I Don't Love You (And I Always Will)

Chapter Twenty Seven

Louis

As it turns out, Nick wasn't too fond of the prank Louis pulled with El and Gigi. The three of them opened their lockers to find various levels of destruction. El and Gigi's pointe shoes were soaked in water (rendering them useless), and Louis' ballet slippers had been shredded.

This was probably illegal, due to the hundreds in property damage that cost the company, but they really had no way to prove anything happened. If they went to Simon, they would be admitting their own guilt in sabotaging Nick and Peggy in the first place.

The trio made the trek down to the costume department.

"You will never believe what Nick and Peggy did." Gigi fumed, sitting in front of Zayn on the counter.

"You know the pointe shoes we spend hours sewing?" Eleanor asked, finding new pairs in their pigeonholes. All the female dancers had an arsenal of shoes, but they had to sew the ribbons and elastics on themselves. "Soaked in water."

Zayn's jaw dropped. He knew first hand how much sewing went into the girl's shoes, and he was horrified.

"No." He gasped.

"And my slippers have been massacred." Louis grumbled, throwing the sliced shoes on the wooden countertop.

"Did they do anything to anyone else?" Zayn asked, walking over to the men's section to get Louis some new slippers.

"Not that I know of." Louis sighed, taking the shoes gratefully.

Zayn, in his kindness, used the sewing machine to get the girl's shoes ready before classes that day, expediting the whole process.

"I owe you." Eleanor said, taking the shoes and running upstairs to the studios. Louis watched her leave, following closely behind. If he turned back, he would see Gigi give Zayn a kiss in gratitude.

When they finally got to the studios, their barre was taken. Because of course it was. Harry was waiting on the far side of the room, an expression of concern etched on his features.

"Sorry we're late." Louis said, rushing to put on his new slippers. Peggy and Nick eyed the group with confusion, shocked by their quick recovery. Thanks, Zayn. "Small mishap."

"Would it have anything to do with last week's shenanigans?" Harry asked, leaning against the barre. His biceps flexed, and Louis fought not to stare.

"Possibly." Louis replied. Before he could explain in depth, Simon came in to start class.

Class went by as usual, rarely changing. It was meant to be reliable, warming up the muscles and the mind for rehearsals ahead. Louis tended to zone out, getting into the music and the feel of the class more than the technical aspects. Both his biggest strength and fault.

This class was a little different, only because of the Christmas music Ed was playing at the piano. It was the last week before Christmas, and the NYCB is nothing if not festive.

Class ended with an announcement from Simon.

"As you know, we've been determining Romeo and Juilet casting for a while now." Simon explained, pulling his clipboard from the cabinet. "We've finally come to a decision." The assistant director, Ben Winston, stood next to Simon, hands clasped tightly behind his back. Louis and Eleanor exchanged wide eyed looks, while Harry grasped Gigi's hand in support. This was especially big for her, since the doctors cleared her to return full time.

"We will be doing three casts this cycle. They will rotate on a daily basis, so be prepared." Simon cleared his throat. "Principal Cast A consists of the following: Edwards as Juliet, Styles as Romeo. Cast B principals will be Calder as Juliet, Payne as Romeo." Eleanor beamed, glancing over at Liam. That should be adorable.