Rival Love // The Next Step

CHAPTER 1

Suddenly, my mind went blank. All that I had known had been lost. My only choice was to follow the other dancers. It was the first time I had forgotten any dance. I could hear faint whispers from the judges. Our team was destroyed at this point. We had reached the end of the performance, and we left the stage as a group. Oh gosh! There was no way to escape disappointment.

Noah looked stunned. "What happened out there, Summer?"

In response, I paused. "I was distracted." I replied.

"We're at Internationals. There's no room for mistakes, okay?"

He seemed rude saying it the way he did. He probably didn't mean it.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I'll do better."

Then Noah turned around and went back to the team. The only thing I heard was "What did she say?" and "I knew she wasn't good in front." I knew they didn't like me, but I didn't think it would get this deep.

My ears heard Richelle say, "She let us down." She said, "I can't believe Emily and Michelle put her front and center."

After that, I heard the judges ask, "Will the next step please come on stage?"

On stage, we all bowed. It was now time for the other dancers to be announced. As I made my way back to the lobby, I grabbed my water bottle. My team was ranked top 10. We were better than this. Well actually, I.

A student of Miss Angela walked up to me. Argh! They were always our biggest enemies.

A huge smile spread across her face. "Beautiful fall!" she said as she enviously stared. "Good luck!"

"Don't worry. We're going to come back stronger than ever."

She glared up and down, disgusted. "Not in that raking, you're not."

I felt the need to clench my fists. I didn't want to show her how weak I was.

"You know what?" she said. "Your teammates must hate you." The girl laughs hysterically and walks back to Miss Angela.

"Well done, dear." she said.