TaDa another chapter! YEAH! Finally, it's time for the show to get started! Let's get to it already. It took me long enough to get here and this is just week one!

I just wanted to add a small thank you to all of my lovely reviewers. Your support really does make me want to write faster and I appreciate it.

Chapter 19- Knock 'em dead Sandy

POV- Bella

I was such an idiot! What the hell was I thinking?!? I kissed him out in the open! That could have ruined everything we've been working on. I was lucky Jake was the only one who saw. I rolled over and glanced at the small black clock on my bed side table. The little green numbers said it was only 4:50 in the morning and laughed at me because I couldn't get back to sleep. I'd tossed and turned all night and it was only too clear that I wasn't going to be getting anymore sleep tonight. Maybe I was becoming an insomniac. Who needs sleep anyway? It's so overrated.

I rolled over and stomped angrily into my bathroom trying not to slam the door behind me, so I wouldn't wake the rest of my floor who were all enjoying some nice quiet sleep. I turned the water on hot and stripped out of my pajamas. My stomach felt like it was full of butterflies and I was contemplating getting sick. Today was the big show, I was stressing out, and my continuous lack of sleep was not helping matters.

The run through of the show yesterday had gone fine, better than I could have hoped. Everyone made it to their places on time and other than a few simple mess ups everything was expected to go well tonight.

The text messages on my phone which I had been trying to ignore, told me that Summer and my mom had gotten tickets to the first show and they would be waiting to see me afterwards, when they would expect me to introduce them to Edward. My mom wanted to meet the 'savior' who had rescued her little girl, and Summer wanted to meet the "'hunk of man' I was sleeping with." How do I get myself into these messes?

What was I going to say to them? "Hi mom, Summer, this is Edward Cullen, the boy I've been telling you about. He's my dance partner on the show, my secret make-out buddy when were away from the cameras, he saved my life, he's also my partner in a prank war we haven't quite entered yet, he sleeps in my room whenever he can sneak in, and I think I'm head over heels in love with him even though I've only known him for about two weeks." I shivered … yeah, that would go over really well. I could just see my mom freaking out about young relationships.

After her and Charlie's marriage had ended almost as soon as it started, Renee had been super anti young relationships. I knew she was secretly happy I had never had a serious boyfriend and now that I had one I wasn't sure how she would react, especially since she didn't know him and I was already so involved with him.

I rubbed at my eyes and dumped a bunch of my strawberry shampoo in my hair. The familiar scent along with the hot water did wonders for relaxing my tight muscles but it didn't help with my continued lack of sleep. Edward hadn't been able to sleep with me again last night since Emmett and Erik had insisted he spend time with them and he couldn't get away without drawing their suspicions. I was finding it harder and harder to get a good night's sleep in this house and when Edward wasn't with me it was even worse. I was so pathetic it was almost embarrassing.

The more I thought about it, the tighter the muscles in my neck and shoulders felt and I had to start loosening myself up all over again. I stayed in the shower until my skin was a few shades lighter than boiled lobster and all the hot water was gone.

I stepped out into the steamy bathroom and wrapped a towel around my chest tucking it in under my arm like a short robe. In my haste to get up, I had forgotten to grab clean clothes to change into. After the rehearsal and time with Nakul yesterday, I had managed to fit in time to do my laundry so I had all clean clothes to pick from. Yippy!

I wasn't in any hurry now so I took my time blow drying my hair and even took some time to run a meager amount of eye liner and mascara around my eyes to try and draw attention away from the darkening bags under them. As I exited the bathroom someone tapped on my door and I opened it without looking. It was 5:40 and I was surprised it had taken Edward this long to get down here in the first place.

"Good morning, come on in." I called quickly, moving away from the door so no one else in the hall would see me.

I turned my back on the door and started rummaging through my dresser. I was comfortable in my towel with Edward around, but I had no need to prolong the moment longer than necessary. I would grab some clothes and get changed. I selected a pair of shorts and a tank-top along with some clean undergarments and turned to go back to the bathroom.

Standing frozen in my doorway, with a shocked, stupid grin on his face was Jake. He was already dressed for the day, with warm up clothes on and his hair pulled back into a pony tail. I was suddenly feeling very naked under my short towel and I had to suppress the very girlish scream building up in the back of my throat.

"Morning Bells." He motioned to my outfit, or lack there of, and smiled again. "What's the occasion? Are you having a toga party?"

"Jake! What the hell are you doing here?!? Turn around! Close your eyes, damn it!"

I clutched at my clothes and lunged for the bathroom door. In my rushed and hasty movements, the towel slipped from my body and I was almost positive that Jake had gotten a very brief glance of my completely naked ass before I managed to slam the door shut behind me.

I had my back pressed to the door and I was still clutching my clothes to my naked chest. I was panting heavily and my heart was getting ready to pound it's way out of my chest. I had not been expecting Jake to come see me this early.

"Hey Bells, you forgot your towel." Jake called from outside the door and I could hear the stupid smirk on his face.

"Eat shit!" I yelled at him hitting the door and quickly pulled on my clothes.

"What? I've seen you naked before. I'm your best friend Bells, calm down."

"That was a long time ago!" I yelled back, yanking the door out of my way and storming back into my bedroom.

Jake was leaning against the wall opposite my bathroom and he was holding my towel in his hand looking very smug. I snatched the towel away from him and tossed it back in the bathroom.

"What, you're not comfortable with me anymore?" Jake asked almost sounding hurt even though he was still grinning at me.

I scowled at him. "The last time you saw me naked we were eleven years old and you talked me into skinny dipping at La Push beach so we wouldn't have to run back to my dad's house and get my suit. We were a lot younger then and we almost got pneumonia from the cold water." And the part I hadn't added was that I was far more developed now. I loved Jake but that didn't mean I wanted him to see me naked.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I remember that day. So what's the big deal then? It didn't look like your ass has changed that much, it's still great."

I smacked him in the chest, doing more harm to my hand than to him, and walked farther into my room. "You're such a dog."

"It wasn't my fault. You opened the door." He pointed out, winking at me as he sat on the end of my bed.

"I wasn't expecting you." I said, before I could stop the words from coming out. He shot me an annoyingly knowing look and I busied myself with filling my water bottle and getting my hair pulled back into a pony tail so I wouldn't have to look at him.

"You were expecting Edward weren't you?" He asked sounding more like a dejected older brother than the best friend I remembered from Forks.

"No." I said defensively turning to face him. "I thought you were Alice." Liar, liar pants on fire, a small voice chanted in my head. I had been hoping it would be Edward but I sure as hell wasn't going to tell him that.

"Don't lie to me Bells. You suck at it." Jake said, folding his arms over his chest. "You've never been able to lie to me and you know it. You weren't expecting me to be Alice."

I shot him a hard look and leaned against the wall so I was facing him, but still had quick access to my open bedroom door in case I felt like running.

"Maybe I was waiting for Edward. He picks me up most mornings before we go down to breakfast. What's it to you anyway?"

He shrugged. "You would feel more comfortable opening your door for Edward than me when you're wrapped in a towel? I thought you were all body conscious because you didn't feel comfortable exposing yourself."

"Things have changed over the years. I'm older now. Dancing has required me to get used to wearing small costumes. It's not such a big deal anymore." I lied again.

"That's bullshit Bells. I know that's a lie." Damn I really couldn't lie to him. "Dancing is something you love to do, you hate some of those costumes but you suck it up because that's what they make you wear. It hasn't changed who you are as a person and that person is someone who would have never opened the door when she was practically buck ass naked. And you're not that much older now, it's only been a few years."

"I'm turning twenty in September." I reminded him.

"I know. I'm only a few months behind you." Jake said, getting back to his feet. "I saw you lip locking with Edward yesterday. As far as I know you're not the kind of person to push for public displays of affection like that. I just wanted to make sure you were ok with him."

That caught me off guard. I had started the kiss yesterday right before Jake had seen us. It had been completely my fault. In a moment of deranged happiness and nerves I had kissed him out in front of everyone without thinking about the consequences. Thankfully, the dark lighting had stopped everyone other than Jake from seeing us.

"What do you mean, am I ok with him?" I asked really not understanding where Jake was going with this. He blew out a breath and then took another.

"He's not pushing you is he?" Jake asked with a straight face.

My own face flushed ten shades of red and I understood what he was asking. He was checking to make sure Edward wasn't forcing me to be with him. The idea was ridiculous. I'd never known a more polite man than Edward. I was also strangely touched that Jake was still looking out for me after all these years.

"No Jake, he's never forced me to do anything I didn't want to do. My relationship with Edward is completely voluntary. He would never do anything like that."

That wasn't exactly a lie. Edward had never forced me to do anything I hadn't wanted to but I didn't exactly have a choice to be involved with him anymore. I needed him. A fact that was becoming more and more pronounced as we got to know each other. I really was pathetic.

Jake nodded a couple of times. "So he didn't force you to kiss him?"

"I kissed him, Jake. Edward had nothing to do with it."

He nodded again. "I was just checking to make sure that you're ok. I'll see you down at breakfast, I guess."

Jake moved quickly past me without looking at me and said excuse me to someone in the hall as he turned out of my door. A second later Edward appeared in his place, his hair wet from a shower and ready to start the day. He glanced at my still confused face and then glanced back down the hall at where I assumed Jake was walking to the stairs.

"Bella?" He asked moving closer to my side. "Is everything ok?"

I nodded and took a moment to recompose my face. "I'm ok. Let's go." I grabbed my things and locked my bedroom door behind me as we walked into the hall.

"Bella?"

"Huh?" I looked up to see Edward watching me. He must have asked me something I hadn't heard. I was still thinking about Jake and finding it hard to concentrate on anything else at the moment.

"I asked if anything was wrong with Jake?" He repeated his question for me and I made more of an effort to focus my attention on him.

"No, nothing's wrong we just had an interesting conversation this morning. It's nothing to worry about."

"You two have known each other for a long time right?" He asked opening the door to the third floor for me.

I nodded. "Yeah, I've known Jake for as long as I can remember. Our dad's are best friends back in Forks."

"Is your dad coming to the show?" He asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know, my guess is no. My mom and Summer are coming. They texted me last night."

"I think my parents are coming too." He said as we headed to the lounge door. I felt myself smile at the mention of his parents. Ever since he had told me about his mom and dad, I had really wanted to meet his mom, Esme. She sounded like the perfect mom. "I'll have to introduce you." He said opening the door for me.

We both hesitated outside the door to the lounge. Nothing fell from the sky, nothing flew at us, and there was no explosion, no white powder, no whipped cream or water balloons filled with who the heck knew what. It was safe to enter.

"I can't wait to meet her."

"She'll love you." He said as we grabbed our food and sat down.

Today was going to be kind of hectic. We would have some time this morning to work with our individual choreographers. Then we would get whipped by Tyce as he tried to work out the kinks we still had in the group routine.

After lunch we would head over to the stage and meet with our assistants to get set up. We might have a chance to run our dance on stage one more time, and then we would eat at the studio. They would let the live audience in at five and we had to stay back stage out of the way so no one would see us. Then the live taping would start at six and we were off.

I ate silently with Edward at a small table in the corner by a window. Emmett, Jake and Leah were sitting with Alice, Jasper and Jane. That was odd. Why were both of the prank war teams sitting together?

Edward glanced down at me and saw where I was looking. He nudged my side and jerked his chin in their direction.

"What do you think that's about?" He asked.

I shrugged my shoulders and chewed on my bottom lip. "I'm not sure."

"I don't think we want to know." He said sipping from his coffee.

"They don't know about our plan do they?" I asked him lowering my voice to a soft whisper.

"I didn't tell anyone."

"Me either."

"When are we going to talk about our revenge?" He asked.

I glanced around us to make sure no one was within listening range. "I have a few ideas but we should wait until after tomorrow to talk about it. We need to focus on getting into the next round."

"Agreed."

We finished eating and made our way upstairs to the studio where Nakul was waiting for us. He smiled when we walk in the door and welcomed us both with a big hug.

"Good morning Bella, Edward. Are you ready for today?"

I shrugged trying not to focus on my stomach. I felt like getting sick again. Edward tightened his arm around my waist.

"I think we'll do fine. We want to make you proud."

He beamed at us. "I'm proud of how hard you have worked this week. Let's get to work."

He started the music and we danced our routine. After we danced he let us rest. His idea was he wanted us to work slowly today. He didn't want us to get worn out.

"You know the dance. I just want you to have fun with this. Don't overwork yourselves."

He had us run the dance at half tempo then as fast as we could. He had us run parts with our eyes closed and then had us practice making mistakes. We worked on "fix moves" that we could do if either one of us messed up the flip or if we dropped one of the lifts.

"No matter what happens, even if you make a mistake, just keep moving. You can work together to get back on track and then keep moving. Just remember to have fun."

Once Nakul thought we had worked enough he let us sit down and catch our breath. He told us to relax and that he had confidence in us. He told us he would be at the show tonight sitting in the crowd and he looked forward to watching us.

We made our way downstairs and found some of the others waiting in studio two with Tyce. Tyce was not as lenient as Nakul. This was only the second day we had to work with Tyce, and we had to get this dance down. This would be the first dance America saw us perform. It had to make a statement as to what kind of year this was going to be.

"Jake, you need to lift Bella higher!"

"Not that way, you go left first!"

"Take five and I want you all to get your heads together when you come back!"

I popped the top on my water bottle and let more of the water splash on my face than I let get in my mouth. Tyce was running us ragged. Everyone was so wound up over the show that mistakes were happening left and right.

"This is insane." Jake grumbled, sliding his back down the wall next to me as he fell on the floor. I nodded and shot more water into my mouth.

"Yeah, but we need to get this down." I said defending Tyce. He was pushing us hard but it was only because he expected better from us. Teachers push harder when they know you can do more. It was the only way students improved. You didn't have to like it, that was just how it worked.

I caught Edward's eye from the other side of the room and he shot me my favorite grin. I smiled back and was caught off guard when Tyce started yelling again.

"Up, up. Back on the floor. Start at the top. Focus on your part."

Everyone hurried to our places and Tyce hit the music. I personally thought the dance was coming along great. I'd never had a problem memorizing moves. My hardest part was finding the right emotion. Once I had it, I just needed to let everything else fall away and put myself in the dance.

I moved to my spot in line with the other girls as the song started. This dance was fairly easy to find an emotion to. Danny and Sandy were both singing about the summer they had spent at the beach. Sandy told about the perfectly polite boy she had met who was the perfect gentleman.

Danny's story was just a little bit different. Surrounded by his friends, he was worried about sounding stupid so he spiced up his story, telling his friends about the hot chick he had found at the beach. He had saved her life and they had made out under the dock.

The two different versions of the same story were reflected in the moves we danced. The girls had an innocent quality to our choreography whereas the boys moves were far more 'riske'. The music changed and we joined together at center stage.

I skipped up to Jake's side and he hooked his arms around my waist. The dancers in rows one and three started doing a dance similar to the jitterbug, while rows two and four did a lift set. Jake hoisted me up onto his shoulder and I flip backwards over him.

As the girls in my row hit the ground it was time for the other rows to do the lift. The three pairs in row two jumped between the couple in row one and it was our turn to have the spot light.

I focused on my breath and making sure every part of my dance was as good as I could make it. Before I knew it, Tyce turned off the music and sent everyone to lunch. Lunch dragged by, I found myself regretting every bite I put in my mouth but at the same time forcing myself to eat. Passing out on stage would be even more embarrassing than missing a step.

All of the tables in the lounge had been pushed into the center so that we could eat as a mass group and topics of conversation around the room varied from the weather to the show and then some. Alice was sitting to my left and I had Edward to my right.

Alice was chatting along like nothing was wrong and she seemed to be the only person not affected by the pressure of what we were going to do tonight. Some of the dancers weren't eating at all and others were eating more than they normally did. It was actually kind of interesting to see how each person dealt with the stress.

Edward took my hand under the table and squeezed my fingers. "You want to run upstairs and make sure our costume boxes are all set? We don't want to leave anything behind." He asked in a whisper so the others wouldn't hear us.

I nodded and we dismissed ourselves. Jake shot me a curious glance as we walked away and I pretended I hadn't seen it. We hadn't talked about Edward since this morning. We hadn't really talked too much during practice at all.

We walked down the hall and into the stairwell. Edward took my hand just outside the door to the fourth floor and pulled me to a stop. He turned me to face him and my arms wound around his neck as his wrapped around my waist. I was glad we seemed to be on the same wave length.

Our lips battled until the quest for oxygen made us pull apart. God he tasted good. Over the last few days our make out sessions had taken a drastic hit. This was how I imagined a druggy would feel getting a hit after a few days without one.

He rested his forehead on mine and we stood there for a few minutes together. "Bella, what's wrong? You've been out of it all morning." He asked pulling back so he could look me in the eye.

I tried to keep my face free of emotion. I didn't want to tell him about my talk with Jake. I knew Edward was a gentleman and he would be personally offended if he knew Jake had questioned that. I nuzzled my forehead against his chest and breathed in his scent.

"I'm just worried about tonight." I fibbed, purposely not looking up.

"You don't need to be worried, we're going to do just fine." He said running his hands up my sides. He kissed my forehead. "I promise."

A door somewhere on the stairwell opened and it echoed around the cement walls as it swung shut. Edward kissed my one more time, a shorter, much less desperate kiss, and then pulled the door to the fourth floor open. We slipped inside and pushed the thick curtain door to the costume shop out of our way.

Max was standing in the middle of the room calling instructions to her crew as they packed things in boxes and piled them along the wall. Edward and I parted ways as he ducked around Max's workers dressed in their black, red, and dark purple uniforms.

I dodged my own way behind the purple curtain into the girls changing room and found my costume box. I checked each of the pieces for my Bollywood costume and then for the Broadway number. I had the dress and shoes I would wear in case I needed to do a solo tomorrow but hopefully I wouldn't need them.

We brought our boxes downstairs and loaded them on the bus along with our other things. More of the dancers were starting to come outside and within a half hour we were pulling away from the studio, heading towards the stage.

People on the street stared at us as we were ushered inside and into the stage room. Camera crews were busy setting up and janitors were sweeping around the chairs, an organized mess in order to get ready for the show.

We were given free run of the second floor where we could work on whatever we thought we needed to as individuals, pairs, or groups. Our costume assistants would come fetch us when they got here and would help us get set up downstairs.

We piled our costume boxes along the wall and people spread out around the various rooms open to us to claim work space. Angela and Ben were helping a few couples on the Broadway dance in the large room that opened off the stairs. Alice and Mike had claimed one of three small studios also available for us to use. One crew man armed with a walkie-talkie was our only connection to the downstairs mess and now we had a few hours to blow.

"What do you want to work on?" Edward asked me as we flopped down in two large bean bag chairs in the main room and watched the others work.

"Taking a nap." I said sarcastically rubbing at my neck.
"Didn't you sleep well last night?" He asked, pulling me closer. I moved over so we were on the same large pillow and he started to massage my shoulders.

"No. I'm thinking about giving up on sleep all together." I said practically purring as his fingers undid the knots in the back of my neck. He had magic fingers.

He chuckled. "You seem to sleep well when I'm with you." He pointed out.

I nodded. "I sleep better when you're around." I admitted glancing up through my bangs to make sure no one else heard that.

"I'll have to try harder to get to your room tonight."

I smiled at the idea of him staying with me tonight. His hands continued to work out the kinks and lumps in my back and shoulders. I twitched when he hit a particularly sore muscle along the back of my ribs and he paused in his work.

"Sorry, you're full of knots."

I shrugged and his fingers continued their work on my back. "This has been a rough week."

"Yes it has, but would you rather be anywhere else?" He asked.

I nodded. "I would like to be on a boat, cruising around Hawaii, having someone bring me fruity pink drinks in coconut cups."

He chuckled. "Really?"

"No, I get sea sick. That's why Charlie stopped bringing me fishing with him when he and Harry go out on the lake."

"Is Charlie a big fisher?" He asked.

I nodded. "Fishing is Charlie's second greatest love."

"What's the first?"

"Sunday games with a can of vitamin R."

"What about you?" He asked.

I shrugged. "I'm probably in there somewhere. I haven't seen my dad in a few years."

"Because you stopped coming down to Forks."

"Yeah, my dad was always supportive of my dancing, he just doesn't think it's a real job. He always wanted me to go to school and become a teacher or something. We got into a fight about it and being as stubborn as I was, I stopped going down to Forks in the summers."

I leaned back against his chest, nestled between his legs. He was leaning against the wall and we watched for a time as Angela helped Jane and Heidi with part of the Grease number they were having trouble with.

"We probably would have met a lot sooner if you had come back to Forks." He said.

I shrugged. "Maybe. When I stayed with my dad I usually spent most of my time on the reservation. Have you ever been to La Push beach?"

"A few times, I don't get down to the reservation a lot."

"Jakes lives about ten minutes from the beach. We used to walk down there and play by the tide pools."

"I bet Jake played by the tide pools. You were probably too busy falling in them."

"Shut up." I said and playfully hit his knee.

"Edward, Bella, shouldn't you two be working on something?" I glanced up to our left and found Alice standing over us.

I shrugged. "Probably."

"There is such a thing as over working." Edward pointed out.

I nodded. "And there's that."

"You sound pretty confident," Mike said from over Alice's shoulder. He moved closer and looked us over, like he was sizing up his competition. "What makes you think it won't be you going home?" He asked.

I scowled at him and switched to defense mode. "We don't think we're immortal, if that's what you mean. We're just taking it easy. Why aren't you working on your dance?" I snapped back.

I could feel Edward tense under me and Mike back stepped, clearly not expecting me to fight back. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"We have been working. Mia thought we were doing a great job."

"All the choreographers say that." I said, not dropping his gaze.

Mike smirked at me and I wondered where the nice boy I had done the tango with had gone. He certainly hadn't had this kind of attitude before.

"You've been pretty cocky ever since your audition. I saw the interview you gave that reporter. You didn't think you were going to come across any competition."

"I was misquoted!" I snapped at him sitting up quickly. I had hoped my interview with that evil reporter had blown over. No one had mentioned it since the top twenty had been announced and I thought I was getting along well with everyone.

"That's what everyone says."

Edward pushed himself to his feet and pulled me along with him. "Come on Bella." He took my arm and pulled me along behind him. I shot another glare at Mike and then waved to Alice. It wasn't her fault her partner was an ass.

Edward dragged me down the hall and we found an empty room. He pulled me inside and shut the door behind us.

"Where does he come off?" I fumed, plopping down on the floor in the middle of the room. Edward stood in front of me and smirked down at me.

"Why are you letting him get under your skin?" he countered.

I huffed. "That reporter misquoted me. I'm not cocky."

"I know that Bella."

"Then why did he get his boxers in a twist?"

Edward chuckled and held out his hand to me. "He's nervous and you were an easy target. My guess is he wants to snap at Alice, but he can't because he doesn't want to throw her off for the show and get himself eliminated."

I took the hand he offered and let him pull me to my feet again.

"Why would he want to snap at Alice?"

"I don't think they've been getting along as well as everyone thinks they are."

"Why's that?" He lifted up his arm and spun me in a circle.

"I can generally read people very well. Alice and Mike are opposite forces. Alice is good at getting along with people but I bet she wishes she could eat him alive." He said. As he talked he moved us through the partner moves to our Bollywood dance. We were moving at less than half tempo but it was still the same moves.

"But you can't read me right?" I said, remembering when he had told me something along the lines of never knowing what I was going to do next.

He shook his head. "Not at all, and that's very frustrating at times."

"I hope you like surprises then." I said trying to sound mysterious and flirty.

He chuckled. "Love them."

Talking subsided as we picked up the pace of our dance and started running through the Bollywood number. I knew he had started dancing to distract me and I was grateful for it. I let Mike and my thoughts of the other dancers fall away and set myself up emotionally for the Bollywood dance Nakul had worked so hard to teach us.

Edward and I moved easily together not quite at tempo. I hadn't noticed the clock on the wall moving but it wasn't long before there was a rap on the door and Jason let himself in.

"There you two are. Let's go down and get you all set up then you can come back up here and eat dinner."

Edward and I followed him down the hall and past the large open room. The other dancers were already heading towards the stairs and I could see a few crew men setting up a table that would probably hold our dinner food.

Jason led us downstairs and helped us store our things. He set out our opening outfits and ordered us to return at exactly five thirty. If we were late he would bring 'the wrath of hell' down upon us and he promised us we wouldn't like it.

Jason dismissed us for dinner and we wandered down the dark halls backstage. It was almost five and they would be opening the doors for the audience any time now. I stepped away from Edward and peeked out at the stage.

The house lights were on and the judge's booth was empty but lit. I could see all of the chairs and when the front door opened I saw the first of the live crowd walk in.

"Hey, get away from the edge. We don't want anyone to see you before it's time."

I hadn't noticed Edward come up behind me to look at the crowd but we both jumped when the stage manager descended on us.

"Sorry." I said moving back a step. "I just wanted to see it."

He nodded. "This is a big night for you kids, good luck to both of you."

"Thanks."

The stage manager was a big guy known only as Mars. He was built like a tank, had smooth skin like dark chocolate and was rumored to be part shadow. He walked without making a sound and kept things running smooth.

He, like all of the other stage workers and crew men, was wearing all black--black jeans with a black dress shirt that had the SYTYCD logo on it stitched in black thread. He even had on a nice pair of black shoes and a black silk tie. The only moving color backstage besides the clothes the dancers were wearing was the strip of dark purple and red fabric on the uniforms worn by Max and Tony's team.

Edward and I made our way upstairs and it was a race to get a sandwich and eat it. I forced myself not to think about what I was putting in my mouth and just swallow it. I think there was cheese on my sandwich, but for all I knew it could have been a PB&J.

"We had better all head down." Alice said breaking the silence as she glanced down at her watch. Everyone in the room either glanced down at their own watched or jumped to their feet. You could have cut the tension in the room with a dull spoon. The only one who looked at ease was Emmett. He had cracked jokes through out dinner and tried to keep a conversation going.

Edward was sitting at my side and he glanced down at his watch.

"Five minutes, you want to go down?"

I nodded and he pulled me to my feet. "Let's do this."

Edward and I arrived in our little cubby with two minutes to spare and took our costumes into the dressing room. I stripped into the white leotard I would be wearing under my costume and tied the pink skirt in place. A white shirt with a pink collar and a pair of white shoes finished the outfit and had me looking just like a pink lady.

Edward was already in his chair when I reentered the room and Jason was busy sculpting his hair with gel. I took my seat and waited for my turn.

"Close your eyes Bella, and try not to move until I'm done."

"Gotcha."

I could feel Jason's make up brush as it flew across my checks and over my eyes. He brushed through my hair and pulled it back into a pony tail. He ran eyeliner around my eyes and told me to blink a few times as he applied mascara.

"Here, tie this around your neck."

He tossed me a bright pink bandana. I groaned. Edward laughed.

"What's so funny about this?"

"Look at the edge."

He took the bandana from my hands and showed me the words stitched along one of the corners. In dark pink thread it said 'Pink Lady'. I loved it. It was so cheesy it worked and it would tie the outfit together.

"I like it."

He helped me tie it around my neck so it wouldn't choke me and the light on the wall flashed red. My heart took off and I spun around so fast I almost tripped.

"Take a deep breath Bella. This is no time to panic." Edward said grabbing my shoulders and helping me find my balance as we joined the stream of dancers moving to the edge of the stage.

"This is the perfect time to panic." I argued.

He spun me around and forced me to look at him.

"Bella, do you know the moves?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"Do you think you'll mess up?"

"No, probably not."

"I'm going to be out there too and Jake won't let you fall."

"I know that."

"Then why are you panicking?"

I took a few deep breathes and forced my heart to slow down. "I don't know."

"You'll be just fine." He gave me a small push and sent me in the direction of the other girls. "Knock 'em dead Sandra Dee."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "You too Zuko."

~Darkrose

Just in case anyone got lost on that last line, Zuko is Danny's last name from the movie Grease. The main characters in that movie are Sandra Dee and the pink ladies. Then you have Danny Zuko leading the T-birds.

The next chapter will have the whole show in it I promise. Then we get to move to the fun part after the show, when the families get to see their dancers for the first time in more than two weeks. I wonder how that will go?