Only Child, chapter 1

Ems' P.O.V

I stood nervously in the long line, wondering how much longer until it was my turn. All the girls waiting inline like me were either chatting to friends or family, or doing some last minute stretches.

"Alright, next block!" yelled the man at the front desk.
The next fifteen girls in line, including me, stepped up to the front desk.
"Alright, girls. In two minutes, you will all go into that room," he said, pointing to the large dance studio next to us, "and Trina, our choreographer, will teach you some of the dance. There's gonna be cameras in there, so that we can film you to see who gets in, but all we want you to do is dance as well as you can to Trina's choreography, alright?"

"Just hang around afterwards, because after all the auditions today, we'll call some of you back. Good luck girls." And with that, he motioned for us to enter the dance studio.

We all walked into the studio. There was a lady there, talking to the film crew. I guessed she was Trina.
"Okay girls," said Trina, "I'm gonna teach you a small routine, and I'll go over it twice. Then we'll play it to the music."

So Trina taught us all the small routine. It was easy enough for me, as I had been dancing since I was eight. But it looked like some of the other girls weren't as coordinated as I was. After Trina had run through it twice with us, we put it to the music.

As soon as the music started thumping through the speaker, I felt a massive rush of adrenaline pumping through my veins. I was in time, and I was fully alive.

There was a lot of waiting around after that. All the girls who had tried out (there was about one hundred) all sat on the seats around the cafeteria with there friends. I sat alone on a seat at the back of the room.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Trina, the man at the front desk, and two other guys I didn't recognize walked into the room. The room went quiet, and waited for them to speak.
"Ladies, first of all, congratulations to all of you. You all performed exceptionally well, but unfortunately, we can only take ten of you. So the list of names accepted has been pinned up at the front desk. The girls whose names are on the list please stay here, as we want to teach you the rest of the routine today."

Everyone started frantically running to the front room. I hopped out of my seat, and walked into the crowded front room. I had to wait for five minutes for the crowd to thin out enough for me to take a look. I went to the front of a small group of girls hovering round the desk. I scanned the list.


Yes! My name was eighth on the list! I got in!
I walked back to the cafeteria, where there were nine other girls and Trina was standing.
"Hi, was your name on the list too?" asked an excited girl.
I nodded and smiled.
"I'm Kay," she said, sticking out her hand.
I shook it, and replied, "Emily."
"How long have you been dancing for?" Kay asked me.
"Um... six years now. How 'bout you?" I asked.
"Four years," she replied, still grinning as though she had one the lottery.

"Alright girls, listen up," said Trina. "Congratulations first of all, and second of all, follow me back into the studio."

We all followed her through the now empty dance complex, and into the studio.

Half an hour later, we were all sweating like pigs, and had learnt the rest of the routine. Trina had said that we could go and wait outside for our parents. We were all sitting on the ground outside just talking in a big group.

"How old are you guys?" Kay asked to the group.
Most of them replied with seventeen or sixteen.
"How old are you?" one of the girls asked me. They all looked at me.
"Fourteen." I said.
They all gasped.
"No way! You're lying!"
I grinned. "Nope. I'm fourteen."
"You dance really well for some one so young!" Kay exclaimed. All the other girls nodded in agreement.
"Thanks, you guys are all really good to."
We spent the next twenty minutes talking and laughing together. Some girls' parents had come to pick them up, so there were only six of us left.

"Hey Em!"
I turned around. It was my dad.
"Oh my god!" squealed Kay. "Billie Joe Armstrong!"
"Bye guys!" I said, standing up. But they didn't hear me. They were all racing towards dad to get his autograph. Sighing, I walked over to where they all were, and dragged dad to the car.
"Bye Billie!" they all screamed.
We got into the car, and started to head home. I looked out the window the whole time.
When we stopped at the lights, dad turned to look at me.
"What's wrong Em?"
"Nothing." I said, still looking out of the window.
He snorted. "Yeah right."
I stayed silent, as we drove off.
Then suddenly, we pulled over, and dad parked the car, turned of the ignition, took the keys out, and turned his body to face me.
"What the fuck?" I asked, looking at him.
"Tell me what's wrong. I'm not driving until you do."
I just sighed and stared out the window again.
"We'll be here for a very long time then," said dad.
Then he sighed.
"Come on Em, tell me what's wrong. I hate it when you act like this."
"It's you, dad!" I yelled at him. He jumped a little, surprised at my outburst.
"What?"
"I can't make any real friends, because they only ever want to know me to meet you!"
"You have friends at school, honey!"
"Like who?" I asked him