HEARTBURST,, The Next Step

[3.3] the fallout

❝The Next Step has one of those energies that you can't replace and, when you feed off of it and you're all vibing together, there's no better feeling in the world.❞

‧₊˚✩

     Maxie would hate to be either James or Riley right then — they both seemed distraught as they walked back into Studio A alongside their team. It was hard enough that it was yet another The Next Step vs The Next Step battle, but the fact that Riley and James were fighting against each other just made it that bit harder to watch.

  "You got this, yeah?" Maxie whispered, pulling Riley in for a hug, one the girl needed more than ever at that moment. It was bad enough that she hadn't been able to dance with her sister that year, but the fact she may lose her boyfriend from the team, too, was just heartbreaking.

  "I can't do it, Max," She sighed into the girl's shoulder, the nerves taking their hit before the dance had even begun.

  Maxie quickly shook her head, pulling away so that she could look Riley in the eye, "You can, yeah? Forget that it's James you're against, heck, pretend you're battling with an Elite member if you have to. Okay, this is for Internationals, whatever happens between yourself and James can be sorted out."

  Riley gave her a faint smile at her words of encouragement, even if they didn't truly help, the sentiment was still there. It was a difficult thing to do, but she knew she had to do it.

  "Okay, Riley, you're up first," Miss Kate told her, watching as the girl shook off her nerves best she could before moving into her starting position.

  Her dance was great, of course. Any dancer in the room could see the hard work she had put into the solo as it reflected her own dance style with a mixture of lyrical and contemporary. However, it was quite obvious to everyone that her heart wasn't in it; for good reason, too.

  It was incredibly difficult how Riley could have possibly been feeling as she worked through her dance the best she could — on the one hand, she knew she had to dance to the best of heeven to catcho even catch a glimpse of making the Internationals team, however, she knew deep down that it was somewhat of a betrayal to James to even think about trying to knock him out of the competition.

  Finally, it was time for James to uphold his side of the battle, to dance to the best of his abilities, just as his girlfriend had done, yet, once the music had begun playing, there seemed to be a lack of dancing coming from where he stood in the centre of the room.

  Although they should have seen it coming, it came as a surprise to many of the dancers when he took one final look at Riley before walking out of the room, immediately forfeiting his place on the team for the greater good of the girl he loved.

  After what seemed like forever, the dancers were pulled out of their confused states of disappointment as Miss Kate marched out of the hallway with Riley on her tail, James, however, was nowhere to be seen.

  "James has forfeited," The woman told the room, her tone void of any hint of emotion, "Riley is now officially the seventh member of the Internationals team."

  A round of hesitant applause was offered to the girl. Of course, they were glad they hadn't lost one of their good friends, however, it was a bittersweet feeling knowing that James, such a crucial member of their team, had gone. The times were changing; The Next Step wasn't sure how many losses they could take before their team began to crumble.