HEARTBURST,, The Next Step

[2.26] water it

[2X26]

{West refuses to let Maxie fall back into a slump over her recent falling-out with Max and indulges in one of her many passions; the art of football.}

❝Don't be bitter just because I'm better than you.❞

The corner of Maxie's bedroom lit up vigorously as text message after text message pinged onto her phone screen, illuminating her otherwise dark room for all but five seconds before fading back to nothingness.

Since letting her head hit the freshly washed pillow on her bed the night before, Maxie had not moved from her position. Even after her mother had tried everything — from ripping the curtains open to expose the girl to the outside world, to threatening to turn the heating off in the house if she didn't get up — Maxie just refused to leave the homely comforts of her room.

Her friends were concerned, of course. She had missed rehearsal that morning and, even with Nationals just weeks away, it wasn't like Maxie to miss any sort of dance rehearsal. So messages of concern and worry had flooded her phone since seven in the morning; the pestering dings that disturbed her every five minutes were enough to make her wish she had silenced her phone the night before.

It seemed a ten-minute gap in the constant noise was enough time for Maxie to find the best position comfortable as she finally found herself drifting into yet another nap of that morning. She slowly felt sleep overcome her, before being snapped back into reality once again by her mother.

A soft knock came from Maxie's bedroom door, alerting the girl of her mum's presence before Rose began talking. "Max, your boyfriend's here, how about you show some manners and get up?"

"What? Mum, I don't have a boyfriend," Maxie groaned, rubbing her eyes in confusion as she sat up in her bed. A small stream of light began to penetrate the darkness of Maxie's room as her mum gently pushed the door open to reveal herself and another figure — Maxie's supposed 'boyfriend' — in the doorway.

"Tell that to Mr Shin Pads over here," The older woman sighed, gesturing to the boy beside her before leaving the two teenagers be.

When West had shown up to the Harding residence that day wearing an insane amount of football protective gear, Rose was left speechless. Not only was she concerned that a young boy dressed ready for war was at her door, but she was highly confused as to why he was asking if Maxie was in — it wasn't until he explained that they danced together and he knew about her situation with Max and wanted to help that the woman finally understood.

After finally adjusting her eyes to the light, Maxie honestly believed she was hallucinating. "West? What're you doing here?" She asked him, still unsure as to whether or not she was dreaming.

Holding up a football and a pair of goalie gloves, West gave Maxie a sheepish smile as he answered, "I'm here to cheer you up, obviously."

"Cheer me up?" Maxie repeated, in a state of disbelief that West was even in her house in the first place, "West, I'm fine, you should get back to rehearsal."

"You're clearly not fine if you've spent most of today skipping dance to... lie in bed eating chips?" He countered, raising an eyebrow at the girl's state, making Maie scoff at his poor choice of words.

"Okay, first of all, they're crisps," She pointed out, raising the packet of fried potatoes as if it would emphasise her point more, "And second, is a girl not allowed an off day? It's not like I'm in the small group anymore since Amanda left and I pretty much know the group dances anyways."