"Kenzie, can you go and get your sister? We're going to be late for dance." Mom says.
"I'm eating, Mom!" I say through a mouthful of Cheerios. Mathew and Michele laugh. Tyler and Ryan don't look up from their jam sandwiches. "Just go see if Maddie's awake, Mackenzie." Greg says. I sigh and push my bowl away.
I mutter to myself as I walk up the stairs. "I'm fourteen," I complain. "I know I'm still tiny and everyone still thinks I'm adorable but I don't want to be treated like an eleven year old any more!" I knock on Maddie's door. "Maddie!" I yell. "Maddie, get up!"
She doesn't answer, so I push the door open and go in. She's sitting on her bed looking at something small and white. "What's that?" I ask. She jumps and shoves the thing under her bedcovers. "Was that a cigarette?" I ask her, raising one eyebrow. "I won't tell Mom." She shakes her head.
"No, it wasn't a cigarette."
"A candy stick?" Mom doesn't like us eating those. "No, it's not a candy stick. Just...forget about it, Kenz." She gets off the bed. "Are we late for dance?"
I turn my phone on and check the time. "No, but we will be if you don't get dressed now. Hurry up, but not too fast. I want to finish my Cheerios."
"Is Maddie coming down?" Mom asks when I get back into the kitchen. Mathew, Michele, Ryan and Tyler are gone. I pull my Cheerios toward me. "Ugh!" I groan.
"What is it?" Mom puts a dishtowel back in the drawer. "They've gone soggy!" I complain and start eating again. "Don't spill milk on your dance clothes." She reminds me. "Is Maddie coming down or not, Mackenzie?"
"Oh yeah," I take the spoon out of my mouth. "She's coming down, I just don't know when she'll be down."
Five minutes later, Maddie appears and Maliboo charges at her, nipping her ankles like she does every morning. Usually Maddie laughs when she does this but she pushes her aside roughly with her foot. "Mom!" But Mom saw. "Madison!" She says. "Don't treat Maliboo like that!" I rush to pick Maliboo up. Maddie has tears in her eyes. "Don't be a baby, Maddie." Mom tells her. Maddie grabs the car keys off the table and storms out. Mom and I look at each other. I look down at Maliboo. "What do you think's bitten her? Besides you, of course."
When I get in the car, Maddie's eyes are dry and she looks at me, she doesn't ignore me. Mom turns the radio on. I reach for Maddie's hand. "I'm sorry I got you in trouble Maddie, I just didn't like you kicking Mali."
She sniffs. "No, I'm sorry Mackenzie. I shouldn't have kicked her, she was only playing, I know." She smiles. "Thanks for forgiving me. You look pretty this morning."
I smile and flick my ponytail. "Thanks! So do you."
I push open the ALDC doors, excited to get in and see the pyramid ranking. Gino's leaning against the wall like he is every morning, Gia watching him from behind the desk. I swing my dance bag over my shoulder. "You better get out of here before Abby sees you." I tell him. "You know you aren't allowed in here, get your butt out!"
"Mackenzie!" Maddie tells me off.
Gia's covering her mouth to hide her smile. I'm not allowed to insult Maddie's precious boyfriend but I do it anyway. It's too fun to stop. She used to do it, when she used to hate him.
Maddie kisses Gino right in the hallway. "Ew!" I grab her arm and drag her away. "Come on, Mads, Abby will yell at both of us if we're late!"
I mouth "go away" at Gino over my shoulder as we leave. He's taken away too much of my big sister love time and I don't like it.
"Girls! Line up!" Abby shouts.
I line up next to Maddie. Nia, JoJo, Kalani, Kendall, Paige, Brooke and Sophia line up next to her. Our moms come in and Holly smiles at me. I like Holly. She's the one mom who always keeps her cool. "Time for the pyramid." Abby says.
"On the bottom is...Kalani." Kalani nods. "You tripped Mackenzie in your duet and she fell and so did you, so you didn't win. Watch your feet."
She pulls the next card off. "Brooke. Your sister duet with Paige was good but it didn't win."
The next one comes off. "JoJo. Your solo came third."
"Nia. You worked hard in the group dance and your turns were perfect."
"Sophia. As always, you were stunning."
"Paige. You worked harder on the duet than Brooke and it showed."
"Kendall. Your solo was stunning and you won."
"Maddie. Your solo came second but you won the group dance for us."
Jill frowns. I know what she's thinking. How is Kendall below Maddie when Kendall won the solo section? I think that's unfair too.
"At the top is Mackenzie. You were absent but your solo last week won the competition, you were flawless in the group dance and you won your singing competition."
Everyone claps and Mom beams at me.
We start rehearsing for our next competition. Abby said Cathy will be there so she's going to be even madder if we don't win so we have to work even harder. Maddie has a solo, Nia and Kendall have a duet, and JoJo, Kalani, Sophia, Paige, Brooke and me are in the group dance. Maddie's solo is called "I Knew You Were Trouble" like the Taylor Swift song. Nia and Kendall's duet is called "Friend in Me." where they're two best friends dancing together. Our group dance is called "Reach For The Stars." I love it because I get to do acrobatics.
I perform my third and last backflip in the routine, which is the move that ends it, place my head on my hands and smile like there are judges in front of me. "Good job, girls!" Abby says, and I can hear everyone echoing my sigh of relief behind me. I look at Maddie. She looks a little green. "Abby?" I call.
"Yes Mackenzie?" I know she hasn't noticed Maddie.
"I think Maddie's going to be sick."
Everyone looks at Maddie. She's getting greener. My eyes shift to the viewing area. Mom's leaning forward on the couch and all of them look concerned.
"Maddie, go." Abby tells her.
Maddie covers her mouth with her hand and runs out of the room. I hesitate, looking around at everyone, and then I run after her.
"Maddie!" I bang on the locked cubicle door. I can hear her being sick and I don't want to go in but I have to check if she's all right. "Maddie!" The door opens. She looks pale and sweaty now. "Oh Mads." I flush the toilet, looking the other way. I brought my water bottle with me, so I give it to her and she drinks some.
"What brought that on? Was it because you didn't eat anything this morning? Or is it stress for your solo?" She hesitates. "Both, I think."
I get the feeling she's lying but I ignore it because it happens a lot and it's wrong a lot. "Maybe you should sit out." I suggest. "Go up with the moms."
After dance at 6pm, Gino is back. "I thought I told you not to come back." I say. "No, you told me to go away. You didn't say I couldn't come back." He says. "I thought you'd get that by yourself! You aren't welcome here!" I snap. Then we both realise something. Maddie isn't defending him and she isn't telling me off. I look round at her. She's looking at Gino with the same expression she looks at spiders and wasps in summer with. Hate. "Mackenzie," she says, her voice trembling. "Go out to the car."
"But, Maddie..." I protest. "If you're going to beat him up, I want to watch, never mind the reason!"
She doesn't look at me. Her eyes are fixed on him. "Please. Just go."
I leave the building but I don't go to the car. I stay by the door and peek through. Maddie is screaming at Gino at the top of her voice. Something about "a stick" and "positive" and "I told you, God you're such an idiot!" until Abby, who must have heard them shouting, comes through the doors with all the moms behind her and pulls them apart. Mom sees me looking through the door and motions to me to come in. I open the door and hesitantly go in. Maddie's face is red and teary and Gino looks surprised as hell. Maddie didn't hit him which is disappointing, but I can tell her words hit hard.
"What's going on here?!" Abby demands. "Maddie, whats all the noise about? You're disturbing the rehearsal, you should be there but instead we can all hear you screaming from there!"
Maddie sniffs and wipes her nose on her hand and doesn't answer. "Gino said something she didn't like so she screamed at him." I step in.
"I hope she didn't say that stuff in front of you, Mackenzie." Jessalynn says. Maddie did use some strong language, I've got no idea where she learned that. "No, she asked me to go back to the car. I didn't, I stayed outside the door to watch. I heard what she said but she didn't do it right in front of me." I say.
"Mom," Maddie says. "I want to go home. I don't feel well."
Mom can't say no to her, not after she puked and cried and everything.
"Okay Maddie. Go and get your dance bag, sweetheart, and we'll go home." Mom says. She looks at me. "Mackenzie, you stay here with the others. Abby and Gia will look after you and I'm sure one of the other moms can bring you home."
"I will," Holly says. "Nia would love to have Mackenzie with her."
"No!" Maddie says.
We all look at her, surprised.
"I want Mackenzie to come with me." She says in a small voice. All the screaming must have made her throat hurt.
At home, as soon as we get through the door, Maddie dumps her dance bag in the Store, grabs mine and throws it in there. "Hey! My phone is in that!" I move to go and get it but she has my arm in a tight grip and drags me up the stairs into her room.
"What are you doing, Maddie?!"
She throws the covers off her bed and holds the white stick she hid from me this morning in front of my face. It's definitely not a cigarette. Definitely not a candy stick either. I don't know why she'd want to hide a candy stick from me though. I wouldn't tell Mom she had it. I eat them too. I see the words ClearBlue written on it, and a pink plus sign in a little window.
"I'm confused, what is that?" I ask. "Honestly Mackenzie, don't you watch the ads on TV?" She sighs.
"No, I always fast forward them".
She digs in her trash can and pulls a box out. ClearBlue pregnancy test.