⎼⎼⎼ 𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 ➵ 𝑏.𝑓.

017

brady

i was disappointed. sure, gia was good, but i poured my heart and soul into that dance.

"now, moving onto our top three groups. in third place, nicest kids in town! second place, i got that. and your highest scoring junior group, king of queens, abby lee dance company!"

our group rose up to collect our award. i was happy that at least one dance i was in got first.

⤎⎼༌·⋱🩰⋰⋆༌⎼⤏

"i'm so happy guys," i said, smiling at my medal. i didn't even notice mouse slipping away.

---

mikki

i had spotted abby and gianna sitting at a blue table.

"they weren't even comparable. he was like a youth american grand prix, and she was good, but i think he should have come out on top. it was the guy judge."

gianna nodded.

they have that little faith in gianina?

i ran back and joined the group again. i didn't want to tell them what i had overheard. they'd find out.

"i think that she's going to take my win away," gia murmured to her mom. i felt so bad for her.

"guess where that male judge was from?" abby hissed, "miami!"

"so you think that he gave brady a lower score because he was from miami?" joanne began heatedly.

"i think that gia, you did really good and you deserved the win," brady cut in. gia smiled at him.

"so, the group won. and i thought your faces were great."

"i'm just sad that i'm going home," brady said, "i think the lesson is that you can't break up a team. you know with queen, they broke up and then got back together. i just hope that we can get a team again."

"we'll see." abby pursed her lips.

"we got you a going away cake," stacey presented, "nothing bad in it."

"you know abby, the fact that he didn't win and still has to go, makes it harder to swallow. so these ladies got their cake, and they're going to eat it too."

with that, tricia promptly dumped the cake on the ground. i gasped. it was a perfectly good cake. what a crime to waste it like that!

the whole team rushed toward the cake.

"it's still edible on the top!" sarah squeaked, scooping up a handful.

let's just say it wasn't wasted.

⤎⎼༌·⋱🩰⋰⋆༌⎼⤏

"i am seriously going to miss you," i murmured, burying my face into brady's hoodie.

"me too," he said, "don't make me cry, mouse," he groaned. i laughed shakily.

"well, keep in touch, ok? i want to hear everything that's going on at stars. all the gossip, all the dance teachers, everything," i demanded, holding up my pinky. he hooked it and we shook on our promise. everyone else went to give brady their goodbyes. i saw pressley go slightly pink when brady hugged her.

"you're such a good kid, brady," abby croaked, pulling him into an awkward lopsided hug. brady smiled and broke away.

"see you," tricia smiled, but it looked more like a grimace.

i ran with their car until it disappeared out of view.

sarah hugged me tight, her tears thick and fast. soon all the girls were around me, crying. it was so cheesy i almost laughed. well. brady wasn't an aldc member anymore and it was our fault.

our fault for not dancing hard enough. for not winning. for not shining bright. for making mistakes. and look who took the blow. poor brady.

"alright girls," i croaked, my eyes still (mercifully) dry, "we can't let ourselves cry over a boy. we're going to show abby that we can dance without brady and maybe if we dance well enough, she'll bring him back. but we need to show her that we can dance without a guy and we can win without a guy."

the girls started laughing which resulted in them all coughing hard.

"yeah!" lilly cheered, "girls forever!"

"girls forever!"