Issues

12 - i'm a mess

Michelle's POV

Lately Emily and I have been so caught up with studio business that it pushed our dinner to the side. We both finish work for the day, and exhaustion overtakes our bodies, which weighs heavily in our minds. Even our back and forth banter over text have become less frequent.

Speaking of business, TNS West is now a member down again. After Ozzy and Kingston came forward to me with information relating to a certain teammate, I had no choice but to interrogate the other side.

First, I discovered that Elliot had been mistreating my dancers. Piper, in particular, experienced the worst of it. She was pressured to listen to every order he gave, even though she wasn't completely on board with his changes. 

Next, Ozzy and Kingston uncovered his true identity. Elliot wasn't Elliot. He was William Elliot, a profressional Broadway dancer. If they hadn't found out any sooner, my troupe would've been disqualified from the Regionals qualifier. According to the Absolute Dance guidelines, being a professional dancer results in immediate disqualification.

Elliot had a fit when I put my foot down and told him he was off the team. The rage etched across his face as he took in the information. I will never be able to shake off the fury that radiated from him even though he left.

Sure, he's a technical dancer, but his personality is dangerous. It's not fair on my dancers to be pushed around like that. Hey, it's life. Not everyone acts the way they truly are.

I received a text from Emily a few minutes ago. Who knew that this scumbag would resort to another competitive team? Namely, TNS East. My fingers froze at the message. She earned another dancer, but he's not who he is on the surface. Emily doesn't know that he's a professional. Oh shoot. 

How can I tell her?

~LATER THAT AFTERNOON~

Emily and I have found time to hang out occasionally, just not out of the studio building. I'm excited to see how it turns out because you know, I think I've got feelings for her. 

My cheeks flush pink from the thought.

"Michelle, you can tell me what's up, y'know?"

I sigh in defeat. "Please don't make a big deal out of it. I think I like her. As in liking her more than friends."

He clasps his hands together. "Wasn't so painful to admit it was it? Emily is a lucky woman to have you care for her that way."

"Didn't you-" 

"No. Shush, that's all in the past," he held up his hands in surrender and continued to say, "Also, don't think that Daniel and I haven't noticed what's going on between you two."

My heart skips a beat. Have those two been spying on us or? Wait. West could've seen her messages to me whenever they pop up on my phone. This is mortifying. "Is it that obvious? Holy-"

"To us, yes. The dancers probably haven't since they'd be caught up in whatever's going on in the studio," he smiles knowingly.

"Feels like years since we were on a team together."

West places his hand on mine. "You and I, are still a team today."

He's right. We need to continue working together to nurture our dancers, even if we're one down. There's no stopping us now.

Regionals, here we come.

A fresh chapter, don't you love seeing that notification pop up saying that this book has been updated? I'm sure you all do :)

It feels good to get back to writing after schoolwork getting in the way of everything (I still have more work to do unfortunately). I've also got my mid-year exams coming up in a little more than two weeks' time - not looking forward to it, but that's school for you...

Anyways, enjoy your morning/night everybody!