were sitting in the den. She was showing me a game her mom's new phone had, and I was leaning on her. I was wearing one of my brother's big jackets because the room was really cold, and it was also snowing outside. I had my knees pulled up to my chest, covering them with the black and gray jacket, and my hair was down.

Every couple of seconds, she would cough really bad. She was getting really sick, and she looked fatigued, but she was still trying to pull through to dance this weekend. The only reason she was out there with me and not rehearsing was that she had tried to, but she couldn't breathe well, so it was either breathing or dancing. She was sent out to calm down and see if she would get better.

The door that led to the front desk opened and we both looked up from the small device. The brunette assistant teacher looked at us before asking. "Are you feeling better, Chlo?"

I turned to look at the blonde. "A little--" She then coughed again. "--Bit."

Jeninne sighed in disappointment, and I pouted as I watched the older girl hold back tears. Then, the woman's eyes fell on me and I sat up straight, pulling away from my friend.

"I think I have an idea." She muttered under her breath and then spoke up. "G, can you go over your routine in studio "A" with me?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, not understanding what she had meant, but once I noticed Chloe's encouraging look, I realized what it was all about. I then nodded in response and stood up to follow her, with my best friend wishing me good luck.

It's crazy to think how our relationship basically went downhill from there.

I was trying my hardest not to think about her anymore, but we had known each other since we were two. She was a big part of my life, but it didn't seem like I had it in hers. I still tried to pull through and not think about it anymore. I wanted to enjoy my time with the other girls, even if we were getting yelled at most of the time.