⎼⎼⎼ 𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 ➵ 𝑏.𝑓.

052

"i love new york," brady said for the millionth time, "it's so pretty. so dirty and-"

"shut up!" i groaned, plugging my ears, "i DON'T need to hear about the pigeons and bacteria. you've already gone through it."

brady pulled my fingers out of my ears. "PIGEONS AND BACTERIA!" he screamed, making several of the former run away in fright.

"SHUT UP!" i screamed back.

we entered the dance studio abby rented, lining up in front of her as always. 

"alright, i've invited some of the cast members of the prom to come and watch," she told us, grinning.

what? 

pressley and i gave a little squeal and hugged each other.

"they're going to be her shortly."

my chest constricted with excitement and i couldn't breath for a few seconds. real broadway stars! coming to watch us! but that means...they'll be watching my solo. and my duet. not just the group dance.

the weight on my shoulders became a little heavier. brady seemed to notice my expression dropped and gave me a side hug, squeezing my shoulders and bringing me closer to him.

"thanks," i whispered, "i'm stressed as hell."

"it's alright," brady replied quietly, "it's the last week."

"abby," ashley piped up, "what are we doing with michelle. like she came to sit on a bench and not say anything and sarah's not dancing, i don't understand. we all know that when michelle comes, chaos comes too."

"studio 19 is coming to nationals, specifically to beat you," joanne sighed, rubbing her arms.

"michelle," abby shook her head, "this has gone on and on, because you let it go on. there's a national championship at stake. right now, you're bringing in your old garbage with you. i don't want all that extra drama. i don't need that in my life. so let's just call this the end of the road for you."

we all glanced at sarah. she had gone pink and looked like she was about to cry. she had learnt this whole dance in her head by watching us and driven several hours so she could be at the competition with her team, and now her mom was ruining it all for her.

"STOP CRYING!" abby yelled, glaring at the girl, "that's why i don't want you here. you're embarrassing."

i didn't go and hug her. i knew that it would just cause a bunch more problems with abby and the moms for sarah and for me.

we wriggled into our costumes, mood dampened by the argument. pressley was glaring at her mother, furious that she'd brought it all up. 

the solos were looking pretty good. i had gotten the hang of the routine, letting myself move instead of overthinking every step. lilly's inside out dance was incredible, and brady's technique was on flique as usual. pressley's annabelle was creepy and edgy. she performed really well.

but the group dance? still had some rough edges. we weren't totally together, and if there's anything you need to be when performing a broadway routine, it's together.

while we were going through the routine, several people walked in.

"oh my gosh," gia squealed.

"hey everybody!" they smiled, waving.

"so please introduce yourself," abby said.

"hi, i'm kate marilley, i'm offstage cover and the assistant dance captain."

"i'm isabelle mccallen and i play alyssa green." gianina beamed. it was her character. 

"this is the person playing your part," abby laughed, pointing at gia. isabelle gave an excited dance and mirrored her grin.

"i'm jack sippel and i'm the dance captain."

"ok, so we'll have you three critiquing the group dance."

they gave amazing critiques. the three were encouraging, but they weren't afraid to tell us where we went wrong.

"take time to think about your partner in this dance. just," isabelle paused and tucked her hair behind her ears, "live in that and breath in it for a moment. love each other, you know what i mean."

i glanced at brady, who was already looking at me. we went tomato red and focused on something else.

dear heart, please shut up.