HEARTBURST,, The Next Step

[2.4] the final cut

[2X04]

{The nationals team is chosen, with devastating results for some A-Troupers, including Stephanie and Tiffany, who take the news worst of all.}

❝We're going to have a lot of disappointed dancers.❞

The sound of 'Rewind' echoed through the studio whilst the twenty dancers all ran through the routine for round two based purely on their own memory.

"Right now, we're practising the choreography Phoebe gave us for the last round of the challenge," Chloe explained, "And it's actually really hard."

Maxie, who didn't seem as fazed as the other dancers, was in the corner running through the moves when West approached her.

Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, the boy caught her attention, "Hey, Max? You don't think you could help me on this one turning section could you?"

"The turning part? Like, with the fouette turns?" she asked, pausing her dance moves to look him in the eyes softly.

"Yeah, yeah, I never could remember those fancy French names," he chuckled, walking closer to stand next to her.

"Honestly, same, though," she laughed along with them as they both got into the starting position, "Okay, so you want to bring your weaker leg backwards so that your weight is on the dominant one."

Doing what the girl told him, West brought his leg back and placed his arms in the air awkwardly, "Uh, like this?" he asked with a slight chuckle at how weirdly the placement of his arms was.

Looking at the odd position of his limbs, Max burst out into laughter, which, in turn, made West giggle at the hilarity.

"Yeah, no," she told him with a smile, walking over to stand behind the dancer.

Placing her hands on his, she tentatively moved his arms to the right position then stepped around to face him, too busy trying to hide her own fluster to notice the blush on his cheeks at the close contact they had mere seconds ago.

With a nod to confirm he was in the right posture, she spoke up once again, "Right, now just focus on something still and just turn. Then, once you've done that, remember to focus your eyesight on that one thing."

Without a second thought, West then began a ― very good for a beginner ― set of turns, which made a proud grin break out onto her face.

Once he was done, he asked, "Was that good?"

"So good," she grinned at him, a grin filled with so much excitement and joy, he couldn't help but reciprocate.

The two of them remained like that for a good minute or so before the sound of the song restarting snapped the pair out of their awestruck gaze and back into reality as they both continued to work through the routine.

"When Maxie helped me get the turn section down, I don't know..." West began with a slight smile on his face as his cheeks blushed once again, "She's a really great friend and I know we'll make it on together."

After a while, Phoebe walked forward and clapped her hands together as she called out, "All right, everyone, listen up. You have five minutes left. Okay? Keep practising. Daniel, will you get the other kids out of the music room?" she asked just as the boy zoomed off as if he was given orders from some sort of general.