𝖑𝖎𝖋𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊 [nochelle & richola]

four.

i'm in studio 1 rehearsing my solo for the second part of auditions, we're performing in an hour. i'm with jacquie and tate. i hope we all make the team. tate might be new but she's definitely a-troupe material, we could use someone like her on the team.

i did a few tricks and felt tate's eyes watching me.

"can you show me how to do that?" she asks.

"uhhh," i mean, i want to be her friend, but i sort of had a solo to practice, "maybe for five minutes, we should really be rehearsing."

i run through the trick quickly with her, and she sort of got the hang of it. it wasn't as good as when i did it, but it was okay.

"thanks," she smiles at me.

i run through my solo again, and spend extra time practicing the turning section.

just then, lola walks in. she looks me, and i swear she blushes or something, before she turns on her heels and rushes out.

i bite my lip.

jacquie notices me go nervous. have you talked to her yet?" she asks.

i shake my head, "i've got to not think about her right now. i have to focus on dance. i'll talk to her later."

"do you want her to make the team?"

i nod, "she's a good dancer," i say quietly.

soon enough it's time to perform our solos. ozzy volunteers to go first.

honestly, his solo is pretty funny and cute, it's mostly hip hop, but you can tell he has technique as well. he's grown a lot, physically and as a person, this season.

eric, sara and winnie perform their solos, while i see piper hiding anxiously in the corner. i go over to her, "hey pipes."

"hi," she whispers, barely audible.

"you've got this. you'll be fine," i tell her.

"you think?"

"i know."

she smiles weakly, "thanks richelle, i'm glad i've got you."

"i'm glad i've got you too piper, now go and kick ass like i know you can."

piper does her solo, and i can tell she's shaky at first, but as the solo goes on, her nerves seem to disappear. by the time the music ends she truly is kicking ass.

"well done piper," i tell her, and hug her gently, "i'm proud of you."

it's my turn next. i nail everything, thank god.

then heath, oliver and danielle perform. i don't pay much attention, they seem more like b-troupe material.

tate's next. she does everything well, and i think she'll probably make the team.

kingston and finn go one after each other, both of them dancing amazingly like always.

and then lola's name is called. and she dances. she dances beautifully, but something's different. she isn't happy, bubbly lola. her dancing seems sad. sad and beautiful. her emotion is insane. something's definitely changed since i last saw her. watching her dance gives me chills.

then jacquie and davis perform, both dancing very well.

next up is kenzie. she dances okay, but not amazingly. better than some but not nearly as good as others.

then lily is up. and wow, her dancing has changed. she's lost all the razzle-dazzle, and doesn't even wink once. her cheesy smile is replaced with actual emotion. i honestly would like to have her on the team if her dancing is like this all the time from now on.

next is summer. something's off with her, and she doesn't dance very well at all. i sort of feel bad for her, but that bitch stole my top spot.

henry performs his solo pretty well.

last is amy. she dances beautifully. i hope she makes a-troupe again.

"well done everyone," emily calls, "you can chat amongst yourselves while i go and make the final cut."

we all wait nervously for five or ten minutes before emily comes back out.

"alright!" she says over the top of everyone, "please line up. if i call your name, come over to me."

everyone gets into a line, myself between tate and jacquie.

"okay," emily begins, "the first member of a-troupe is... ozzy!"

ozzy cheers and goes over to emily.

"the next spot on a-troupe goes to, richelle!"

i breathe a sigh of relief and make my way over to emily.

emily continues calling names, jacquie, davis, kingston.

then she calls amy's name, which i was happy about, but i wasn't sure if emily would want her on the team seeing us she left us earlier in the season.

emily continues calling names, finn, piper and henry.

when piper makes her way over i hug her and squeeze her hand, "i told you you'd kick ass."

then emily calls lola's name, and i feel some sort of weird anxious flutter in my stomach, which creeps me out.

next emily call's tate's name, and i smile, as she's an amazing dancer and so far she seems really lovely.

i count the number of dancers on my fingers, eleven including myself. there's one more spot.

summer and kenzie stand next to each other anxiously.

"and the last member of a-troupe is..."

i hope it's not summer.

"lily!"