It was a warm Saturday afternoon. The sky was blue without a single cloud in sight. Birds flew around and chirped at one another. My mom and I admired our surroundings as we walked back to the car. We had just finished doing a meet and greet; both of us answered a bunch of questions, and I did a solo to "Your Song" by Ellie Goulding; everyone loved it. "So did you have fun, Chlobird?" my mom asked. "Yeah, that was awesome" I replied. "I love getting to talk with my fans". "And they love getting to talk with you; that one girl was crying she was so excited!" "I know! I'm so glad I made her happy!" We were at our SUV now. My mom unlocked the doors, and we both got in. She put the key in the ignition and started the car.

As we drove down the road, I thought about all the people I met earlier. They all screamed when I walked in, they all smiled at me, they all told me they loved me. It felt good to be loved. One girl told me I looked gorgeous after my eye surgery. Another girl told me I deserved to win the TCA's. And one girl said she was glad I left Dance Moms. I looked out the window and thought about my life. I remembered Ms. Abby and YouTube people making fun of my eye, and I remembered people saying Maddie was better than me. Those memories really hurt my feelings. My mom must have noticed something was up, because she looked over at me. "Is something bothering you, Chloe?" she asked. I really didn't feel like opening up. Not now. "No, I'm fine" I lied.

We drove in silence. I still felt upset, so I just sat there and watched the cars go by. They all moved so quickly, like they all had some place to be. Eventually my mom broke the silence. "Ugh, I'm so thirsty!" she exclaimed. "Too bad Kelly isn't here; I could go for a drink!" I remembered Season 3 nationals when she got drunk, slapped Leslie's drink out of her hand, and got me kicked off the team for the competition. "You want anything, Chloe?" my mom asked. "No, I'm fine" I said. "Alright, I'm going to that Dunkin Donuts down there". "Whatever" I said.

"Your daughter's a little sneak" "Ugh, look at that lazy eye; she's so ugly" "Why does Chloe even bother? Maddie is so much better" My mom's ringing cellphone interrupted my thoughts. "Hmm, I wonder who that is"... She fumbled in her purse and eventually produced her cellphone. "Oh shit, it's your talent agent! I gotta pull over" she exclaimed. She hastily pulled into a parking lot across from Dunkin Donuts as a black SUV went past us. Still in a frenzy, my mom answered the call: "Hey can I put you on hold for just a few seconds? OK thanks!" My mom looked over at me "Chloe, run across the street and get me a coffee, will you? Be careful!" Before I had a chance to answer, she was talking to my talent agent again. I silently stepped out of the car and crossed the street.

I walked into Dunkin Donuts and waited in line. The line was long, so I stood there for at least a few minutes. As I stood, I felt a set of eyes looking at me. I turned around and noticed a guy sitting at a table staring at me. He was around my age, maybe a bit older, with brown hair and glasses covering his dark blue eyes. He was wearing all black, and his shirt had 9 scary looking masks with the word "SlipKnoT" on it. As soon as he realized I noticed him, his face turned red and he quickly looked away. I wasn't in the mood for talking, so I ignored him and got my mom's coffee.

Once I got the coffee, I headed towards the door, looking at the guy through the corner of my eye as I walked. He appeared to be staring at me again, almost as if he wanted to say something, but wasn't sure what. He was probably thinking of a clever insult, or an unflattering comment about my physical appearance. As I waited for a chance to cross the street, I felt like nobody loved me, and that all I ever did was start drama. It seemed I couldn't do a stupid interview without people bringing up Dance Moms and calling me an attention-whore. The light turned red, so I absent-mindedly walked across the street. All of a sudden, I heard someone screaming my name: "CHLOE! LOOK OUT!" I turned my head to the right and saw a black SUV barreling towards me.

I was completely paralyzed with fear as my entire life flashed before my eyes. When the SUV was just a few feet away from me, something pushed me and knocked me off to the side, and I heard a loud bang followed a few seconds later by a sickening thud. I felt extremely disorientated as I lay in the street. Cars were screeching to a halt around me, and people were getting out to look at something. "Oh my God, is he OK?" "Holy fuck, somebody call 911!" As I listened to the voices around me, my mom ran over sobbing with a hysterical look on her face. "Chloe, are you OK? Chloe! Are you OK"? I was barely able to answer. "Yeah, but what ha..." Before I could finish, I looked over my shoulder and saw what all the commotion was about. The black SUV was stationary with a damaged windshield and grille. And there was a bloody, mangled body lying on the ground nearby. It was the guy from Dunkin Donuts. He looked over in my direction with a blank, lifeless expression on his face. He was dead.

Later that day, as I went to get the mail, I thought about what happened earlier. I was crossing the street when the black SUV came towards me; the driver told the police the gas pedal got stuck to the floor, so she couldn't stop. The guy from Dunkin Donuts must've seen me leave, because he followed me out of the building. And he must've seen the black SUV coming towards me, because he saved me. He sacrificed himself. For me. I couldn't wrap my head around it. Why me? What did I ever do for him? I didn't even know him. The whole thing was overwhelming, so I tried to forget about it and focus on the mail instead. One letter in particular stood out, so I opened it and read it. Afterwards, I brought it upstairs to my room and went to sleep.

When I eventually woke up, I opened my eyes and couldn't believe what I saw; I was lying down in a room. The room was small and completely white, and its only other feature was a single door at the end. I slowly got up, walked over to the door, and opened it. I stepped outside and found myself in a vast open space with a seemingly endless array of rooms. All the rooms were white with closed doors, but one room had an opened door. I wasn't sure where I was, or what I was doing there, but I decided to investigate. As I walked towards the open door, I heard two voices inside. Once I was by the door, I gingerly entered the room.

There were two guys sitting inside the room. One of them had brown hair, blue eyes, and glasses; he looked roughly my age. The other was wearing a black jumpsuit with a strange pig mask; he seemed to be in his late thirties, and was holding a left-handed bass guitar. It looked like he was showing the younger guy how to play his instrument. Still curious about what was going on, I listened to their conversation: "So yeah, most of the basslines just copy the guitar riffs, and then there's a few little parts here and there" said the pig mask guy. "I think it's pretty insane you use a 4 string in Drop A; wouldn't it just be easier to use a 5 string? I mean, you wouldn't have to put massive strings on it" asked the younger guy. "Yeah, but why use a 5 string if you're only gonna play the 2 lowest strings, you know? That's what I did most of the time, so I just used a 4 string". "Yeah, I getcha, man".

The pig mask guy suddenly looked over at me; I forgot I was eavesdropping on their conversation, and my face turned red. "Well, I think your friend is here, so I'll get going". The younger guy noticed me with an anxious look on his face. "Alright, see you later, Paul". The pig mask guy got up and headed for the door. He passed me with a casual "What's up?" and left me alone with the younger guy. I still didn't know where I was, or why I was there, but I felt as though something important was going to happen, so I stayed in the room. The younger guy had a warm smile on his face as he looked at me. "Chloe... I'm so glad you're here" he said.

I had no idea what to say, so I just stood there looking at him. After a moment, he asked "Chloe, do you remember who I am?" I had no idea who he was, although the guy Paul with the pig mask seemed familiar somehow. "I... I don't know you" I said. He had a slightly disappointed look on his face as he responded: "I see... I guess it was too much for you to look over. But I understand; that was an awful experience". Baffled by his strange response, I asked "Awful experience? What are you talking about?" "When you almost got hit by an SUV; I know you remember that, Chloe". "But, how do you know..." He interrupted me before I could finish: "Chloe, I know you remember me; just think". The last thing I wanted to think about was the Dunkin Donuts fiasco; I just wanted to forget about the coffee, the SUV, and the guy who... A sudden realization came to me. "Oh my God... you're the guy who... saved me".

I burst into tears as I looked into his eyes; I felt like I was responsible for his death. "Why... why did you do it? You didn't even know me! I'm just a useless failure; all I do is get made fun of and compared to..." Before I could finish, he ran over to me and hugged me. It had been awhile since someone hugged me. "Chloe, listen to me; you're not useless. No matter how often people say Maddie is better than you, you're still an amazing dancer. No matter how often people make fun of your eye, you're still absolutely gorgeous. No matter how often you feel like a drama queen, you're still an excellent role model for kids. No matter how often you feel useless, you're still a huge source of inspiration for so many people, including me. You improve peoples' lives, Chloe, and that's what matters most".

He stepped back and looked at me. I stopped crying, but I still couldn't believe how much he cared for me. I had to know why he saved me. "I guess... I guess I doubt myself sometimes. But I still don't get it... why would you die for me? It's not like you're my brother or anything". He was silent for a moment, as if he was thinking carefully about something, before he responded: "Sometimes, I wish I was your brother, because then I'd have a good reason for why you mean the world to me. I've always wanted to give you something, Chloe, but I never knew what. I've always wanted to distinguish myself from all your fans... and then, when I saw you at Dunkin Donuts, about to be hit by that SUV, it came to me: what better gift than the gift of life? If I didn't save you, and you died, I'd never be able to live with myself, so I didn't think twice about doing it".

I finally understood why he did it: because I meant something to him. "Thank you" I said. "Thank you for... everything. I'll never forget you". He smiled at me. "You're welcome, Chloe. I'll always be watching over you, and I know you'll make me proud". I wasn't sure what was about to happen, but I guessed I was about to wake up. "Wait!" I called out. "Before you go... what's your name?" He told me right before I woke up: Corey.

Several days later, I went with my mom, dad, and Clara to visit Corey's grave. We left flowers by his grave, along with a pair of my dance shoes I had signed. That way, a part of me would always be with him. All four of us, even Clara, had something to say to him, and we all thanked him for saving my life. I was still wrapping my head around everything that had happened, and it felt like my life was forever changed. I found it difficult to cope with Corey's death, even though I never really met him. I had to stop myself from crying as I left Corey's grave and headed for my mom's SUV. As I traveled down the road with my family, I looked into the future. My mom and I would be doing a meet and greet in Pittsburgh in just a few weeks.

It would be happening soon.