Sitting at breakfast the next morning, I have an ice pack taped around my ankle. Brianna sits down next to me and gives me a sympathetic smile.
"I'm okay." I said stubbornly.
"I'm not one of the moms. I actually care if you're hurting, and not because I want you to go home. I care because you're my friend." She sympathized.
"No, I know. I'm sorry. Thank you, I'm gonna be fine." I smiled and took a bite. Jordyn yawned as she sat down across from us.
"Someone's tired." Brianna giggled.
"And late!" Amanda piped up. I glanced at my watch. 7:54
"Oh my gosh, Jordyn. Girl, we have six minutes till final rehearsal where were you?" I asked, also losing track of time.
"I was up all night trying to stretch. I'm not that flexible and I tried to improve it overnight." She yawned again, taking multiple bites of her food at once.
"Don't choke! You still have like five minutes before we have to go. Here, take the rest of this." I handed her the other half of my smoothie, since I had already had my fruit cup.
"Thank you." She said taking a swig. I started clearing my plate, and took everyone else's plates to the sink. I walked back to the table and grabbed my dance bag and waved goodbye to everyone.
As I walked into rehearsal I sat down and started unwrapping my foot.
"What are you doing?" My mom asked me.
"Uh unwrapping my foot?" I stated the obvious.
"Deal was you're marking everything until the competition. You can keep it wrapped." She said sternly. I sighed, removed the ice pack, and started to rewrapped my ankle as Gina walked in.
"Is it still bothering you?" She asked me, looking concerned.
"Uh yeah. If it's okay, can I mark like leaps, and turns and all that stuff just for rehearsal?" I asked her shyly.
"I'd expect you to." She warmly smiled and started my music.
Sitting in the dressing room, this week was definitely the most dramatic for everyone. Kelly was screaming at Jordyn to "point the damn foot", Amanda's mom is telling her to bring the "Latin fire"-constantly, Asia and Kristie were arguing about stretching, Brianna was freaking out about her makeup, and I was trying not to cry as I did my makeup because of my ankle. One of the on site makeup artists, Sally, was gluing jewels to my face, outlining my eyebrows, in the style of Bollywood. I started to tear up and breathe heavily.
"What's wrong?" My mom asked, rubbing my back. I took a deep breath and refused to let a tear fall.
"Can you just get me a paper towel please?" I asked quietly, my face turning red. She nodded and walked to the restroom.
"Don't cry sweetheart. We don't want to ruin your pretty makeup." Sally smiled, and continued to glue tiny gems to my face. I let out a small laugh and tried to calm down. My mom came back with a paper towel and I was calm, just a little stressed. I patted my face and took a sip of water. They called five to places, and I sat down on the couch and started unwrapping my ankle.
"Amanda, head to the stage!" We all wished her luck and the TV turned on, showing the intro to the live show. Everyone else settled into the couch, except for Asia who was finally stretching. I scooted to the floor and went into a straddle, and was joined by a nervous Jordyn.
"You're gonna be great." I comforted her.
"But not as great as everyone else." She sighed, stretching her left leg.
"You're probably the most versatile dancer here. Totally top four material." I assured her, and we sat in silence as we watched Amanda dance. She was amazing, as always. The judges loved her, but were missing her passion. Asia was next, and she had sickled feet, inverted knees, and amazing facials. The judges loved her, and let it all slide.
"Ridiculous." Kris sighed, as her a Brianna headed backstage. Brianna had a such a difficult story to tell, about African history, and she performed it well. The choreography just felt secondary, but the judges didn't care.
"There just wasn't a lot of stuff in it." My mom shrugged as we headed backstage. I nodded and took a deep breath. "You'll kill it. Don't worry about it." She rubbed my arm. I walked onstage and took my place. During my final turn section, I felt a sharp pain in my ankle and stayed low to the floor, so I wouldn't stretch it- something Abby felt the need to point out.
"You have a lazy relevé. You really need to get up higher on the ball of your foot, and get your back leg up on your grand jete." She critiqued. I nodded and Richie started.
"I don't know how many times we have to tell you to use your face. It's dead." I nodded silently and Robin piped up.
"Clearly, we watched different routines. I loved every second of it. You had the sass, the power, and the flexibility. Which if I may remind you, was the challenge this week. She delivered. Madison, in five years, call me. I'll make you a Pussy Cat Doll." She complimented.
"Ha, thank you so much." I lightly smiled and headed backstage. I walked right by my mom, in a terrible mood. We made it outside and I turned around.
"I'm going home. No one else has gotten bad feedback like that tonight, and they hated me. It's over." I sighed, frustrated with myself.
"No you're not. Robin loved you, and so did Abby. She gave you technique corrections, it's her job as a dance teacher. She didn't say anything about your face, that was Richie and he hasn't said something positive yet. You need to be the one to fix it. You'll do it next week, because you're not going home." My mom hugged me, and I could feel the camera on me.
"I don't want to go home." I whispered.
"You're not. Robin loved you, she'll fight for you, okay?" I nodded and took a breath. "Let's go back in, and act like it's the best you've ever danced. Don't let them see you sweat."
I walked in just as Jordyn's dance started. I sat down next to Amanda, who gave me some comforting words.
"I loved your dance, and I thought the facials were great. You're amazing, one iffy night for you, is like everyone else's best."
I gave her a side hug and we watched Jordyn's dance. She attacked the whole number, and it was great. The flexibility wasn't there, but the fight certainly was. Abby definitely agreed.
"I thought it was okay. There were certain moves that showed a lack of flexibility, and that brought down the routine. You need to learn how to create the illusion that the flexibility is there." She shrugged and Richie rolled his eyes.
"Are you serious? Sure, she couldn't put her leg behind her head. She's ten. She could dance with a sword though. No one has had a prop as crazy as that." He applauded her. We all propped up.
"Ummmm..." Brianna cocked her head, thinking of her couch she leaped over.
"I'm sorry, what?" Amanda questioned, thinking of her fake gun that she couldn't drop for an entire hip hop number.
"Um, I have!" Asia scoffed, thinking back to her giant garbage bag dress from last week.
"But..." I puzzled, thinking of my box that I did turns and tricks on, and leaped off of, in the dark. The sword was a cool effect, but it wasn't a real sword and she used it for a total of thirty seconds in the whole two and a half minutes. Also, everyone's had a large prop of some sort at this point in the competition. The judges clearly disagreed and argued about it, with Jordyn awkwardly standing there. They dismissed her and she walked back in, and sunk into the couch next to me.
"You were a total warrior. You killed it." I complimented her.
"Lack of flexibility." She quoted, clearly disappointed. She curled up into the corner of the couch, and I've never seen her this defeated. I looked around the room and noticed this was an uncommon theme. Everyone seemed content with their routines and critiques, and I knew it would be me and Jordyn in elimination.
Standing onstage as the cameras set for elimination, all of us were silent, thinking of how hard it would be to say goodbye to someone tonight. I looked over at Brianna and she gave me a comforting smile. She mouthed "you're amazing" to me, and I mouthed back "you too".
"Five, four, three, two," Jeff pointed at Kevin, who started monologuing. He asked all the moms to join us onstage and my mom grabbed my hand behind me.
"Brianna."
"Amanda."
"Madison." We all stepped forward.
"You three, have stretched your way into the next week. You are safe." Abby congratulated. I felt every bone in my body go loose, and I embraced my mom. I could feel her smile, and her relief. We walked to the side of the stage, and all hugged each other. I looked over at Jordyn, who looked like she was going to cry. "Jordyn and Asia, neither of you did anything wrong. Your flexibility levels just aren't up there with the older girls, which is okay, because it comes with age. Sadly, the competition is now. Tonight, we're going to have a flexibility challenge. Right now." Abby announced. The two girls prepared themselves and the moms stepped back.
"Start with a split." The two slid themselves into a split effortlessly. Abby instructed that they move their arms to second, and then to lay on their backs and bring their left leg to their head, and press it to the floor. Both girls clearly struggled with this, but Asia was the closest. Personally, I think it's because she has shorter legs, but it's not "Madison's Ultimate Dance Competition". Abby had the girls go into a back bend and bring their hands to their feet, something Jordyn struggled with, and Asia succeeded. The final challenge was to do a right bonmont, and hold the leg. I was watching Jordyn's face and it quickly changed from relaxed to very serious. She dropped her leg, turned back to her mom and mouthed "I think I pulled a muscle". I turned to my mom and knew that was it for her.
"Leg cramp?" Abby asked. Jordyn nodded. "Are you okay?" She nodded again. The moms joined the two girls again and Abby made her final decision. "Jordyn, today is not your day." She nodded and hugged her mom.
"Thank you for the opportunity. I'm going straight to ballet and technique and yoga when I get home." She laughed and left the stage.
Back in the dressing room we were all packing our bags, devastated about Jordyn's elimination. We were writing little notes on her mirror for her as she walked in. She ran into my arms and I picked her up and gave the biggest hug.
"It's okay. You're so talented, I wish I could dance like you, and I'm three years older than you." I laughed, putting her down.
"I don't want to go home." She let a tear fall. I wiped it away.
"It's not going home, it's continuing your journey somewhere else." I smiled and she hugged me again. My mom took a picture of us and she hugged Jordyn.
"You're a damn good little dancer. Don't let anyone get in your way." She whispered in her ear. Jordyn hugged everyone else and was asked to leave. I finished packing my bag and started to leave. I looked around the empty dressing room, and thought about how many friends I had made, how many I had lost, and how I had two more competitions left.