Your smile - The Next Step

too late to apologise?

Harper was still frustrated with Michelle. She was yet to apologise for being rude and some people might say the girl should just forget about it, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Michelle was in the wrong and she was entirely too stubborn to realise it, so until she did Harper had made the decision to be equally as stubborn.

Despite the two sisters being in a fairly serious rough patch, Harper's parents had convinced her to go with them to watch Michelle perform in the finals at Regionals. It did take quite some convincing but after they said that she could bring Noah, there was no way she could reject the offer. After all, it wasn't just Michelle she was supporting but the entire studio.

Her dad had drove them up to the competition venue and they entered the auditorium to find their seats near her mother. Harper glanced around in awe of the huge stage. She had never had the chance to dance on a stage that big but she imagined it would be incredible. Glancing over, she noticed that Noah had an identical look of wonder on his face. They both were hoping that one day they might be able to perform there.

"Here we are." Her father ushered herself and Noah into the row where Harper spotted her mom. She gave her a quick hug before sitting beside her as a loud voice filled the entire room. It announced that the performance would be starting in five minutes and advised everyone to take their seats.

"Are you excited to watch Michelle?" Noah asked eagerly as he pulled out some candy from his pocket and offered it to Harper. She shook her head to politely decline as she spoke.

"No, I'm excited to watch the team." She answered stubbornly making her parents exchange an exasperated glance behind the two kid's heads. When Michelle and Harper had big fights like this is threw everything off balance. Noah nodded awkwardly, not really knowing what to say, but he was thankfully saved by the same voice announcing that Elite Dance Academy were ready to perform.

The first thing that caught Harper's, and presumably everyone else in the audience's, eye was a huge prop plane that stretched across the entire stage. She couldn't believe they had gone so above and beyond on the theatrics, but the judges did love flash.

As Elite performed, she began to feel a little nervous on behalf of the studio. Harper hadn't seen their final number but Elite's was incredible, probably one of the most synchronised and together routines she had ever seen. The crowd went wild with applause as they finished and Harper was fairly sure they were the only four people in the entire auditorium who hadn't stood up.

"Our team can take them." Noah said confidently as she snapped her head towards him and shot him an incredulous look.

"Okay Noah I know you're an optimistic person but seriously? Are the hundreds of people cheering not visible to you?" She asked sarcastically causing the boy to roll his eyes.

"I know they were good but come on, it was all flash no substance. Who wants to see a plane unless their at the airport right? At least A troupe's dance has a story." He did make a good point, but at the level of this competition, she wasn't sure whether a love story about Romeo and Juliet would be enough to convince the judges. There was no way the team were as sharp and together as Elite.

"I really hope you're right."

As the curtain rose once more, the audience hushed and Michelle and Eldon were the only two on stage. For the brief two minutes they danced, Harper seemed to forget all about her anger towards Michelle. She was just blown away by the whole performance. Yes the story was great and added a lot to the dance, but it was amazing to see how far they had come as a team. Harper could remember when she first came to the studio, everyone was always fighting.

There was the constant tension between Michelle and Emily but now they were co-captains, James annoyed Riley to her very core and here they were as a couple. Everything had changed so much for the better.