9. Rehearsals

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A/N: Your comments really make me laugh. Thank you for that :')

The eight contestants were sitting in a circle around their vocal coach Normani Kordei. All of them with faces glowing with expectancy and excitement, waiting for the woman to start explaining the work plan for the VMAs. Every single one of them was dying to be on one of the three spots on the stage next to Lauren Jauregui herself and certainly they would do anything they could to be there. Smiling at the contestants' thrilled expressions, Normani began to talk.

"Ok guys. I'm gonna skip all the blah blah blah about how talented and deserving of this you all are and go straight to the point. If you want to perform at the VMAs, you'll have to give the 200% of yourselves. I wanna hear you sing until your voice is gone. I wanna see blood, sweat and tears at rehearsals. I wanna see you work, work, work and nothing else than work. Even from home! Got it?"

The aspirants nodded, determination reflected in their eyes.

"Now, this week's schedule will be a bit different than last one's. You won't receive individual lessons anymore. Instead, you all will be working together every day. In the morning, I'll be in charge of teaching you vocals and improving your singing as I've been doing for the past week. After lunch, Lauren will take over and show you the choreography and basically how to perform the song. And, listen to me very carefully..." Normani said, lowering her voice. "Lauren is a perfectionist. That means she wants things to be done her way. So you better obey her and perform as she tells you to. Cause if you don't follow her command, firstly you'll be most likely yelled at and secondly you for sure won't accompany her onstage at the VMAs. Now, take out your scores and let's start by breaking down the song into its different sections"

The morning went by really fast but not even close as Camila's train of thought speed. She was frantic to see what Lauren had in mind for the show. Toxic was such a great song, one of Camila's personal favorites of Britney's whole discography. There was a quite wide range of possible performances and Camila couldn't wait to hear Lauren's ideas about it. The fact that they'd be dancing made Camila a bit nervous. It was absolutely true that she had been born lacking any kind of dancing or coordination skills in general. But she had been taking Salsa lessons to improve in the dancing field and she had acquired the sense of rhythm when studying music. So, yes, she was practically a bundle of nerves by the time lunch had finished, but also she was confident in her dancing abilities. Well, maybe not too much. Just enough not to make her want to flee the place the second Lauren got in there.

The contestants were in a rehearsal room, with three of it's four walls covered entirely with mirrors. They were being instructed on how to warm up by an assistant choreographer named Sean. He was an easy going guy, who patiently went through all the warm up steps, making sure everyone did and learnt them properly. Soon after they had finished their pre-rehearsal, Lauren showed up. She was wearing a sporty outfit made up by a tight dark blue top and black leggings. Even though Camila tried hard not to, she ended up checking out her coach shamelessly. And evidently Lauren noticed, her signature smirk appearing on her face as she did the same to Camila. The younger girl had chosen to wear a purple hoodie she'd likely have to remove soon and grey sweatpants. Lauren had to admit that it was kind of hot seeing Camila out of her regular dresses and rocking a whole different style. Really hot, actually. Leaving those thoughts aside, Lauren began talking.

"Before we start dancing, I want you to tell me words that you associate with Britney Spears" Lauren asked.

"Bitch" Louis let out, making everybody laugh.

"I'm being serious Mr. Tomlinson." Lauren said shooting him a glare.

"Well, then I would say pop" Louis suggested.

"That's right, but too general. Any other ideas?"

"Playback" Ariana scornfully said.

"Sad but true. But that's not what I'm looking for. I want you to tell me a word that describes her, her singing, her performances... Let's see, Ms. Steinfeld"

"I don't know. Power, maybe?" Hailee softly spoke.

"Could be. What do you think, Ms. Cabello?"

"Sex" Camila categorically said, making Lauren suggestively raise an eyebrow as a response.

"Exactly. Well done, Ms. Cabello!" Lauren said, pleased with Camila's answer.  "You see, everything about Britney revolves around the idea of sex: her lyrics, her looks, her performances... Everything. And since this is supposed to be a tribute to her career, our little show will also be focus on that particular topic"

Lauren then walked to the centre of the room and began swaying her hips in a rather sensual rhythm.

"When we dance, what we do is express concepts, ideas with our bodies. The theory beautifully put into practice, if done properly" Lauren explained as she keeped on dancing. "Now, the idea of sex is primarily conveyed by the movement of our hips. Then, you can maybe add the hands or the head. But the key element here is the hips. And that's what I want you to practice today. Now, get in a line and copy what I do"

Lauren got in front of the largest mirror, leaving her team members behind. She began to move her hips from side to side, a simple movement everyone could imitate. However, she did so in such a delicate and delicious way it was practically impossible for Camila to concentrate. Lauren's moves were mesmerizing and Camila couldn't take her eyes of her as she tried to copy them. The coach, perfectly aware of the younger girl's staring, then proceeded to smoothly drop to the floor, without stopping her flawless swaying. Camila felt her heart beat accelerate, her breathing become heavier and heavier. She wasn't sure if it was due to the dancing display few feet from where she stood or due to the physical effort she was enduring at the moment. Probably a combination of both, she thought. She soon was forced to take her hoodie off, under Lauren's intense gaze, who observed all the younger girl moves reflected in the huge, spotless mirror.

After a few more exercises, Lauren decided to finish the work out and call it a day. She talked to some of the contestants, giving them advice about how to improve their dancing. Meanwhile, Camila swiftly collected her stuff and was about to leave when she heard Lauren's voice address her.

"Could you please stay for a second, Ms. Cabello?" she demanded, more than asked.

"Uhm... I'm really tired, Lauren." Camila replied with a hint of weariness, as the last contestant walked out of the room. "And please don't call me Ms. Cabello. You can call me Camila or Camz or whatever you want" she added.

"Only when we are alone. Gotta keep it formal in front of them. Please, stay" Lauren said firmly.

"What for?"

"I couldn't help noticing you're a quick learner. And I've got some more moves I want to show you" Lauren boldly stated as she closed the door behind her.

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