The Dancer's Daughter (1D)

Chapter One

My mother danced for her entire life. She taught me from the day I turned four years old, to the day she died. For her, I continued to learn and grow. I stopped enjoying it when I turned eight. I wasn't good enough to go anywhere with it, but my mother loved it... and I loved her. My father left us when I was six. He was having an affair with his secretary, and he left us for her. Last I heard, they were expecting their second child. I'd met the first, a boy named Micheal. He was cute, and he was also my replacement.

When my mother passed away, I was seventeen. I was close enough to eighteen, that I was allowed to live on my own. I made my living dancing for the local dance company, and I continued to choreograph for the little kids. My mother's best friend, Beth, kept an eye on me. I lived in the apartment above the studio, and I used the studio constantly for choreographing my own dances. I never let anyone watch me when I did this.

The first time I heard the song, I thought it sounded exactly like something I would write. In fact, I had written something very similar.

He takes your hand
I die a little
I watch your eyes
And I'm in riddles
Why can't you look at me like that?

(Na na na na na)

When you walk by
I try to say it
But then I freeze
And never do it
My tongue gets tied
The words get trapped

I hear the beat of my heart getting louder
Whenever I'm near you

But I see you with him slow dancing
Tearing me apart
'Cause you don't see
Whenever you kiss him
I'm breaking,
Oh how I wish that was me

(Na na na na na) [2x]

He looks at you
The way that I would
Does all the things, I know that I could
If only time, could just turn back

'Cause I got three little words
That I've always been dying to tell you

But I see you with him slow dancing
Tearing me apart
'Cause you don't see
Whenever you kiss him
I'm breaking,
Oh how I wish that was me

With my hands on your waist
While we dance in the moonlight
I wish it was me
That you’ll call later on
'Cause you wanna say good night

'Cause I see you with him slow dancing
Tearing me apart
'Cause you don't see

But I see you with him slow dancing
Tearing me apart
'Cause you don't see
Whenever you kiss him
I'm breaking,

Oh how I wish
Oh how I wish
Oh how I wish, that was me

Oh how I wish, that was me

I immediately grabbed my laptop and looked up the song. It was I Wish, by a fairly boy-band. One Direction... that sounded very familiar. I downloaded the song to my iPod and immediately started choreographing.

Two days later, Beth came to me with an odd request. “I know you've been using the studio to choreograph your own dances. Our annual performance is coming up, and there are going to be some pretty important people there. We're missing a group this year... and I was hoping you'd fill in with your latest solo. Please? Don't make me beg, because I will,” she told me.

“Beth... you know I don't do crowds. How big is the audience going to be?” I asked, hedging. She rolled her eyes.

“It'll just be the families of the dancers. And our special surprise guests that I'm not going to announce until the end of the show,” she replied. I thought about it.

“You're going to owe me big time, you know. But it just so happens that I recently finished my best solo yet. So I'll fill your slot for you. Only this once!” I told her. She squealed and hugged me.

“I knew there was a reason I let you live here!” she exclaimed. And then she was gone. Really, Beth? I sighed.

I peeked through the curtains, expecting to see hardly anyone. I was shocked to see that the “families” filled the entire theater. I was going to kill Beth later, but it was too late to back out now. I hadn't performed for anyone since my mother died, and Beth knew it. She was also under the odd opinion that I'm the best dancer she's got. She hasn't seen me dance in years though.

“Beth! This is just a few people?!” I gasped as soon as I saw her. She grimaced.

“Yes? Okay, so it was more than I thought it would be! It's not my fault, and you can't back out now. Your song is less than three minutes, that's not even a fraction of the night! Nobody is going to pick you out above the crowd of dancers, I promise,” she pleaded. I rolled my eyes at her.

“Says you. I'm the oldest dancer here! Don't you think it's going to be weird for a girl my age to be dancing with a large group of children? Please tell me you're not going to draw anymore attention to me at least!” I begged.

“I would never! No, but seriously, it's one dance. Your mother would love to see you dance. She's up there watching you right now, hoping you'll dance for her. You know it, I know you do,” she said softly. I wiped away a tear. Great, now I'd need to adjust my stage makeup.

“Fine. But you owe me even more now,” I snapped, hurrying back to the dressing room. Her laughter followed me all the way there.

“And now, for the star of the show tonight! She hasn't performed on a stage in nearly five years, but she's been dancing behind the scenes at our studio the whole time, and she choreographed nearly all of the dances you've seen tonight! Please welcome to the stage Haley Miller!” Beth announced, standing at the corner of the stage. Oh, I was going to kill her.

Rather than lose my concentration to glare at her, I froze my face in my performance smile and waited for the first notes of the song. I lost myself in the music, throwing myself into my dancing. This was something I hadn't done in years, and I was enjoying every moment of it. I had always thought I hated dancing, that I was doing it to keep my mother's memory alive inside of me. I'd been wrong. All along, I'd been dancing for myself.

The song ended, and I held my pose through the applause. The lights went down, and I exited the stage quickly, leaving room Beth to end the show. She'd set me as the last dance.

“Now that the show is over, I'd like to call our special guests up to the stage. I understand this is odd, and it is most certainly a first for us here. I'd like to welcome to the stage five very special people. Here they are: Liam, Louis, Harry, Zayn, and Niall! Also known as One Direction!” Applause rang through the audience, and all of the dancers that were backstage with me started freaking out.

“We'd just like to thank you all for coming out. Ms. Bickett here won our contest, and we've come to award her best dancer with a job of coming on tour with us! She'll be our choreographer, and sometimes she'll be dancing onstage with us, with a few others, of course,” a british voice announced. Oh no... they don't mean... “Haley Miller, please come back to the stage!”

 Well hello there, guys! Couple of things: I've got this written CHAPTERS in advance, so I'll be adding pretty regularly. Also, I'll be doing cast interviews every five chapters or so. If you have questions you want to ask, send them in! Comment , or inbox. I'll accept either. It'll be a few days before I post another chapter, and I'll be writing constantly to make sure I stay ahead. I have big plans for this book, and I think you'll like it!

Comment your favorite 1D song, please! I may use it for one of the dance numbers, you never know. ;) Also, the picture on the side is Haley dancing.