6 The Competition

"Ouch!"

"Watch out!"

"I'm literally blind with this blindfold Leah and you're saying to watch out!? Argh, for the hundredth time guys, tell me where is this place and for how long are you planning on keeping me in dark?"

"Just wait and see~" Tanya cooed.

Adrienne felt herself walking into a room with Tanya and Leah on her sides - holding her in place as the room echoed with their footsteps. Stopping on a certain area which Adrienne assumed to be the centre of the room, she sensed the blindfold slowly loosening and her eyes fluttered open. She stood there bewildered and looked at her friends in question. "Didn't you say that you had nowhere to practice? So we both searched for a place and found this. We know how much love you store for dance and bought this studio together. You can come here whenever you want. Hopefully, your father doesn't find out." Tanya said smiling at Adrienne. Adrienne remained immobile and stood still like a statue. She was elated. The studio was large. It had every setting necessary. With a large speaker set, a large mirror and the walls where covered with paintings of professional dancers whom she worshipped so far.

"For me?" She asked being skeptical.

"No, for us. Of course for you, you dumbass! For whom else?" Tanya and Leah said simultaneously, rolling their eyes. Adrienne's eyes glistened and she moved close to give them a hug. Never have she received something like this. She couldn't control her happiness and burst into tears, sobbing convulsively. "Argh, now it's getting awkward." Leah pronounced patting her back trying to calm her down. Adrienne moved back and faced them with a bright smile.

"Thank you. This is the first time I receive something like this and I don't know what to say. I love you both so much."

"We love you too Addy." Tanya said giving her a warm and loving smile. "Now then, getting back to bussiness. Adrienne start it from today on and you better impress us with the final results. We both would be leaving. Don't wanna disrupt your practice and also we wanna watch it at the club making it our first time seeing it. Can't wait!" Leah handed over the keys to her and rushed out with Tanya trailing behind before yelling "Call us if you need anything, we'll be nearby" and walked out disappearing.

Adrienne was overwhelmed with joy until her mind wandered and she suddenly got hit by guilt. She had lied to them yet again. She couldn't bring herself to tell them the truth. She knew they would feel betrayed when they come to know of it. They would really be disappointed and sad when they find out that their Addy had been lying to them ever since the beginning. Her friends need not know on how she's been living her life. How Eric is to her. How much of a grudge he holds for her. It would be too much of an information and drama for them to handle. And she didn't want them to pity her. It was the last thing she needed.

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The massive space was slowly filling in with superiors as the hours passed by. Everyone of them with luxurious clothing - their arms and neck filled with exorbitant jewelleries - swaggering around showing off each other. Everything in there was arranged perfectly. Various hosts and hostess attending their guests, guiding them to their respective seats. Providing different variety of drinks according to their preferences, serving them one by one. Adrienne started to get nervous as she looked around checking thoroughly. She couldn't digest the fact that they were all going to be her audience whom she had to entertain to get the prize. She couldn't quite decipher why a club would organize such a thing. She have never heard of any club arranging a competition for pleasing their guests. They could just appoint professional dancers. She hadn't looked out for the details much. She did not really feel like digging deep into it because there was nothing much to it, other than it being a competition. An opportunity which her Tany brought to her for Adrienne's happiness and she trusted and loved Tanya more than her life to ever doubt her.

"I really don't get it Addy."

"Huh?"

"This." Leah said pointing at her attire. Adrienne still remember Eric's words 'out of the media's eyes' clearly up till now and she didn't wanna risk herself from being seen so, she had changed herself to another person - totally different from her style. Black short hair wig with brown lenses - baggy hip hop pants - matching hip hop crop top with long sleeves and a pair of black sneakers. A smokey eyes with light pink lipstick which completed her badass look. It wasn't anything new. She had done this before with Isabel back then in school, for the same but the reason being her dad. "You look like a complete different person. You.. aren't you."

"Leah, didn't I tell you about my dad? What if he finds out somehow and I didn't really wanna risk it at all. So, I did this to myself. You get me don't you?" Adrienne was getting a bit panicked. She thought they would just let her be and believe her lie but since Leah is a clever one, she knew something was off. She had her doubts every time Adrienne lied but never showed. Leah always gave her a suspicious look as she said a lie or two.

"Hm. Where's Tanya by the way. Didn't she say she would be here in a minute? The show is about to start." Adrienne breathed a sigh of relief and looked around with Leah searching for Tanya among the crowd.

"Yeah, right. She went to look for Kendall and it's been almost an hour now."

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank You for each and everyone of you for being here. It's an honour that we have received-"

"Adrienne! It's already time. Go, get ready. Your name is on fourth."

"But Tan-"

"She'll come. You go first! Don't worry I'll go bring Tany." Leah yelled as she pushed her towards the entry line and waved at her saying a 'good luck' before disappearing into the crowd. She looked towards the man on the stage who had started speaking to the crowd and a loud applause was heard after he announced them about the performance making Adrienne more anxious and she heard him calling out a girl's name as she came into view-entering from behind. After the girl's performance, whose seemed unappealing to the crowd, two more girls walked out which forged the crowd to get pleased. After a moment she heard her name being called out and walked to the stage, into the scrutinizing eyes of the people. Her eyes roamed around until it stopped on Tanya's face who stood next to Leah and smiled at them both as they gave her a thumbs up. The song was played and she moved according to the beat. As she went on she felt someone's eyes on her. Their eyes following her every move and she felt exposed by those specific watchful eyes. Ignoring that, she focused her mind on her moves.

She felt free. Free from all the tensions. Free from all the worries. Free from the cruel and vicious world. She felt free as she bloomed in rhythm with the music moving gracefully yet elegantly to the beat of the song before stopping as the song came to it's end and turned towards the crowd.

Silence.

Everyone went silent. Some had shocked faces. Others looked at her with an amused expression. And some had their hand hovered over their mouth-astounded. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and saw Leah and Tanya who had the same look. She tilted her head at Leah asking for an answer to the silence and Leah understanding her, lifted her arm touching her own hair and pointed to Adrienne. She followed Leah and colour drained away from her face as realization hit her.