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I grabbed my suitcase with one hand and held Veronica's hand with the other. We both ran to the elevator and went straight to the 10th floor, where the room we would be staying in for the next few days was.

Veronica swiped her card, opening the door. We shoved everything inside and noticed the two double beds in the room, in cream tones with white bedspreads.

“We leave our clothes in one and we use the other to sleep in.” My girlfriend decided.

I didn't even bother to contest it.

We left our bags there and threw ourselves on the bed we would use to sleep. The soft mattress was a great relief for the tension that was building up in my body and being there, hugging Veronica, made all the difference.

“We can't sleep…” I warned, setting an alarm on my phone so we wouldn't miss the meeting in the lobby.

“We're not going to.”

Veronica drew me closer, resting my head against her stomach. Her fingers threaded through my blond hair, calming me in every possible way.

“Hey, is your brother coming to the competition?” That was a conversation from the previous week, but I couldn’t recall if my brother-in-law had confirmed he’d be in the audience.

“Yeah, he arrives tomorrow with Ivan.”

“I think it's amazing how those two went from bad boys to guys in love.” I joked.

My girlfriend laughed and continued to stroke my hair.

“Everyone needs to find the right person—it can really change us for the better.” The sentence took me by surprise. I tilted my head, looking into Veronica's deep brown eyes. I found there something I had always wanted and never felt worthy of. She was the girl who wouldn't take crap from anyone, kissed both boys and girls, and, at the end of the day, chose me. I would forever be grateful for the choice her heart made, but above all, I’d be thankful for the way she cared so deeply for mine. My most honest wish was to repeat over and over again how much I loved that girl, but, for now, I was content with just kissing her, enjoying her company and her affection.

We held each other close, hugging until the alarm went off, forcing us to put our sneakers back on and go downstairs to meet the rest of the team.

Since the competitions would only be the next day, I was a little calm, but I was sure that sleeping would be difficult later.With each passing hour, it felt like the pressure kept building, and I was certain it could grow so intense that I might burst.

Ten minutes later, we were all assembled. Karlee led us to an empty event room in the hotel so we could have some privacy.

“Please sit down!” The coach made her request, and as soon as everyone found a spot on the floor to sit, she continued: “You have worked throughout the year for this moment. Winning is good, but the important thing here is that you have fun. Enjoy all of this. Grab the next few days with all your might, give your all and the result we came here for will come. Trust in yourselves and in your teammates, the perfect performance comes from trusting each other. Move on that stage tomorrow as one, and everything will work out.”

It was a nice pep talk.

“You guys are going to go on that stage tomorrow and you are going to kill it in those 2 minutes and 15 seconds!” Colleen continued. “You are going to make all the hard work and all the pain we have had along the way worth it, because this is a team. There is no ego on that stage, there is one team, and it is this unity that the judges will be watching. You can do it!”

“Who are we?” Becker began shouting.

“Venenum!” We all answered in chorus.

“Who are we?”

“Venenum!” We all raised our voices.

“We can win!”

“We can win!” The chorus continued to respond until Becker let out Belinda’s classic line.

“We will win!”

“We will win!”

“And the snake is ready to bite!”

Clapping, shouting and a huge excitement filled the room. It was as if my heart was beating there in the middle of all of them. And I was sure that we could do it!

We had shared plenty of laughs with the group, finished dinner, and now I was just sprawled on the bed in a silk nightgown with my phone in hand. It had been a tiring day. After settling in and talking, we all went outside to see the distance between the lawn, where we usually practiced and showed off, and the main stage.