"Take the Lead" is a wonderful movie and I highly recommend going to see it!

Chapter 13

The next day dawned sunny and warm. Lexa and Pietro were nervous wrecks who refused to eat anything for breakfast in fear of losing it. While everyone else ate they wondered around their room getting dressed. The amateur section of the competition was fairly basic. Everybody was to dance three dances but the catch was that all the beginners were dancing the same dance at the same time. They were told that they should wear clothes that would let them do all three dances without needing to change because they would just get two minutes in between dances to get a drink and catch their breaths. Lexa had picked out a dark blue gown. It had a high neck and a long skirt that revealed her right leg. There was sheer fabric going up the side from the bottom of the skirt on the right side to right under her breast. There were silver highlights on the dress and the back of the dress showed off her toned back. She did her hair up into a messy French twist with little diamond flowers as decoration.

Kitty walked in while she was getting ready and went to work on her make-up and making sure he her hair wouldn't fall down halfway through the contest. "How are you holding up?"

"I've been better. I'm starting to wonder how I let Pietro talk me into this." Lexa said with a sigh. "Working with Dad is a lot less stressful."

"You'll be fine luv," Betsy said as she walked in and started doing her hair.

"I thought that you didn't dance until this evening. Why are you getting ready now?" Lexa asked the purple haired Asian.

"I want to be there to support you and that will seriously cut into my preparation time." Seeing the look on Lexa's face Betsy walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Believe me, it is a lot easier when you are out there if you know your loved ones are watching and cheering you on."

Lexa gave a smile of thanks and then went to check herself out in the mirror. She had to admit that the dress looked really good on her. "Remind me to thank Wanda again for lending me this dress."

"No problem. We don't want you spending too much money on a dress in case you decide that you don't like competing." Kitty told her. Lexa nodded and then went to help Betsy pin her hair in place.

When they arrived at the arena where the competition would be held Lexa's nerves jumped into hyper drive. Pietro put his arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry about the dancing. We'll just go out there and have some fun. I'll get to show off my beautiful partner and you'll get to do the same." Pietro grinned at her and hoped that his little joke would help her relax a little.

Lexa rolled her eyes and gave him a shove as she headed to the check-in table. It seemed like no time at all before they were called to the center of the arena with the rest of their competitors. The girls gave out hugs as well as good-lucks. Taking a deep breath they stepped out onto the floor and prepared to dance. There were thirty couples out on the dance floor. The emcee stepped up to the mike and asked for silence. "I would like to welcome everyone to the Grand Ballroom Competition here in New Orleans. I hope that everyone is enjoying their stay." As applause sounded the announcer turned to the dancers on the floor. "For this leg of the competition we are going to ask you to do three dances. You will have two minutes in between dances to grab a drink of water and a quick breather. The three dances you will be performing tonight is the Waltz, the foxtrot and the tango. We will start with the waltz." He motioned to the orchestra set up at one end of the dance floor and the music started.

As the competition went on the people watching could tell the dancers were relaxing more as their moves got smoother. As the last song finished everyone applauded their hard work. There was a minute of silence while the judges tallied up the scores.

Lexa gripped Pietro's hand nervously. She had never been this nervous for anything before and she wasn't sure that she enjoyed the feeling. As the emcee approached the microphone all the couples on the floor tensed once again. "I would like to thank all the contestants for coming out. How about another round of applause for all their hard work?" The audience complied with the announcer's request. When the applause died down he continued with the results. "In fourth place this evening is couple number 105: Dennis Glass and Amber Ledger." Applause followed the announcement. "In third place is couple 116: Pietro Maximoff and Lexa Howlett." Their friends cheered and clapped for them. "In second place is couple number 120: Diego Fuentes and Cameron Montague. And in first place is couple number 108: Alicia Crown and Randall Bingham." The winning couple collected their trophy and flowers and waved at the crowd before going back on the floor for their final dance.

As the winners danced Lexa and Pietro walked off the floor to the congratulations from their friends. "That was great for your first time out. Just think what you will be able to do after two more months of practice. These people won't know what hit them!" Kitty said while bouncing in place.

Lexa smiled at her hyper friend. "It felt really good to be out there. It would have felt better to win but third place is nothing to sneeze at." With that being said all the girls swamped her with more hugs. Laughing the guys settled on just shaking hands with Pietro.

"Is this better then working in an office mate?" John asked his friend.

"I like running the business but this is a great pastime and stress reliever when a competition isn't involved."

"Competitions will give you an ulcer if you worry about them too much," the tall blacked haired Russian said as he watched his fiancé give Lexa another hug before ushering Betsy off to help her get ready for the next part of the competition.

Everybody nodded and then Warren realized what time it was and ran off to get himself ready as well. When he and Betsy met up he had already signed them in and got their number (120) and the dance they were supposed to do first. "We'll be doing the quick-step."

Betsy nodded. She was wearing a purple gown with purple sequins covering the bodice and in flower shapes around the skirt. The skirt was light-weight and floated like cloud around her when she spun around. The spaghetti straps were studded with diamonds and her hair was tied back in a bun with sparkles making her hair shine in the lights.

When it was their turn to dance they captivated the audience with their performance. They were excellent dancers and matched each other perfectly. When they were finished the audience burst into enthusiastic applause. When all of the dancers had completed their first round they were all called back to the dance floor so that the judges could announce who would be moving on to the next round.

"There are fifteen couples that will move on to the second round. Will the following couples please step forward? Numbers 104, 106, 107, 109, 110, 113, 116, 120, 122, 123, 125, 126, 127, 128, and 130 will continue on to the next round. We will be doing two of the Latin dances to test your endurance. The two dances will be the Samba and the Cha-Cha. Now please go change into proper costumes. We will be starting in 10 minutes."

The couples that had moved on walked out of the arena and hurried to the changing rooms. Betsy was changed and back out in under 5 minutes. She was used to quick costume changes since she used to be a runway model before she moved to modeling for catalogues. She looked as lovely in her Latin dress as she did in her ballroom gown. She wore a cobalt blue dress with an asymmetrical hem. There was a sequins formed into a slash across the skirt of the dress with some scattered across the bodice of the dress. The straps were so thin that they were almost invisible and the back was cut daringly low.

"You look lovely dear," Warren said as he walked up behind her.

Turning around to give him a kiss she whispered in his ear, "You look sexy as hell yourself luv."

Getting another quick kiss he led the way out onto the dance floor with the other fifteen couples. "The first dance they will be doing is the Cha-cha," the announcer said before cuing the orchestra to start playing.

Betsy and Warren were once again one of the best couples out there. "Betsy always did have a flair for the dramatic," Wanda whispered to Rogue as they watched her and Warren perform a difficult move. Rogue nodded her agreement but didn't say anything as she watched some of the other couples dance. When the two dances were over the audience applauded and then grew quiet as they waited for the results.

"Once again the field will be cut in half for the last part of our competition," the emcee said as he was handed the judges scores. "The seven couples that will move on to the last part are numbers 107, 110, 116, 120, 123, 127 and 130. The dances that you will be performing this round will be selected at random when it is your turn to perform so please dress in a costume that will be adaptable to both forms of dance."

With that the couples once again headed to the changing room. As Betsy entered she sat down on the bench to remove her shoes and to take a quick break. She considered herself in good shape but tonight seemed to be taking its toll on her. She had an idea of what could be causing it but she wouldn't be positive until she made her way to a drug store tonight. With that thought she realized that she had dallied a little too long and needed to hurry if they were going to make their turn. She dressed quickly in a black dress that had a long skirt that could be taken off quickly if she were to do a Latin dance. The dress had splashes of jewels across the bodice of the dress with long sheer sleeves. The back was cut out and showed off her toned back.

Rushing back out to Warren she saw the worry on his face. "What happened in there? You always make it out before the other girls and here you are the last one. Is there something wrong?"

"I'm fine. Let's go win this competition." Grabbing Warren's hand she walked out onto the dance floor as the emcee called out their number. They were told to do the Paso Doble and Betsy was glad that she wore the dress she did since the skirt could be used as a cape for part of the dance. They danced with all the passion they could muster and once again the audience was drawn into their performance. When they were done they bowed and left the arena.

When all the other couples were finished they walked back into the arena to applause. Everybody stood waiting for the judges to make their final decisions. When the announcer stepped up to the microphone for the last time that night everybody in the house was sitting on the edge of their seats. It had been a heated competition and everybody couldn't wait to see if their favorite couple would win.

"In fourth place this evening is couple number 130: Zachary Reynolds and Elizabeth Jefferies. In third place is couple number 116: Joshua Swords and Samantha Jones. In second place is couple number 127: John Winters and Michelle Flack. And the winner of the intermediate portion of our competition is couple number 120: Warren Worthington III and Elizabeth Braddock!" The crowd erupted in applause as Betsy and Warren were presented with a trophy and flowers. When the audience's clapping had died down they did their victory dance. The waltz was one of their favorites since they had been dancing it since they could walk for family functions. As they headed off the dance floor to another round of applause they were greeted by their friends and happily accepted the congratulations. "This calls for a celebration," Warren said above all the noise. "Remy where would you suggest we go for some fun that won't leave you guys with a hangover for tomorrow?"

As the celebrants walked out of the hotel later Betsy managed to sneak away to the drug store not far from the restaurant they were eating at. 'Tomorrow morning I will take this test and see if my suspicions are right. I really hope I am wrong about this.' Betsy thought as she made her way to where her friends were seated.

XxX

Anybody want to guess what is up with Betsy? I bet most of you can figure it out. Well, until next time go see 'Take the Lead':-)