Mountain

3.21

we are now entering the auditorium because each team gets to practice on stage.

and now poland is on stage and they're dance is absolutely incredible. and they're all boys.

this is really intimidating to watch them like that. they didn't even make it to the second round last year and they are incredible.

after our practice i had a meeting with the board and all the dance captains of the other teams to find out what's the first round is. and i was in shock to find out what it is.

i walked back to the team and they all looked at me with questioning eyes.

"okay, so basically, they're putting four dancers from different nations onto one teams and we have to learn how to work together. the thing is there's forty teams and only the top four advanced."

"what?" everyone exclaimed in shock.

there are 160 countries. and by the end of today we'll be 16.

"do we know who the best fit is from our studio?" eldon asked.

"we get to choose."

"okay, so did they give any hints to who will be best?" kate asked.

"speaking other languages is important." i said and looked at Tahlia. "in how many languages can you say hello?" i asked her.

"fifty five. well, fifty six cause i taught myself Swedish this morning." she said and we scoffed in disbelief.

"you speak fifty six languages?" west asked her. "i speak one."

"so no to West, yes to Tahlia." i said and everyone agreed. "your team will be meeting up there." i pointed at the top of the stairs and she and kate walked away.

Steph, Riley, Michelle, Cierra and I walked to a backstage room to practice our 2-7 group performance because if Tahlia makes it to the next round, we're next.

i catch Stephanie marking the moves as we're all dancing our bests and i really have no idea why she's doing that. we could do that tomorrow.

"okay, steph, why are you marking?" i said, stopping the music.

"i just think that it's important for me to save my energy." she said. "i mean i want to save it for the stage."

"we're all doing it full out."

"i don't think i had big enough breakfast to be honest. my stomach kinda feels weird. im feeling a little fainty."

she didn't eat enough today? what? this is not a joke.

"okay, why don't you go get some food and water and then come back?" i said to her and she left.

i'm really frustrated with her. she wanted to be here so badly and that's how she acts?

"what are we gonna do?" i asked the girls.

"we cannot have her in our routine if she's gonna be marking it like that." riley said. "we should think about replacing her."

"woah." michelle said.

"we're already in miami. there's no prep time no more time for her to make up for it. we need to have someone who will dance full out right now."

"before we think about replacing her, why don't i just talk to her?" michelle said.

"let her know that we can replace her and this isn't B troupe anymore." i said to her.

"i will. see you later." michelle walked out.

i sat at the crowd with the rest of the team to watch Tahlia perform with the group.

they were so good. each of them were giving his best and it looked like they were having so much fun coming up with this dance. their chemistry is great and they were amazing considering their circumstances.

we now wait for the score. they have to score over 95 points in order for us to stay.

"the final score is... 96!" we all screamed happily and were so excited to stay longer in the competition.