Dad and Mom jumped to their feet Well done Louie added Mom finally able to look As I jogged off of the mat I noticed Rana Alana and Maya make their way down the stairs They were headed straight for the scoring bench That was the spot where I now had to await the final verdict You nailed it shouted Coach Amy She wrapped me in a bear hug as I exited the mat That was incredible Not a single mistake You must be so proud of yourself Thanks I hugged her back But I don’t want to celebrate just yet Let’s get the scores first Coach Amy tousled my short black hair Always a competitor she laughed Coach Amy and I sat nervously on the bench I chugged a bottle of water Then I inspected the scoreboard hanging from the ceiling 10
Elena was currently in first place She had performed a flawless routine and was rewarded with a score of 18 0 very close to a perfect 20 0 Suzanna was in second place We had been on the same dance team for the past three years She had bobbled slightly on one of her balancing skills But she was close behind with a score of 17 5 Lucy in third place was a dancer from Boston She held on to a score of 16 5 Remember the top three dancers advance to the state championships whispered Coach Amy You only need to score higher than a 16 5 to make the cut I didn’t need the reminder We had built my entire routine knowing that I would need as many high scoring components as possible It had been a risk adding so many difficult moves if perhaps I should have been a bit more conservative in order to I wondered 11
avoid deductions I struggled to focus on the scoreboard Does it always take this long for them to decide asked Alana The girls were now huddled above me on the closest bleacher bench Sh whispered Rana Don’t stress me out Look at Louie Cool as a cucumber I laughed Even in a room of a hundred people I could still hear Rana’s whisper Sweat dripped down my back and I shifted slightly in my seat My heart rate was slowly making its descent back to normal And I could feel my muscles aching to be stretched I glanced over to the judges table their heads bent down deep in conversation I had to admit it did seem to be taking them longer than usual Is something wrong I asked Coach Amy She shrugged eyes glued on the scoreboard 12
Just when I couldn’t take it any longer the judges lifted their heads They entered their decision into the keypad in front of them My heart caught in my throat as flashing red numbers burst to life in front of my eyes 17 0 shouted the announcer That does it folks Louie Lin wins third place and advances to the state championship 13
