Chapter 23

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I walked into the dressing rooms with Jordyn by my side. I sat down at my vanity and started doing my hair. My mom came up behind me and grabbed the brush from my hand and continued brushing.

"Thanks." I sighed, starting my makeup.

"Stop that." She made eye contact with me through the mirror.

"Stop what?"

"Being nervous. It doesn't matter that you're dancing with a six year old. It doesn't matter that you finished the dance a few hours ago. What matters is that you go out there and make it look like you're dancing with professionals, and you've known this dance your whole life. And you can do that. You never cease to amaze me." She started curling my hair. "Red scrunchie?"

"Really?! After that speech... YOU ASK IF I WANT A SCRUNCHIE????" I laughed.

"I don't do well with heavy moods. So do you want the scrunchie or not?" She winked. I nodded and smiled as I finished my makeup. I applied my lashes and ran to go get changed. I found Asia and Lexine and we ran our number 4 times. We did a group hug and I went and sat in my chair. I saw Zack come up behind me in the mirror and smiled as he wrapped his arms around me.

"You're gonna kill it. You know this dance and you look great doing it. You're the glue of the number. Don't be nervous, you've got this." He said into my hair. I turned around in my chair and looked up at him.

"Hip-hop isn't your style," I started.

"Wow, what a pep talk." He interrupted.

"I'm not done! Hip-hop isn't your style, BUT I've never seen a trained lyrical dancer do hip hop this well, especially in only two days. You're amazing. Please know that."

"Hm okay mhm. Can I give a little advice? Next time, don't lead with a negative. Otherwise, great work. I'd give it a 7/10." He winked.

"A seven?! That was some of my best work!!" I stood up as I defended my work.

"Yeah no it was great, but it's nothing compared to mine." He smirked.

"Ha ha." I rolled my eyes and he wrapped me in a big hug.

"Cabaret Trio, you're up first. Head to places please." One of the producers called. I looked up at Zack and he nodded.

"You got this. Don't be nervous." He squeezes my hand as I pulled away. I gave a small smile as I walked to the stage and grabbed my moms hand.

We stood in the wing of the stage as Kevin gave his opening speech. My mom gave me a hug and brushed the hair out of my face. She looked me dead in the eyes and put her hand on my cheek.

"Please welcome to the stage, Asia, Madison and Lexine." We strutted onto the stage and sat on our stools.

"Give them a hand, wasn't that fantastic?" Kevin approached us, as the audience cheered. Kevin handed me the microphone.

"Madison. You held the group together. You were dancing with girls much younger than you. Yet they still outshined you in your face." Abby shook her head.

"Madison I just feel like you're always dead in the face. You can do these beautiful turns, but you can't even smile on stage." Ricky judged.

"Madison, you need to create the illusion that you have the flexibility in the places you're lacking it." Robin critiqued.

The other two girls had great notes overall, but I didn't listen in much. I had to keep my head up and stay strong. Don't cry until there's something to cry about. Kevin dismissed us backstage and my mom hugged me and I let out a huge breath. We started to walk in silence back to the dressing rooms.

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