The moment I realized the annual showcase was this week, I could have not groaned any louder. I had to hold back the desire to grab the poster and tear it off the wall. Then take it to my house and burn it. Seriously. The showcase is the chance to show everyone what we've been working on this past year. It's supposed to be good, but it's not. Mainly because Abby will be a million times harder, telling us that we have to give the people perfect performances.

Mr. and Mrs. Lewitton won't notice that Kennedy wasn't listening to the music for a second.

Thanks to the show, we have one additional dance. It may not sound like much, but when you have to perform at least eleven times in three hours, it's more than enough. At least we didn't get any extra solos.

Also, I was reminded of last year's showcase. That was when we had the auditions for Annie and I got called back. I really wished something more happened after that, but it was starting to seem like an empty promise. I still could remember the excitement I'd felt, and how much I wished something big was waiting for me.

Nia

Genevieve    Mackenzie   Giselle

Brooke   Chloe   Maddie    Paige

The on-show group routine was hip-hop. I was terrified of it, and I didn't know how it was going to turn out. Paige was going to perform with us wearing the boot, so that was another risk factor. As we started learning the dance, I realized that the dance was, in fact, just jazz. Pure jazz. There was nothing hip-hop-y about it, and we were set up to embarrass ourselves.

Looks like Mr. and Mrs. Lewitton will notice something after all.

It was a really busy day, with learning a fake hip-hop routine and taking the photos for the yearbook. There was where I learned that I'd be performing two solos and my duets with Maddie and Chloe, just to add a little more pressure.

When the tech and dress rehearsal day arrived, well, it arrived.

After walking offstage after yet another group dance, I started my way back to the show's dressing room with Maddie.

"Do you get everything that happened with the love square?" Maddie asks as we continued walking.

"They made up in a day," I answer. "And I wasn't even there."

"It's, like, they magically made up," Maddie says. "Because they were about to kill each other the week before and then they're besties."

I stopped in my tracks, turning to look at her. "Are you suggesting that there's another reason they made up so quickly?"

"Yeah." She answers. "Think about it!"

It made sense. They were about to kill each other weeks ago, but then, they magically made up and pretended nothing happened. Giselle also complained a lot about dancing with them, saying that she didn't understand why it had to be in the show-- the show.

The show!

"What about the show?" Maddie brought me back to reality.

"What?" I ask.

"You were yelling, "the show!"." She explains. "Do you think the show has something to do with it?"

"Yes," I answer, then raise my eyebrow. "How did you know I was talking about that?"

"You were murmuring," Maddie says, resuming our walk. "You were murmuring all of your thoughts. So Giselle was complaining that much?"

"I still don't get how I was murmuring it," I admit, following her. "I gotta keep my mouth shut."

We entered the green room just in time for Abby to come in with a box in her hands. "I have red bras for the hip-hop number." She set down the box on the floor.

We both walked over to the box as Abby grabbed something out of it. At the sight of the bra, I held in the urge to roll my eyes.

If we didn't get embarrassed by the dance, we were definitely getting embarrassed by the costumes.

The next thirty minutes were all about Paige's boot. We went over the dance, being interrupted every single time. We were dismissed to continue discussing Paige's freaking boot.

I walked down the hallway with Payton, who was reading something. "I have too many numbers back to back."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Look." She answers, handing me her line-up. "I'm not going to have enough time to get ready."

As I read the line-up, I noticed what she referred to: she had four numbers back to back. They all were of different styles and different costumes. Even for Payton, who's pretty dedicated to dance, this was too much.

"Can you come with me to the green room?" I looked up to her as I gave her the line-up back. "I'm gonna compare your line-up to mine, because you have fifteen numbers and I have eleven, but you're way older than me."

"Eleven?" Payton asks, looking surprised.

"Yeah," I answer. "Is it too much?"

"I'm fourteen, and you're nine." She explains. "It's weird."

"Then come on." I grabbed her arm as we walked down the hallway. "Gotta check quick."

The two of us entered the green room, where Abby was talking to the Hylands. Guessing by all the drama Paige's boot had been causing, it was the topic of the conversation. I walked to the back of the room with Payton as I grabbed my line-up from my seat. I watched Abby closely as I handed Payton the line-up and I presume she read it. Abby then walked away from the mother-daughter duo as Brooke grabbed a prop and ran out of the room.

"Can you believe her?" Kelly asks, turning to Holly, who was doing Nia's hair.

"You have three numbers back to back." Payton points out, showing me my line-up. "Looks like we're both up to a really busy day tomorrow."

The two of us chuckled as Christi, Jill, and Leslie all walked into the room. I checked the line-up, just to realize that we had to start getting ready for another dance. After Payton gave me my line-up back, I sat down and started working with my hair as Mom entered the room with Melissa, with Maddie and Giselle following close behind.

Making sure my bun was well done, I proceeded to grab the headpiece and I took a bobby pin out of a small plastic box and placed it in my mouth. As I listened to Kelly and Leslie semi-argue in the background, I adjusted the headpiece before going out of the room and changing into the costume, running into a bunch of mini dancers, who were rushing down the hallway as they finished rehearsing another number. Laughing at them, I walked back to the green room. As I was about to turn the knob to open the door, I heard the mothers' yelling.

That was also the moment I decided that I didn't have to go back for my jacket.

After rehearsing that other number, I started to get tired of the routine of going back, changing, and going back out. So, I decided to do what any normal person does:

Look for interesting drama.

It didn't take long to find it: Kelly and Leslie had a big argument. Melissa and Christi were looking for Brooke and Paige were nowhere to be seen. Chloe and I listened to the conversation between Melissa and Leslie as Melissa kept swearing stuff on her mother's grave.

It was a little weird.

"Our kids are good enough to go on that stage without a Hyland on there and dance a dance without reblocking it." Leslie continues.

"Abby will flip," Melissa commented.

"Abby needs to know." Jill joins in. "Because this is "her show, her reputation"." She made some air quotation marks.

"We better go tell her." Melissa agrees.

Getting bored of the conversation, I walked away from them, walking into the auditorium and sitting down as the teens rehearsed another dance. As Abby continued giving corrections and the lights moved every five seconds, Maddie joined me, sitting down right next to me.

"I was gonna talk about the Hylands, but apparently, everyone knows." She comments.

"Except for that one," I answer as I pointed up to the light booth, where Abby sat inside.

"She never knows anything, though." Maddie points out, placing her left arm on the armrest.

There was a split moment of silence as we both sat back and watched as the dancers walked off to the side.

"How have you been doing?"

I turned to look at her, who was already looking at me. "About what?"

"The panic attacks." She seemed a little uneasy about the topic. She was looking everywhere but me. "Have you had another one since the one in the bathroom?"

Trying to shut her out, I turned back to face the stage as Chloe started performing a solo. Noticing my response, she placed both of her hands on the armrest as she looked at me.

"I just wanna know, Evie," Maddie tells me, gently tugging me on the shoulder. "You won't talk about it to anyone, but you can tell me." I heard a bit of desperation in her voice. "I know about it." I closed my eyes as I sucked in a breath. "You can trust me."

Letting out a breath as I opened my eyes, I tried not to let her fool me.

There was no way she could actually help me.

This was a battle I had to fight alone.

Standing up from the seat, I walked out to the corridor as I heard footsteps behind me.

If I trust Maddie, she could snitch on me to the moms. I can't keep on making her promise not to say anything.

Abby's gonna be mad.

"Did something happen again?" Maddie called after me. "Eves. Please."

"There is nothing you can do about this, Mads." My voice broke. "There's absolutely nothing."

"But we can." She assures me as she kept on following me. "I can tell the moms. They can help--"

I turned around to face her, placing my hands on her shoulders as I tried to calm myself down.

"You promised, Mads," I tell her. "You promised that you wouldn't tell anyone."

"But I can't keep on letting you do this to yourself," Maddie argues. "Tell me! Has something else happened since that time?"

The silence after the question probably made everything worse.

"God, Genevieve! You can't continue with this!" She teared up. "You gotta tell someone. You gotta let someone help you--"

"I have someone to help me!" I interrupt, tightening my grip. "I'm doing well, Madison, can't you see?!" I let out a sob. "You made me a promise. You can't tell anyone. You can't break that promise."

As the indecisiveness appeared in her eyes, I let my hands fall back. Wiping the few tears rolling down my face, I shot her a glance.

"It's a promise, Maddie," I tell her. "You cannot break promises."

Just like that, I walked away from the girl, not looking back at her as I continued my way.

~~~

It wasn't all that surprising that I had barely spoken to Abby all week. It wasn't surprising that I hadn't spoken to Gianna either. But it was surprising that Maddie had actually stopped asking the freaking questions and kept her mouth shut.

As I walked back to the dressing room, right after performing the "I Do" solo, I managed to find out that Cathy was in attendance with a bunch of mothers from her studio.

All the more reasons to do amazing.

I walked into the green room, where Abby was talking to the mothers. When I noticed Paige's costume, I stopped in my tracks.

Those are all the reasons we're gonna suck today.

I changed into the group dance costume, trying to think about it as work-out clothes instead of what they actually were. Being backstage and knowing what was going to happen made me feel a little uneasy. I wanted everything to be perfect, but with the jazzy hot mess we were about to perform, it was all going to be far from perfect.

"Next up is a junior hip-hop group, "Light My Fire"."

Light me on fire, nanananana-- Wait.

We walked on stage, getting into our positions as the music started.

Help us.

Listening to the fake claps as we left the stage, we all divided to continue working. I decided to go grab a water bottle and watch the audience from the back when I noticed someone moving. The person looked like they were in a rush. I tried to focus on the person, attempting to see who it was until they walked right past me. Still not knowing who they were, I decided to follow them as they answered a phone call.

Outside, the person walked down the steps as I walked out the door. If my week wasn't bad enough already, it was night already, so I couldn't see that much.

As I was about to give up, a miracle happened.

Well, not a miracle, but the person happened to walk under a streetlight and I could see their face.

It was Cesar.

The agent that came last year for the auditions.

Why would Cesar be here?

I walked back into the building, quickly being ambushed by Nia, who told me to go back to the green room. In there, there was a note on one of the mirrors, which said to check my email.

Joined by a very curious Nia Frazier, I borrowed Holly's laptop as I added my account and entered. As the website loaded, I was starting to think about what it could be about. Once it loaded, I checked the email, having one that I received at 7:01 at night. I looked down at the clock.

It was ten minutes ago.

Clicking on it, I was starting to get desperate. I sat down as Maddie entered the room and Nia told her what was happening.

When the email loaded, the three of us gasped as I immediately started reading it.

"What is it?" Maddie asks.

After a moment of silence, I shot up from the seat.

I got it!

"I got it!" I exclaim, turning to face my two friends.

"What?" Nia asks.

"A callback!" I jump up and down. "I got a callback for Annie!"