HEARTBURST,, The Next Step

[2.1] don't stop the party

[2X01]

{A-Troupe are reunited after their win at Regionals, however, some relationships are on more rocky roads than others.}

❝Are we cool?
As ice.❞

'Smile At The End Of The World' began to play as the A-Troupers stood in a line, big smiles from winning Regionals still on their faces.

Eldon was the first to perform as he began to dance to the music whilst the others clapped along. After the troupe had taken their well-deserved break post-winning Regionals, he had grown further as a dancer, much like his hair, too.

"It feels amazing to be Regionals winners," he told the camera, "We've had a little bit of a break and we're all just coming back to the studio all excited and getting ready for Nationals."

Michelle was next as she immediately kicked off into a front handspring, making the others cheer loudly. She hadn't changed much, either, other than the fact she was a lot more confident and her hair had grown.

The blonde grinned before she went on to explain, "As a team right now, I feel like we're a strong team... Except for the whole Emily and Eldon situation."

"I haven't seen Emily since Regionals when I told her right before our number that I liked Michelle," he admitted sheepishly.

Michelle continued, "Maybe Emily wasn't the right fit for Eldon and I feel like Eldon is the right fit for me."

After Michelle, both James and Riley began dancing together, just showing off how strong their relationship was - which made the others cheer for them. After winning Regionals, Riley had taken it upon herself to cut her hair short, whereas James was still rocking the buzzcut.

Riley was the first to speak, "Winning Regionals was amazing but winning it with James made it a million times better."

"Right now my relationship with Riley couldn't be going better," James proclaimed confidently, "I mean, we've been together for quite a bit now, so it's going great."

"Everyone at the studio had been calling me and James 'Jiley'," Riley explained unsurely, however, with a hint of amusement in her voice, "Uhm, but it's basically just a combination of our names. So James and Riley smooshed together makes Jiley."

"I came up with the name," Maxie nodded proudly, patting herself on the back as she did so.

Once James and Riley had finished, Max went up to perform, kicking her dance right off the bat with the b-twist she had finally perfected, once again making the group applaud and cheer in awe. Maxie's physical appearance hadn't changed as much as her friends, apart from the fact she had grown slightly, however, her dancing had seemed to improve massively in both confidence and skill.

Maxie began to speak as she said, "I didn't think that I would be able to experience winning competitions with a team I care about after I moved away, but after performing with these guys on the Regionals stage and taking the title as champions, I think I was wrong. Now, after taking a break, I've improved my skills even more and am prepared to go on and win Nationals with my team, too."

After completing her piece, Maxie high-fived Emily as they both traded places on the dance floor. In comparison to the road up to Regionals, Emily seemed more held back with her dancing - almost as if she had a knock to her confidence. Apart from that, not much had changed about her appearance, either, much like Maxie.