Keep your shirt on, Noah.

Just Another Piece in the Puzzle

With the intention of promptly finding Emily, Jacquie sped through the corridors of The Next Step, frequently flicking her head from left to right to keep alert. She was heading to the East studio and Emily's office because that was most likely where she would find her, but obviously there was every chance Emily could be roaming around. 

Jacquie rounded the corner and peered into the grey, blue toned studio, that had a completely different atmosphere to studio A. She was starting to understand why maybe Noah and Richelle had chosen to dance upstairs rather than down in here. It felt a lot colder here, and she could feel the pressure and tension as soon as she stepped in. She felt like someone was going to come in after her at any minute and tell her to prove her dance skill and why she deserved to be dancing on Emily's troupe.

Emily wasn't in the main studio, no one was, so Jacquie walked straight through to the office and tried the door, which was unlocked. Differently to the office door in studio A, it didn't loudly squeak as it opened, and that said a lot about the difference between Emily and Michelle's troupes, she thought. One was over worn, which meant it was comfortable, while one was brand new and almost seemed too good to be true.

"Emily?" Jacquie looked around but there was no sign of her. 

A thud came from under Emily's desk though, followed by a complain, "Ow!"

Jacquie frowned, "Hello?"

From under the desk, slightly hidden by the two chairs in front of it, and rubbing the top of her head, came Richelle who had changed into a vest top rather than her black leotard. She looked embarrassed that she had been caught in here, and even more so that she had banged her head in front of Jacquie.

"I was changing my top under there... " Richelle realised it sounded quite silly when she said it out loud. "This is more comfortable than a leotard, you know?" Richelle tried to convince Jacquie. Jacquie squinted slightly and figured Richelle's explanation wasn't as clear-cut as she was trying to make it seem. 

Jacquie figured Richelle was just as threatened as Noah, by what she had said to them both in studio A earlier. 

She figured that Richelle didn't want Emily to see her in her dance wear from the days when she danced in studio A, alongside Michelle. That would give Emily even more ammo for kicking her off her duet with Noah. Providing Jacquie let slip to her that they were rehearsing in studio A...

Jacquie fake chuckled, "It's cool, i get it," She looked over her shoulder and back at Richelle, "Have you seen Emily anywhere? I need to ask her about something." She saw Richelle's face change slightly and Jacquie knew she was definitely worried about whether she was going to snitch to Emily about their rehearsal location this morning.

Gulping, Richelle tried to keep as straight faced as usual. "She's busy but she left me in charge, what's up?" 

"I just need Emily."

"Well she left me in charge." They both looked at each other for a second in silence, and Richelle put her hands on her waist. Jacquie looked at her, knowing this wasn't going to be as easy as it had been with Noah. Richelle was a tough cookie to crumble.

Richelle took an apple from Emily's fruit bowl and left the office while talking, so Jacquie was forced to follow. "Emily's got me filling in all the entrance forms for regionals," She sighed, "It's actually really draining. I didn't even know half the troupe's surnames." 

They were both out of the office now, so Richelle took the key from her shorts and tactically locked the door, being one step ahead of Jacquie in case she tried to alter any of the sheets. 

Jacquie laughed but inside was on fire. She realised that staying in that office could've been an easy opportunity, to simply change the number of dances Richelle was entered for on her entrance sheet. "I'm actually really good at remembering names."