HEARTBURST,, The Next Step

[2.34] rewind

❝Maxie Harding, will you be my girlfriend?❞

‧₊˚✩

    "I will be dancing with The Next Step," Amanda's voice rung confident and true as she descended the steps towards the Nationals manager, avoiding all eye contact with the already confused-looking troupe.

The main question that had plagued the dancers' minds was as to why she wanted to help them. On many occasions, she had gone behind their backs and left their studio hanging, and then she was just going to rock up and save them as if their shared history wasn't built on lies and deceit.

"Woah, wait, how is that even possible?" The dance captain of LOD began to protest, and although her words echoed the thoughts of the others, her input was the last thing anyone in the room wanted at that moment.

Amanda held her ground calmly, "'Cause I'm registered on both teams, which gives me the right to compete with them." It was true, of course, the girl had been registered with both Elite and The Next Step: Kate had sent the names whilst she was still at the studio, it wasn't necessarily her fault that nobody had noticed the flaw in the system.

"There's rules against this," The LOD captain continued to complain, her voice growing more desperate with each word, "She can't be on both teams."

"You know what?" Sandra cut her off, doing her best to mediate the unusual situation, "I don't know, so I'm going to find out, alright? Give me a minute, and I'll find out from the judges," She then turned to Miss Kate, her expression softening slightly, "I'll get back to you in a few minutes, okay?"

Kate seemed both shocked and relieved at the miracle Amanda had granted her as she nodded, "Okay, uh, Phoebe, why don't you go with them?" She ushered her sister along, making sure there was someone to represent the studio in their debate.

"I'm on it, let's go," Phoebe stated, pacing her steps in order to catch up with Sandra whilst she led the two LOD dancers back out of the room.

"I feel a lot better knowing that someone's going to be dancing for The Next Step," Thalia told the camera, "But it still doesn't mean that I trust Amanda."

West shared a look of confusion with Maxie before he turned to his ex-teammate, "How do we even know we can trust you?" He questioned her, voicing the thought meddling with everyone's mind.

"What other choice do you have?" Amanda was quick to respond, not exactly clarifying the answer to his question, however, solidifying the reality that their only other option was to forfeit.

Hunter furrowed his brows, "Surely there's another way," He told his friends, disregarding Amanda's presence, "Do we really need her to win, especially after what she did to us, and what she did to Emily?"

"I hate to break it to you, Hunter, I really do, but we need her as much as we need a hole in the head," Maxie claimed, earning her some more looks of confusion.

"Uh, Max," Giselle began in a hesitant tone, "A hole in the head is something that we don't need."

"She said through a giant hole in her head," Maxie retorted, watching as Giselle doubled back,  her eyes widening at the realisation whilst others around them sighed at Maxie's light humour.