Chapter 17

I flew out the next morning while the others returned to the LA studio to audition for a music video. I sat next to two kids around my age, a brother and sister, both of whom I'd seen at Nationals. They introduced themselves as Beatrice and Carlos, and they were twelve-year-old twins.

"You won the overalls, right?" Beatrice asked me, and I nodded. "Wow. Well, that was a great solo. The trio looked super fun as well- your trio partners were great, especially the Black girl- sorry, I don't know her name."

"Thank you. It's probably one of my favorite solos. Nia is her name, and she's improved a lot this season to get that opportunity. She won her first title, and it was a national title, just a few weeks ago. I think she'll make a fabulous Contemporary dancer in particular. How did you guys do?"

"Pretty well!" Carlos replied cheerily. "I was fifth in Juniors even though I stumbled, so that was an accomplishment, an Bee and I's duet was third in Teen behind Maddie and Chloé. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they're eight and nine, right?"

"Chloé just turned ten, but yes. Our teacher wanted as many wins as possible so she moved my solo up to Senior and their duet up to Teen. Luckily it worked out, she was very happy as we all were. Oh, I remember your dance, it was a proper Tango. So you're Ballroom dancers too?"

"Yeah, we're half-Hispanic so our mom wanted us to learn, and we both fell in love with it. We'll try and go pro in a few years but will stick with competition for now. We're going to do just Ballroom competitions for the rest of the season," Beatrice explained.

"Ooh, that's really cool. I have the same situation but with Ballet- I'm headed off to Joffrey Ballet school with my sister and cat in a week for the rest of the summer in a week, and had to miss a few competitions due to YAGP this season. Oh well, I can't have both for too much longer."

"Yeah, good luck at the Final! That'll be so awesome. Do you know where it is?" Carlos asked.

"New York City! Hopefully I can at least get a semifinal abroad next year, I'd love to have an excuse to learn a new language. I'm homeschooled so I have some control over my curriculum," I told the twins.

"Do you speak any other language?"

"I speak Spanish and French, though I want to expand that quite a bit, I have a knack for them."

We chatted in Spanish for the rest of the flight and exchanged numbers, then I made my way through the airport to where Melody was waiting for me, Misty in tow. I hugged my sister tightly, though I'd just talked on the phone with her the evening before.

"I am so proud of you. Dancing with a bad back was stupid, but you did so well," Melody told me warmly. "But now you're back and we get a few months together!"

"Yes, have you figured out what you're going to do while I'm at Joffrey?" I asked her as we headed for the taxi, my bags and Misty in tow.

"I did! I actually just found out that I can take classes at the Pratt Institute and have a few offers to show and sell my pieces already," Melody gushed. "Look at us, getting business. I just wish that I could drive."

"It's NYC. Am I understanding this correctly? You can get a taxi anywhere," the taxi driver, whose name was Pedro, told us. "Where will you girls stay?"

"We're splitting the cost of a hotel room, one that allows pets," I explained. Picking up on his accent, I asked, "are you from New York?"

"Born and raised in Brooklyn."

"What brings you to Pittsburgh?"

An enjoyable taxi ride later, I was home, where Melody had been holding down the fort alone for the past week (which didn't seem quite legal, but she was a responsible teenager, almost fifteen now). Misty jumped right into my arms when I let her out of the carrier, purring loudly. "I missed you so much, baby," I cooed. "We can cuddle and play all day if you want." "Not all night, though. I invited some of my classmates over for a movie night, and they're eager to at least say hello to you," Melody said. I sighed.

"Mel, my back is killing me, my feet are covered in blisters, and I'm exhausted." I groaned. "I'll say hi but won't stay up late, and I think that I'm going to nap."

"Yeah, you don't need to show up at all," Melody assured me. "Anything I can do for your back?"

"Not really, it needs rest and ice, which I can do," I answered. "Come on Misty, let's take a nap!"

I did wind up meeting Melody's friends that night, albeit briefly, and chatted with an adult neighbor who came to check up on my sister and I. The next few days passed in a relaxed manner, with me going from nothing to light stretching, and my back and feet got better quickly, much to my relief. I was able to practice ballet five days after competition with little pain. Melody was very unorganized with her belongings, while I was hyperorganized, so I helped her pack effectively as she hadn't done anything like this before.

A long train ride later, we had arrived in New York City and dropped our stuff and Misty off at the hotel. We were both busy on the first day; I had a class especially for YAGP competitors and Melody had intake for the Pratt Institute. We both preferred to keep busy.

There were eight others in the class, none finalists, three in the pre-competitive category, two other Juniors and three Seniors. They introduced themselves and greeted me warmly, as did the teacher.

"Miss Ziegler, lovely to meet you. I hope that your journey was smooth?" Peter Jackson asked me, and I nodded in reply.

"Yes, thank you, sir."

"Good. Let's get started with our warm-up, then. I want to see each of your Classical pieces, and Kaila and Nolan's pas de deux."

The warm-up wasn't too hard because Maggie was barely nine, which was fine with me. She went out and performed the short "Flower Festival at Genzano" dance well, and was very charming. Harley and Patricia, the other two pre-competitive dancers, performed "Harlequinade" and "Paquita." I wasn't the youngest Junior, it turned out, as Martin had just turned 12. He was just learning a piece from "Copélia," so his performance was a little rough, then it was my turn. I did the best I could, adding more expression to it and making sure I was extending every move. The others clapped for me when I finished.

"Excellent overall," Mr. Jackson told me. "If anything, you could start a harder piece. A few corrections- you get tense on your leaps and you're not fully connecting with the music. I think you're a beautiful dancer, but this piece is both too easy and doesn't quite suit you. The tension can be fixed in class."

"Thank you, sir. What piece do you think would be better for me?" I asked.

"You need a more mature piece. You're small but you don't act like it. If you can come in early tomorrow, I can start you on the fifth 'Raymonda' variation."

I raised an eyebrow, surprised. That one was quite difficult. "I can be here, thank you."

Vera, who was fourteen, also had her dance changed from "Paquita" as it didn't suit someone so close to being a Senior, to "Satanella." Then the three Seniors went up and they were great, but I was surprised to see some mistakes that I didn't usually make from them. The pas de deux was amazing, though, from "Sleeping Beauty."

Kaila walked me through the steps of "Raymonda" before class let out, and I took a taxi back to the hotel, where Melody was waiting for me so we could order dinner.

"How was it?" Melody asked me. I flopped down on the bed, smiling tiredly.

"Really fun! The teacher noticed that I tense up on my leaps and changed the piece to a 'Raymonda' variation. I hope that YAGP is fine with that, though you can compete two Classical pieces. I might try to adapt my 'Goddess' solo to be next year's Contemporary piece, with Abby's permission. How was intake?"

Melody shrugged. "Boring, the fun stuff starts tomorrow. I have my first class, which is Landscaping, at nine AM and have a full day after that. What does your schedule look like?"

"Classes don't start until 10 AM for me but I'll be there at 8:30 to start on 'Raymonda,' which I know the steps of, and stretch. I have Turning class first, then a Stretching class, and then am taking the opportunity to do Lyrical, which Ursula is also in."

"Ooh, yeah, she started last week. Acro scholarship, right?"

"Yeah, she's super excited. I'm happy that we get to dance together this summer," I replied. "I... I think I'll try asking her out when I get the chance. She told me that she's bi a few months ago, and she knows that I'm gay, and..." I shrugged. "We really like each other as friends, so I want to see if we could be more than that."

"I hope that it works out for you," Melody told me. "Ursula's a great kid, and I think she has a big crush on you."

Misty pawed at me for attention, making both of us laugh. "Okay, girl, time for a walk. Mel, could you get dinner for us? I'm good with anything, just not spicy and no meat."

AN: Kind of a filler chapter, but I'll be going over Joanne's summer in NYC before starting Season 2 of the show- I like DM fics that delve into MC's personal lives outside of the show. I have some fun plans for her.