The Next Step: Season 7 Rewrite

Chapter 9: The Goodbye Girl

Empire part 3 plays in studio a. Richelle's dancing, and reminiscing on her times at TNS.

Richelle:

So. This is it. My last dance at TNS. I've accomplished quite a bit since I've been here. It might not have been what I wanted completely, but I'm still satisfied about how far I've come. From being on j troupe, to not making a troupe, to finally making it but losing regionals. From my snapping hip syndrome, to overthrowing Ms Angela, to not getting the recognition I wanted and being overlooked by Michelle and Emily, and then finally getting the face of absolute dance.

This season, I finally got somewhere. But it's too late. A troupe want to compete at Dancemania, and Nationals is long gone. It's a sign. It's a sign that the next step's not for me anymore. I've already texted Noah about the offer. I'll be dancing with the company next week. I've already finished my final exams, and the scores are fine.

I don't want to part with TNS yet, but I know that this will benefit me much more in the long run. And I don't want to regret missing out on this decision in the future, so I'm going to just go for it with the typical Richelle confidence and sass. Noah will be there, and I trust him.

I've written down the list of dancers going to Dancemania already. Summer agreed to taking my spot, as Cleo was adamant she preferred nationals. I don't know what she's going to do, but I can't risk not having Dancemania, nationals, or the offer. I just hope a troupe will understand why I'm leaving. Not that I need their approval, but just because I don't want to leave my home on a bad note.

Emily:

Richelle has just emailed Nick and I the list of dancers who are staying on a troupe for a chance to compete on Dancemania. I haven't read it yet, and nor has Nick. We want everyone to be there when we read out that list and make it official.

I'm in studio one's office, printing out the official documents for all the dancers who want to compete on Dancemania, and the other documents for nationals. There are parental consent forms for everyone who still is under the age of 18, and warranties and disclosure forms. I'm glad Nick's the one who has to do the paperwork, and not me. He's the one with a PHD in business management after all.

A large part of me still wants a troupe to compete at nationals. Maybe it's because I never fulfilled that dream after getting injured at the semifinals. Or maybe it's because I think nationals gives them more opportunities to dance. But if a troupe wants to compete at Dancemania, they have the right to pick that, and I have to respect their decision.

Nick:

I'm glad the dancers have all deliberated on their decisions. I just hope they choose Dancemania. After all, who wouldn't want to be on national television, and compete on one of the best dance shows ever?

I've called all of the a troupe dancers into studio a. Once Emily gets here from printing out all of the documents, we can finally announce who's decided what. If the majority of dancers decide they want to compete on Dancemania, then we'll be attending. If not, we'll compete at nationals. That's why I even got Cleo here. She's the alternate, and she can still dance if we go to nationals.

Oh, Emily's here. Time to announce the list of dancers, I suppose. I open my inbox and start reading out the names.

Ozzy:

"Amy, Finn, Heathcliff, Henry, Kenzie, Kingston, Lily, Ozzy, Piper, and... Summer?"

Summer? Where's Richelle's name on the list. Did she decide to take the offer? I really hope she did. I'm looking around for Richelle, but she's not in the studio. How strange. She's always the first to get here. All the other a troupers are looking around too. I think everyone's confused. I know I'd be, but Riri already told me about the offer. I just wonder where she is.