The Road Trip

Chapter 2 - All Kinds of Surprises

Chapter 2

All Kinds of Surprises

I struck my ending pose, smiling widely as Christina Aguilera's 'Express' stopped pounding through the speakers. Even if it was one of our easier dances, I loved it. The song was one of my favorites, so that was a perk. After a few seconds, me and the rest of the girls on my team collapsed on the ground, breathing hard.

We had been practicing for two hours straight, without rest. No joke. After warm-ups, my teacher, Mrs. Caraway, had made us run through Express over and over again until she was satisfied. Apparently, that last time was satisfactory because she gave us a nod of approval before quickly walking out of the room. My chest continued to rise up and down at an abnormal pace as I pushed myself to my hands and knees and crawled over to my purple dance bag.

Lilly, one of the girls on my dance team, plopped down next to me, grabbing her bag. She had brown hair, which was tied up into a ponytail, loose curls falling down her back. Her pink leotard was starting to get dark spots from sweating, and I'm sure my tank top looked the same, if not worse. Her green eyes had lost some of their sparkle after hours of torture.

"Why do we dance again?" She asked weakly, gulping down several gulps of her water. I took a couple of swigs of mine, wiping the sweat from my face, before answering.

"Because we love it." I sighed, rolling my eyes. Sometimes I had a feeling that I was the only one on my team who enjoyed our time at the dance studio. There were six of us total, but I was the only one who cared. It was sad, really. For everyone else, it was just a hobby.

"Alright, girls!" Mrs. Caraway called as she hurried back into the room. She clapped her hands twice, motioning for us to line up. I scrambled to my feet, hurrying to get in place. She was usually a nice person, but when kept waiting she could be a witch. Her eyes looked us over slowly as if asking herself if she had overworked us. The answer was yes, she had. But I wasn't going to be the one to tell her that. "As you all know we are going to the Texas State Dance World Competition this Saturday..."

There were a few groans while I broke out into a huge grin. Mrs. Caraway had given me a jazz solo to perform, so naturally, I was super excited. I loved my team, don't get me wrong, but I loved doing solos more. There was something about being on stage alone, knowing that the whole dance depended on me, that was very appealing. I held the key to success or failure; I didn't have to depend on anyone else, which was a hard thing for me to do.

"No groans!" She snapped, sending a warning glare down the line. "It's a two-hour drive from here to Fort Worth, so I expect each and every one of you to be here by eight AM sharp. Am I clear?"

We all nodded, "Yes, Mrs. Caraway."

"Good." She smiled, "Your costumes have just arrived, go get them from Ms. Walter and try them on." Squealing, we dashed for the door. I was practically run over by Lilly, who I had never seen move so fast. "After that don't take them off! We're going to run through Express one more time, in costume."

"Hey girls." Ms. Walter called, placing a box on her desk when she saw us coming. She picked up the first package, glancing at the name. "Lisa," And then she chucked the plastic-wrapped package at Lisa's head. Luckily, she caught it before it did any damage. "Addison." I smiled, prepared for the package to fly towards me.

As expected, it hurdled through the air and I caught it seconds before it made contact with my face. Through the plastic, I could see bright red, sparkly material. Wow, Mrs. Caraway went all out. Without waiting for everyone else, I sprinted to the changing room, stripping quickly and tearing into my package. Shortly after I arrived, the rest of my team stumbled into the room.