“The time has finally come, so everyone be ready to compete,” said Lindsey, the captain of my dance team. The whole team was crowded around her listening to the pep talk.

As a team, we had practiced so long and hard for this moment. It was finally time to dance. This was the last dance of the day we competed and it was by far the best dance we had. Everytime we competed it, people would gasp and be so impressed with us.

As I looked around, I saw everyone nervously chat. We all had creepy doll makeup and small white dresses on. Together we did actually look like scary dolls.

We look intimidating and a little scary, I thought to myself.

Waiting backstage was so nerve wrecking. All of the other teams backstage were stretching and practicing just like us. The other teams looked almost as good as the Carmelettes. I nervously played with the soft costume I was wearing.

The sounds of the 5,6,7,8’s kept playing through my head as I practiced. Just listen to the music and everything will be okay.

“Carmelettes, you guys are next up,” said the stage manager. Oh no I am not ready, I thought as we prepared to walk on stage.

The team before us finished, but they were not as good as I expected them to be. Maybe we can actually win. It was finally time for us to walk on stage.

We crowded into our formation and the smell of hairspray filled the air. Lindsey counted, “1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, and 1.” On the final one, we sharply hit our beginning position and the crowd cheered louder than ever before.

I felt chills creep up my back. The time had finally come and I was ready to dance my heart out.

During the dance, I stayed serious and hit every movement as sharp as possible. Before I knew it, we were walking off stage.

We walked offstage and everyone was so happy. The carmelettes had just nailed their dance. There was no shot we were not winning.

“That was amazing, I am so proud of y’all,” said Mrs. Doran, the moderator of carmelettes. We made her proud at her very last state as moderator, and that was so exciting for us.

After the dance, everyone rushed to the dressing room. The Carmelettes hurried up and changed then ran to the gym floor for awards. We gathered in our circle and started holding hands. This was the moment we had all waited for. We were so nervous, all we wanted to hear was that we were the state champions. But first they had to do individual dance awards.

“2nd place for pom, the Mount Carmel Academy Carmelettes,” said the announcer. Oh no, what if we just get 2nd place. “2nd place for jazz, the Mount Carmel Academy Carmelettes.” We are not going to win. We have to because it is  Mrs. Doran’s last year. “1st place in novelty, the Mount Carmel Academy Carmelettes.” Okay this is better, maybe we do have a shot. It was time for the award for our last dance that the audience loved. The creepy dolls had to win. “1st place in open, the Mount Carmel Academy Carmelettes.” We definitely still have a shot.       

After the individual dance awards, Mrs. Doran won moderator of the year. The Carmelettes were winning a lot, so maybe we could be the state champions.

The time finally came to announce the award we had all been waiting for. We huddled up and squeezed each others hands so hard. The announcer finally says,“The winners of the sweepstakes award and the state champions are the Mount Carmel Academy Carmelettes!” We jumped up cheering and screaming louder than ever. There was so much joy and excitement.  

In this moment we were all experiencing pure joy. Joy is one of the few gifts of the holy spirit and I got to share it with my whole dance team.

After the competition was over, we stopped and grabbed Canes. This satisfied my hunger and made the day even better. I tasted the salty fries, crunchy chicken, and yummy toast. My day was complete. I had so much joy.

The rest of the ride home, I pondered over the events of the day. Wow, we are state champs. I had never had more joy in my life, and the fact that I got to share this with my team made it even more joyous.