"Madison, it's almost six! We've got to go!" My mom shouted up the stairs as I got ready for my charity showcase rehearsal with Ricky.
"Do you know the style he's going to do?" I called down, as I put my hair up in a ponytail. I had gotten home about thirty minutes ago, from my usual studio, and did not prep enough for tonight before I left.
"He said be prepared for anything, so be prepared!" She yelled and I threw all my shoes into a bag. I ran down the stairs in my black leggings and cropped white tee shirt. "Ready?" She asked me and I nodded as I slipped on my flip flops. "Head our to the car, I'm going to check on Kyle before we leave." She walked upstairs as I walked outside. I closed the door and saw Zack grabbing his mail. He looked up and gave me a big wave.
"Didn't you just come back from dance?" He asked me as I crossed the street to meet him.
"Yeah, but Ricky called last night and wants me to do this charity showcase with him." I smiled, excited just thinking about it.
"No way! Look at you, doing showcases!" He said encouragingly.
"I'm so excited, especially to work with Ricky."
"Tell him I say hey! It's been forever."
"I know, I haven't seen him since our season. He went on tour with Lady Gaga again I think." I thought back to Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition.
"That was a really good year." Zack reminisced. I tilted my head slightly, and my lips curled into a small smile.
"It really was."
"I don't want to keep you, go have a good rehearsal, let me know how it goes." He smiled and I walked away.
"Thanks, I will! Bye!" I climbed into my car as my mom walked out and waved to Zack.
"Nice to see you, Mrs. O'Connor!" He shouted across the street and my mom smiled.
"You too, sweetie! Tell your mom I say hello! We'll have you all over for dinner soon!" She called back as she got in the car. She buckled up and started to pull out of the drive, and head off to rehearsal. "Glad you two are on good terms again. That whole family is so kind." She said to me while keeping her eyes on the road.
"We weren't really ever on bad terms."
"Sweetie, I'm not dumb. I was your age once, I know when you're on bad terms with someone, especially with an ex." She gave me a side eye, catching me in my lie.
"Well, we're all good now." I replied dryly, bothered for some reason by the idea of her thinking we were friends.
"Okay, good." She genuinely smiled, and turned on the radio and played my favorite songs.
We walked into the unfamiliar building, and there was a tall man wearing a suit, and an earpiece in sitting at the front desk. He held up one finger to us, as he typed into the computer. I looked at mom and she whispered "fancy!" to me and I giggled quietly.
"Alright, thank you. Goodbye." The man clicked his earpiece and stopped typing, and looked up at us. "How can I help you?"
"Hi, I'm Madison O'Connor, I'm here to work with Ricky." I smiled and he started typing.
"Ma'am, what's your name?" He asked my mom, not looking up.
"Coreen O'Connor" more typing. He handed us two badges and continued typing. He pressed his earpiece again.
"Miss. O'Connor is here, can I send her up? Mhm, okay. Yes sir." He pressed the earpiece. "Mr. Palomino is ready for you. Third floor, second door on the right. Enjoy ladies." He smiled and continued typing. We walked into the elevator and clicked the third button.
"Does he own this building?" I asked my mom and she laughed.
"I doubt it, I bet this is the charity's building and he has his own studio or a floor here." She said as the elevator went up.
"Mr. Palomino will see you now." I dropped my voice and octave and she laughed again. "Am I supposed to call him that now?" I laughed with her.
"I doubt it. You two go way back." She said as the doors opened and we walked into the hallway. It looked like an average business place, with conference rooms. There was another secretary's desk, with a woman with bright orange hair pulled into a messy bun, sitting there typing. She looked up as she took a sip of coffee.
"Hey ladies! Mr. P is that door right there." She smiled warmly, a very different reaction to us than the first man, and pointed to a room. We opened the door and the vibe was so different from the rest of the building. Inside was a full dance studio, with three wall sized mirrors, a pink wall full of ballet bars, tons of funky orange couches, and a complete stereo system hanging from the ceiling. No one was in the room, so I set my stuff down on a couch and started stretching.
"This place is so cool." I looked around as I sat in my straddle.
"This is so exciting Maddie." Mom smiled as she texted someone.
"Tori? Why are these women in my studio?" I turned around and saw Ricky standing there smiling.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! This is so embarrassing!" I said sarcastically as I ran up to him and hugged him.
"Oh, kiddo! It's so good to see you again!" He wrapped me in his arms.
"I missed you! Working with other choreographers just isn't the same."
"Working with other dancers just isn't the same." He let go of me and led me to a couch. He hugged my mom and sat down.
"Okay, real quick. How famous are you? You have two secretaries." I laughed and he smiled.
"Not famous, I just know the right people." He corrected, and I smiled. "Alright, so here's the deal. We are supporting the cause 'Dancers Against Cancer', and basically they help provide funds to dancer educators, choreographers, and families of people in the dance community who have been impacted by cancer. It's a very important cause, and I'm so glad you've signed on to it. You're job, is to dance your heart out. You'll have close to fifteen different numbers, so we're stretching out the rehearsal process. We will be bringing some of the younger dancers who are members of the program to dance with you, and we'll bring in another guest dancer to do a few duets with you, but the overall show is going to be focused around you, and your support. It's going to take place December fourth, so about two months from now, and will be televised and streamed worldwide. Since your season, you've been remembered, more than any other dancer on any competition show. You've booked jobs, and important ones, and everyone was so excited when you agreed. I'm glad I had the personal connection." He gave the rundown, and complimented me.
"Worldwide?" I gasped, excited but also nervous.
"Oh yeah, it's a global issue, with global donors." He nodded, clearly passionate about the cause. "Alright, let's get started!"
We started my opening routine, it was to the song "In my Blood", and it was portraying the story of these kids and families who wanted give up, but knew they couldn't and continue to fight through. We finished the number, and I went to get a sip of water while Ricky took a a phone call.
"I love that you're doing this. It's a good cause, you get service hours, you get more recognition, and you get to do what you love to help people. It's perfect." My mom smiled, typing into her laptop as I sat on the floor.
"I'm really excited, I can't wait to meet some of the kids." I smiled back at her as Ricky walked in, quickly grabbing his things.
"I'm so sorry to cut this short, Gavin just called and said there was an emergency at home. I'll see you tomorrow, 2:30?" He confirmed putting on his backpack.
"Yeah, sure! I hope everything is okay!" I gave him a quick hug as he left the room in a rush. My mom was putting away her laptop. "I'm glad him and Gavin are still together. He's so great." I looked back at her, packing my own bag. "What do you think it was?" I asked her, zipping my bag shut.
"I'm not sure, sweetie. He'll probably tell you tomorrow." She shrugged and we walked out of the room. I waved bye to Tori, who smiled genuinely back to us, and when we got out of the elevator I waved to the tall man, who could not care less that we were leaving. We got in the car and drove home in an exhausted silence, with the only sounds coming from the radio. I pulled out my phone, which was dead since I forgot my charger before rehearsal. We pulled into the driveway and I saw Zack walking his dog in the dark street. I got out and he crossed the street to meet me. His dog jumped up on me and I bent down to pet him.
"You're out late." I lightly smiled at Zack, who looked down at me, smirking.
"You know me, bad boy who's controlled by whenever his dog has to go to the bathroom." He winked and I laughed again. "How was rehearsal?" He asked me as I continued to pet Scully.
"Great, we finished the opening number. It's for 'Dancers Against Cancer' and I get to work with some of the kids, and Ricky's just awesome." I gushed as I looked up at him, still squatting.
"Good, I'm glad." He grabbed my hand to help me stand, and I flew up. "Careful, grace." He joked and I giggled. I realized how close we were, our faces inches apart, hands still attached. I took a step back and dropped his hand slowly. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Travis stopped by your house like two hours ago. He started knocking on my door thinking you were over here. I told him you were at rehearsal, and he didn't believe me. I figured you've talked to him since though." He shrugged as Scully rubbed up against my leg, and I panicked.
"Shit, it's Saturday! Wait, what time is it?" I asked him, realizing again that my phone was dead. He looked at his watch quickly.
"10:02."
"Oh my god! I've got to go call him." I ran inside, leaving Zack and Scully alone in my dark driveway. I heard a faint goodbye as I shut the door, ran upstairs and plugged my phone in immediately. I waited impatiently for it to turn back on, pacing around my room. The bright white light filled my room and I lunged for my phone. I had fourteen texts and three missed calls. I dialed his number and waiting for a response, getting nothing but a voicemail. I texted him, apologizing for forgetting about our date, once again, getting no response. I stayed up for two more hours, waiting for a response, scrolling through my feed to distract myself. By 12:30, I figured he wasn't planning on answering anytime soon. I turned off my lights, and fell asleep watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
The next morning, I rolled out of bed around 11:30, exhausted from my week. I grabbed my phone and saw a text from Travis.
Travis: hey i was asleep. can i stop by in 20?
Travis: hey im on my way, idk if you're asleep i just need to talk to you.
He had messaged me ten minutes ago, so I ran to brush my teeth. I heard a knock at the door as I spit my toothpaste out. I looked in the mirror, to see my major bedhead, and my mismatched pajamas. I threw my hair into a ponytail and slipped on my flip flops while running down the stairs. I reached the living room to find Travis and Kyle sitting on the couch, playing with Rufus.
"Nice of you to join us, sleeping beauty." Kyle laughed and I tossed a throw pillow at him. Travis stood up and I gave him a small smile.
"Hey." I got no response. "Do you want to talk, outside?" I glanced at Kyle and led Travis to the front porch. We sat on the swinging bench in silence for a few minutes. "I'm sorry I forgot about our date last night. Ricky called the night before and offered me this job, and I couldn't refuse, and it was so last minute and I had such a busy day, it just slipped out of my mind. I'm so sorry love." I put my hand on top of his, and he left it there.
"I'm not mad you forgot about the date." He stated, staring at the floor. I let out a sigh of relief, figuring that was the end of the awkwardness. "I'm mad that you didn't tell me about the job, but you told Zack." My heart sunk. He had a point, but was it really that big of a deal? I was planning on telling him in person, it was such an important moment for me.
"I just wanted to tell you in person." I said quietly, filled with guilt.
"So call me! You know I would have been here in seconds." He finally looked up at me, but he wasn't angry anymore, he was hurt.
"It was so late, and I only told Zack because he was outside as I was leaving, and he knew I had already gone to dance and asked. I wanted to tell you first, I did. I just wanted to see your face when I told you." I went to grab his hand, and he moved it back slightly. I looked up at him and he had his head low again.
"I don't care that you told someone else first. I don't care that I found from someone else. I'm so proud of you, but it's ruined from the fact that I show up for our date, and my first thought when no one answered, was that you were at your ex boyfriend's house. Not your best friend, who lives next door. Your ex boyfriend's house. Even better, I went over to ask and he knew exactly where you were. He had all the details, and I had none. Do you know how that feels Madison?" He stood up, his face turning red. I looked down at the ground and shook my head no. "It feels like shit." He squeaked out and stormed off to his car. I got up and ran to his car as he opened the door.
"Travis, stop it. You said it wasn't a big deal. You said there was no reason for you to be upset. Why has it changed? I've told you everything that's happened between us since, I've made a point to make sure you weren't put in an awkward situation. The one time I forget, because something really great happened to me, it becomes a whole fight?" Tears welled in my eyes. He stood there silently for a few seconds, both of us too angry and upset to speak. I glanced across the street and saw Zack standing in his driveway, and Travis notice where I was looking, and looked over too.
"I guess it does." He got in the car and slammed the door shut. He peeled out of the driveway and I stood there in my purple and white pajamas alone, crying. I felt someone wrap their arms around me and I opened my eyes to see Zack hugging me. I hugged him back, sobbing. He rubbed my back, trying to calm me down, and led me back to the bench. After catching my breath, he spoke up.
"What happened?"
"We got into a fight." I whispered, wiping away my tears, as he let out a small chuckle. I glared up at him and he put his arm around my shoulder.
"I got that much. Do you want to talk about it?" He expanded, and I sighed deeply. Did I? Part of me wanted to rant about everything to him, Zack made me feel safe, and since I couldn't tell Travis how much of a jerk he was being, Zack was my best option. But, the fight was kind of about him, and if I opened up to him, it could add a whole new layer to the argument, which I wasn't willing to do.
"No, he's just mad that I missed our date and I'm being overdramatic I guess." I lied and brushed the pieces of hair that had fallen from the ponytail out of my face.
"You're not being overdramatic. From what I heard, he was being a total jackass. You have such an amazing opportunity and he's crapping all over it because you forgot about a date. He'll get over it. If he doesn't, he's not worth any of this. You deserve everything and it'll be his loss if he screws this up. I would know." He rubbed his thumb along my shoulder and I rested my head on his shoulder, sniffling.
"Thank you."
"Anytime Mads."