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.
Today was silent, a type of silence that seemed destructive if someone tried to break it. East, sadden and disappointed over the events of last week, was in the rehearsal room, attempting to do a move she had wished to perfect — her tumbles. If she was being honest, she was only attempting this move to distract herself from the recent loss at the qualifiers.
A part of her felt guilty when she and her group didn't win. She knew it wasn't her fault necessarily. Something was obviously wrong with Noah, but if East had noticed then maybe she could've prevented the terrible loss. Maybe if she noticed, The Next Step could've won the qualifier easily and be on their way to Regionals instead of worrying about the next qualifier. But those were just maybes. What was done was done. There was no going back from this for The Next Step.
Letting out a breath, East stared at the black mat on the floor. Then she took a small run at it, her hands landing on the mat first before they pushed her up. Unfortunately, it didn't result in East turning in the air, but instead in her landing on the mat back-first. She let out an annoyed groan, deciding to remain laying on the mat instead of picking herself up.
"You didn't lean back in your push," a voice critiqued, one East recognized immediately belonging to Richelle. She didn't move, but she heard Richelle's footsteps come toward her. "The key is not only perfecting your handspring but also being able to trust yourself."
"Isn't anyone else around?" East replied while Richelle sat beside her.
"Well, Skylar was here an hour ago and I just bumped into Kai and Henry at Java Junction." The blonde held a concerned look toward East. "Are you okay?"
Releasing a huff, East sat up. "I thought we had this in the bag."
"Yeah, me too. Everything was perfect — our choreography, the costumes. Except for one dancer, of course."
"Sometimes perfect isn't the greatest thing."
Richelle rose an eyebrow in disbelief. "A perfect performance would've won us the qualifiers."
"Yeah, but that's the thing. We thought we had the perfect performance," East pointed out. "We were so blinded by the thought of having the perfect performance that we didn't even notice that something was wrong with our teammate. I wish I just noticed that something was wrong with Noah. Maybe then—"
"Stop."
The curly-haired girl sent her friend a confused frown. "What?"
"You always do this whenever something goes wrong. You take the blame when you should realize it's not your fault. You don't always have to be the person to carry the blame, E."
