Slowly drifting...

Chapter 9 - competition

Time skip to Saturday morning ( the day of the competition )

Mackenzie's POV
OMG I can't believe we are going to competition today ! I'm so excited but nervous ! Jojo and Sarah are going to sit with me on the bus. Maddie and I have had some extra rehearsal together at home, running each others music and stuff. I can't wait to go ! We are all packed and ready in our Abby Lee Dance Company team jackets and black leggings. Underneath I have a plain white tee, nothing special. I haven't seen my costume for my solo yet, no one has because the order arrived late yesterday after we had all gone. I really hope it's nice!

On the way I sit with Jojo and Sarah and watch movies and just do random stuff and have fun. Asia sits watching and waiting but I just ignore her.

When we get there, there are hundreds of screaming fans waiting for us. We acknowledge them and go to our dressing room. Nia and Paige's duet is up first. " paige apply your corrections, Nia, point those feet! Go ! " abby yells as paige and nia leave the dressing room for their duet. They're costumes are deep purple leotard dresses with rhinestones and sequins all over them. They look amazing. We all go into the audience to watch them. They are amazing ! Nailing every turn! Abby even smiles when she watches them. After they strut off stage we hurry back to the dressing room to get ready for the solos. " Jojo you're up first, you need to make your mark not just on me but on the whole audience, everyone has gotta remember your name after this dance. Don't disappoint me ! " Jojos costume is totally Jojo! It's a neon dress with a hot pink, sequinned bow taking up the entire top section. The colours have been dulled a little so as not to draw attention away from her face. Her makeup is bright and beautiful. If she is gonna ' make her mark ' this is the perfect way! She is so happy with her costume, she is grinning and so excited. I'm really pleased for her! " mackenzie you dance straight after Jojo. No mistakes, this is lyrical, not your forte, prove me wrong! " miss abby calls. My costume is stunning. It's dark grey with black smudges and is a dress/Leotard. My face has been done in a similar way to my costume and I look perfect! It's a beautiful costume. " maddie you will be a little while after your little sister, I know you will win! " I smile encouragingly at maddie. Hr costume is pale pink and very pretty, mine is much darker but still really elegant. I have a bun and a black flower. Maddie has a fancy pink headpiece, Jojo has a massive neon bow. We are ready.

I head backstage with maddie and Jojo. Right before Jojo goes on stage I give her a hug and whisper " good luck, you can do it, prove to abby and everyone that you deserve this, ily, good luck ! " she sassily walks on stage and begins her dance. She is flawless, she moves so quick, nailing every turn, every leap, even every facial expression. It's sassy jazz and shows off her personality. I love it. She struts off stage and whispers good luck as I get ready "'up next is act number 32, mackenzie with ' you won't break me ' I slowly walk on to the stage and roll down into my starting position. As the music starts I let it flow through me, relating to the song and putting all of my emotions into the dance. I'm crying a little at the end. That's how much emotion and hard work I put in. As the music ends and I roll into my ending pose, the entire audience gets on their feet and applauds as I glide off the stage as gracefully as possible while the crowd roars. I run into my sisters arms and then Jojo's they keep saying well done. I'm so happy with that performance, I just hope it's good enough for miss abby. Maddie does her solo perfectly too, no flaws. Luckily she isn't in my age group !

We all 3 run back into the dressing room and into miss Abby's arms. " I'm so proud of you girls !!!!! " She gushes. I see Asia glaring at me, and while miss abby goes to get the costumes for the group number Asia starts towards me.

Jojos POV
After miss abby leaves I see Asia sidling towards mackenzie fuming. I prod Sarah and mutter " let's go " she seems to have read my mind, we each slip in on either side of mackenzie "if you try anything " I start " you will regret it. " Sarah finishes firmly. Asia walks off like she doesn't care, though " watch your back, piece of sh**t " she murmurs to mackenzie. Miss Abby soon comes back with the costumes for the group dance.

Mackenzie's POV
I'm still a bit anxious after the Asia encounter, but I run to miss abby and get my costume just like all the other girls. Maddie's costume is a lovely lilac while mine is a stunning baby blue. Both are wispy dresses with sparkles on them that glitter like stars. We get make up done that matches the costumes. The other girls costumes are green. We all have high dancers buns with a sparkly flower to the side / front of the bun, which matches our costume colour. I'm so so so excited for this ! Miss abby quickly summons us for a pep talk. "Girls I want you to give this dance everything you have, okay, I think u could do it, apply the corrections, lets go ! ". We go backstage together. I have to begin onstage on my own so I go out onto the stage. The music begins and I just lose myself on the dance just like I did with my solo. When the music stops, we get huge applause, miss abby even smiles ! I'm guessing we did pretty well! We quickly race back to the dressing room, get congratulated my miss Abby and then run off to awards in our team jackets. Soon we are all sitting down on the stage, ready. I'm sitting between Jojo and maddie, Sarah is between jojo and chloe and maddie is between me and kendall. ( I was barricaded far from Asia by my friends ). The announcer begins " okay so we shall start with the solos yes ? Yes. Okay so in the first solo division. In second place we have act number 31 jojo with making a mark! Congratulations Jojo! And our first place winner issssss act number 32 mackenzie with you won't break me! Congratulations mackenzie ! We would also like to mention that this contestant achieved a perfect score ! "I got a huge trophy, almost as big as me ! In the next division the first place winner is act number 64 maddie with bloom! Congratulations maddie! " the announcer bellows. Maddie is so happy! " okay so before we move on we have some special judges awards. There are 3 possible awards : the standout personality, standout dancer and standout emotional performance. These go in each division. In first division the standout personality goes to Jojo and the others go to mackenzie. In the next division all awards go to maddie. Moving on then to duet trios. First place is paige and nia with sparkle ! Good job girls! And finally ! The group awards okay so in first place with a perfect score ... Abby Lee Dance Company ! Congrats girls ! Now before you all leave we have another special award. We have two trophies for most improved dancers that come to the competition regularly ! These go to chloe and nia ! Good job girls !

We run to miss abby and she hugs us and we are all so excited and happy, we leave on the bus and I'm so proud of all of us ! We have come a long way ! I can't wait for dance next week ! And to celebrate with my friends and family !