Page 90 of Irresistible Love

Thursday morning,Lily stood and looked up at the massive stadium in front of her. There were several hundred women lined up outside, just like her, looking to try out for the cheerleading squad.

She’d left home yesterday and opted to fly down to Miami and rent a car. Leaving Charlotte this time was by far the hardest. Her grandfather was home but had a long recovery ahead of him. Her grandmother was a wreck with worry. Her mother had begged her not to go, but ultimately said she understood. Her father had simply wished her luck.

“I can’t believe how many people are here already,” Drea said as she stood beside her. “I thought we were early.”

Lily nodded. “It just means we’ll be standing out in the sun for a shorter amount of time than the rest of them, right?”

“Ooh…good point! Okay, let’s do this!”

She grabbed her duffel bag that seemed to weigh almost as much as she did, and then followed Drea across the parking lot to join the line of dancers. It was almost two hours before the doors opened and then they were led inside through queue after queue until they finally reached the area where they could do their hair and makeup and then stretch.

It was ten a.m. and she was already exhausted.

Squeezing in between two other dancers in front of a mirror, Lily checked her hair and makeup and then seriously stared at her reflection and realized she felt…nothing. There was no excitement, no butterflies, just…nothing.

Was she just being arrogant, believing she had this?

No.

Was she maybe just distracted because of her worrying over her grandfather’s health?

No.

Letting out a long sigh, Lily took a step back and was shocked when someone nearly knocked her out of the way to claim the spot she’d just vacated.

Ugh…I didn’t miss this…

This is what every tryout day was like, no matter what the audition was for—tons of dancers vying for a small number of openings, with everyone practically climbing over one another while trying to get ready.

Yeah, she hadn’t missed this.

But…she was here and she was going to do this. She’d studied the choreography before her injury. It wasn’t anything like she was used to, but she knew today would be more of a freestyle audition and if the judges liked you, they’d invite you back for semi-finals where you’d actually learn their specific style of dance.

“Attention, Dancers,” a voice called out over the speakers. “Please take your places down in the stadium seating. We’ll be starting in ten minutes!”

“This is it!” Drea said excitedly. “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Lily told her, forcing some cheeriness into her voice.

After that, it was a lot of sitting and listening to instructions, followed by sitting and waiting for your number to be called so you could get up and dance for two minutes. And then…more sitting and waiting until they announced who will advance to the next round of auditions.

Both Lily and Drea made it.

“Oh my goodness! We should celebrate!” Drea said as they walked out to their cars. “Do you want to grab some dinner?”

“You know what? I’m actually exhausted. I think I’m going to just go back to the hotel and crash. Besides, we need to be back here tomorrow early again, so…”

“You’re right. I know if I go out to eat I’m going to want a cheeseburger and that would be bad,” Drea said with a laugh. When they got to their cars, she hugged Lily. “I really wish you would have stayed with me. I feel bad that you’re going back to the hotel all by yourself.”

“It’s fine. Really.” She hugged her back. “I’ll see you in the morning.” As she got in her car and drove away, she felt mildly guilty about how she hadn’t mentioned that the hotel where she was staying was actually a five-star resort with a phenomenal room service menu.

The drive was relatively short and she went right to her room and ordered a grilled chicken salad for dinner, then immediately went to shower before it arrived. Once she was done, she put her hair up in a towel, put on her robe, sat down on the bed with her phone, and sent out a group text to her parents, sisters, and grandparents.

Lily: Back at the hotel. Made it to semi-finals!

Then she got comfortable and smiled as responses started almost immediately.

Mom: Congratulations!

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