Amber found herself in a dance studio with twenty other girls. The classes were usually larger, thirty or more, the better dancers kept to the front. Today contained a few familiar faces and a few she could've sworn she'd never seen before. She felt a bit of relief when she saw Krystal positioned at a far corner, Irene toward the back, and Victoria near the front. Friendly faces. 

Krystal smiled and waved at her slightly, earning her a sneer from a few other girls in the class. 

Amber sighed and tucked her hands into her hoodie pockets. Today was different than all the other classes. She could feel it. 

A short woman in Keds made her presence known by clearing . She snapped her fingers and music began to blast into the room. She started a dance routine without saying a word and all the girls hurried to focus on her. She ran it through two more times, then started wandering around the room, apparently expecting them to have picked it up. 

Amber wasn't the best dancer, but she'd been active all her life, training her body to remember certain moves quickly was on the short list of her skills. She knew she looked awkward, especially with some of the ier moves, but she stuck it out, concentrating on her reflection in the mirror rather than anything else around her. 

Twenty minutes passed and they started swapping out trainees, having them dance in smaller and smaller groups. Learning a new routine in between. Amber wasn't called out as much as some of the people, while girls like Krystal, Victoria, and another slender girl in a pink sweater were part of nearly every group. 

Watching this, Amber felt her breath catch in . She knew what was happening. 

They were making final lineups. 

She looked to the women and men recording and taking notes on the sides and wiped sweat from her forehead, trying to tune them out again. 

This was it. 

This was make or break. 

She squeezed her fists together, hoping she'd be called out a few more times. She would work harder. She would dance better. She'd try to be less self-conscious. She'd show them she had what it took. 

She-

"What's wrong?" 

Amber got out of her head for a moment to focus on what was happening. Krystal was standing in the center of the room, her hand to her head. 

"Nothing. I'm fine." 

"You look dizzy." 

"I'm fine!" Krystal insisted, forcing herself to stand up straight, but anyone looking at her could see that she wasn't. Her eyes seemed to go in and out of focus. 

"You can sit out the next few minutes, Miss Jung." 

Amber watched frustrated tears form in Krystal's eyes, but knew the younger girl wouldn't let them fall. She hurried to her feet and helped Krystal to the side of the room. 

"Do you need something to eat? I've got some Gummi Worms in my pocket." 

Krystal had been feeling devastated a few moments before, but thinking about Gummi Worms melting in Amber's pocket the entire time they'd been dancing, made her laugh. She smacked Amber on the arm, her eyes crinkling. "No thanks. I'll be fine in a little bit."

Amber felt at her forehead, checking for a fever, but Krystal swatted her hand away. "I'm not sick. I'm anemic. I try to take care of it well, but sometimes I just don't." She shrugged, looking angry at herself. "Sometimes I can't." 

Amber pulled her into a side hug and they watched the rest of the dance session go by, both worried that they weren't called back out again for the next two hours. 

"You really think this was it?" Krystal asked. 

She and Amber were in Amber's room, lying on their backs head to each other's feet, staring at the ceiling. 

"I don't know. But didn't you notice how they kept putting out five girls, then rearranging like three of them?" 

Krystal smacked herself in the head. "Why did this have to happen today?" She demanded, talking about her dizziness. 

"At least you were part of every lineup until then." 

Amber sighed, feeling like this was probably the end for her. She'd have to go home and face her parents, and herself, having failed after fighting so hard for this opportunity. "I was out there like six times, and that was it." 

Krystal reached to her side and grabbed Amber's ankle reassuringly. "I don't want to debut if you don't get to." 

"Why are you talking crazy?" Amber asked with a laugh. "You're obviously going to get to debut. You're pretty, you're nice, you have the skills," Amber sighed. "I was never gonna make it anyway. I would hate it if you tried to give up debuting just because of me. You've worked so hard." 

"And so have you!" Krystal said, sitting up. She punched the mattress with her small fist. "Grr! Why can't they just tell us what we need to do? What it'll take? Can't they show us the results of all of the crap we've been going through since we got here? Some sort of visible ranking system so we don't go crazy?!" 

Amber sat up too and pulled Krystal into a hug. "This ." 

Krystal grumbled like an angry cat. "Yeah. This ."