HEARTBURST,, The Next Step

[2.13] the truth comes out

[2X13]

{Whilst the troupe is split in half by a video of Eldon and Hunter coming to light, Pheobe challenges select A-Troupers and J-Troupers to create a song and a dance.}

❝'I think Hunter should win because he's so cute'," James mimicked,
"It's funny because he's hideous."❞

Maxie couldn't put her finger on it, but something felt off as she was walking into the studio for another day of rehearsals — it could've been the fact she was fifteen minutes late, or the fact that there was no music coming from studio A, but either way, something was definitely off.

She finally placed why things weren't the same when she walked in and noticed there was nobody in the rehearsal space.

"Now, that's weird," she muttered to herself.

"Walking into the studio, I'm really confused because there is nobody there," Maxie told the camera, confusion written on her face, "My first instinct was that maybe it's a big game of hide and seek... But, knowing Kate, it's probably not."

The muffled exclamation of her name pulled the British girl out of her thoughts and back into reality. Turning her head to find the source of the noise, she noticed all of A-Troupe huddled around a computer in Miss Kate's office — that's where they went.

"If you guys are trying to win at hide and seek, you're doing a horrible job of it," she announced upon stepping into the, extremely cramped, office, "Like, I'm pretty sure the biggest rule for the hiders is to not hide in the same place."

Phoebe, who was the one who called the girl over in the first place, was the first to respond, "As much as I wish this was a game of hide and seek, it's not."

"Yeah, it's a video of me absolutely thrashing Eldon in a dance battle," Hunter grinned proudly, making Maxie pull an unimpressed face.

The girl sighed, "Of course, Jorge is the reason we're missing rehearsal. At this point, I think it's in the best interest of everyone if he just leaves."

After moving in between West and Michelle to get a good view of the small screen to get a good view of Hunter 'thrashing Eldon'. Impressed, the whole team watched on as Hunter went on to do a painful-looking head slide across studio B's floor, making Maxie question how many brain cells he had lost doing that.

"I'm sure it wasn't easy for Miss Kate to bring this video to the team," Riley began hesitantly, "But this is Nationals we're talking about here."

On the other hand, Maxie couldn't see the big deal, "So what?" she asked, "It was one dance battle, it shouldn't determine Eldon's national solo."

As the video went on, everyone began gasping in awe at Hunter's moves and giving him high-fives in appreciation, completely disregarding the increasingly-annoyed blonde boy in the back.

"That was amazing," Emily told Hunter directly before shutting the laptop once the video had ended, the comment was then followed by 'wow's of encouragement from a few of the other people in the room.

Keeping a stern face, Miss Kate went on to inform the teens, "The same person who brought that video to my attention actually suggested that Hunter would be the better male soloist," she said, making some conflicted looks arise on the dancers' features, "I think that's something we should decide as a team."