Then It Hits Me

Chapter 24: I Literally Want To Fly Away

I continue my dance.

In fact, I feed off of Miller's presence. Him being here gives me the most convincing distressed look, even JLaw can't beat it. I feel myself add the emotion and I am no longer the girl who has lost everything to a tornado, I am the girl who won't give up to get everything back. I cannot let the tornado keep me from my life; it shouldn't be able to hurt me anymore!

But sometimes people have been so stupid— too careless and you have to give in.

At the end of the dance, I am in tears. And the audience sees. The give me a standing ovation. They think it's part of my dance. They think that I am just an incredible actress when I am actually extremely close to sobbing.

I pick myself up and walk off the stage, pretending to be miserable— or am I? Before I re-enter the backstage area, I give the audience another view of my tear-stained face and leave.

"Do you know that you are actually crying?" Tessa clings to my sweaty arm. Hailey and Flora stare at me in shock; they clearly did not know I was capable of that. Gianna looks abnormally nervous for her solo now, but congratulates me none-the-less. Ella looks bored, how typical for an evil queen.

I take the tissue that Gianna has offered and wipe my face. The girl after me goes, practically stumbling on her way up the stairs. That's why you don't watch the performer before you! "I was not prepared for tears either." The kids we walk by congratulate me and look sorry for dishing about me costume earlier on. 

"If you don't win first place, I will personally hang the judges." Flora assures me. I can tell she made sure Gianna was off with Miss Moselli back backstage before she said it. We don't make a habit of putting down fellow dancer, especially not before they are about to take the stage. Hailey loops her arm through mine and starts gushing, "Oh my gosh, Caitlin, that was the most beautiful dance I have ever seen! There was so much emotion and the technique was on point, literally. You should've seen the audience's faces, they were so into every move you were making because of how passion driven it was. I heard sobs when you started crying!"

Leave it to Hail to tell you that you were flawless. I know I stumbled after seeing Miller, there's a flaw. Thank god, I continued because it turned out great.

Back in the change room, Ella comes to sit next to me, but she's smiling. It's a sad smile, but I couldn't have asked for a better one, especially from her. She truly hates me. She has no reason to, though, for she's been the one treating me like crap for the last couple of years. Her hair is up in a tight bun with loose curls on the sides of her face. She's already dressed in her gettup for the group dance; a silky Columbia blue dress that sweeps to the side at mid-thigh. It is adorned with blue and green feathers.

"The crying was a nice touch," she tells me quietly, but sincerely.

You can hardly blame me for taking it the wrong way after what she has done. Instead of the joke I should've made, I snarl, "You liked it, didn't you? Seeing me miserable?"

Her expression changes. She looks down at her fingers, her cheeks flushing very hard. What happened to the Ella that stands up for herself, the one that always has to have the last laugh? We've exchanged looks in school, if you can even call them looks. I find it hard to break the habit of always looking at Ella when the teacher tells us to find a partner. Nowadays, the only partner I can find is the kid at the back of the class... because I've become one too.

"Of course not!" She doesn't sound mad. Her blue eyes bore into mine with so much determination. Ella lowers her voice to a whisper. "I saw Miller in the crowd. I'm sorry."

This is so unlike her. She never apologized to me, EVER. It's sad, considering how long we were friends for, but it's nothing but true. Especially in this situation, a situation that is not exactly her fault. At least not directly.