Lena felt her heart begin to beat faster against her ribs. "It means the best young dancers from all over the country are selected to perform on a single stage."
Annie blinked. "Dancers from everywhere?"
"Yes."
"And they selected me?"
Lena nodded slowly, a warm smile breaking through her caution. "Yes, baby. They selected you."
Annie sat very still, holding the gold-stamped paper. "That sounds incredibly big."
"It is big," Lena said.
That evening, they took the invitation to the training studio so Caroline could review the parameters. The instructor read every line of the bylaws carefully, then looked down at Annie with an expression Lena had learned to recognize over the year—the exact look Caroline got when Annie's structure reached a new developmental level. It wasn't excitement or surprise; it was absolute recognition.
"This is real, Mrs. Bell," Caroline said, tapping the paper. "This is very real."
"Is it a good thing, Miss Caroline?" Annie asked.
"Yes," Caroline said seriously. "It's an excellent thing. But it also means significantly more work, higher pressure, and a lot more people watching your feet."
Annie nodded once, her chin up. "I can handle the work."
Caroline smiled slightly. "Yes, you can."