Keep Your Shirt On, Noah 3

Mystery Man

In the locker room of The Next Step Dance Studio, Noah and Richelle got themselves ready for Saturday rehearsals. It had been a few months, and with Jacquie no longer in the picture, they both felt a lot safer and comfortable. To be honest, neither of them even really thought about Jacquie anymore. 

After Jacquie was kicked off A Troupe, Emily and Michelle had merged both TNS West and East, to try and bring all the dancers together and get the family atmosphere back into the studio. As well as this, Zara and Josh had left in Jacquie's footsteps. They both said they didn't feel comfortable anymore at the studio. As replacements, Emily brought in two new dancers called Mackenzie (or Kenzie for short) and Summer. Kenzie was a powerhouse, and Summer was a scholarship winning dancer, so they were both really talented, and everyone really liked them.

Richelle was humming along to a song she was listening to, with her earphones in, while Noah continued to groom himself like he had been doing for the past 4 minutes, looking into the mirrors attached to his locker door. At the sound of footsteps approaching, Noah turned around.

Michelle smiled at him as she came in and gave a small wave, "Hey guys, um there's no rehearsals this afternoon, Emily's got a guy from a talent agency to come and watch a few of you." She was wearing her white dance vest under her pink cardigan, even though she didn't dance very much anymore. It was like she was still clinging onto the hope that she might get to dance with the team, even though she was studio head now. Michelle sat on the edge of the bench next to Richelle, who was still listening to music. 

Noah was intrigued, "Who is it?"

"Uh... Kenzie, Summer, Amy, Piper-"

Noah laughed, "No... Who is the guy?"

"Oh!" Michelle chuckled. She fiddled in her pocket and eventually pulled out a business card, "I've never actually heard of his agency." Michelle held out the card to Noah, who took it and analysed it, reading the agency name slowly.

He shook his head then looked up at her, "I haven't either. Maybe they're new?"

"Yeah, maybe."

Richelle took out one earphone and looked around blankly, "Pardon?"

Noah chuckled and replied on Michelle's behalf, "There's a talent scout up in studio A from an agency called Ratz," Richelle turned to him in interest as he continued, "So we're gonna dance for him instead of doing rehearsals."

Richelle flicked her head back to Michelle, hitting her slightly with her long blonde hair, "Like right now?"

"Well, at 3pm." Michelle looked at Noah apologetically, watching him pack his comb and gel away and get his water bottle from his bag. She sighed, "Oh... Noah I should've said-" He turned to her, "He's scouting under 18s... So he won't be choosing you..."

Noah looked disheartened, but then realised it wasn't anyone's fault, this was just one of those things. Sometimes you're perfect for a role and other times you're just not what they're looking for. 

He gave Michelle a reassuring smile, "No worries. Do you reckon he'd let me watch? Save me going home and wasting a journey."

"Totally! If he doesn't then you can just come in the office with me and Em, we'll definitely be watching." Michelle got up and turned around with the friendly smile Michelle nearly always had on her face, "Just come up when you're ready guys."

Richelle and Noah said goodbye, and got their things together quickly, they wanted to make a good impression. Once she was done, Richelle decided to do some research, "So who is this guy?" Noah closed his locker and passed her the business card, but after sitting back down and reading it, she looked as bewildered as he did, "I've never heard of him or this company."