Full Out

Chapter Forty-Six

"And you're done," Genevive said, tapping my shoulders after she was done clipping my suit together. I turned around, smiling at her. She was a few inches taller than me with her brunette hair in a tight bun. Heavy makeup caked her face, including pink lipstick. My lips matched hers.

Genevive scurried off to help someone else get ready. I faced the mirror off to the side, checking my reflection. I wore a fuschia pink leotard that only had a long sleeve on one side. The other side had the sleeve of a thick tank top. The pink was sparkly, with lines of matte black running through it. Underneath, I wore tan tights and overtop, plain black spandex.

My blonde hair was in a tight, ballet bun and I had so much blush on that I barely recognized myself. My lips were painted pink and my eyelids the same.

Dance competition was here. I couldn't believe it! I had been in dance competitions before, but this was different. Teams won trophies, but singles won money. How desperately I needed it for college. Plus, it would get Dallion Dance Academy at the top of the list for dance studios. I'd love to do that for Nancy and the place I grew up dancing in.

Without that school, I couldn't even imagine where I would be right now.

After dinner with the Prosky's on Thursday, I went right back outside and started to paint. I painted a lot of it, but then got too tired to continue. After school on Friday, and a heavy practice of course, I went back to Roman's grandparents' place to finish up.

"Do you like it?" I had asked Mr. Prosky when I had gotten it all finished. By that time, I was covered from head to toe in paint. It reminded me of the time Roman and I had played paint Twister.

"It looks absolutely amazing, sweet pea," Mr. Prosky had beamed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. With the lamps surrounding the shed, it was easier to see the large Steelers logo I had painted on the side, opposite of the door. I wanted to add something to it for Roman, so thankfully Mr. Prosky was a die-hard Steelers fan as well.

"Thanks. I hope he likes it."

"Are you kidding?" Mr. Prosky had eyed me and shook his head. "He will love it. Don't even worry about that."

Now that it was Saturday, I got more nervous by the hour when I heard nothing from Roman. He hadn't said anything to me about the shed. Not even a thank you. His distance made me wonder if he wanted to finish the shed on his own. Had I just pissed him off more?

"Ladies," Nancy's voice said loudly. Other girls from other teams glanced at her, but when they realized it wasn't their coach, they went back to talking. All of us stationed ourselves in an arc around Nancy. She wore a nice blouse and black slacks. Her red hair was straightened and makeup was on her face. "Is everyone ready? Did any of you forget anything?"

Nancy's eyes widened as she studied all of us, probably making sure we all had our costumes and makeup on.

"I think we're all good," one of the dancers nodded with a smile. Nancy sighed and nodded her head. I could tell that her nervous jitters were getting to her again. It always happened before performances.

"You girls look absolutely stunning," Nancy gushed, looking from one dancer to another. "We've practiced hard, we got our moves down. You girls are going to do great."

"Thank you, Nancy," I said, grinning over at her. When she smiled back, everyone around swooshed in, group-hugging our favorite choreographer.

"Stop it, you're going to make me cry," Mrs. Pollen called out. Some of the girls giggled, I being one of them.

"I think that's the goal," another girl piped up, making us laugh.

We soon pulled apart when we heard a man begin to speak. We were backstage, so we couldn't really see him. Being used to the announcers, and knowing that my team wasn't up for a little while, I went back towards my bag, sitting in the corner far away from other teams.