It's the finale of Dancemania and the stakes are high. A-troupe verses Richelle, and J-cruise, and only one of them can win. Both of them have worked so hard and sacrificed so much to get here. Who will win? And what will it mean for the other?
An...
"Hey, Blondie." I looked up to find the voice was coming from Jones.
"Blondie?" I asked. For some reason, whenever someone first meets me, I look like the perfect person to give a nickname to. Maybe it's the height.
Jones pulled out a chair. "You don't like Blondie? Because I've got other names for you: Shelly, Shell, Shorty, Springy-"
"How about Richelle."
He screwed his lips together as though he was considering how appropriate my birth name was.
"It's a bit long. How about RiRi?" He clearly wasn't giving up.
"I'll take Blondie." And I'll also buy a box of hair dye tonight. "Anyways," I said, taking a sip of my latte. "Why did you text me to come here, in my dancewear?"
"Nick needs someone to teach B-troupe." I looked at him blankly.
"Okay, and?"
"You're going to teach them." I choked on my coffee.
"Why me?"
"Why not you?"
You don't need to take this Richelle. You can walk right out of here.
"I don't feel like teaching B-troupe today." Or ever. I grabbed my bag and got up from my seat.
Jones got up just as fast, blocking my way.
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"Ah ah ah. You can't leave. Who will teach B-troupe?"
"You teach them," I said, pushing past him.
"No, I won't and I don't have to. It's your name written down on Nick's calendar, register thingy." He smirked, knowing he had trapped me. I had already proved myself disloyal to The Next Step. I couldn't be that again. Even if it was just one class.
"Fine, but you owe me."
"I think I'll be saying the exact same thing after this." I rolled my eyes.
"Where's this class?"
***
"Oh no, looks like they've already got a teacher," I said with mock pity. Kenzie was at the front of the studio doing jumping jacks to an upbeat jazz song as the rest of B-troupe followed. She began to slow down, rolling her shoulders and her neck.
"Now we're done with the warm-up, we can now go over some choreo," she said over the loud music.
"No need, Kenzie." Jones approached her.
"Oh, were you the one who was meant to lead this?" She asked.
"No, Richelle, actually. But thanks for starting us off." She shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, I'll see you guys later. I had to go soon anyway." She rushed to the cubbies, swinging her bag off one of the shelves and walked out the door.
Jones took a seat off of one of the bench. His eyes on us as though he was watching a TV show.
"So, what was the plan for today's rehearsal?" I crossed one leg over the other, standing in an unsteady croise.
"Nick said we should go over the small groups," Ozzy's sister said from the back row.
"Okay... let's do that. How many group dances are there." Seeing as A-troupe had dropped out from Nationals so early, I didn't actually no that much when it came to the structure of the competition.
"Two."
"Okay, you guys pick which one you do first." They gave each other a few glances, silently deciding which group should go first. A few dancers began to take off their shoes. Others went to the sides.
"Do you think you could play the song we're doing?" Pete asked.
"Sure." I turned towards the bench behind me. "Oh, is this Kenzie's phone." I held up an iPhone with a lime green case.
"I think so," Jude said.
"I'll return it to her." I left it on the bench, assuming it would remain safe.
"The songs called ain't no number two," Cleo said. I nodded, grabbing my phone from my bag. After a quick search, I let the first few seconds of the song play and their reactions told me it was the right one.
"Okay, I'll count you guys in. Three... two... one..." I played the song and was able to relax. All I had to do was watch them.
It was Izzy, Pete, Marcus, Maya and Cleo in this dance. It was a hip hop routine, but the style of choreo was familiar. I recognized the song from the one we had used for a finale routine at regionals. It was my first dance season on A-troupe and I always thought it would be my worst one. But after this one... I'm not so sure.
My moment of relaxation was broken as Emily walked into the studio. Tell me she was here to take over. Although, I had never seen her run that many classes.
"Hey, Emily," I said. Her greeting was delayed by the fact that she was too busy studying B-troupes dance.
"Is everything okay?" I asked. The music was coming to a slow end and I reached out for my phone to pause it.
"Something is missing," Emily said. She squinted her eyes as though she simply wasn't seeing properly and the missing thing would appear in a blink.
"It's the number of dancers," Cleo stepped in, defending her team. "We haven't gotten someone to step in for Summer yet." Emily gasped, realising what was wrong.
"Summer isn't on B-troupe anymore." They all nodded as though it was common knowledge. Which, in the next step at least, it kind of was.
"That isn't a problem?" I asked, trying to move this rehearsal along as smoothly as possible. In a very similar fashion, Emily rushed to her office and scattered her desk to pull out the Absolute Dance rule book. She walked back into the studio with the heavy book in hand. It had to be at least a thousand pages.
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"Emily, what's wrong?" Cleo asked, walking closer towards her. Everyone else did suit. Even Jones, who had been sitting down the entire time. He enjoyed seeing everything unfold as though he was watching a reality TV show. If I, too, was new The Next Step, I would probably find entertainment in everything that happened here. But I was all too used to it.
Emily finally snapped back into reality, looking ready to explain what she was worried about.
