Chasing Stars || Disney's Backstage

Chapter Two

Maintain your turn out.

Nice, clean relevé.

The assessments had begun. One by one, the freshmen were being called forth and told to perform a routine of their choice for Mrs. Halsweel. Most were contemporary, but Tori wanted to impress, and pointe was her best category.

She tuned into the conversations around her while she warmed up on the bar. Many people had already been called, logically speaking, Tori should be called up soon. There were only so many people in her class.

"Vanessa Morita."

At Halsweel's call, a brunette nervously made her way to the center. Tori fixed her eyes on the scene as she brought her leg up behind her to stretch out her arabesque.

The blonde teacher clicked a button on a control and the music began. The tune was upbeat and classical. Vanessa was quick to begin moving, her face absent of her obvious nerves, but her eyes were not so good at hiding it.

Tori's curious eyes followed the petite brunette. She could see the years of training in her technique-- much like her own. A small amount of envy twinged in her stomach at the girl's skill. She could remember when she danced like that on the stage, but now she was in a different country, in a different school, and standing with people she did not know.

She continued stretching her body out as she waited her turn.

Vanessa quickly made her way over to her group as she finished her audition. Tori stood close to them and could hear their conversation but chose to keep to herself -- even as the blonde of the group, Carly Catto, took her turn as well.

"Victorie Descoteaux."

And there it was. The dreaded call to action. 

Breathe. This isn't your first audition. Just breathe, Tori.

Tori let her eyes fall closed as she positioned herself: her neck long, her shoulders down, her hips turned out. Just one second to breathe and the music started.

On time with the first beat, Tori's eyes flew open and her body began to move.

Developpé. Sustained leg hold. Turn hip out. Keep carrying that suspension into a rond de jambe.

Graceful fingers. Long and purposeful hands.

She let her face relax to keep a frown off her lips.

From the rond de jambe into an arabesque. Reaching for the sky and bring yourself back down to the ground. Now for a playful Balancé en devant.

Her body moved forward and back in light hopping motions as if a child playing hopscotch. She drifted backward and grounded her feet again before pushing off into a scorpion spin.

Nice momentum and spin and spin and spin. Leg up and hold. Don't stop spinning. Leg down and light skip. And a fouette finish.

"Again," Tori kept spinning not letting her leg touch the ground but simply using it to propel herself. "And hold, hold, hold. And done."

Tori swiftly fell back into her starting position. She gave a slight bow toward the stern teacher and moved back to the bar.

"Acceptable."

As she moved back to the bar, Tori couldn't help but listen to the conversation of the group next to her.

"Acceptable? That has to be one of the best compliments ever heard coming from the mouth of Hell-on-wheels," the boy wore large framed glasses that did nothing to hide his shocked expression as he ranted — only stopping once he was cut off by his curly-haired companion.

"I mean, she deserves it. Did you see that turnout? And that pointe routine? I wonder where she's from," her bushy head of hair swayed with her animated movements.

"Australia." Tori cocked her head at the duo and their two other companions. "My name's Tori. It's nice to meet you."

Tori waved to them in greeting as she scooted closer to their barre. She let her eyes travel across the marginally different group taking in each of their faces before they landed back on the bushy-haired girl. Her teeth nibbled at her lip as she twirled a piece of her wild mane around her finger in rapid little spirals.

Letting the hair fall back to her shoulder, she stuck her hand out for the Aussie to shake.

"My name is Jenna," she released her hand to gesture to the boy beside her. "And this is Sasha."

"But you can call me TMZ, everybody does," he smiled.

"No one does," Jenna interjected.

Tori giggled at the duo before her eyes fixed on the blonde and brunette beside them on the barre. She had noticed them talking with Jenna and Sasha before but they had dissolved into their own conversation just before Tori joined in.

***

It didn't take long for Halsweel to finish the freshmen assessments and even less time for her to post the results.

Tori had been fiddling with the ribbons on her pointe shoes when she heard the commotion. Her lack of knowledge of the postings had left her as the last to see the news.

Halsweel hadn't picked a freshman for the Primas elective this year.

She had picked two.

That had never happened before -- or at least that was what Sasha told them.

Tori found herself elated to hear that there was more of a chance, and she found herself floating on cloud nine once she saw the paper pinned to the bulletin board. Her name sat in the number one spot with a star next to it -- along with a certain brunette's name sitting snuggly at number two.

Maybe living in a new country won't be so bad, Tori thought to herself -- especially when she was invited to watch a private rehearsal of Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky at the National Ballet on her way to history.

She could definitely find a place for Keaton in her heart.

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Sorry for the late chapter. I just finished my first semester of college and am getting into the routine of working over the break. I'm currently trying to find a decent place to watch Backstage since it's no longer on Netflix and it wasn't added to Disney Plus -- since it might be a hot second before the next chapter too -- depending on what fate decides.

Posted; Not edited 12/13/2019