Fly With You - TNS Season 7

chapter 9

"Need a lift?" Hayley stuck her head around my door frame as I dashed around my room, throwing earbuds and books and clothes in my dance bag frantically.

"What?" I said, barely looking at her. I was running late for duet practice with Richelle. After that, I'd be hanging around at The Next Step for the rest of the day, doing schoolwork, until A Troupe rehearsals in the evening.

My sister grinned as she repeated her question. "You need a lift to the studio? Mom's still out of town, remember."

"Oh. Yes, please. That'd be awesome." I smiled at her as I zipped up my bag, moving to rummage through my closet for my jean jacket.

Hayley shook her head at me. "I'll be outside in the car. Don't keep me waiting, Lee." She winked as she disappeared downstairs. I rolled my eyes in return.

Once I'd grabbed everything in a flurry and hustled down the stairs, I slipped on some shoes and made my way outside, where Hayley was waiting in her car, roof down and some soft indie music playing in the background. "Hold fire, I'm here," I said, sliding in beside her and clipping on my seat belt.

"About time," she teased, checking in the rear view mirror before reversing out of the drive and out onto the street. "You're going to need to give me some directions after we hit the main street, by the way."

"Sure thing," I said, breathless. "By the way, thanks for driving me." 

She shrugged. "No problem. I feel like it's been ages since I hung out with my little sister." She nudged gently in the side, grinning. "So, it's dish time. What's been happening at your studio? Tell me all the tea." 

"You're such a gossip," I lamented. "Nothing's been happening." 

"Like I'm going to believe that." Hayley curved an eyebrow upwards as we turned a corner. "I don't know a whole lot about dance, but what I do know is that The Next Step is best known for its drama. You know, the love triangles, the fighting, the team members who quit two weeks before the competitions..." 

I put my head in my hands. "Don't jinx it. That cannot happen this year." 

Hayley glanced over at me with a small smirk. "Just you wait."

*

Lena was late. Somewhat unsurprisingly. 

I'd managed to snag us a couple of hours in Studio A. After Friday's rehearsal, we'd been in pretty good shape, so we'd taken Saturday off to allow everyone else a chance to rehearse, seeing as there weren't too many free rooms at the weekend. But now it was the day before we were supposed to present our duet to Nick and Emily, and Lena was still yet to arrive.

I sat cross-legged on the bench at the side of the room with my laptop in front of me, on a video call with Noah. I'd expected to have to hang up around fifteen minutes ago, but until my duet partner actually showed up, there was no reason for us to stop just yet. Besides, it was nice to catch up with Noah. I really missed him. 

"...and I said that we were meant to be there, but this guy was so intent on kicking us out," Noah was saying, gesturing his hands animatedly as he recited a story to me that he'd no doubt repeated to several others on multiple occasions, judging by the passion behind it.

"Wait, I thought you said your friend got you on the guest list?" I frowned. I had been listening, but Lena's tardiness was also playing on my mind.

"She did, but this dude was adamant that we weren't on there. So it turned into this huge bar fight. It was mental." Noah shook his head, taking a sip of the Diet Coke next to him.