The Dancer | #5✓

Chapter 25

I could feel my heart in my mouth, and I could hear my heart beating in my ears. I peeked out the heavy red curtains that separated the backstage from the main stage. One of the competitors was doing their solo, and I was next. I took in a deep breath, watching as the girl spun around the stage, earning a round of applause from the crowd. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I blinked turning to look into my dance instructor's eyes.

"It'll be okay," she said, pulling me by the shoulder until I wasn't able to look behind the curtains anymore. "Don't do that, you'll make yourself nervous," she reasoned, and I nodded, sighing. This was the first serious competition I was getting to at a tertiary level, and the nerves in my stomach were killing me. Somewhere in the crowd, George was standing with my mum, and I also knew Xander had brought not only his boyfriend but his twin cousins with him since the one that didn't school in our university had come in to visit his brother.

A smile touched my lips when I remembered that George was out there with my mother in the crowd. They had met for the first time today, and he had given her a nervous wave before being pulled into a tight hug he hadn't expected. My mum had just met him, but she already adored him. Much of the credit goes to me singing his praises when I called her on the weekend, but she to see for herself firsthand how considerate and kind he was when he took her around and answered any technical questions she threw at him.

"Oliver." I blinked at the sound of my name, looking towards the direction of the voice. One of my mates in dance class was motioning for me to get on stage. "It's your turn," she said above the sound of the crowd clapping. I muttered an 'oh', checking if my shoes were tied before heading to the stage. When I walked up people clapped again, and I tried to swallow my nerves, getting into my stance before beginning my routine when the recording of the song I had practiced to started playing. I couldn't spot anyone on the dense crowd from up on the stage. It was early in the evening, and the hall was dark since it was now officially winter — meaning, shorter days and longer nights.

As I danced the crowd stayed quiet and I began to worry. It's alright. They're supposed to just watch. I reminded myself, swallowing my doubts. I tried to pretend I was dancing in George's tiny room as he made comments that made me laugh or stop dancing to give him a lot of disbelief. The side of my lips tugged into a smile, and I was finally at ease. I closed my eyes, giving the dance routine my all. despite all the doubts and fears that were running through my mind, I managed to finish my routine without making a mistake. When I made the last spin and stopped before taking a bow the crowd stood up to give me an applause. It was louder than anyone I had heard that night, and I knew from there that things had worked in my favor.

I walked off the stage, heading to the back and only being able to look around for a few seconds before my teammates came rushing to hug me. Someone lifted me, spinning me around and making everyone else laugh.

"I knew it was a good idea to give him the solo," one of them said as I was put back on my feet and our instructor walked up to us. We all talked for a bit, sipping from the soda cans we had been given as we waited for the judges to make their decision. We couldn't go out to the crowd yet because we had to come out to stand on stage again sooner or later. We got so lost in our discussion that we didn't notice that winners were being called until the two girls that did a duet in our team were called out. I swallowed, watching them go up the stage for third place. We still had the solo and group performance prizes left. I tried to relax, but I couldn't help rubbing the body of my soda can.