Pinn - Memories

Chapter 55

Piper's POV

'It's time for SuperStar Dance Academy to perform and I can't wait! They raised the bar very high for Ignite in the semi-finals round, and I just bet that it's going to be raised even higher for The Next Step! We're about to find out!', Chuck cheers.

'Henry!', Amy shrieks, chuckling when her friend arrives side stage. I turn to see him dressed in a loose, black, rugged gown. His entire head is covered by a mask of Voldemort's face, and the lip section has been cut out so that Henry can breathe properly.

'Are you going to be able to dance in that?', I ask concernedly.

'Yeah, yeah', Henry says. 'I can breathe properly through my mouth, and there are two... slits for the nose', he laughs. 'And it's not very tight.'

I nod, and turn to everyone else. Josh is wearing a faded, knitted sweater. A reddish-brown liquid has been applied to the top left of his forehead, reaching down past the ear. He taps on various areas to make sure it has dried, before giving Emily a nod.

Ozzy tightens the athletic straps on his glasses and checks his scar in the mirror. Amy smoothes down the fabric of her python unitard.

'Kingston! You need more bobby pins!', Lily exclaims, rushing some over to him. She pins several more into the red wig.

'Lils, I think I'll be fine', Kingston soothes. 'I've already got 12 bobby pins and 7 strips of double-sided tape secured to my wig cap! Make sure you've got enough bobby pins for your hair', he directs back, pointing at the extensions that are as white as snow.

'They're clipped on, but yeah, maybe I should add bobby pins since I'll be moving around', Lily replies, hastily rifling some into the extensions. She pauses to turn to Summer, who smiles politely, but her eyes droop quickly back to the ground. When hearing the words 'clipped on', Richelle checks that her radish earrings are secured to her ears properly.

Kenzie heads over to check her mahogany lipstick and murmurs, 'at least I didn't need to do anything with my hair.'

Finn comes up to me. I look from his straightened hair to his eyes. He glares at me angrily. I gasp. 'Finn, did I do something?'

His expression instantly softens and he grins. 'Nah. Just getting into character', he chuckles.

'Finn! That's not funny!', I shriek, shoving his side.

Finn's POV

I expect Piper to laugh, but her expression stays stern. I can see the stress in her eyes.

'A-troupe, gather round!', Emily demands. We form a circle, all facing inwards.

'This is it', Emily says, sucking in a breath and blinking back tears. 'I just want to take this moment to tell you all how proud I am. Each and every one of you has achieved so much, and you all have bright futures ahead of you. This could be the last time you all dance together, so make the most of it. In the years to come, you will be cherishing this moment. Whether we win or lose, you should be so proud of how far we have all come, together, as a family.'

'But, you know, make sure to give the dance of your lives to that we win', Nick interjects.

I look around to see A-troupers chuckling. We're about to go onto the nationals stage for the finals routine! How can they just be laughing right now?

This is everything. If we lose, I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't want to have to start all over and go to regionals for the third time. I don't think I have that in me.