HEARTBURST,, The Next Step

[2.17] game on

[2X17]

{The pressure is on for Nationals when a key member leaves the troupe, and the team can't afford to lose anyone else. However, the dancers seem more on-edge when Emily and Riley come to blows over Riley's solo audition.}

❝It was only a matter of time before your true colours actually came out.
It was only a matter of time before I realised that you guys just aren't worth it.❞

"Hey, Maxie, wait up!" West called as he jogged down the hallway in an attempt to catch up with the girl.

Maxie greeted him with a warm smile, one that he reciprocated, once they were walking side-by-side on their way into the studio. "What d'you think is gonna happen today?" She asked him with an inquisitive look, causing the boy's brows to furrow in slight confusion.

"What d'you mean?" He questioned her, his eyes darting between the area ahead of them and her curious look whilst he awaited an answer. "Like, dance-wise, or just in general?"

"Just in general," she shrugged nonchalantly, a sense of mystery behind her words as she elaborated, "I don't know, just recently a bunch of weird stuff has been going on."

"Weird stuff?" He repeated, with amusement in his tone at the way she worded her suspicions, "So, like, aliens, and robots and wizards, and stuff?"

A small smile played at Maxie's lips. "No, no, nothing like that. It's nothing, really, just... I've been taking notes on some weird things happening that just cause drama for no reason."

"Sounds very interesting." West chuckled just as the two of them entered Studio A and rejoined the rest of the troupe, ready for whatever weird stuff was about to be thrown at them that day.

Not even five minutes after everyone had arrived, Miss Kate walked into the studio with a solemn look on her face, something that told the dancers the news she was carrying was not good.

"All right, everyone gather around for a second, please," she called out before sighing, "I have some bad news, unfortunately." Kate looked around at the expectant faces before breaking the news, "Michelle has left The Next Step," she told them, not failing to notice the immediate looks of disappointment and upset that flashed on the teen's faces at the news. Well, most of their faces.

"I guess I kinda saw this coming," Maxie shrugged, "I mean, I did have a full-on heart-to-heart with the girl like not even two days ago about how she didn't like dance, so... It's not that big of a surprise, really."

Hunter looked a bit more sympathetic than Maxie did as he told the camera, "I can't help but think that it's my fault. I feel like I drove her away."

Miss Kate continued to inform the troupe, "Which means that we only have eleven dancers left on our Nationals team."

"Having only eleven dancers is bad because if we have one dancer that gets injured or can't dance for whatever reason," Riley went on to explain, worry about their thinning chances at Nationals clear on her face, "Then we can't dance at all. We're done."

‧₊˚✩

It had been a few hours since the news about Michelle's departure had spread and it was clear the team was conflicted: some believing she did it for herself and fully agreeing with her decision to leave, others taking the other side of the coin and discussing how selfish she was being for leaving the team so vulnerable.