⎼⎼⎼ 𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 ➵ 𝑏.𝑓.

019

maggie

i knew brady leaving was weighing heavily on mikki, and that was showing when she danced. her technique and stamina were quite up to standard, but her face was stricken. of course, abby didn't notice. she thought mikki's facials went well with the dance.

"i feel like this week's going to be terrible," erin chimed, "cause she's not going to be thrilled with anyone because her favorite's gone."

"honestly, i don't think it was our kids. i think she couldn't help herself, like she couldn't give our kids the attention they needed with him there," ann spoke up.

"brady. he has a name," i retorted. i liked the kid. he worked hard and he was my mikki's best friend.

"i mean, i'm excited," ashley said, with a toss of her head, "that the girls have abby's attention!"

everyone gave murmurs of agreement. even i did. mikki had so much potential and so much talent. i was grateful that she had already gotten two solos, but i felt like she was in brady's shadow, always second choice.

"i think that you'll be seeing more from all of them," ashley continued.

"i think the best example is that lilly was the lead once. she had a chance and she did it! to me that means they can do it. but if they don't win-"

"it's because brady's not here," joanne finished stacey's sentence.

"exactly."

"mikki turn your right heel out!" abby screamed below. i groaned and put my face in my hands. as far as i was watching, all the girls were a hot mess.

"if these kids don't win this week, we're in trouble," joanne said.

"late lilly," abby reprimanded, "sarah, what are you doing? the rest of you don't know the counts. mikki, you're doing fine, but you have to switch to sassy and focus on that right heel. you're all not tight enough, sharp enough. you don't have brady to camouflage you. i think you all have a lot to learn."

i shook my head. even with brady gone, he still found his way into every single conversation. i felt bad for the girls, but i also felt how much pressure it would have been to be brady.

⤎⎼༌·⋱🩰⋰⋆༌⎼⤏

"so, what do you want to do?" i asked, putting my arm over mikki's shoulders.

she shrugged. "i don't know. can we go home? i want to call connor."

"sure honey," i said, dropping her dance bag in the boot.

she didn't talk the whole way back to the apartment complex. when we arrived, mikki sprinted into the room and shut the door as soon as i came in.

"mikki, are you-"

"fine!" she called, already heading to her room.

there was no point arguing.

⤎⎼༌·⋱🩰⋰⋆༌⎼⤏

mikki

"connor," i breathed, as my best friend picked up the phone.

"hey mikki!" he replied, "what's up?"

"well..." for the next ten minutes, i spoke non-stop about everything that had been going on. brady being sent home because we were all 'jealous', the stress of having to learn a dance in three days, the momma drama, the tears and the breakdowns. "so that's a basic rundown of 'what's up'."

"i feel like i'm on the show," connor joked. i laughed.

"it's not as great as it's made out to be," i sighed, flopping onto my bed.

after that, the conversation was almost normal. like the things we used to talk about before the show. movies, tyrant ballet teachers, annoying maths questions, debating about whether soup was a food or a drink and all that random junk.

"oh," i gasped, looking at the time, "i have to go for dinner," i told him, waving.

"see ya!"

"so, you've remembered you have to eat," mom grinned, sliding a plate of spaghetti toward me.

i nodded, almost inhaling my food.

"how's your week been?" mom looked concerened. i shrugged.

"weird. i miss brady a lot," i admitted, "and our group dance is a complete mess. press and i haven't even started on our duet and we've only got two days." i sighed and continued to devour my pasta.

"how do you think the other girls are? you've known them for about five weeks now."

i shrugged again. "i love press and gia, those two are my best friends, lilly's cute and upbeat, savannah and hannah are really kind and sarah's, like, always cheerful," i listed, laying down my fork. "how are the moms?"

"i mean, they speak a bunch of rubbish, but that's because those low-life producers are forcing them, but other than that, they're ok."

"cool."