the perfect pair

chapter three: shipped

I fall asleep after a long night of thinking, and it seems as if I'm just getting comfortable before I feel sunlight across my pillow and hear two hushed voices whispering. I roll over with a groan, shielding my eyes from the light. Didn't I just fall asleep? How is it morning already?

"Wake up, sleepyhead!" a voice exclaims. I sit up quickly, startled by the noise. Laughter fills my ears, so I rub my eyes and look around.

"Wha... I'm up, I'm up!" I yawn, stretching my arms. Bailey and Tahani start pelting me with pillows as I try and stand up. "Agh!", I exclaim as I fall back onto my sleeping bag. Tahani and Bailey giggle and drag me to my feet.

"Let's go! I smell breakfast!" Bailey exclaims. I smile and follow my friends. We stumble into the kitchen to see my mom making pancakes.

"Good morning, Mrs. Rice! Thanks for making us breakfast!" Tahani says cheerily. My mom smiles and murmurs a quick 'you're welcome' before turning back to the griddle in front of her. I sit on one of the stools at our kitchen counter in between Bailey and Tahani and pull out my phone. I press the power button, ready to check my Instagram for any notifications.

My eyes widen as I see the large number of alerts on my phone screen, mainly from Instagram. That's a LOT of notifications. Like, WAY more than normal. Woah. But... why?

Here's the thing - I'm not not famous, but I don't have as much of a following as most of the other dancers here in LA. I am so thankful for the fact that I have such a supportive and amazing fan base, and I wouldn't trade the world for it. But since I'm usually able to keep up with all of the fan accounts and posts, it's weird to see so many notifications from accounts I don't recognize. Along with the fact that Sean Lew is also tagged in the majority of these posts.

I unlock my phone and open Instagram. When the app loads, I see that I'm tagged in thousands of photos. Thousands. I click on the top photo to find an edit that includes many, many screenshots from my duet with Sean. Some with me smiling at him (and vice versa) and some more intense facials and poses. I scroll down to read the caption - and that's when my mouth falls open.

Look at these cuties! Sean was a GENIUS, as always :) I didn't know about Kaycee before this, but she's AMAZING! And this duet is too cute! I don't think I've ever seen anyone dance so well with Sean before! Do I sense future partners? <3 (also, his post about the duet was so cute) #seanlew #kayceerice #seaycee

The words are so kind and positive, and I can't help the surprise I feel at the suggestion that I danced well with Sean - at the suggestion that we could be partners. He's so insanely talented and there are so many better dancers out there that could be amazing partners with him. So why me?

I scroll through post after post, smiling at the talent and creativity I see, along with the positive encouragement in the captions. Some of the posts are edits, some are videos, and some are just pictures, but they all have one major thing in common.

What is "Seaycee"? And why am I involved?

"What do you think, Kayc?" Bailey asks, pulling me back to reality. I look up from my phone, blush rising on my cheeks. She giggles, tilting her head in confusion when I don't respond right away.

"Oh... I... I'm so sorry Bails, I wasn't paying attention. I... I just got a million notifications and I'm a little confused," I stutter. Bailey smiles.

"No problem, hon. I just wanted your opinion on my pancake decorating skills," she replies, giggling again. I look down at her plate, and sure enough, her pancake is covered in fruit and strawberries. I study it for a few seconds before looking up at her, confused.

"I... am I supposed to know what this is?" I ask. She feigns offense and scoffs before regaining a serious look on her face.

"It's you!" she exclaims proudly, sarcasm in her words, "Look! There's the hair, and the eyes, and the mouth...". We all share a look and burst out laughing. My mom smiles at me and nods, leaving the room.

Once we recover from our laughing attack, Tahani leans over and looks at my phone screen

"What's this?" she says, taking my phone from my hands. She studies the post on my screen and then reads the caption. I feel the blush on my cheeks deepening as her face flickers between confusion, understanding, and finally excitement. She looks up at me and then looks at Bailey.

"Bails, you HAVE to see this! We were RIGHT!" she yells. Bailey jumps off of her chair and runs over to where Tahani is sitting. She looks down at the phone screen, up at me, and then back at the screen.

I laugh nervously when I see the look on her face. She opens her mouth, but I cut her off. "I have one question before you ask me anything," I say. I take a deep breath before continuing, "What is 'Seaycee'?". Bailey and Tahani look at me as if I just asked them the stupidest question ever, and then burst out laughing.

"Kaycee, honey! I... I can't!" Tahani squeals before laughter overtakes her again. I look at her, still confused. She stops laughing immediately, "OH - you really don't know, do you?". I shake my head and she takes my hand, leading me into the living room. Bailey follows us, still recovering from laughter.

I sit down on the couch and Bailey and Tahani stand in front of me. They share another look before turning back to me. "So...?" I prompt. Bailey smiles.

"Kayc, I think you're being shipped. With Sean."

It takes me a few minutes to comprehend what she's suggesting, but as I figure it out, I stand up and look at my two best friends.

"Oh. My. Gosh," I say. What have I gotten myself into?

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i opened wattpad this morning and literally sat there with my mouth open when i saw how many people have read this fanfic. thank you all so much for over 50 reads - it means so much to me, and as an aspiring writer, i feel so humbled and am so grateful

thank you so, so much for reading. i love you all <3 ~ellie

edit: oh my gosh. i... i don't even know what to say. i literally uploaded this part yesterday and somehow we're at over 200 reads, and apparently ranked #1 in 'seaycee' fanfics (i honestly am so confused, thankful, and excited by that). thank you all so so much - words can't explain how grateful i am for all of the support i've gotten on this <3

word count: 1040