𝖑𝖎𝖋𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊 [nochelle & richola]

eight.

it's monday, and i'm walking to the studio from school with noah. i have rehearsals and he's teaching a few classes to get some extra cash for when he goes to new york. he's leaving on saturday but i'm trying not to think about it.

once we arrive noah kisses my forehead, and turns down the corridor to studio b where he's teaching j-troupe. i hear footsteps and spin round, terrified it's jacquie and she saw noah with me, but it's just lola.

she looks down at her shoes when i notice her. "hey," i say softly.

"was i interrupting anything?" lola asks nervously.

"no," i say quickly, "noah was just heading to studio b anyway."

"oh, okay," she pauses, "so are you two official yet?"

i grin, "yeah, we became official yesterday."

"so that's why you were so smiley," she says. she sighs a little and looks down.

"are you okay, lola?" i ask gently.

"yeah- yeah, i'm fine," she stutters.

"are you sure?" i ask, "you know you can talk to me."

"yeah, i'm fine i swear, i should probably go get changed though."

"well, i need to change too, so we can go together," i smile.

lola bites her lip, "okay."

we make our way to the girls changing room, and i pull my school clothes off. lola looks nervous, but honestly we've changed together so many times, what's the issue? i brush it off and get my dance clothes on, lola finally starting to get changed. once i'm done i grab my water bottle and smile at lola, "i'll see you in rehearsals."

once i'm in the studio i dump my stuff in my cubby and start to stretch. after everyone arrives emily calls us over.

"so," she begins, "i've made the decision to not hold auditions for the featured dances at nationals, and just pick myself, based on the a-troupe auditions." that seems fair to me.

"we'll start with solos. for our male soloist i've decided on... ozzy!"

everyone claps and ozzy jumps up and down with joy.

"and for our female soloist," emily begins. i cross my fingers. "i've chosen amy!"  i'm a little disappointed, but i know amy has what it takes.

"next is the small group, and this was a really tough decision, but we've decided on a mostly hip-hop dance with a contemporary element to it," emily tells us, "so the dancers i've chosen are jacquie, davis, finn, kingston and piper!"

i see piper's face light up, and i'm really happy for her, but i've still not got a place in any featured routine.

"lastly, we have the duet. this was a difficult decision but i've decided to go with two dancers which i think will have insane chemistry," emily says, "so our duet is going to be richelle and lola!"

i'm happy i got the duet, but i wouldn't exactly say lola and i have 'insane chemistry'. or chemistry at all! and she's totally avoiding me right now, how are we supposed to do a duet together?