Snap, Crackle, Pop

What she has (e p i l o g u e)

Bring the leg in and full kick.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Smile.  Think of everything you've faced this season.  You are here because of you.

Side ariel.

That's it.  You did it.

Richelle exhaled and walked off stage gracefully.  She was the female soloist for The Next Step at regionals.  She had just done something that she had been waiting to do since she was a J-trouper.  Noah greeted her as she walked of stage.  "Powerhouse!  That was incredible!"  Noah said as he pulled the girl into a hug, she graciously accepted. 

"The last time I was speechless was when Ms. Kate told me that you hurt your hip.  I am so glad that we are now under different circumstances."  Emily said, giving her a high-five.  Richelle smiled and went to go sit down in her makeup chair while her competition danced.  She took a sip of her water and smiled.  Two months had passed since she deiced to talk time off from dance.  She was glad she did.  She had had time to re-group and had realized that she did need to spend less time dancing, but there was no way she could leave it.  These were her people.  

Richelle turned so she could take off her shoes and saw Lola bouncing into the wing.  She had deiced to watch from the audience so she could watch Richelle in 'all her glory.'  "Rich!  That was beautiful.  I am so proud of you!"  She said as she wrapped her arms around Richelle's chest.

Richelle put her hands onto Lola's and said, "thank you.  Not just for that compliment.  For everything.  I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."  Lola took a second to think.  She knew she wasn't the only reason Richelle was here.  Just looking at her makeup table, you could see the good luck notes Noah had left her and Emily's eye-shadow palette.  Lola couldn't take all the credit.  These people were just as important to Richelle, even if they weren't her girlfriend.

"You know that's not true.  Emily and Noah are just as important to you as I am.  We're like your pit crew team that race car drivers have."  Richelle smiled.

"Maybe."  She looked around.  Lola was right.  These people were her rocks.  Even the people besides Lola, Emily, and Noah.  Everyone had played such an instrumental role in today.  There were things that people had done that  directly related to her dance today.  Like how Amy and Piper had done her hair and how it was Daniel that choreographed this dance with her so it could reflect her journey this season.  Or the things like how Kingston had come early and stay late their weekend rehearsals to teach Richelle the choreography that she missed or how Ozzy would send her articles about hip-rehabilation articles he found.  They weren't just her people, they were her family.

Before this year, she didn't have much of an idea of what that meant.  She lost her parents at such a young age and her and Macy never really bonded.  Then she had J-troupe and B-troupe, but they were so young and never really bonded on anything that real.  Her first year of A-toupe, she didn't even believe you really needed friends.  She had spent such along time being closed off from others and now things just felt right.  

Dance wasn't all she had.  No, she had a family.

A/N to everyone that has come on this journey with me, thank you.  I have loved being able to write this and explore Richelle's personality with all of you.  Also full disclosers, Nochelle was supposed to be endgame, but around chapter seventeen, it just didn't feel right to have Richelle go into a relationship that had years of history while she was so fragile.  I hope you guys enjoyed this story because I really enjoyed writing it.