She has been training for this moment for basically her whole life. She double checked the straps on her shoes and made sure her bun was painfully tight and her tutu was the puffiest of them all. 

She had ballet tryouts today to see if she could get admission and possibly a scholarship for the top arts school in America. Unlike the others there, she went to a small public school and practiced in a run down barn. She could tell just by the look of the other boys and girls that they were going to be private school graduates and have probably taken the most expensive classes with actual professionals rather than learning dances from whatever she could find on youtube.

Her family didn't even know she had come. Her mom probably wouldn't have allowed it if she asked. She knew they couldn't afford the school if she got in with a scholarship which was extremely unlikely. She had a two percent chance of getting into the school, much less getting money to go. Everyone who was interested in dance, theater, sculpture, singing, and other arts tried to get where she was and very few got past this stage. She was just happy that they offered her a chance.

"Allison Pradise on deck."

That was her. She took a deep breath and walked to the curtains on stage right. She watched the boy that was ahead of her. He was glorious. He flowed as smooth as the wind and landed as if he weighed no more than a feather. His moves were impeccable. She didn't think she could ever top that, but couldn't help but hope that he was just the best out of all of them. She knew that wasn't true.

His song came to a close as he landed his last leap. The school official's didn't even clap. He was clearly out of breath and they just stared at him for a while. Finally one of them thanked him for his time and ushered for him to exit the stage. He bowed and she gulped. If they weren't impressed by him, she would be booed off the stage.

"Allison Pradise? Are you ready?"

She stood there behind the curtain, visibly shaking. She didn't think she could move. The boy who just performed glanced back to look at her from across the stage. His face softened and he smiled at her. He mouthed "you'll do fine" and waved for her to take a step out. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before strutting onto stage.

"Sorry about that. I'm Allison."

"What will you be doing for us today, Allison?"

"Um, well it's something that I made up to one of my favorite songs. My dogs seem to like it." she smiled and one of the officials let out a small, short laugh.

"Which song?" 

"Secrets, by One Republic."

She motioned to the stage, "Well, let's see it."

She took a step back to the middle of the stage, the lights blaring on her. Luckily, because the lights were so bright, she couldn't see the officials. She could picture herself back in the barn. She took a deep breath. She knew she probably wasn't going to get in, but at least she could have fun. 

The music started and the movements took over her mind. Her brain went blank as she felt the music vibrating through her bones, forcing her arms and legs to move, to dance. She pictured dancing to her cows and horses while her dog attempted to join her in her movements. She smiled and danced her little heart out. 

When the stage went quiet and the lights got dim she wasn't sweating or panting, but smiling. She definitely had fun with it. She looked at the officials and the man on the right was smiling back at her. The other two women were stone faced, but she had reached one of them.

She bowed, "Thank you for this opportunity. It was fun!" she walked off stage without another word from any of the officials, running into the boy who was on before her. 

She heard the officials call another name, but she was too busy trying to wrap her brain about who this was. Finally she remembered his beautiful movements and looked down at her feet and blushed. "I'm so so sorry. I didn't see you. I hope I didn't hurt you."

He laughed and she looked up to face him. "You're so tiny, of course you didn't hurt." She couldn't tell if that was supposed to be good or an insult. He reached his hand in between them. "I'm Jason and you were great!" 

She shook his hand. "Allison. Nice to meet you, Jason. I wish you all the luck with admission. You were amazing too."

He ushered her to the back door, "maybe we should leave before someone finds out we've been stalling." she nodded and followed him back to the lobby. They were met with the harsh stares of girls waiting to go on stage for their auditions as if they couldn't believe the audacity of them finishing first. She smiled sweetly and the girls just rolled their eyes and continued watching the screen displaying the girl who went on after her. She was good too, of course.

Jason waved at someone standing in the back, "Hey, I've gotta go. My dad's here and it's my mom's birthday today so I gotta blast. Do you have a phone? I'd love to talk to you some more."

She blushed, but gave him her number. He was probably just being polite. She watched him jog towards his dad as he was embraced in a large hug. She waved at him as he left. She then let herself out the side door to the alley where her bike was waiting for her. She stuffed her tutu in a bag, threw on sneakers over her ballet shoes, and zipped up her jacket before riding home. 

...

Two months passed and she still hadn't heard anything from the school, but neither had Jason. They'd been talking on the phone almost every day just about random things. It turns out that he actually goes to the school down the street from hers, so they've been getting both of their friend groups together and hanging out. 

One day, after riding home from school, her parents were sitting at the table together whispering to one another. 

"Hey, what's up?" They both looked at her with big smiled. "What?"

Her father handed her a slip of paper. "You got a letter from a school and we think you'll like the news."

She looked at the envelope. It was from the arts school. She looked back at them "You knew?"

Her mom laughed, "Of course we knew. You're not all that great at sneaking out especially when you ride a bike with your tutu on."

"Open it," her dad pleaded.

She opened it slowly, not ready to be rejected from her dream school. She read her name and then paused. It couldn't be real.

"What is it?" her mom asked, still smiling.

"I think I got in."

Her dad laughed, "What do you mean 'you think'."

"I mean it says I got in, but I don't know if I did." She looked at them in obvious disbelief as they jumped up and surrounded her in a hug.

"How can you be such a smart girl, but doesn't understand what 'you got in' means?" her father joked. 

"I think they offered me some money, but it won't be enough to cover it."

Her mother stroked her hair, "We've been saving up and we can move some money around to make it work. You're going." 

Her phone rang, it was Jason. She smiled and answered it. He got the letter too. They were going. They did it.