Diary of a Danceaholic

Entry #7: Adversity

I didn’t usually have many problems with the kids in the tech classes. There was the usual amount of jealousy; the whispers from the mommies when I entered the lobby; the stares from the other kids in class, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. Jodi made it all worth it.

But now there was this new girl that transferred in from a big company in Chicago. She was hellbent on making everyone around her completely miserable. She was pure evil and her mother was even worse.

She was a decent dancer, don’t get me wrong, but take a chill pill, friend.

Meet Mackenna Landing. Mountain Vista’s newest biotch.

It was contemporary technique tonight and I was not looking forward to seeing her and her mother. Even though Mackenna was fifteen, her mom, Stacy, still insisted on sitting in the lobby throughout the entire class and they were always the first to arrive and the last to leave, so there was no avoiding them and their death stares.

As we pulled into the studio’s parking lot, I saw the all too familiar bumper sticker boasting Mackenna’s place on our Elite Team. We don’t even sell those. Her mom had to have it custom made. I rolled my eyes and steeled myself for what I was sure to be the longest class of my life.

“Want me to stick around, honey?” My mom asked me, but I noticed that she hadn’t turned off the engine or taken off her seatbelt. I knew she didn’t want to endure the lobby with that horrible woman any more than I wanted to endure an hour and a half with Mackenna the Marvelous.

“No, it’s okay.” I took a deep breath and climbed out of the car. “I’ll just see you at eight.”

“Sure, honey. I’ll be here waiting when you get out.”

My mom may drive me crazy, but she does care. A little too much at times, but I appreciated her for letting me fight this one battle on my own.

As soon as I opened the door, however, I regretted letting her leave me here alone.

Stacy’s massive form was already seated in the lobby talking to another mom that I didn’t know. They both looked up and the other mom smiled, but Stacy scowled and pointedly looked away.

“She’s back, I see,” Stacy snarled.

The other mom tried to reason with Stacy, but she was fighting a losing battle. “I’m sure she’s just dropping in to take a couple of classes.”

“It’s always such a disruption.” She wasn’t even bothering to be quiet about it. I could hear every word clearly.

“Stacy, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

I smiled at her, and she winked at me encouragingly. I took that as my cue to leave, so Stacy the Super B could talk about me some more. At least I knew that her words wouldn’t be taken too seriously by my new ally.

I took a deep breath and opened the studio’s door.

And there was Mackenna. Already front and center doing absolutely ridiculous stretches so that she could show off her flexibility to whoever might be watching. She caught my eye in the mirror and pulled her leg even further toward her head.

Okay, girl. Have fun pulling your hamstring just to satisfy your ego.

“Sky!” A little blonde girl called me over. I had no idea who she was, but she obviously knew me. I shouldn’t be too surprised, but it was still really weird.

“Hi,” I said when I sat down next to her and start stretching. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Hayden. I follow you on i********: and I’ve seen all your videos on YouTube!”

I laughed warmly at her enthusiasm.

“I also saw Reece Day’s video and oh, boy! What are you gonna do?!”

“Beat her again,” I said simply and she laughed so hard she fell over.

*****

I dropped my bag by the front door and plopped down on the couch to text Asher.

[Me]: Mackenna the Magnificent was in my contemporary class today.

[Asher]: Sounds fun. Who’s that?

[Me]: Exactly. No one knows who she is, but she thinks she’s God’s gift to dancing and makes sure everyone knows it.

[Asher]: Oh! One of thoooooose. I’ve got one here too. Kylie the Cranky LOL!

I send her the laughing emoji.

[Me]: Mackenna’s mom is even worse than she is, too. That woman needs to get a life.

[Asher]: Oh, man. Kylie’s mom is actually really cool if you can believe that.

[Me]: Lucky. Ugh.

[Asher]: So, what happened in class? I need ALL the dramatic details!

I laughed and told her everything, starting with cute little Hayden all the way through the whole class.

We had managed to make it through warm-ups without any incidents as long as I ignored Mackenna’s pointed glares in the mirror.

Hayden went with me during our across the floor exercises, but Mackenna placed herself directly in front of me so I had no choice but to watch her if I wanted to get the steps right. She exaggerated everything and Jodi yelled at her to calm herself down. I had to bite my knuckles to keep from laughing out loud.

The center floor routine was my favorite part of the class, though. Mackenna didn’t already know it, so I had the advantage. I have been forced to learn routines quickly for years and have a bunch of tricks to keep the moves in my head. Mackenna struggled pretty badly through the first few run-throughs before finally getting it. Admittedly, she rocked it once she had it down, but because she took so long, she got put in the back of the last group and she absolutely hated that. I was in the front row of the first group and Mackenna seethed through the entire routine.

But the best part of the whole day was when Stacy grabbed Mackenna as soon as she came out into the lobby and complained very loudly about how unfair it was to even allow me to take the classes when I didn’t belong here. How she can’t believe the amount of favoritism that was so obviously shown today. How disappointed she was in Jodi’s teaching methods because she didn’t give Mackenna enough guidance, she just yelled at her. Now Mackenna is crushed. Just absolutely crushed. And they stormed out of the building.

As soon as we saw her car pull out of the parking lot, Jodi went back into the studio, shut the door, and we could all hear her loud laughter through the walls. She came back out just as composed as ever, and we all pretended like we didn’t hear her, but every single person still in that lobby loved her even more just then.

*******

My final rehearsal with Jodi was an absolute disaster.

My solo was fine. I knew all the moves worked on. I could get through it nearly flawlessly with only a few critiques from Jodi.

But that was what made it such a disaster.

See, there was this old superstition that if you have a bad rehearsal, you’ll have a good show. If rehearsal goes too smoothly, you’ll tank on stage.

I’m doomed.