𝐒𝐇𝐔𝐓 𝐔𝐏 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 (𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞.)

FOUR. second thoughts

THIRD PERSON'S POV.

James and Riley's battle had an unexpected turn of events. Instead of both of them dancing, only Riley danced and James forfeited, meaning Riley got the spot on the Internationals team. Tomorrow, the second half of the competition would begin and to say East was more nervous than before was an understatement.

She sat on one of the couches in Hidalgos, the competition only on her mind. Seeing the talent Elite brought only bubbled up her nerves as she began to reconsider everything. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe she shouldn't have said yes when Kate asked if she was sure. Maybe she should just forfeit the competition and stay back in J-Troupe.

"Hey, East!" Cutting her out of her thoughts was Richelle, who approached East with a smile. East pulled her brows together in confusion as Richelle sat next to her. For someone who just lost their chances of being on A-Troupe, she sure did look cheery. "Guess what?"

"Uhm," East began, deciding to let Richelle's behavior slide, "you're dying your hair back to blonde?"

"No, silly." Richelle chuckled. "Kate just moved me up to B-Troupe."

"Ah, Richelle, that's awesome! Oh, maybe I can ask Miss Kate if I can join B-Troupe too."

"Wait, why? I thought you were competing for a spot on A-Troupe tomorrow?"

"I am, but I highly doubted I'll make A-Troupe."

Richelle's face fell into an incredulous expression. "Seriously, E? Where's the girl that was so excited to crush whoever she was going against?"

"Oh, yeah, that girl disappeared into a dark hole of shame after seeing that Elite actually is elite," East admitted, but Richelle still gave her a disappointing frown. "Richelle, you didn't even get in and you're an amazing dancer."

"You're right, I am an amazing dancer," Richelle admitted. East let out a snort as the brunette stood up. "Come on."

The curly-haired girl frowned in confusion but followed Richelle's actions. "Where're we going?"

"You trust the amazing dancer, now don't you?"

"I'm regretting saying those words to you, but yes, I trust you."

Richelle let out a chuckle and grabbed East's hand. "Then come with me."

East let herself be dragged out of Hildalgos by Richelle, a light smile playing on her face. Only a few moments later, the girls arrived at their destination — Studio B.

"Why are we here?" East asked as they stepped in.

"It's a dance studio, East. Why else would we be here?" Richelle rhetorically inquired.

East rolled her eyes at her friend. "I meant, why did you bring me here?"

"East, when we first met, we got off on the wrong foot—"

"Because you were annoying and mean and kinda greedy and—"

"Hey, I was twelve. Let's leave that in the past," Richelle interjected, her and East sharing a laugh. "Besides that, we did bring out the best in each other and we still do. You're a great dancer, East, and you're good enough to get on that Internationals team. I believe in you, Noah believes in you, your brother believes in you. The only person who doesn't is you." East smiled at Richelle's words, but they weren't enough to fill up the bubbling nerves in her stomach. Suddenly, Richelle grabbed a black mat from the corner of the room and placed it before East. "Now, do it."

"Do what?" East asked, her eyebrows furrowing a bit.

"An aerial."

"Rich, you and I both know that I can't do an aerial," East said. She'd been trying to do an aerial for months, but even with help from West, Richelle, and Noah, she couldn't. Another reason why she wouldn't make it on the team.

"Yes, you can," Richelle insisted. "You know what to do East."

"I'm not doing it. I-I can't do it."

"East, do it!"

"No, Richelle! I-I'm sorry, but... I can't do an aerial."

"Wow, so I made up that speech for nothing?" Richelle mused with a scoff.

East's eyes went wide as she looked at the brunette. "Yo-You made it up?"

"You really thought I believed in you? You've just turned fourteen, East. You're just going to make a fool of yourself in front of everyone. If I couldn't get on the team, what makes you think that you can?"

Shock and hurt spread across East's face as she watched Richelle leave. She thought she and Richelle were friends, best friends who always had each other's backs. It appeared East was wrong about that.

"You're wrong!" East yelled, her angry gaze watching Richelle leave through the doors. East let out a huff as she turned around and her eyes locked onto the mat. She shut her eyelids, taking in deep breaths to calm herself. "You can do this, East." East took a few steps back as she let out an anxious breath. Finally, her feet moved her body toward the mat and before she knew it, she was doing an aerial over the black mat. She landed on her feet, her face filling with shock as she let out a delighted. "I did it!"

"That's my girl!" East looked to the door, seeing Richelle standing there and applauding her.

East's face fell in confusion only for a second before she realized what just happened. "You tricked me. You played with my emotions so I could do an aerial." East connected the dots and Richelle nodded as she approached her. "You... are a good friend."

"And an amazing dancer," Richelle added, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"Don't push it."

Richelle pursed her lips, but she and East soon broke into giggles and shared a hug. Thanks to Richelle, East felt like she could face anything.

. . .

double update because i got my finals marks today and i didn't fail !!!

this whole chapter is filled with richeast (i can't think of any other ship names, how about y'all?) and i love it <3
also what in the fuckery-do happened to studio b? did it just ✨ disappear ✨

please don't be a ghost reader :(
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