“AND SODC DANCE COMPANY TAKES THE WINNING TITLE!!! THEY ARE GOING TO WORLD’S IN MIAMI!!!”

I couldn’t stop replaying that moment in my head. Over and over. But I was going to Miami! Who wouldn’t be excited?! I just needed to get to sleep. It was 11:30 at night and I couldn’t stop thinking about the competition earlier today.

“Jane…Jane…wake up.” I heard a voice saying something to me, but my eyes were shut.

“Yeah,” I said, still tired from my sleep. “What time is it?”

“10:30. Mom says you need to pack. You guys are flying out to world’s tonight.”

“Okay. I’ll be downstairs in five,” I said. I finally realized who it was: Jess. Jess was my older sister. She was in college at Minnesota State University. She was the dance legend at my studio and was always telling me stories of when she would dance there.

“Alright,” Jess said.

I hopped out of my bed and opened my closet door. I pulled out a t-shirt from a dance convention I did a few years back and a pair of black joggers. I pulled my hair into a messy bun with my favorite hot pink scrunchie.

“Good morning, Mom,” I said as I poured myself a glass of orange juice.

“Hey, sleepyhead. Did you get a good night of sleep? We’re going to be heading out late tonight,” my mom said.

“Yup. But wait—I thought we were leaving in two weeks.”

“We were, but then the judges’ international competition switched to the date of the world competition, so ours moved up.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be upstairs packing,” I said.

“We are about to land. Please put up all tray tables and fasten your seatbelts.”

I slowly opened my eyes and checked my phone. It was already 7:30 in the morning? I slept the entire flight? I looked around. I saw my best friend, Carly. I saw my mom. I saw another friend, Juliet. And then I saw the ground. Actually, I felt it first. It was a rough landing.

When we got off the plane, Carly and I stopped at Starbucks for a coffee and some breakfast. Outside, there was a limo waiting for us that would take us to the hotel, The Grand Beachside. When we got there, I was amazed. Outside, there were large cream-colored pillars and butlers with luggage racks to help us move our suitcases into the rooms. Carly and I were rooming together, so we got up to our room, freshened up, unpacked, then walked over to lunch at a Cuban restaurant where our team was supposed to meet to talk about the competition.

I ordered shrimp paella and a mango cucumber drink. After lunch, we went swimming back at the hotel and grabbed a poolside dinner of burgers and soda. Carly and I watched a movie and then went to bed.

I woke up the next morning refreshed and ready for a day of competitions. I quickly got dressed into my warm-ups and Carly and I ate a breakfast of granola bars and toast. Then we got into a limo that took us to the competition.

We rolled in our suitcases and set up in a dressing room next to the backstage area and hung up our costumes on a rack that opened up out of our suitcases. We applied makeup and went backstage for our big production number. I tried texting my mom, but she never answered. Carly tried texting her mom, but she never answered, either. Why weren’t our moms answering? Were they even at the competition? They hadn’t been in the limo with us, so were they still at the hotel? Wherever they were, I couldn’t worry about it now. We were about to go on for our big number, Latin Ladies! This was my favorite dance number that I did. I loved the combination of the songs. They all fit together so well!

All of a sudden, I heard our dance number being called and we were walking on stage. Then, the music went on and I launched myself into a series of Latin dance moves and turns. And then it was over.

We had done it! Maybe we would get a good score. It felt like we did pretty good, even as good as we did at Nationals. It would be a dream come true if we won the world title. But I still hadn’t heard from my mom! Where was she? And more importantly, was she okay? I had to get back to the hotel to look for her.

We had three hours until our next dance, so we had time. Carly and I went back to the limo and asked them to take us back to The Grand Beachside. When we got there, we looked in our room, then our parents’ room. But we still couldn’t find them. Where could they be? We checked the café, conference room, and hotel pool, but we still didn’t find anything. Finally, we rode back to the competition and performed our last dances for the day and then changed into our warm-ups. But still no sign of our moms.

Just when we were about to catch a ride from the limo back to the hotel, we saw Juliet following her mom into a backway. We followed her. She walked into one of the meeting rooms set up for the judges in the hallway leading to the dressing rooms.

When we walked in, I didn’t see anyone, until Juliet yelled, “One, two, three, surprise!” and my mom, Carly’s mom, my other friends, and my dance coach jumped up from behind a couch. They had been preparing all day?! I thought my dance coach had been watching us!

“You guys! You’ve been preparing all day?! Coach, weren’t you watching Latin Ladies?” I questioned.

“I did, but then one of my old friends came over to me. He works for the competition program now, and he told me the judges loved Latin Ladies. He said we might have a shot at the world title! So I told him to stall for me while I prepared a little party for us to celebrate winning!” My coach exclaimed.

“But he said we might have a shot at winning. We didn’t win yet,” I said.

That’s when Juliet started talking. “Then I overheard the judges at break saying they thought Latin Ladies should win and they scored the best.”

“So we decided to make a little party because we know that you two have put everything into dance this year,” said my mom.

“That’s so sweet,” Carly and I said at the same time. “Let’s party!”