Unfaithful

Chapter 8: LaTroy

I look around and I'm so excited. This year's team is going to be amazing. Emily is calling out everyone's names anyway. Noah, Richelle, Piper, Henry, Kingston, Amy, Ozzy, LaTroy, Lola, Jacquie. I feel a pang of guilt when I hear Amy's name. I liked her a lot, I really did, but I didn't love her. Not like I love Sloane. "Who's up for juices?" Henry screams. That guy has way too much energy. Everyone's laughing and agreeing but Emily looks annoyed. "Ok fine, but back in half an hour to start rehearsing" she says.

The new place is a coffee shop, called Neutral Grounds. It's nice, and I prefer it to Java Junction, this place is more zen. Henry gets everyone juices and I sit next to one of the new girls, Lola I think her name is. "Hey" I say. She smiles at me. "Hi. LaTroy, right?" "That's me, the one and only" I grin. "You're an amazing dancer" Lola says. She's fiddling with her fingers and I remember how Amy used to that when she was nervous. She wasn't nervous often, but I guess it happened enough for me to pick up on it.

"You ok?" I ask, nodding my head towards her hands. She stops immediately. "Yeah. Just a little nervous. I didn't really fit in at my last studio" she admits. "The Next Step is a family. Of course you're going to fit in" I reassure her. "As long as you don't date the studio head" I joke. She looks shocked - clearly, my attempt at calming her down backfired. I guess that is weird if you don't know about the whole Alfie-Riley situation last year. Although it's weird either way, to be honest. I smile weakly at her, than get up and walk over to Noah. "Yo bro, I've messed up." "How? You've been on A Troupe again for ten minutes" Noah says shocked. "I know man, but I think I freaked out the new girl." Noah glances over to where Lola's sitting. "Yeah, I think you might have" he sighs. "Don't worry, I'll go talk to her." "Thanks man" I say, grateful. Lola seems nice, and she deserves to meet at least one normal person before her rehearsal. It definitely wasn't me.

I walk out of the coffee shop, and sit at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to Studio One. I pull out my phone, and call Sloane. She picks up almost immediately. "Hey babe" she says. "Hi" I smile. "I made A Troupe!" "Oh my god, that's so sick. I knew you'd do it." I laugh - her reaction is exactly what I thought it would be. "Thanks. Yeah, rehearsal starts soon." "Already?" "Yeah, Emily's the studio head and she's determined to push us hard this year. But West's the choreographer so I'm not scared." "That's great, the team will probably be more hip hop this year. That's more your style." "Yeah, it's gonna be great" I say. I catch sight of Amy, and know I have to make things right. "Look babe, I've gotta go" I say. "I'll catch you for dinner later, though." "Yeah, no problem. I've gotta go too. Love you" she says. "Love you too" I say.

I hang up, and stand, waiting for Amy to get to the stairs. She hesitates, and I know it's because of what happened. I feel bad, and I miss her. We were good friends before our relationship, and I want to get back to that. I miss her. "Hey Ames" I say. "Hi LaTroy" she says. She avoids eye contact, and looking at me at all, really. "Look" I say, touching her arm and spinning her around to face me. "I'm sorry about what happened. Really. I acted like an asshole and you deserved better. I lied to you and that wasn't fair. I didn't apologise properly at the time, or really even accept that what had happened was my fault, but I am now. I'm really sorry, Amy, and I'd really love it if we could be friends again." She looks shocked, like she didn't expect an apology and doesn't know how to react. "That's fine" she says. "I'd love to be friends. Maybe we could grab a juice after rehearsal tomorrow." I can tell she's not ok. She may seem like she's her usual bubbly self, but I can tell she's acting. But I can also tell she doesn't want me to confront her about it. So I drop it. "Might have to be a coffee" I joke. "Yeah" Amy smiles. "Listen, I have to go refill my water before rehearsals but I'll see you there" Amy says. "Yeah, see you there" I smile. I let her walk away, even though she's holding her full water bottle. I know she's hurting and I know it's because of me. It's not my place to get involved. Not anymore.