As I walked in, the scent of the dance studio hit me—a scent that any dancer in the world would recognize: sweaty feet. It smelled like home. Stinky, but like home.

This was smaller than the other two rooms I’d seen. Nobody was in here, either. I slipped out of my white tank and shorts so that I was wearing a black leotard, my most comfortable one, with the crisscross straps in the back.

I could see my reflection in the three mirrored walls of the studio. Oh. Hailey was right. I did have the dreaded wispies. I decided to put my hair up in a dance bun. No wispies, and it would give me something to do to take my mind off my audition. I was an expert at dance buns. I’d done them so many times, I could do it with my eyes closed.

I unzipped my dance duffel. Inside, I had packed all the dance necessities:

Bobby pins

Hairspray

Hair elastics

Extra leotard (black with cami straps)

Tights—pink, in case I had to do ballet

Hairbrush

Bandages

Tape for my feet

Toe pads for my pointe shoes

Water bottle

Packet of trail mix

Towel, because you get sweaty when you dance hard

Deodorant, because see above

Stretch band

And, of course, I’d had to pack a lot of shoes: my ballet shoes, pointe shoes, jazz and tap shoes. Even though I was going to do a contemporary routine for my audition, I wanted to be extra prepared.

I had also brought a few other things:

Vanilla-scented spray (Remember the stinky studio? A quick spritz of this and at least I smelled better).

Fuzzy socks with grippers to keep my feet warm. Black-and-white-striped with a zebra face on the toes. I know, super cute!

Pins stuck on the outside of the bag that my dance team friends had given me as going-away presents to remember them forever and always! Except—sorry, guys—right now I had to forget about them. I had to focus on my future. Not just focus—hyperfocus, and dance my heart out.

I grabbed some hairpins and my hairspray from the bag and went to the mirror to put my long, medium-brown hair up into a bun. I redid my ponytail (no wispies!) and twisted it into a tight “rope.” I wrapped the “rope” around the hair elastic, flattening it out a little and securing it with hairpins—lots of hairpins. Then I tucked the end under tightly and pinned it some more. I finished with a heavy dose of hairspray to freeze it into place.

Bun was done.