Rising Up

## Chapter One - Lizzie

“Ma!” I call racing down the stairs.

“Ma!” I scream again, this time louder. Loud enough to also startle my obnoxious younger siblings who are watching TV.

“¡Mamá! ¡Voy a llegar tarde al baile!” I scream in Spanish. Here’s the translation: “Mama! I’m going to be late for dance!”

Let me introduce myself. I’m Elizabeth Erin Reese, but everyone just calls me Lizzie. I’m fourteen and a competitive dancer, if you can’t tell. I have three siblings- Eve, Kiri, and Aiden. My mom is Spanish because she’s from Puerto Rico so I know the language thoroughly. As I said, I’m a competitive dancer and I’ve been going to Oakland Studios since I was five. I have a best friend named Jenni who also goes to OS (Oakland Studios). She used to dance but now she does gymnastics and contortion. We have a small group of advanced teens at OS and I’m our team’s captain. We even have our own vlog for viewers to see us rise to fame. I do dancing and I can do gymnastic floor and beam routines. My strengths are ballet, hip hop, and lyrical pieces.

“Maaaa!” I shout while grabbing my dance bag and slipping on my black tennis shoes.

“What, Lizzie?” Ma asks as she comes downstairs

“I’m going to be late for dance Ma! We have a new member today!” I say, running out to the car.

Mami grabs her keys, her purse, and follows me into the car. I grab my phone and watch YouTube until Mama pulls into my studio. “¡Adiós, Mami!” I call, running up the stairs to our studio.

I look down at my dance clothes: An old OS crop-top, black stretch pants, and currently, black tennis shoes. I pull off my shoes and stretch on the floor in my socks, pulling my legs into a straddle position. Then, my best friend Jenni walks in. Jenni’s real name is Jennifer but we in the trio call her Jenni. Jenni is Asian with long black hair, big blue eyes, and pale skin.

There’s one other member on our team. His name is Jacob but Jenni and I call him JJ. JJ comes in a moment later and sets his water bottle on the ground. JJ is super good at dancing even though he’s the youngest out of the three of us. He has pale skin, wavy brown hair, and brown eyes. Next to enter is the new kid. I take a closer look at him and notice that he looks a lot like me. Light tan skin and hazel eyes. His hair, however, is wavy and dark brown whereas mine is black and falls in waves down my back.

“¡Hola!” I say, waving.

“¡Hola! ¡Un placer conocerte!” the boy responds in Spanish.

“I’m Kyle Ketchman,” he smiles. I push up from my straddle and nod.

“You’re fifteen, right?” I ask.

“Yeah, you too?” he asks.

“Nah, I’m fourteen,” I say.

“Stop flirting and start warming up!” Jenni jokes.

I laugh before sliding into the splits. Jenni grins and pulls herself into a contortion handstand where her toes are touching her head so she looks like some type of exotic pretzel. Then, she falls onto her face.

“Smooooth,” I tease.

“At least I know *how* to do it,” Jenni laughs, picking herself back up.

“Mhmm,” I say. Kyle looks confused by us teasing each other so I add, “we’re best friends.”

“Ah. So, what’re your guys’ names?” Kyle asks.

“I’m Elizabeth but everyone calls me Lizzie, that’s Jacob who we call JJ, and this is Jennifer who we call Jenni,” I explain, pointing to each of us in turn. “‘Kay, guys! Let’s warm up!”

I get out of my splits, turn on some music by a band called ‘TheFatRat’ who makes really great songs to dance to, and begin stretching out my legs and wrists. I go back into the splits and touch my toes on either leg. I do my usual routine. Splits, backbend, handstands, pirouette, arabesque, and splits again. Then I walk over to spot Jenni as she does some contortion warm-ups. Oakland Studios doesn’t teach contortion, so Jenni is teaching herself with assistance from me. She bends into the splits, pulls back up, and does a backbend-kickover. Now, these words probably sound like nonsense to you but bear with me. I spot her as she does another pretzel handstand before walking over to JJ and Kyle. They’re dancing some wicked partner dance to the song “Mayday” and are acting like they’ve been dancing together their whole lives. After ten minutes, I take a sip of water and call everyone forward.

“Film time!” I say.

“What?” Kyle asks.

“Oh, so we have a vlog for our team- I’ll have to add your profile- where we document our rise to success. We’re filming some of our dances today!” I explain excitedly.

“Ah,” Kyle nods.

“You know what? We should film that dance you and JJ were working on! We could add it to your profile!” I say. Kyle grins.

“Well, then,” I say. “Who’s ready to dance?”

Kyle does an original dance piece to the song ‘Dynamite’ by BTS, and God, he is *good*. Jenni does her contortion routine next, and she’s on point. JJ does a hip-hop piece to the remix of ‘Believer’. Then, it’s my turn. I do a contemporary/lyrical piece to the song ‘Treat You Better’ and I stop the filming and save it to edit and post later.

“Okay, Cory’s gonna be here soon!” I say.

Cory is our teacher/trainer that works with us six days a week. She comes in about fifteen minutes after we’re all here so we have time to warm up and film on our own. Cory comes in and smiles at Kyle.

Then she says, “As you guys know, you have your competition in an hour. If you get through this, we’re going to Regionals, and possibly Nationals!”

We all cheer. We practice our dances until it’s time to leave. We get to the competition place and do our usual cheer, tuning Kyle in. We huddle together, and cry, “Ooohhhh-Sssss!!! OS!” And jump up. We take our seats against the wall as the hip-hop-category dancers start dancing.

“Number 24- Jacob Olson!” the announcer calls.

We wish JJ good luck and he jogs up to the stage. JJ dances it out, connecting with the audience, but not in a way where it seems like he’s forcing it. He just is a natural, letting his body flow to the music as he dances. His solo is to the song ‘Stronger’ by TheFatRat.

“Number 18- Kyle Ketchman!”

Kyle goes for the contemporary category. He dances to ‘Idol’ by BTS and rocks it. His moves are crisp, but also loose. He doesn’t quite connect with the audience, but hey, it’s his first competition. We cheer as he comes back and high-five him.

Then, “Number 28- Elizabeth Reese!”

I glance at the others who cheer me on before jogging up to the stage. My costume is a simple pale blue leo with a bun and pearl hairpiece that wraps around it. I get into my starting position, and the song ‘Wait For It’ from Hamilton starts playing. The beginning is quiet, the actor of Aaron Burr softly singing. Pirouette, turn series, splits, split-jump, leg hold, and clean straddle position back on the floor. Burr starts singing stronger and louder, and my expression changes too. I jump up, turn series again, high kick, split-jump, pirouette, splits, come back up. Burr turns quiet, and then even louder before. I leap across the stage, turn around, and do three back handsprings, an ariel, and end in splits. I breathe hard as people cheer. I stumble off the stage and collapse against the wall. I’m tired and out of breath, but in a good way.

Then, soon enough we hear, “Number 12- Jennifer Paine!”

Jenni runs up onto the stage with her usual energy, doing a back handspring as she goes. Her costume makes her look like a spider- a full black, neck to toe, sleek contortion leo. She gets into her starting position- a backbend- and the song ‘Dark Horse’ by Katy Perry starts playing. She pushes her head through her legs and begins dancing like a literal spider. Snake-moves, contortion handstands, splits, split-jumps, ariels, back handsprings, cartwheels, etc. Jenni does it all. She finishes and we all cheer as she runs over to us.

“That was both very, very creepy, and also very, very cool.” Kyle grins.

“Guys, they’re announcing the top three for each category!” I squeal. We look up.

“Starting with hip-hop,” the announcer says. “Third place goes to… Michelle Lowri!” We clap.

“Second place… India Julzea!” We clap and then realize… this is make it or break it.

“First place… Jacob Olson!!!” We *flip out*. Cheering, screaming, jumping around, and tackling each other. Then, it’s time for the contemporary category.

“Third place… Rayden Maikki!” We clap again.

“Second place… Kyle Ketchman!” Now we go ballistic. Kyle got *second place* and he’s only been here for a *day*! I mean he’s been taking dance before he moved, but *wow*! Then it’s time for lyrical.

“Third place… Ashley Deshaya!” We clap.

“Second place…  Theresa Klane!” I freeze. There is *no way* I got first place.

“First place… Elizabeth Reese!” I don’t move. *I* won first place!!! Jenni hugs me tightly. Contortion is the last one.

“Third place… Erik Blackstone!” We clap.

“Second place… Hanna-Paula Eisdon!”

“First place…” we all hold our breath. “Jennifer Paine!”

We scream and tackle Jenni, going ballistic. We were the best scoring team in the *entire* competition!!! We take our medals and run to the car with Cory, screaming and cheering. We can’t stay still as we drive back to the studio.

“Wait,” I say. “Guys, that means that this weekend, we’re driving to New York for *Regionals*!!!”