Highest Rank: #370 in General Fiction
The story of eight year old Madison 'Maddie' Joyce Ryans, who would give anything for a family and a home. And how Katherine Rae Dawson does everything to give Maddie that home and family.
"Maddie Dawson?" The aid at the door called my name. I raised my hand and went over to her as she ushered me to the door. Mom was gonna pick me up today so I could go straight to dance and start learning my duet with April.
"Hey baby" she said as I got into the back seat. "Hi mommy!" I said as I buckled my seatbelt and listened to the song playing on the radio. What I wanted to do was tell her that Lilly was being kind of a butthead today and tripped me in gym purposely. I decided not to though, cause I was to excited to dance tonight.
"If you have any homework, start it on the ride there so you have a head start. I don't want you up all night doing it." Mama chuckled as she looked through the rearview mirror. I nodded and pulled out the book I was reading since I had to read for a half hour everyday. I had picked Matilda by Roald Dahl.
I started reading my book and read all the way to the dance studio. I put my bookmark in and got out if the car, grabbing my dance bag on the way.
"Hey Miss Maddie. Ready to meet your duet partner?" Cambrie asked as I came through the door and hugged her. "Yep!" I told her excitedly. I turned to Mom as she started to head up to the viewing area of the dance studio.
"Mommy wait!" I yelled as I ran over to her. I gave her a big hug before she went up. "Love you kid. Work hard." She told me as I went back over to Miss Cambrie.
"April is so excited. She's been here all day asking when you're coming." Cambrie told me. "Doesn't she have school?" I asked as I went to the dancer lounge to change. "She's homeschooled because she's working towards being a professional dancer."
I was now in awe of this girl. She wanted to be a pro dancer? And she wanted me to be her partner for this dance? I was honored.
I quickly changed into my dance wear set, which was a really pretty blue color.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I wasn't sure what shoes or socks I would need for the duet, so I just brought my shoe bag out with me. I went down to Studio C where Cambrie was waiting for me.
We entered the studio and a tall, skinny brunette haired girl was in there dancing. She didn't even stop when we walked in. I was happy for that, cause She was amazing to watch. She was doing what looked to be a gorgeous lyrical solo.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
When the girl, April, stopped she ended beautifully and me and Miss Cambrie clapped our hands. "Good job April." Cambrie told her. Ahe thanked her and then came over to us.
"So you're Maddie?" April asked. "That's me!" I chirped happily. "I'm so excited that you are doing this with me! I've wanted to perform this dance for forever!" April squealed.
"Alright you two, warm up and then let's get to work." Cambrie told us and then I went over to the wall and started stretching.
I dropped into my middle splits and April raised her eyebrows in shock. "You can just like...fall into them!" She laughed.
"Yeah, kid here's been officially dancing for only three months and she's caught up with everyone else's skill level." Cambrie said with a smile. "You got a side aerial?" April asked. "Mostly. Sometimes I fall." I said sheepishly.
"It's okay. I still fall on mine sometimes." April said as she stretched her legs at the barre. "Okay, you girls ready?" Cambrie asked. We both nodded and then April handed Cambrie a notebook and CD.
"This has the dance in it." April said as she went back over to where I was. I started learning the dance and April helped teach me. There was a ton of partner work and a lot of emotion.
We practice for an hour and a half before I had to go to my normal classes. "Awesome, we are almost halfway through the dance. We'll spend the next two weeks learning and cleaning it. Good job girls." Cambrie said to us. We nodded and I went to get a drink.
"You are an amazing dancer." I heard from behind me. I looked up and saw April. "Thank you. You are too." I told her. She smiled at me and then we sat down together for a minute.
"How long have you been dancing?" April asked me. "I started taking class a few months ago, but I liked to dance and do gymnastics stuff on my own at the orphanage." I said without even thinking about saying it.
"You're adopted?" April asked. I nodded. It wasn't a big deal anymore. I loved my new Mommy and I knew she loved me. She was the greatest thing that ever happened to me.
"Cool. My mom adopted me when I was eleven. My birth mom left and then my new mom married my dad." She explained. I nodded and then got a call to go into the dance studio for class.
"I can't wait to finish the dance with you." I told April as I got up. "As. Come here kid." April chuckled. She hugged me and I hugged her back. "Bye Maddie. Good luck at class." April said as she left.
I waved goodbye to April and then headed into the dance studio. As we stretched, I stretched again and I thought about how she reminded me of Dana. I had a connection with her like April and I connected. I really did miss Dana sometimes, but I knew that she would be eighteen by now, and she got to leave the orphanage.
