I Won't Let You Close Enough to Hurt Me

Chapter 24

     Once everyone was completely ready, Abby had them stretch so that they could run the dance a few times. Brooke slipped on her knee brace and kicked up into a handstand. After stretching, the girls ran the dance about 10 times. When they were done, it was around 9:35.

     Brooke heard the dressing room door burst open and looked over to see Nick. She ran up to him and gave him a huge hug. "You look beautiful," he whispered in her ear.

     A few seconds later, an official from the competition walked in. "I need everyone that is in the dance 'Superstar' to follow me. It's almost time for you guys to go on stage."

     As the girls walked out the door, they heard all of the moms yelling, "Good luck!" and "I love you!". Nick came with them too, because he wanted to watch from backstage. After they left, Abby, the moms, and Brandon went to find seats in the audience.

     While waiting backstage, Maddie, Chloe, and Paige were frantically running through the number. Even though Brooke should have been practicing, she decided to talk to Nick instead. "I'm so nervous!" she exclaimed.

     "Don't be; you're perfect," Nick assured her. When Brooke saw the dancers on stage hit their ending poses, she knew that they were next. She turned to Nick to give him a hug, but she was surprised with a kiss.

     "That was for good luck," Nick smiled.

     "Eww!" all of the girls giggled. Brooke rolled her eyes and gave Nick's hand one last squeeze before walking onto the stage. Before rolling up into her starting position (a chin stand), she took a deep breath. This dance had to go perfectly.

     The music began to blare through the speakers, and the girls started to dance. One of the first moves that Brooke had to do was a front-ariel, and when she came down, pain shot from her knee up through her leg. Even though all she wanted to do was collapse to the floor and cry out in pain, she didn't. She kept going, and she was nailing it. Her facials were stunning and her technique was on point. When the dance ended, Brooke was relieved.

     While the other girls were doing a cute jazz walk off the stage, Brooke was limping. The first thing that she did when she got backstage was fall into Nick's arms. "You were amazing," he praised.

     Brooke could feel the tears forming in her eyes. "My knee," Brooke whimpered as she pointed to her swollen knee.

     Nick lifted Brooke up so she wouldn't have to put any pressure on her knee. He carried her all the way back to the dressing room. When they walked through the doors, they heard the moms, the girls, and even Abby celebrating about the perfection of the group dance. Kelly turned her attention to Brooke, and could tell by the look on her face that she was in pain.

     "Brookie, what happened?" Kelly questioned as she raced towards her daughter.

     "I hurt my knee when I did the front ariel. I can barely walk," Brooke cried.

     "Oh my god. Nick, can you go get her some ice and a few Advil?" Kelly asked Nick.

     "Of course," Nick responded as he raced out the door.

     "Brooke, I know that you got hurt," Abby started. "But I'm proud of you. You did the entire dance without any flaws even with your injury. That takes a true professional. I just hope that after you sit for awhile, you will be ready to do the duet."

     Brooke nodded. Even if she had to go on stage with a broken knee, she would do it. She wasn't going to give up her duet with Nick for anything.

     As Brooke iced her knee and waited for the Advil to kick in, Kendall and Paige got ready for their duet. They kept their hair in french twists and changed into their costumes. They wore  plain brown leotards with short, fitted light and dark brown dresses.

     As they headed backstage, Maddie and Chloe went with them, but everyone else went to find a place in the audience.

     When Brooke saw Kendall and Paige come on stage, she got excited. This was Paige's first lyrical duet, and Brooke knew that her sister would be amazing. The music started and the girls looked pretty good. Kendall fell out of a set of turns at the beginning, and Paige missed a kick towards the end. Overall, the dance was alright, but Abby wasn't pleased.

     Everyone went back to the dressing room and began to prepare for the next number: Brooke and Nick's duet. Brooke changed into an angel-like white dress. It was very similar to the one she had worn in the 'Twilight' group number. She took her hair down and curled it. Nick wore black dance pants with a white button up shirt, but he only buttoned about half of them. Together, they looked like the perfect couple.

     As they were finishing up getting ready, Paige and Kendall walked through the door. Kelly and Jill greeted them with hugs, but Abby approached them a little differently. "I told everyone that all of the numbers this weekend had to be flawless, and that was nowhere close. Kendall had sloppy turns; Paige messed up the choreography. I gave you a winning routine, and I doubt it will even end up in the top ten."

     Paige and Kendall looked at the ground in shame. They walked over to their dance bags and began to put on ALDC warm-ups. A few minutes later, it was time for Brooke and Nick to head backstage. As they were walking, Brandon muttered, "Good luck," under his breath.

     While they were waiting to go on, Brooke was stretching out her knee. Nick walked over and put his arm around her. "If it hurts, we don't have to do this."

     "I know," Brooke responded. "But I want to."

     Nick smiled. They heard the announcer call their names, so Nick grabbed Brooke's hand and walked onto the stage.

     When the dance had started, Brooke forgot all about her knee. She loved this number, and nothing would stop her from winning with it. The chemistry between Brooke and Nick couldn't have been stronger. She felt even more confident in this dance than she had in the group.

     When the routine ended, Brooke and Nick walked off the stage hand in hand. Brooke started to realize how badly her knee hurt, so Nick piggy-backed her all they way to the dressing room. They entered and were greeted by tons of hugs; Kelly was even crying. "That's the most beautiful number I've ever seen you do."

     Brooke smiled. "Thanks mom!"

     For the rest of the competition, Brooke kept ice on her knee. She noticed that the swelling was going down, but the bruising was still awful. Maddie and Chloe competed their solos, and they were perfect. As always. Once the competition was over, all of the girls had changed into their warm-ups and were waiting to go to awards.

     "I am very proud of all of you," Abby beamed. "Almost all of the numbers were flawless." Abby paused just long enough to shoot a look to Kendall and Paige. "Now, before we go to awards, I'm going to tell you about my big surprise!"