Une Fleure Fanée

Week 11 Part 3 (Tuesday)

     The teams are Brady and I and Gia and Pressley. By the time that Sarah and Hannah make their appearance, Brady and I have ten points and Gia and Pressley also have ten. Tied game.

     "They want PTSD and Strait Escape," Hannah announces, and Brady and I get up to grab our dance bags and water bottles before entering Studio A.

     "Hello. How are you guys?" Ms. Abby asks us.

     "Good," I blandly answer.

     Ms. Gianna helps me get into my straitjacket as Brady practices his army dance. I have to admit, it is a little hot in here, and some flashbacks are screaming to flood my mind, but it isn't as scary as before. Maybe I should've taken a Venlafaxine, though.

     I sit down on a cheese wheel to watch Brady practice. His chainê leaps are just perfection. Your chainê leaps are utter garbage compared to his, Lilliana. You need to work harder. You're so lazy. I may be younger than him, but we're Ms. Abby's favorites. I need to be working harder to maintain that title.

     Eventually, Brady finishes his solo. I get off the cheese wheel, trying not to fall as I walk over to Ms. Abby. Feeling a bit dizzy and hazy and having only my inner ears and legs to balance myself, I stumble over to Ms. Abby.

     "Alright. Now, you are in a rotation with Pressley and Sarah, which means you're up against the other creepy solo and the other acro solo. However, you have no arms. Everybody will be dumbfounded if you do this right. But if you do this wrong, well, nobody's going to be your fan anymore," Ms. Abby warns.

     I shakily nod, getting more nervous. This pressure added to my previous relationship with straitjackets is getting me nervous. I get a bit dizzy again. I'll have to eat my lunch or else I'm going to pass out before we work on the group dances. To keep this going, I need to eat. Crazy.

     The main thing that I need to work on is the times that my legs leave the ground or when I roll on the ground, either backward or forwards. It makes me dizzy and sick to dance, but whenever Ms. Abby compliments me, it sends energy and happiness through my body. She must think I'm skinny enough. But I might as well keep going.

     After a long grueling thirty minutes, Ms. Abby tells me and Brady to go get Snowflake and Possessed. Must be Gia and Pressley. Even after Ms. Gianna removes the straitjacket, I'm still dizzy and sick and I nearly fall on the benches in the dancer's den.

     "Lilly, you need to drink or eat something. Drink some water," Brady urges me as he holds me steady by gripping my shoulders and guiding me to Studio C.

     "I don't want water. No water until lunch," I grumble.

     I don't want anything before lunch touching my lips. Even water. Water has 0 calories, so I let it slide most of the time, but water weight is a thing too. And I want to look good for the UK.

     "Lilly," Brady states, turning me around, which makes me so dizzy I almost collapse, "You can't keep going on like this. You need help."

     "I can't because Mom would never let me leave the show," I confess, trying my best to keep walking so we don't keep Ms. Abby waiting, eventually gaining enough momentum to keep going alongside Brady.

     "I think your mother would care more about-" Brady begins before I cut him off.

     "The paycheck. I'm doing this to make sure Mom gets the paycheck and Ms. Abby won't kick me off for being too big," I whisper, looking at my feet.

     "Lilly, you're perfect," he tells me and gives me a quick hug to reassure me before I stumble into Studio C.

     Brady is only lying in an attempt to not hurt your feelings anymore, Lilliana. He doesn't think you can handle the truth because you're weak. I sit next to him after we get Gia and Pressley to Studio A. He knows more now, but he doesn't tell the group, so maybe I can trust him.