Underneath the Spotlight

Chapter 7

 The next morning began in the studio with the guys. We had thirty minutes to practice our routines, and by 9:00 we would have to return to the main studio. We would then perform whatever we had finished, and get critiqued. I was excited for this; I would finally get to see what everyone else had been working on. It also meant that Andrew and I had to be at our very best so we didn't embarrass ourselves.

In a practice studio, we ran over our choreography a few times. It wasn't entirely finished, but we could fix that later. We wanted to be clean for the critique. It was hard for me to focus that morning. I felt like I was lying to Andrew, which I never do. We'd grown up together, and he was my best friend. I never kept secrets from him. I could never hurt him. If I told him this one though, it would end up hurting him just the same. It felt so unfair that Andrew's amazing crush was actually into girls— and one of his friends too, not just any girl. Especially after what happened last summer, Andrew would feel so betrayed if he ever found out. Therefore, I couldn't tell him.

When our practice time was up, we returned back to the studio. Miss Andrea and Miss Claire had the trios perform before the duets, and the rest of us stand along the mirror. Bea's group volunteered to go first and hit their starting pose. The song began with Bea and Carter facing the back wall and just Noah moving. After two seconds, the beat kicked in and all three of them were dancing. Of course, they were doing hip-hop, and all three of them looked great. Carter kept up with them better than we had all expected. Bea and Noah had more specialty moves than she did, but they did a nice job of having two girls dancing in unison, and one being the center of attention. The choreography never showed that one girl was weaker than the others. They would be a tough competition.

Anna's trio went next, and I could tell she wasn't happy about it. She was right about the music. It had a very slow and prominent beat, and few of their movements played with the musicality. Everything had to be on the beat for it work, which meant everything had to be at a consistent tempo. Paisley and Hayden, who had choreographed the whole thing, even looked like their talents were being downplayed. When Anna said that Josie, my little sister, could win with this dance, she wasn't kidding.

Then we got into the duets. Bekah and Chris went first with their ballroom dance. It was cute, but it was a little boring. Neither of them were that good at ballroom dancing, honestly. Spotlight doesn't put a huge emphasis on it, so they haven't had the most training either. Theirs was another dance that didn't show off their skills. Ramsey and Jordan went next, and theirs was much better. It was a contemporary number that borderlined being ballet. Ramsey was even wearing her pointe shoes. It was dark and moving, and the two of them had great chemistry on the floor. Their lifts looked effortless, and both of their technique was beautiful. It was funny how those were the two couples performing together, and yet one completely overshadowed the other.

Courtney and Harley were the next pair to go. Their music sounded almost the exact same as ours, and their storyline was pretty much the same as well. I was pissed. Why would Andrea and Claire assign us practically the same dance? We were supposed to be creative, but two groups mirroring one another was not. Luckily for us, their routine wasn't great. Both of them did the moves fine, but it felt so uncomfortable. It felt like they were two strangers dancing together, even though they've known each other for years, and people have been trying to set them up for years. Of course, Andrew and I followed them. Unlike our predecessors, we did have chemistry; we were actually friends. I think our dance went well, but it's always hard to judge yourself. Neither of us forgot any major parts of the routine, which meant something went right.

Logan and Lucas were next, and they were obviously guaranteed a spot in the recital. Their tap shoes were flying all over the place, and their rhythms were perfectly in time. Their dance was fun, exciting, and really freaking challenging. And they were perfect. Tara and Matthew were the final pair to perform. She smiled to me as they walked to the center of the floor, and I could tell she was excited to be dancing with Matt. Andrew was slightly grinning as well, and it broke my heart. Matt was such a great guy, but he would never realize the way Andrew felt about him. Maybe he would feel the same way if he knew, but Andrew would murder me if I told him. No, I was never going to break his trust.

And so the last group was done performing, and we all lined up to take our critiques. Nothing was surprising. Bea's trio could be more in sync, Anna's could stand to make the choreography interesting. Bekah and Chris' duet was fine, but they could clean it up and have more fun. Ramsey wearing her pointe shoes deducted from the routine because it wasn't actually a ballet dance. It was clear that she wasn't planning on taking this critique from the way she rolled her eyes. Courtney and Harley were told to look like they like each other. There was no chemistry, which they said Andrew and I had. They also said we could stand to add more lifts or distinct partner work. That was doable. Logan and Lucas hardly had any critiques, but they still needed to clean up all their rhythms. Finally Tara and Matthew were perfect as always, but they said Tara was too happy. Of course she was too happy, she was dancing with Matt.

The rest of the day went on and we finished learning the group dance. We spent the next couple hours cleaning it up and making it ready for Saturday. Then in the afternoon we split again to work on our self-choreographed routines. Andrew and I continued to practice and added a few more lifts, like they had asked. It was strange for him to be lifting me because we were practically the same height. I wasn't exactly tall, but neither was he. Carrying each other wasn't that simple.

"I find it funny that Courtney and Harley need more chemistry, you know?" Andrew said at one point.

"What do you mean?" I asked. It was so abrupt, and Andrew barely ever talks about them. I enjoy complaining about people that piss me off, especially Courtney O'Quinn. Andrew's too nice for that.

"I don't know, I guess I just totally thought they would have hooked up by now," he shrugged. "Like they party all the time, and they're definitely the hottest people here. Have you seen Harley? Damn."

I laughed, "Yes, I've seen Harley. He has a nice butt." To be honest, though, I never found Harley Denver attractive. He was everything you would want in a guy. Tall, blonde, an amazing body. He had perfectly clear skin that had probably never seen a pimple, and bright blue eyes that almost glowed in the dark. He was nice too, which often isn't expected from boys that look like him. Despite all this, I'm pretty sure I was the only girl at Spotlight that didn't have a crush on him or fantasize his body on their own. Even Andrew had a thing for Harley, and he was head-over-heels into Matthew.

Courtney, though, seemed to be Harley's perfect match. Despite my deep dislike for that girl, she was gorgeous. With her long, golden hair and eyebrows so sharp they could stab you, she was every boy's dream. She was tall and had enough curves that they were noticeable, but not distracting, and her chiseled jaw and perfect lips brought all the attention to her face. Yet she was so arrogant and entitled to every little thing. At school, she had no respect for teachers and didn't care at all about her classes. She put her effort into partying and getting drunk, and I'd assume she'd kissed more guys than she could count. But they still wanted her. They still liked her. I'd never know if my feelings towards her were rooted in jealousy or disgust, but regardless, it appeared that Harley and Courtney were destined to date. For some reason, I hated that idea. It made me feel sick. Harley with Courtney? He was so nice, and she was... not. She didn't deserve him. There was something missing there.

Anyways, by the time the next morning rolled around, I had a fire in my heart pushing me to do better than I had the day before. Courtney and Harley's dance was so similar to mine and Andrew's. Andrea and Claire would only pick one of ours at most. Ours had to be better. I had a new incentive to be better than Courtney. I had to prove to her that I was good, or something like that. It was almost like I had to make her, I'm not sure, notice me? So when Andrew and I performed, everything was better. It was bigger and more challenging than the day before. I could feel that energy from both of us, that we were pushing ourselves harder than we had on Thursday. I could only hope it was working. 

A/N Long chapter, I know. Do you guys like them to be about this length? Shorter? Longer?Please let me know. 

What do you think of Abigail's description of Courtney and Harley? Did Abigail make the right choice in not telling Andrew about Tara and Matt? Which routines do you think will make it into the recital?