you will be found
“Where’s Harkness? Someone find Harkness!”
Agatha could hear the chaos and hustle outside from her dressing room. By the sounds of it, her Maestra, Lilia, was looking for her. She sighed, stuck the final pin in her bun and opened the door, exposing herself to the busy hallway.
“I’m here Lilia, do you need anything?” her voice brought a silent but known relief to all the assistants and innocent people Lilia had practically harassed.
Lilia turned around to see Agatha standing in the doorway of her dressing room. Her hair was still in place from her solo thirty minutes ago, her makeup still perfect, all that was missing was the costume.
She smiled and thrust a sleek purple leotard and skirt at Agatha. “Bishop injured her foot in the group dance. Her solo is in ten minutes and I need you to step in. I see your hair and makeup is ready, so all you need to do is put on her costume. The dance is ‘You Will be Found’, I believe you did it last year so you know the choreography. Be ready in five.”
Agatha just took the costume and as they both walked away, she muttered to herself in satisfaction. “Amateur. Purple is my colour anyway.”
Agatha had been competing in dances for as long as she could remember. From the age of four, she had always been the star of Calderu Dance Academy, her technique and dedication like no other. Ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern, even hip hop, she could do it all. Her coach, or Maestra as she liked to be known as, Lilia Calderu, praised her like she was the only dancer ever, so naturally Agatha was her go-to for when slip ups need to be replaced. Besides, Agatha had won every competition she had ever been in, there was literally no other appropriate option like her.
She effortlessly slipped on the soft lyrca leotard and skirt as if there was no rush, and as she was re-applying her lipstick to a more complimentary colour, there was a knock at her door.
“Come in, and you better be quick, I have to go on in five!” she repeated Lilia’s words, and didn’t even glance up from the mirror to see who it was.
A red-headed girl walked in and sat down comfortably on the couch in the corner, panting and gasping for air.
“Wanda.”
“Oh my god Aggie, you would not believe what just happened in the group performance I was in- woah you got a nice room! Anyway I had to run here to tell you before my solo!” the girl excitedly wheezed out in one breath.
Agatha and Wanda had been best friends since Wanda joined the company in sixth-grade. Agatha thought she danced well, and therefore was worthy enough to be her friend, and they had been inseparable ever since, and an unstoppable duo in partner dances.
“Kate injured her foot.” Agatha casually answered in an all-knowing tone.
“Yeah, it was crazy, no one even noticed until we got into the wings and-“ Wanda stopped mid sentence and laughed to herself. “wait, how do you know that?!”
Agatha swivelled her chair around to look at her. “Maestra Lilia asked me to step in for her solo. I did it last year, so she trusted me to perform it.” Her voice was laced with pride and power. She then stood up and turned around to show the red-head.
“Do I look okay? I have go on now.” Agatha inquired.
“Hold on, you have a little twist.” By then, Wanda had collected herself so she rose with ease and made her way over to where her best friend was standing, and swiftly adjusted the straps on her leotard. “Okay, perfect.”
Agatha made her way out of the dressing room, but briefly stopped. “Come back here after your solo. I wouldn’t want you sitting in that disgusting hall with all the sticky-handed children and arrogant teachers.”
Wanda smiled at her. “I was going to anyway, but thanks Aggie. Break a leg!”
--
The hallway leading to the stage was one of the busiest Agatha had ever seen in her fifteen years of competitive dancing. There must have been about sixty studios there, much more than usual for the New Jersey Regional Semi-Finals. The stairways were laced with lines of groups of dancers waiting to go on, all dressed on shimmering outfits and red lipstick.
Before she could enter the backstage area, a kind-looking woman dressed in a floral dress stopped her .“Ah, Agatha, good to see you again! Name of dance please.”
Agatha smiled at the familiar face. Sharon Davis was somehow at every competition since Agatha could remember, she was almost like a second mother when her own failed her. “Good to see you too Sharon. I’m stepping in for ‘You Will Be Found’.”
The lady trailed her finger down her list and crossed off a box. “Okay, good luck honey!”
Agatha pushed open the double doors as she thanked Sharon, and was immediately met with the blaring music of the group dance before her. ‘Heads Will Roll’ played while some intermediate hip-hop team performed to the judges, whom Agatha glanced at from a slim hole in the curtain.
Peggy Carter, an old champion of the New Jersey Regionals sat at the panel with Pepper Potts, and her husband Tony Stark. The couple had a high reputation for judging very harshly, so Agatha knew she had to be on her A-game.
The music suddenly came to a halt, and the lights faded to black, and suddenly it was Agatha’s turn. She wasn’t nervous, she was never nervous. After fifteen years of doing this, you wouldn’t be nervous, at least Agatha wasn’t. A part of her was always reassured by the fact that she never lost a competition. Ever.
A cheery voice boomed from the speakers. “Okay, thank you to the Hill Studios Intermediate team! Up next is contestant number 43, Kate Bishop, performing a lyrical dance to ‘You Will Be Found’!”
Agatha didn’t correct them, she would do that later, she was too busy focusing on perfecting the dance. She gently walked on and into her starting position, a crouching position on the floor. The first few notes of the song started to play and Agatha was fully in the zone.
She effortlessly stood up, her body curving inward. She reached out and back in, the fingers delicately tracing invisible lines. Emotion surged in her body as she danced, running through her veins like electricity.
Have you ever felt like nobody was there?
Have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere?
Have you ever felt like you could disappear?
Like you could fall, and no one would hear?
The relatability of the song made Agatha perform with such passion, her movements seamlessly telling a story. Over the years she had learnt to just dump all her trauma into her dance, into the one outlet she had always depended on. Maybe that was why she always did so well.
The energy shifted when she reached the chorus, small caresses turned into big leaps and jumps of power.
Even when the dark comes crashing through
When you need a friend to carry you
And when you’re broken on the ground
You will be found
So let the sun come streaming in
‘Cause you’ll reach up and you’ll rise again
Lift your head and look around
You will be found
Agatha pirouetted gracefully and stuck the landing perfectly, like always. The music carried her, a jete launching her across the stage. She rolled onto the floor, then surged back up, with quiet determination.
Out of the shadows
The morning is breaking
And all is new, all is new
It’s filling up the empty
And suddenly I see that
All is new, all is new
As the song came to a close, she rose up in a trembling releve, her fingers stretching into the faint light.
You will be found
She stayed in that position as the lights blacked out, and then tiptoed across the stage and into the wings.
“Wow Agatha, that was beautiful. You will for sure win.” The lighting assistant clapped with the audience as he congratulated her.
“Yeah, I don’t know, I could’ve arched better on the grand jete.” Agatha confessed, knowing she would still win. She always did.
From the corner of her eye, she could very faintly see Wanda violently waving at her from the opposite wings, trying to catch her attention. Agatha signalled for her to wait, then ran around the back of the stage to talk to her.
Wanda was practically jumping up and down with excitement. “Aggie, you are so going to win for that, and it wasn’t even your dance, I mean that’s impressive!” she exclaimed
A loud hush was heard from one of the technicians, so the pair stepped into the hallway to talk. Outside they heard two girls from their studio, Alice and Jen, whispering. As the social butterfly she was, Wanda approached them.
“Hey guys! I saw your duo performance, it was really good! Rooting for you to win in the duo category tonight!”
Jen smiled sweetly at her, a mix of sarcasm and gratitude. “Thanks girl! Although I’m not too sure about winning, have you seen who’s been competing in these regionals?”
Wanda shook her head, but an expression of curiosity was spread right across her face. “No, who?”
Alice spoke this time. “The New York Association of Dancing.”
Agatha’s ears pricked up at the sound of them. The NYAD was one of the most prestigious dance companies in America, what were they doing in New Jersey?
“Ooh, fancy. Damn. Well, catch you later guys, I think I’m on!” Wanda leapt up the stairs into the backstage area.
Jen looked back at Agatha and smiled again. “So Harkness, how’s it going?” Okay, definitely sarcastic this time.
Agatha rolled her eyes as she walked away. “Bye.” She would rather be lobotomised than talk to Jennifer Kale. And it was pretty fun to hear the ‘Um, that was rude’ comment.
--
It was nearly the end of the day, and the results would be announced soon. Despite Wanda saying she would hang out in Agatha’s dressing room, instead she helped Kate with her injured foot, so Agatha took the extra time to study for her upcoming finals. She was in her second year of college at Westview University, and as soon as she graduated, she planned to become a professional dancer and work for Lilia. She just needed to get through the next two years of college.
An announcement on the loudspeaker caused Agatha to stop her studies, to her relief, and go back to the stage. It was results time.
She arrived to see her team sitting in a circle, so Agatha slotted herself next to Wanda.
“How’s Kate doing?”
Wanda looked up at who it was, and was happy to finally see her best friend. “Not good. We think it’s broken.”
Agatha faked a sorry expression. She never really cared for anyone else except for Wanda. “Aww. Hope she heals fast.”
“Mmm.” Wanda murmured back, clearly feeling for Kate.
One of the judges, Peggy Carter, walked up onto the stage and silenced everyone. “Thank you so much everyone for coming to the sixty seventh New Jersey Dance Regional Semi-Finals!” Applause erupted from the audience. “And also a huge congratulations to all our dancers, in our eyes you are all winners!” Yeah, yeah, the usual. Agatha was itching for the results. “So, the first results we are going to announce is groups.”
Agatha zoned out while announcing the group and duo performances. All she could think about is what speech she was going to make when winning for the hundredth time. She only snapped back into reality when Wanda shook her just in time for the solo winners announcement.
“Okay, so in third place, Runaway, Natasha Romanoff!” Peggy Carter placed a medal on the girl while she stepped up onto the podium, beaming.
“Now, in second place... You Will Be Found, Kate Bishop!”
At first Agatha started clapping, until she realised that was her, she stepped in for Kate. Her body couldn’t move, she was paralysed. Second place? She never came second. Ever.
Peggy laughed to herself. “Is Miss Bishop here with us?” An assistant got up on stage and whispered something in her ear. “Oh, my mistake, it was Agatha Harkness! Come and get your medal Miss Harkness!”
Everyone sitting in the circle was dumbfounded, confused, bewildered. Agatha never lost first place. In the end, Wanda had to push her off the floor in the direction of the podium.
When she finally grasped what had happened, Agatha snapped back into her confident self, and strutted over to Peggy. If she lost, she would look good doing it, even if she felt like jumping off a bridge.
“Thank you Mrs Carter, thank you everyone.” She humbly said as she let Peggy place the medal around her neck. The silver medal. Not the gold one.
The judge then turned back to her slip of paper with the winners on it. “Now, can we get a drumroll for first place!” The auditorium was filled with rhythmic banging, but no noise could knock out the ringing in Agatha’s ears. All those training sessions, all the praise, just for her to come second? She was going to kill the person who beat her.
“And.. first place goes to.. The Hanging Tree, Rio Vidal!”
Agatha’s composure was kept demure and graceful, while her head was racing. She only had two questions. Who the fuck was Rio Vidal? And how the fuck did she beat her?
She watched as Peggy gave her the medal and trophy, and the girl, Rio, took Agatha’s spot on the first place podium. Her hair was a mixture of black and brown, her eyes were a deep, dark, sultry chocolate, and she looked ethnic, maybe Spanish or Puerto Rican. Her face had a smug expression on it, like she knew what she just did. But wait, was she kinda ho- no. She could not be finding the girl who beat her hot. Get a grip.
--
After the results ceremony, Agatha went to the bathroom to wash her face. However, the cool, tingling sensation of the water did nothing but make her freezing, and more annoyed. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
“Congrats, Kate.”
It was Rio. What was this motherfucker trying to do, mess with her? Agatha couldn’t let that happen.
“You too, I’m sure you deserved it.” Perfect, keeping it professional.
Rio smirked. “I don’t know you, but you look kinda hot pissed off.”
Agatha's fists clenched so much that the blood circulation was practically cut off. First she took her first place, now she's trying to flirt with her? She just stood there, voice stuttering, at a loss for words, so Rio continued.
“You know I’m actually surprised you didn’t attack me right there and then on stage. I wouldn’t have minded though, just saying.”
Agatha smiled sickeningly. “And what makes you think that?”
“The look on your face. You looked like I had personally offended you.” Rio chuckled.
“Oh yeah, what if you did? What if your success made me want to punch you in the face?” Agatha’s had slammed down on the sink as if she really was punching Rio.
“Ooh, feels like there’s a story there.” Rio teased.
Agatha scoffed. “Look, Rio, all you need to know is that I have never lost a competition. Ever. And I certainly do not need you to stand there and rub it in.”
“Okay.” Rio walked into one of the bathroom stalls and came out with a piece of toilet roll in her hand. “Your lipstick is smudged, Agatha.” And she strode out.
Agatha looked down at the piece of paper she was just handed. The little bitch had written her number on it, and as she shook her head in disapproval, Agatha caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her lipstick really was smudged.