i felt it in my chest as she looked at me,
i knew we were bound to be together.
East North goes through the ups and downs of what it really means to be an A-Trouper, while dealing with her own drama.
（ 𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 ）
（ 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!�...
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THIRD PERSON'S POV.
East entered Studio A with Cierra by her side, the two friends heading to the cubbies to put their bags there. As they did that, something in the room caught East's eye and caused her to grow confused. B-Troupe and A-Troupe members like Jake, Beth, Kai, and Richelle, and Noah and Stephanie were standing together. Though it was common to see the different troupes mix, East thought that A-Troupe had a rehearsal in Studio A today. East approached the group with Cierra, her footsteps quickening when Richelle glanced back at her with a smile.
"Hey," East greeted Richelle with a grin as she stepped beside her. "Uh, what's happening?"
"I don't know," Richelle replied with a shrug. "Phoebe told me, Kai, Jake, and Beth to come here today. She didn't say why though."
The woman in question arrived in the studio and approached the group with a trophy. "Hey, you guys. Okay, so I have some excellent news for you guys. Uhm, Richelle and Max performed their duet last night and they won."
East applauded Richelle along with everyone else. She nudged her, giving her a proud grin. Last night, Richelle would not stop talking about the competition and East was happy that she won.
"So why are we here?" Stephanie asked.
"Uhm, right, so I think that it's time that the B-Troupers start working more with the A-Troupers because I think you guys could teach them a lot. So I'm gonna have Beth and Stephanie together," Phoebe explained, causing Beth to excitedly engulf Stephanie into a hug. East glanced over at Richelle, hoping that the two would get paired together. "Next will be East and Kai." Though she was disappointed with the outcome, East put on a smile and approached Kai's side, who gave her a fist pump. Kai had joined The Next Step a year after she did, but East didn't know him that well. She knew he was a great dancer though. Maybe paring them together was a good idea; besides East had worked with Richelle many times. "Jake and Cierra, you two together. And Noah and Richelle."
. . .
"Hey, Kai, I have a lot of ideas for our duet," East stated when she stepped into Studio A. Richelle and Noah had finished rehearsing, so now it was East and Kai's turn.
At first, East wasn't that ecstatic to work with Kai. It wasn't that she hated the boy. She was neutral with him, though he could be cocky at times. She just thought that Phoebe would pair Richelle and her together. And, for some other reason, East was... annoyed that Richelle and Noah were paired together. This was weird because Richelle and Noah had basically been duet partners since Richelle started in J-Troupe. They always performed duets at competitions, but East didn't know why it was bugging her. She decided to ignore that feeling and instead focus on her duet with Kai.
