HEARTBURST,, The Next Step

[3.5] our new beginning

❝ Do you have any idea how much that competition meant to me? ❞

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      In studio A, the first dance with the official Internationals troupe had just kicked off to the sound of Be Free Tonight. Each dancer of the twelve present brought a different skillset to the table that seemed to gel their dance skills together: the same couldn't be said about the team dynamic, though.

  It was the first time that most of the members of The Next Step had danced with the three new arrivals from Elite. And, despite how hard they tried to make it work, dancing with people who had been out to get them for years, their supposed 'sworn enemies', was odd, to say the least.

  As far as the Elite dancers knew, they didn't have to get on with The Next Step and those dancers didn't have to get on with them — as long as they had looked and functioned like a team, and they were clean, that's all they were concerned about. On top of that, neither of the three of them truly felt like they were fitting into The Next Step, either. They just felt like outsiders.

  Even without three new teammates, The Next Step still didn't feel as normal as they could have. Two of the boys weren't with them, James and Hunter, not to mention losing Emily, too. It was definitely a new time for all of them, despite how much they had tried not thinking about it.

  As the new A-Troupe, they didn't feel united at all. But, as they were dancers, it was difficult to see the division during their routine — only when the dance came to its end did they start to feel the tension between the old Elite members and the rest of The Next Step.

  A lot had changed and, although there was a large competition ahead of them, many of the dancers didn't know whether or not they'd be able to pull through for the sake of the team.

  Later into the afternoon, the troupe, bar Riley, were finishing off the same routine they had been trying to nail all morning whilst Phoebe guided them through the counts.

  "Five, six, seven, eight, hit," She called out just as the dancers stopped in their final positions, letting the tense feeling amongst the two teams sink in once again. Obviously, standing in their ending line they looked united, but deep down they knew that couldn't be further from the truth.

  Just as the Elite dancers had broken away from the others, Cierra cleared her throat, "Okay, this had been bothering me all rehearsal," She addressed the room, her random outburst drawing in the attention of the others, "Something's not right here. Clearly, there are two separate teams. We're not a family yet, and there's no way we can win Internationals like this."

  "Okay, well, what do you have in mind?" Giselle asked her, a silent bow of agreement towards what the girl had just stated.

  "Oh, I don't know," She shrugged aimlessly, looking at her two friends for backup before proceeding, "Duets?"

  Phoebe seemed pleased, "I like that," She pointed toward Cierra with a satisfied look. "That is a great idea, Cierra. Okay, Maxie, West and Giselle you guys pick one Elite dancer to pair up with. Okay?"

   Whilst the other two nodded, Maxie seemed unsure. Of course, she'd love to get to know the new dancers and create a better team atmosphere, but as she stood beside Giselle and West, she could hardly even bring herself to look one particular Elite dancer in the eye, let alone even try and pull off a duet with him.