Holding On To You (A Twenty One Pilots Fanfiction)

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

After art class, I walked quickly to the dance studio building, to see if I made the cut. From the distance, I could see the list posted on the wall near the entrance. I began running. After reaching the list, I scanned up and down for my name, but did not find it in the twenty or so names I read. I couldn't believe it. I'd been working extra hard to secure a spot on the team, but I didn't make it. Even Kaylie Jacobs made it, and she could barely do a clean pirouette. I was in utter disbelief. I spotted Mrs. Nolan inside the studio, and stormed in.

"Miss Lightcap," she said, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Why didn't I make the team? You know I'm better than some of those girls on the list!" I practically spat.

"Calm down. Your behavior is very unprofessional... Yes, I agree with you; you are far better than some of the girls on the team during most practices. But we need a team full of consistent girls who haven't had past injuries or complications. I've been informed from a source that you suffered from serious tendonitis in your ankle, and we are not willing to take the risk of putting a potentially injured dancer on the team. I'm very sorry."

I could feel myself turning red in the face in frustration, "But I've been fine throughout the rehearsals. I haven't had any issues with it for over a year!"

"I'm sorry. The decision is final."

"But..."

"But nothing. Now if you'll kindly excuse yourself from the building, I can continue preparing for the first team rehearsal."

I stormed out of the building.

She had said something about a reliable source?

I then remembered telling a few of the dancers I'd met in the rehearsals. It was just a general conversation about dance with Samantha Kahn, Kelly McNeal, Emily Rainer, and myself. One of them must have seen me as a threat and told Mrs. Nolan about my injury.

I walked over to the list once again. Sure enough, the names, "Samantha Kahn", "Kelly McNeal", and "Emily Rainer" were printed at the bottom of the list. I wondered if they had all done it collectively, or just one of them sabotaged my spot.

Annoyed and angry, I headed back to my dorm in the rain.

****

Later that evening, my phone rang. It was Tyler... again. I'd been ignoring his calls, not because of Madison (things had actually worked out with her), but because I was still in a sour mood about Alex with Ruby and the dance team selection. Plus, our last conversation was an argument. I decided to take a hot shower to calm my nerves.

When I returned, my phone was ringing again. This time it was my mom. I especially was not in the mood to talk to her. After sitting for a half hour in boredom, I decided that I should call Tyler after all. After a few rings, it went to voicemail. Uggghh.

I tried to distract myself by reading, but I couldn't focus on even a sentence. My phone buzzed and I grabbed it frantically. Thankfully, it was Tyler.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey babe," he said on the other end, "I'm sorry for-"

"No, I'm sorry. It shouldn't have mattered to me whether you wanted Madison to know about us or not. I made a big deal over a stupid thing."

"Don't worry about it. I understand jealousy preeettyyy well," he laughed.

"You and I both," I agreed.

"So, did you have to work with Madison today?"

"Yeah, and I wasn't gonna say anything, but she asked. I told her the truth, nicely. She got angry at first, but then she relaxed and we talked about stuff. We even got started on our project together."

"Well that's good," Tyler replied.

"Yeah so how is your stuff? Enjoying the tour?" I asked.

"Yeah. It's tiring, but it's also exhilarating. But I miss you so much. I can't wait to see you. We're going back to Cambridge a week from today!"

"Yay!" I exclaimed, now in a good mood.

Tyler asked about the dance team. I began explaining what had happened, but he interrupted, "What was that? Yeah... okay. I'll be down in a sec. Jess, I'm sorry... I gotta run, Josh needs me downstairs. I'll call you tomorrow, love you."

"Love you t-"

The line clicked off before I could finish. Long distance was rough, but no matter what happened in this next week, I could just keep looking forward to seeing Tyler.

****

I was counting down the days until Thanksgiving Break. Day after day passed slowly, and finally it was Saturday. I threw my suitcase in the trunk, and began the long drive home.

After hours in the car, I eventually arrived to my house. My parents greeted me with warm hugs. Again, my mom had cooked lasagna. I ran some things upstairs, and sat down at the dinner table. I finally told my parents about Tyler and I. They were surprised, but supportive. They had always liked Tyler, and I'm sure it was nicer to hear that I was dating him, instead of some college guy that they didn't know anything about.

I spent all of Sunday with my parents. My mom took me shopping to get some new clothes. She always hated Black Friday Shopping because of the crowds and chaos, so it was a tradition of ours to go shopping before Thanksgiving. I picked out a bunch of stuff that I liked, and it was fun to spend time with her. We went to my cousins' house for dinner, and stayed there until almost midnight.

We approached our street hearing sirens, and seeing flashing red lights. Firetrucks lined the street. As we got closer to my house, I could see bright orange flames engulfing the house one to the left of ours... Tyler's.