"Alright, the rest of you are free to go practice!"

My hands were trembling as my group slowly assembled in one corner. We had a bit of balance beam to ourselves as each group did. 

We would be performing the Act 3 Pas de Deux. It was one of the most important parts of the entire play, certainly the most famous. The girls in each group would be passing the role of Aurora around as the male stuck as Prince Désiré. My turn as Aurora would be third, and the hardest. Chloe, Emma, and Hannah forced me into this position. I would be dancing on my own after Joseph danced on his own.

"D-Do we know when we're goin-going?" I stammered out. Dad had stopped coming with me this week, per Dr. Casaceli's orders. I was now stuck communicating on my own.

"I think we're 'goin-going' on Thursday," Chloe said with a giggle. Hannah and Emma joined her in laughing. 

My cheeks heated up, and I grit my teeth. "We need to practice."

"Right," Emma said, pushing past me. She began to go through her warm-up stretches. I sighed, moving a little ways from her and doing my own stretches. 

I had lost nearly 25% of my weight, putting my body in that little area that Miss Sophie liked in a ballet dancer. Unfortunately, that meant I was starving myself most of the time. But it was fine, right?

(Hi, future Eve here, no it's not fine you need to be eating dammit. PSA over)

I lifted my foot, stretching it above my head. I felt my muscles stretch, nearly going numb before I slowly dropped it back down. I knew that Miss Sophie said that I looked amazing, but... all I could see were the imperfections. The scarring on my ear, the stretch marks on my thighs, the little zit on my nose. I shut my eyes, just trying to go through the stretches without seeing myself. I just needed to get through this.

Thursday was just as anxiety-inducing. My entire body shook like a chihuahua as I warmed up for auditions. Miss Sophie would be in in just a second-.

"Group 4!"

I gulped, walking behind the rest of my group. The leggings and leotard were tight on me, accentuating that form that Miss Sophie had all but begged for. My ballet socks were pulled onto my feet as we entered a separate studio. We didn't have our shoes, not yet.

Miss Sophie sat at a table with a man and another woman. They must have been the child and adult directors. My group lined up in front of the table, hands by our sides.

"State your names," Miss Sophie said.

"Joseph Brown."

"Chloe Garcia."

"Emma Martin."

"Hanna Williams."

I gulped, "Eve Stump." I imagined myself dancing gleefully as Miss Sophie looked over her list. 

"Alright, get into positions," Miss Sophie said, moving over to the radio.

Joseph and Emma moved to the middle of the room as Hannah, Chloe, and I moved on opposite sides of the room. The music started, and after a moment, Joseph and Emma began to dance. They were on point, nailing every single move that they were given. Emma twirled out at the three-minute mark, and Hannah spun back in to take her place.

I wasn't really that nervous until Joseph began the part where he danced on his own. My stomach tried to drop out of my body as I realized just how close we were to my part. 

As Joseph left the stage, I etched a smile onto my face and stepped into the center. Aurora's version of the song began to play, and I stretched my arms out. Toes, arms, keep the smile on.

I continued to move fluidly, trying to focus on just the dance. If I just remembered to keep my eyes focused on something when I started spinning, I would be fine.

My body began to ache as I continued to move. We were getting closer and closer to the twirls. I gulped, trying to find something to focus on as I spun. 

There! A little speckle of glitter shone just above Miss Sophie's head, right at eye level. Perfect.

I reached the spinning part. I hesitated briefly, allowing the music to catch up before I began to twirl. In the original dance, Aurora was required to go around the stage. Seeing as this room wasn't big enough, Miss Sophie had just told us to stay in one spot. 

I began to spin, turning once, twice, three times. At twirl number four, my stomach began to churn uneasily. I gulped, continuing to spin. On the last twirl, I forgot to lock my eyes on the spot. My vision swam, and as soon as I knew the twirl was complete I had to put my foot down less than gracefully. The song ended, and I walked classically back over to my spot on the wall. Chloe took my place, joining Phillip for the last part of the pas de deux.

My stomach churned, I messed up. All that practice and I messed up. I gulped, trying to make sure that I looked like one of the bystanders of the scene.

The song ended, and Emma, Hannah, and I walked back into the middle of the room to get our assessments.

"Thank you for your time," Miss Sophie said, standing. "I will walk you back now."

We followed behind Miss Sophie in a single file line. I was silent for the rest of the class, not even bothering to attempt talking to Joseph. He was such a nice guy and usually tried to talk to me. But I didn't want to talk today.

I was silent on the ride home too. I think Dad knew that I wasn't dealing well, and didn't talk to me. I just scrolled my phone, giving Ana the update.

Me: I'll be lucky to even make the ensemble

Ana: Well then, at least you'll have made it

I groaned. She was right. I just needed to be glad I made the production.

My nervousness didn't get any better by the time the thirteenth came around. It felt like my entire body shook as Miss Sophie walked into the studio with the results. Everyone instantly stopped talking, listening to Miss Sophie.

"I'll allow you to come up in your audition groups to see who you got. Each of your roles has a name, but I only included our roles in this sheet since we're working with the adults on this one," Miss Sophie said.

"Audition group one, come on up," Miss Sophie said. 

Since my group went fourth, we'd be going fourth to see our roles. My hands continued to tremble as people continued to get up and look. Plenty of people walked away looking upset, but no one said a thing.

"Group 4!" Miss Sophie said.

I stood, watching as Chloe, Emma, Hannah, and Joseph stood as well. We all slowly approached, stepping over various people. Of course, I was pushed to the back. I could hear scoffs coming from all the girls as each of them looked. 

Chloe and Hanna went first, and their short groans were the most startling. Were they in the ensemble? They both stomped off, taking their seats. I stepped up a little, still behind Joseph and Emma. Emma looked like she was about to shriek as she walked away. Joseph pat my back, whispering a 'congrats' in my ear. 

My mind was churning as I stepped up to the sheet. I started at the bottom. The ensemble was what I was aiming for. I didn't see my name at all, and as my eyebrows scrunched I continued up the sheet. Not Princess Florine, not Cinderella, not one of the Lilac Fairy's fairies. No, my name was at the top.

Princess Aurora: Eve Stump