Empire - The Next Step

the big day

Arriving at regionals was a completely surreal feeling and for quite some time, Harper felt as though she would never have the opportunity to compete there. It was a childhood dream coming true. She stood beside Michelle as Emily went to register and the rest of the team were looking around, but the elder of the sisters noticed something. Harper still had the same facial expression that she had since the previous evening. One of heartbreak.

"Harps, is this breakup gonna be a problem? I know how sensitive things like this can be and we need everyone focused and ready to go." Michelle asked in concern as she rubbed her shoulder.

"Noah and I are still friends, it's fine. All I want is to win regionals so I'm completely focused." Harper reassured her but in all honesty, she wasn't one hundred percent convinced herself. She had been a little off beat since the night before and couldn't quite seem to get over it. Michelle nodded as she went over to help Emily with the registration and Harper rejoined the group. She felt Richelle's arm loop around hers as the shorter blonde dropped her head onto her shoulder. Both were heartbroken, and neither knew what to do about it.

After watching the hip hop routine, which the group absolutely crushed, it was time for contemporary and Harper was extremely nervous. Not as nervous as Piper though. The blonde could tell that she was stressing about it. After Noah had given them some pointers on what to focus on and gave a short pep talk, Harper dragged the brunette aside.

"Pipes, what's going on? Are you okay?" She asked with concern spreading to each corner of her face. Piper let out a deep sigh but nodded anyway. "Just don't overthink it, you'll be okay."

"Yeah, thanks Harper." Piper thanked her, but it didn't seem that her words of encouragement made all that much difference. They were finally called onto the stage and Harper was filled with such a rush of adrenaline, she had never felt anything like it. The music began and they worked through the dance, everything was going fantastic until the part with the aerials came around. Harper landed hers but looked over and noticed that Piper had fallen out of hers. She felt terrible for Piper and she knew that this was going to cost them.

They made there way off the stage and Piper ran off instantly, Harper debated talking to Noah about it but then remembered that they weren't together anymore, just friends. He also had to get ready for the pas de deux so she didn't want to bother him. It felt weird and wrong that Noah was no longer her boyfriend, she had thought she would be lucky number three just like Eldon and James had told her way back at the dance-a-thon, but apparently not.

As the scoreboard read, they were in fifth place which would take a lot to come back from but Harper had a feeling they would do it. Noah and Richelle were such strong dancers and she knew that they were capable of bringing it back. She watched from the wings beside Michelle and Emily as the music for the duet came on.

As Harper watched the pair dance, she couldn't help but be completely entranced. It was breathtaking. She had known the two of them the longest and although they had done duets like this before, they had never connected so well and she knew that was going to put them over the top. The audience went wild with cheers as Richelle and Noah ran off stage. Harper gave Richelle a teary-eyed smile which the latter returned.

"Can the dance captains from each team please enter the stage." Announced the voice so Noah walked back onto the stage to hear who would be making it into the finals. "In first place...Miss Angela's Encore Dance Studio." Harper couldn't help but roll her eyes, she had a feeling Encore would so extremely well. "In second place...Acro Nation. The third and final place goes to...The Next Step."

The entire team rushed onstage and hugged the living daylight out of each other. They were all ecstatic after what seemed like a huge loss. They were able to compete yet again. Harper engulfed Richelle in a bear hug with every ounce of her being and gave her the biggest beam anyone had ever seen.

"We're going to finals!" Richelle exclaimed as the team, along with Michelle and Emily, formed a group hug onstage. This was a once in a lifetime shot, and they were determined more than ever not to waste it.

The final dance wasn't until the next day so the dancers all had some time to kill. It was at times like this that Harper would love to be spending time with Noah but even though they said they would be friends, she was finding it extremely difficult to face him that day. She couldn't even look directly at him without her eyes glossing over.

She decided that she would take some time for herself rather than dwell on what Noah was doing, so she took a seat somewhere in the foyer and had a minute to herself. Thinking about how far she had come since J troupe was really shocking. Harper had started out at the next step as a shy little twelve year old feeling immense pressure because her sister was miss Nationals Soloist, and now she was on A troupe, dancing at regionals. She was living out her wildest dreams.

But as she was thinking of her time at the next step, her mind couldn't help but wonder to Noah. She never thought they would have been over so soon, after everything they'd been through. All the uncertainty, the pain, the frustration and then finally being together. It was completely heartbreaking.

"Hey, can I sit?" Came Michelle's voice from behind as she pulled up a chair and sat beside her younger sister. Harper quickly wiped away a tear that she hadn't realised had fallen and faced Michelle with an unconvincing smile.

"What's up?" She asked in a failing voice. She was trying to be strong, but thinking about Noah just brought her down.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Michelle asked with a small chuckle coming from Harper. The elder of the two let out a small sigh. She had gone over to tell Harper something important, that she decided to leave the Next Step and pursue her dream, but the young blonde seemed so broken already and Michelle didn't want to add to the damage. "I know how much you liked Noah, I'm really sorry it didn't work out too well."

"Well I guess it just wasn't meant to be. It always seemed like the fates were against us, all the obstacles that got in the way." She paused as she looked down to play with her fingers but Michelle knew she was only trying to hide the subtle tears that were streaming softly down her face. "It was probably for the best anyway, if he's leaving then he has to leave. No point in me hoping he'll come back."

"I know it's hard, but you're a strong girl Harper. Noah is a great guy, he really is, but you will be okay without him. You guys are still gonna be best friends." Harper scoffed lightly, she couldn't picture how things between herself and Noah could ever be the same again but she was appreciative of Michelle trying to help.

"Thanks Michelle but if you don't mind, I kinda want to be alone right now." The older of the two nodded sadly and left her sister alone at the table. Harper sat there dwelling on her feelings for pretty much the entire day. She felt broken inside, like she would never be able to pick herself back up.

It seemed to Harper like Noah was taking things much better, but in honesty he was in the exact same position. He sat on the opposite side of the foyer, alone, talking to no one. He was at a complete loss of what to do. Noah had never been without Harper, and Harper had never been without Noah. They were the perfect pair, be it as friends or more than that. Nobody ever pictured them apart, but that was the way it was.

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a/n: omigoshhh get excited it's the last day of regionals next chapter. i feel like this came across kinda rushed at the start but i really wanted to get regionals done in two chapters because this book has like 54 (eeek)! but thank you so much for reading everyone, clearly noah and harper aren't feeling too good but i hope you all enjoyed it. also i wanted to do a few updates this weekend as i've not had the chance to update in the week because of college so thank you for you're patience!! also thank you all for commenting on the last few chapters, it honestly warms my heart when i get a notification for a comment so thank youuuu :) regionals day 2 is coming soon...