reticent

22

• AMALIA •

My father and brothers (and Jenna) get here half an hour after Frankie does, in two separate cars. I meet them out front, Frankie having already sat in the theatre.

"Hi, sweetheart." My dad says, smiling at me as he wraps his arms around me in a hug. I squeeze his waist, leaning my head on his chest. "Are you okay?" He asks gently. I nod.

I say hello to all of my siblings before telling them the directions to the seating hall. "I have to go finish getting ready. Bye."

"Bye, kid." Cole says as he ruffles my hair. I slap his hand away.

     "I just curled it!"

     He grins as I rush off, back to the dressing rooms. It's empty—the rest of the team doing a group dance I couldn't learn because of the magazine, which I haven't heard anything about.

     Maybe Frankie was correct; I'm not pretty or talented enough to do it so they went with another person.

     I frown and grab my costume, going into one of the small rooms to get changed. When I'm dressed, I step out.

     Archer is here.

     "Hey." He says. His eyes rake over me, starting at my pointe shoes before working their way up to my face. "You look pretty." He says.

     I smile. "Thank you." I walk back to where I was sitting before and drop down into the chair, adding a bit more concealer under my eyes because I look tired.

I always look tired now.

"I'm excited to watch you." He says, coming to stand behind me. He rests his hands on the back of my seat and smiles at me in the mirror. "Are you still nervous?" He asks.

I shake my head. "Not really."

The door bursts open. Kiera walks in, out of breath. "Amalia...your solo...two minutes..."

My eyes widen. "Okay, okay, I'm coming." I say quickly, standing up.

She leaves, and I rush out of the room. Archer is behind me, I can tell.

"Amalia to the stage."

"Fuck!" I exclaim as I run into the backstage room. I turn back to see that Archer isn't behind me, and frown. But I run out on stage and get into my starting position.

The lights blind me, but I squint a little to search the audience. My family is in the middle—in, arguably, the best seats—and Frankie sits a few rows behind them.

And Archer is practically sprinting to sit with his mother and little sister, who are by Kiera. He smiles at me, but I don't get to smile back before my music starts.

• ARCHER •

I made it.

I smile at Amalia, and her eyes brighten before she begins moving. Her leg extends behind her, and she leans down so both her legs draw one straight line upwards. Then she puts it down and extends a foot, using it to twirl herself around.