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Break A Leg, I told You To Never Say That To Me Again
16 year old Deylia Marie Rivers is at the airport with her family on the way to Los Angeles, California. She is on the way to a nationals dance competition. She is one of three dancers representing the state of Pennsylvania. The Plane does not take off for another hour so she has to sit and wait with her mom, dad, her younger sister Darcie, as well as her younger brothers Tyler and Will. She loved having a big family to support her dancing.
Deylias POV
As we were about to board the plane my dad said
"What do the dancers say to each other before they go on stage?"
"Break a leg." My mom said
"Why would you wish for someone to break their leg?" 9 year old Darcie said
"It means good luck in the dance world" Mom said
"That makes no sense to me." Darcie said
"Mom, I thought I told you never ever to say that to me again" I said
"Why are we not allowed to say that to you anymore?" Dad said
"Don't you remember what happened the last time when I was at nationals two years ago? I said
"No I don't remember" Dad said
"Oh yeah you broke your leg." Mom said
Then we boarded the plane. All I could think about was what happened two years ago. Especially since this was my first time back at nationals. I sat in my seat and tried to forget about it. I couldn't and I was now remembering it all over again. Two years ago I was going to compete at nationals in LA on the same stage as this year. The only difference was that year I was coming as an alternate competitor. It was my very first nationals so even though I was an alternate I was still excited. It was the day of the competition. My friend but dance enemy Kelsey Peterson who is two years older then me and her brother Branden Peterson who is one year older then me were competing. Branden and I were just friends two years back but now we have dating for almost two years and Kelsey hates it. She has been constantly trying to break us up. On the day of the competition Kelsey was practicing for her solo routine and she fell. She sprained her ankle and could not compete. I was the alternate so I got to compete in her place. I was so happy at that moment. Then Kelsey came out to the hallway with her mom because she had to take Kelsey to the hospital. Kelsey saw me and said "I hope you break your leg for real." That meant that it was not just dancer talk. Then Branden comes out to the hallway from another practice room and he had no idea what was going on. He told me that he heard an announcement that I was competing instead of his sister. So I told him that Kelsey was hurt and that there mom was taking her to the hospital. I told him that he should go see what was going on with Kelsey and he said that he had to stay and compete. I also told him about what Kelsey told me and he said not to worry about it she was just mad because she could not compete.
Then he kissed me out of nowhere. That was my first kiss. I had no idea how to react so I just walked away. I went into the dressing room and put my costume on and warmed up. Unfortunately I missed the scheduled practice time. The good thing is that because Kelsey was so good that she was up towards the end of the competition. Finally it was my turn. They called my name and I came out on the stage. I was dancing Jazz to Wake Me Up by Avicii. I was almost done with my routine and I had only made a few small mistakes when it all went wrong. I was doing my last leap and when I was ready to land I heard something crack. I fell back and hit the floor hard. I was fully aware of what was happening but I was in so much pain that I could not move. Moments later the medics were putting me onto a stretcher.
I was in the hospital. My mom and dad were in the room with me. I broke my left leg and strained some of my back muscles from my fall. I was defiantly done dancing for a while. My younger siblings were sitting in the waiting room with my grandma who had drove from Montecito. As soon as she heard what happened she drove two hours south to come see me. Branden had come to see me as soon as the competition was over. He told me that he got sixth place and was not moving on. He thought that my injury was all his fault because I was distracted by the kiss. I told him that I was more surprised then distracted. We talked about the kiss for a few minutes. He told me that he had feelings for me but did not want to ruin our friendship. I told him that I wanted to try the dating thing out because I had never done it before. He told me that he has only dated one girl before but it did not last that long. We agreed to try the dating thing out. The thought of that made me feel so much better. Ever since then we have been in love.
I was now thinking back to present day. We were close to landing in LA. Hopefully my back will be okay because sometimes I still have pain. As we were getting off the plane I realized that Branden, Kelsey, and their mother were on the same flight. This time I was competing with Branden and Kelsey. We rented a mini van at the airport because the day after the competition we were driving two hours north to visit with grandma in Montecito.
We checked in at the hotel down the street from the competition stage. Branden and I were texting each other. Mom, dad, Will, and Darcie shared a room. I shared a room with Tyler since we were older and did not need constant adult supervision. Branden told me that he was getting his own room. I was happy about that because I could just go to his room if I wanted some alone time with him. Later my whole family went swimming, ate dinner and I went to bed early. I had to get up early for my big day tomorrow so I wanted to make sure I had enough sleep. We are staying in the hotel for two nights. The competition will take up most of the day tomorrow.
I woke up early the next morning. Tyler was still asleep in his bed. Branden texted me and wanted to meet me for continental breakfast at the hotel. I texted him back telling him I would be down there in a few minutes. I put some clothes on and went to meet Branden. I had some cereal with fruit in it and a plain waffle. I had orange juice to drink. Since it was early there were only dancers eating breakfast at the time. Branden and I talked for a little while and then we had to leave. As I was walking back to my room I walked passed my family. They were going to breakfast and I told them that I already ate so I was going back to my room.
I was in my room and getting ready for the day. I double checked that I had everything that I needed in my dance bag. I spent some alone time in my room. Branden came to my room when it was time to go over to the competition arena. We walked over there together. He said that Kelsey was taking to long to get ready and he did not want to be late. When we got to the arena we had to check in. Only a little over half of the dancers had checked in so far. Branden was in practice room 1 and I was in practice room 2 across the hall. We had dance workshops all morning that included warming up and group work in jazz, hip hop, lyrical, ballet, and tap. We were judged on how we did in each workshop but it only counted as half of the total score. The other half came from the solo performances in the afternoon. I always competed with a jazz solo. I took tap dance classes for fun but I never competed with a tap routine.
After the workshops it was time for lunch. I ate lunch with Branden and Kelsey. Kelsey was bragging about how she was going to win and we were going to lose. I did my best at ignoring her. I believed that she was jinxing herself because of all the bragging. My mom texted me to let me know that my family was sitting in the auditorium waiting for the competition to start. Since my mom is friends with Branden's and Kelsey's mom they were sitting with her. After lunch we had 30 minutes of practice in our assigned practice rooms. Then the solo round would start.
When practice was over I felt really confident in myself. This year I was dancing my jazz solo to Roar by Katy Perry. My dance was in the middle of all the performers. Branden's was three dances after mine and Kelsey's was second to last because the best dancers were always toward the end. I had to do a really great job if I wanted to impress the judges. Out of the 150 dancers only 5 would move on to compete at worlds which is about six months away. The top 3 would compete. 4th and 5th place would be the alternates. It was the same in this competition. I place 3rd at the state level this year so I was a competitor. Two years ago I placed 4th when I was here as an alternate. Last year I was just coming back from breaking my leg and placed 10th at the state level so I did not move on.
I was backstage and it was almost my turn to preform. I felt ready and I knew that I was going to do a great job. I had a tiger stripe costume on. When I was called up on stage to preform I felt a little nervous. I preformed beautifully and the whole audience cheered really loud. I stayed backstage instead of changing out of my costume because I wanted to see Branden's performance. Kelsey, Branden and I were all Jazz performers when it came to competitions. Branden took Tap and Hip Hop on the side. Kelsey took Tap and Ballet on the side. We all were in the same Jazz and Tap classes. Branden performance was really good. After the performance I went into the girls changing rooms to change.
After I changed I went into my assigned practice room. After we preformed we went into our assigned room and watched the rest of the competition via a live video camera on the TV in that room. I saw Kelsey performance. She did pretty good but made a few mistakes. I could see it on her face as she was walking off the stage that she was not happy. After everyone competed I went backstage to wait for the judges to announce the results. They only announce the top 5 and those people come up on stage to collect their trophy's. The rest of the results are posted on a list in the hallway. Some people after 5th place get awards to and the rest of them get participation ribbons.
The judges started out by announcing the top 3.
" The Third place dancer Representing the USA at worlds from Pennsylvania is Branden Peterson."
"The Second place dancer Representing the USA at worlds from Michigan is Amy Edwards."
"The First Place dancer Representing the USA at worlds from the state of Pennsylvania is ..."
It was either me or Kelsey that won. At this point I was really nervous.
"Deylia Rivers" the judge announced.
I was so excited but I saw the upset look on Kelsey's face and felt kind of bad for her.
Now the judges were going to announce the two alternate competitors. I knew that Kelsey was most likely going to be one of them.
"The 5th place dancer Representing the USA as an alternate from California is Jeremy Rogers."
"The 4th place dancer also Representing the USA as an alternate from Pennsylvania is Kelsey Peterson."
I saw Kelsey come up on stage and accept her trophy. She looked happy but I knew she was disappointed.
Now the five of us were asked to come up on stage and say a few words. Kelsey talked about her passion for dance and her mothers support. Branden talked about his mothers support and his support from me. I said that my family was behind me all the way and I wold not be here today if it was not for them and Branden. My parents, siblings, and of course Branden encouraged me to continue dancing after I broke my leg because I wanted to quit. Now I was so glad that I did not quit.
Kelsey, Branden, and I were standing in the hallway together. My family and their mom came out and congratulated all of us. My parents asked all of them to join us for dinner that night. We picked a restaurant right near the hotel. We were going to meet there in one hour. Branden, Kelsey, and I all went back to our hotel rooms to get ready. I had to freshen up after a day of dancing. I used deodorant, changed my cloths, put on some perfume, and used dry conditioner spray in my hair to make it look nice.
I met all of them in the hotel lobby. We walked over to the restaurant because it was close. We had to wait a little while for a table big enough for all 9 of us to open up. Kelsey complained about how Branden and I did better then her. Her mom reminded her that she has been to five nationals and only won once so this year just was not her year. Branden told her not to feel bad because he has been to four nationals and hasn't won any. His highest place was the 3rd place he got this year. I said that I had been to national twice and only one once. Kelsey made a rude comment about how I stole her place two years ago and then I stole her trophy this year. Branden told her that she was being rude and to apologize to me. Of course Kelsey refused. I hated how dancing ruined our friendship. We were best friends dancing as kids but then as soon as we both started to compete were were rivals and not best friends anymore. We sat down at the table to eat and I ordered pasta with shrimp because that was my favorite Italian meal. We all ate dinner, said good bye, and went back to the hotel.
I was in my room with Tyler for about 15 minutes when Branden texted me and said he wanted to spend the night with me and celebrate. I knew what it meant and I was happy. It meant that we were going to have our first time together. This would be special because it was also my first time. I told Tyler that I was going to spend the night with Branden and our parents could not know about. I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, use mouthwash, and change into something cute. I then left and went down the hall to Branden's.
He opened the door and made a comment about how cute I looked. He had music playing low in his room from his I pod. We kissed and things led to more and it happened. It was really romantic and special. We slept in each others arms that night. He woke up first and then he woke me up. He told me that I should get dressed and get back to my room before anyone realizes that I did not sleep in my room last night. He said that he would see me back at school when we got back to Pennsylvania. I told him that I got a week off from school and my family was going to see grandma who was not doing that good. He told me that he hoped my grandma would feel better soon. He also told me that he would text me while I was away and he would miss me. I told him that it was only a week and he would see me again soon. I went back to my room to take a shower. Then I ate breakfast with my family and we checked out of the hotel to drive the two hours to grandma house.
Branden and I texted the whole week I was at grandmas house. Grandma was doing a little better. It was nice to spend the week together with her. I was not looking forward to going back to school because Branden told me that Kelsey was spreading rumors around school all about how I cheated my way in to my nationals win. Branden said that he tried to defend me but Kelsey's friends would not believe him. Unfortunately the last day at grandmas my phone fell out of my pocket and my mom saw all the texts about me and Branden. when she read the texts about our special time she knew what they meant. Both mom and dad talked to me about it the day that we got home. They were both mad that I did not tell them but they were okay with it as long as I was careful. Mom said that I had to be on birth control before I did it again. Dad gave me a lecture about how guys go around spreading stuff and that I had to be careful. I was not worried though because Branden had only dated one other girl but it only lasted a few months. He told me this before we got together but I kind of felt like I wanted to know why it did not last. I was going over to Branden's tonight for a date and he told me he was going to be the only one home.
Branden picked me up from my house right on time. He took me to his house and made a romantic dinner for us. After dinner we went into his bedroom to watch a movie. He is lucky because he has a big bedroom. We did not make it to the end of the movie before we started to kiss and get all romantic with each other. I pulled away from the kiss and told him that we had to talk. He had a concerned look on his face like he thought I was going to break up with him.
"You are not going to break up with me, right?" He asked me
"No, I just need to tell you something and I don't want you to be mad at me." I said
"I wont be mad at you, unless you cheated on me because then I would be the one breaking up with you." He said
"No, I would never cheat on you. Its just my parents found out about what we did in the hotel room at nationals." I said
"How did that happen?" He asked
"They saw our text messages last week about our special night. I should have deleted them right after I read them so it all my fault and I am sorry. If you want to break up with me I understand." I said
"No I am not going to break up with you because then that would be two failed relationships." He said
"So what happened with the other girl before we got together?" I said
"She goes to our school and she is Kelsey's age. She is also one of Kelsey's friends. We met at a party that Kelsey took me to. We were both drinking and we made a stupid decision. We tried the dating thing but she came to me a month later and said she was pregnant and that it was from that night at the party. She told me she had no choice but to get an abortion and then we broke up when I saw her kissing an older guy at school." Branden told me the whole story.
"Do I know this girl? I do know some of Kelsey's friends from school so I might know her." I said
"Do you really want to know who it was?" He said
"Yes" I said
"Okay Fine, It was Coco DiLaurentis." He said
"Really, I know her. We are not close friends but I know her through Kelsey." I said
After that we went back to kissing. It got a little bit heated but we decided not to do anything tonight. We finished up the movie and he took me home because we both had school tomorrow. It was nearing midnight by the time I got home. My parents were still up and they told me to try not to stay out that late next time on a school night. I told them I was sorry and they told me to go to bed. I hoped that they were not to upset with me. It was a really nice date and I hope to have more in the future.
This story line will be continued in the next chapter. Please review or pm me with thoughts, ideas, questions, or anything else you would like to know.