A/N: I am so sorry that it took so long for me to update and I think that this chapter is a wee bit short, but I promise I will try to update again before the weekend.
Chapter 11
Skylar's POV
It's the day of my first dance competition back on my team and I have to admit that I am actually really nervous, but it is a good kind of nervous. I haven't danced in front of judges in more than a year. My teachers gave me a solo and they entered me into the senior age division because they thought that my age division wasn't enough competition, which makes me feel good about myself knowing that my teachers think that I am good enough to compete against older people, but now I am worried that I won't place. Back when I use to dance all the time I never got less than 3rd and I usually got 1st. I even won all of my nationals 3 years in a row. This week I have 3 dances, a group, a trio and a solo. I learned my solo 4 days ago so I am still a little shaky but I think I can pull it off. My solo is my first dance of the day, so as I am putting on my makeup and getting my hair done I keep running the choreography over and over in my head before I go out in the hallway to practice. I am dancing a ballet solo en pointe, it's a variation from La Esmeralda which is actually really difficult. I already warmed up earlier but once my costume and pointe shoes are on I want to warm my feet up more. I run through the choreography a couple of times using my prop tambourine that I have barely rehearsed with, smoothing out my turns and making sure that my lines are elegant yet crisp. Out of the corner of my eye I see Rachel, Hiram and Leroy coming down the hall, I stop what I am doing and I meet them halfway.
"We wanted to catch you before you went onstage to wish you luck!" Hiram says as Rachel hugs me, closely followed by both of her fathers.
"Are you nervous?" Rachel asks me and I nod vigorously.
"Are you kidding? Of course! There are 18 year olds at the top of the age division that I'm competing in!" I say, my dance teacher calls for me from the dressing room, telling me its time to go backstage.
"Break a leg!" Rachel yells as she and Leroy begin to walk towards the auditorium to take their seats, Hiram turns to me before I leave to go backstage.
"Hey, is your mom here?" He asks me quietly.
"No." I say in an unpleasant tone shaking my head, "She had rehearsal, but its ok, I am going to get her to come to the next competition!" I say trying to backtrack, I don't want him to think that I am upset that she's not here because I am honestly use to it.
"Well that's… too bad. She is missing out." He says rubbing my back, "Give em' hell up there kid." I smile while I make my way backstage. In the wings I try to stay loose, there is still one girl that has to go on before me. As she comes off, I go to the very end of the wing space and rub rosin on the front and heal of my shoes and stretch my arms and back. As they call my name and number my heart starts beating really fast and soon I am out on stage, I feel the heat of the stage lights on my face and when I look out into the audience I can barely see anyone in the audience from the glare of the lights. As soon as I start dancing I feel my instincts take over and my movements become natural. When I come off stage my self-confidence is high. I wasn't nervous or shaky, I was calm even. As I walk out of the wings and back to the dressing room my adrenaline starts to slowdown. The rest of the day goes down without a hitch; both of my other group dances go really well. I have a couple of hours between my final group and awards so I go to find Rachel and her dads. Rachel and I hang out while her dads go to get us some food from across the street.
"Hey, guess what?" Rachel says beaming.
"What?..." I say intrigued.
"I convinced my parents to let me switch from McKinley to Carmel!" She says practically leaping in the air.
"Really!" I ask surprised.
"Yeah, they actually thought that it was a really good idea! It was really easy to convince them considering how much the arts are stressed at Carmel." Rachel said sitting back down next to me.
"Did you tell mom yet?" I ask bringing down the mood, Rachel's face falls a little.
"Well… no, not yet. Do you think she'll be ok with it?" Rachel asks me apprehensively.
"Of course, Rachel she loves you, I think she'll be really happy about it." I say smiling, I am truly glad Rachel is coming to Carmel; she shouldn't have to deal with all that bullying.
"Oh, good, I was actually nervous about that." She says smiling back at me.
"So when is you first day?" I ask.
"In two weeks when the new marking period starts. I can't wait! No more slushies to the face." She says half joking half not. "You are ok with it right?"
"Totally, I am really excited, we can see each other more often." As I say this Hiram and Leroy return with food from the Italian restaurant down the road. In about half an hour they call all competitors to the stage and I go and sit next to the rest of my dance team. As they begin to hand out awards I scan the crowd. The stage lights are dimmer than before and I can make out individual faces now, but I am not looking for Rachel or Hiram, I am looking for my mom. I know that she isn't there, but I still had a small bit of hope that she might show up. After a few minutes of looking around I give up, and I can't really say that my heart sunk because it didn't. She said she wasn't going to come and she didn't, no big deal.
"And now, the awards for top overall high score in the senior solo division." When I hear this I quickly turn around, one of my teammates puts her hands on my shoulders and we wait.
"In third place we have Kelly Macoy with "Beautiful to me" Planet Dance." I clap along with the others, I think I'll be alright if I don't get an overall high score, I did move up an age division and to be fair this is my first competition in a long while.
"In second place, Skylar Corcoran "Variation from La Esmeralda" Excel Dance Company!" My eyes light up as my team goes wild, over all of the noise I can still hear Rachel screaming her head off in the audience. I go up to the front of the stage in my company jacket and stand in line with the other girl who was called before me as they give me my awards. I beam as I stand there, this is the happiest I've been in a really long time. I can see Hiram and Leroy enthusiastically cheering from the crowd and my teammates yelling and shouting for me. But through all of this I start to think about my mom, which is weird I know. I wonder if she would have been proud of my today if she came, if she would be cheering just like Hiram and Leroy are. I think maybe if she saw me dance and win that somehow that would restore her faith in me. Seeing me do something that I am actually good at might make her like me more than she does. I quickly shake these thoughts off to the side, I decide that for once I don't want to focus on her but I want to focus on me and it feels good. Both my group dance and my trio won their overall category, which is totally awesome. At the end of the night Rachel and her dads take me out to a victory dinner plus we got to go to the best ice cream parlor in town. Today has been nearly perfect and I credit that all to being around the Berry's. I realize that if I want to be happier in life, I have to surround myself with people who I like and who like me. The Berry's have been nothing but kind to me since I have come into their lives. They accept me and give me the support that I have always wanted, and now I am pretty sure that being around them is the change that I needed.
A/N: Love it? Hate it? Let me know!