Living the Dream

Six - James

"Are you okay?" I ask Ri as she and I walked out of the mall later that evening.

She had brought me three outfits consisting of three shirts and three trousers, along with one pair of ripped jeans I had basically begged her to buy on the side.

I could tell something had been bothering her since she got home and I knew it was more than me just playing music at top volume.

She dated me for four whole years and never had a problem with that before, and I know she's turned to a full-on business woman who can't have any distractions but even still, something as small as that shouldn't get on her nerves that badly.

"Never better, why?" she responds, closing herself off to me again despite the fact I had her laughing just a few moments ago when I tried on a bunch of different outfits in the store.

I raise an eyebrow at her as we step out onto the street. "It might have been four years, Riley, but you haven't changed that much. I can still tell when there's something on your mind," I tell her.

I bring us to a stop when I move to stand in front of her, giving no other option than to look at me as I stare into those hazel eyes of hers.

She broke up with me all those years ago so she wouldn't have any distractions, but why does it seem like her business with the studio has become more of a distraction than anything else... She's blocking herself off from the world. She's blocking out the real her and I hated it.

"Talk to me, Ri," I say as I take hold of her hand, locking them together.

She stares up at me, about to say something but she shakes her head, getting rid of the thoughts in her mind after glancing down at our hands. She shakes herself away from me, leaving me feeling defeated.

"What do you want to eat tonight? Pizza? There's a takeout just down the road from mine, we can pass there quickly," she says, avoiding the topic at hand by walking around me and pacing down the street at a quicker speed than before.

I sigh, following after her.

. . .

"Okay, everyone, I've got some news!" Riley exclaims the following day when we made our way back to the studios.

She and I didn't speak much at all when we went back to hers last night but I wasn't going to make her feel awkward for much longer. I'll let her talk to me when she's ready, in the meantime, I was her colleague who just so happened to be spending a few nights at hers. That was all.

She had a spare room for guests which Piper slept in last night and I got the privilege of sleeping on the couch. It was uncomfortable at first but after a couple of hours I eventually got to sleep, although I was knackered when I woke up this morning.

The dancers crowd around us, all waiting to hear the results of their performances yesterday and I offer a smile to my sister who looked more anxious than anything.

She and I hadn't spoken much either. She was avoiding me almost as much as Riley was but I wasn't about to stop trying. I'll get them both back one way or another.

"The first announcement I want to make is that we got some furnishings done when you all left yesterday afternoon so we've had some chandeliers installed and a few more pieces of furniture will be arranged in the next coming days. The second announcement is your head choreographer has been finalised and that will be James," she says, motioning over to me which causes them all to give me a round of applause as I chuckle.

Nate rolls his eyes and then Riley glares a little. "Uh! What did I say about clapping in here?" she retorts in a sudden harsh tone, bringing the claps to a halt.

I smirk at her. I always liked it when she was bossy, and she knew that already.

"And now, the final announcement, like I'm sure you've all been waiting for... Your troupes have been chosen and selected from A to D and they're up now!" She presses a button with the controller which causes the projector screen to roll down, revealing the list of names with each category.

In the first list for A-Troupe, I come across my sister's name and I smile as I watch her run up to Avery and hug her. The two of them had both made it onto the top team, and although I had no idea who Avery was, I was happy Piper had found a friend already.

Riley heads over to them all to begin conversing with each of them, offering them tips and pieces of advice. I was about to go and try talking to my sister but I'm stopped when Nate walks over to me, blocking my way.

"Nice shirt. Did Riley get it for you?" he asks me suddenly, looking over the blue button-up I was wearing.

I look over him and nod. "Why are you asking?"

"She brought me the same one last year," he sneers. "You're the ex-boyfriend, right?"

"I mean, I don't think that's how Riley refers to me but yeah, sure," I shrug.

I wasn't sure what part Nate played in Riley's life. I just hope she hadn't chosen him as someone worthy of dating her because he was far from it.

"I don't know what you're doing trying to worm yourself back into her life but she doesn't need you. She doesn't need any distractions. She just got back on track and I don't need her back-tracking because of some past fling she had with someone like you-"

"I don't know who you think you are, but I was much more to her than just a fling-" I bite back, stepping towards him, only gaining Riley's attention when she turns to look over at us.

Nate scoffs, looking over me. "You don't stand a chance with her," he mutters to me. "I mean, look at you. She's moved on and she's doing so much better without you. She doesn't need you crawling back into her life so you can go back to wherever you came from and leave her the hell alone."

"Is everything okay?" Ri asks, walking over to us both, leaving the teenagers to talk amongst themselves. She looks between us with a worried expression.

Nate forces a fake smile, facing her. "Everything's good, Riles. I was just introducing myself to James properly. Clean start, right, James?" he says, but when he calls her that darn nickname again it only causes me to tense up.

Maybe he was right. Riley was doing so well and she was way more successful in life than I was. She doesn't need me here.

"Right," I mumble before turning to head out.

"James, wait," she calls out to me as I walked towards the door, ignoring her.

I'd already competed against Alfie in the past and lost. I'm not about to let time repeat itself with some new blond guy she had found.