Left or Right

Chapter 25

Riley's POV:

An hour later, I return to the studio to grab my bags from the cubbies along with my water bottle. No one else's were there apart from mine, meaning everyone must have left already but hadn't said a word to me.
Keeping myself together, I make my way down into Hidalgo's but James and the boys weren't sat there like I had expected. It's only when I check my phone that I find a text from my boyfriend, telling me where he was.

J: Sorry Ri, the boys were pushing me to leave with them once Eldon finished and he finished with Kate a lot earlier than I had expected. See you at mine? ❤

Rolling my eyes at the message, I send him a quick text back before walking through the restaurant area, only to come across the girls who were all huddled around one table booth. I smile at them, hoping they'd be able to tell me what was going on but it seems as though the moment I approach them, the atmosphere stiffens and they all grow tense.

"Hey, guys," I say, about to take a seat down but Amanda sets her bag down on the spare seat before I had the chance to, taking me off-guard and making me bite my lip. "Um, James said the boys went already for some boys' night or something. Are you lot doing anything now or later?" I ask, trying to ignore the awkwardness.
But it only seems to grow.

Michelle keeps her eyes off of me, just like Cierra does. But I watch as Giselle, Thalia and Stephanie all exchange the same kind of looks and then Giselle shakes her head.
"We were actually going to have a sleepover tonight," Cierra informs me, making me smile slightly, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear.
"Really? This is the first I'm hearing it. Could I maybe tag along? I'm not doing much," I answer, but the silence worms its way into the conversation again, making my heart beat inside my chest.

"Are you joking?" Stephanie speaks up, raising her head to look at me, her eyes stern and causing my heart to skip a beat. "You're really going to stand there and act like everything's okay right now?"
"I . . . I don't understand. What's going on, guys?" I ask them all, but Steph seems to be the only one with an answer.

"You left us for months, Riley. We were struggling and you know how much Internationals means to us all but you left us when we were in a dire situation. Then you come back, what, three or four months later? And when you do, you get everything handed to you.
We wanted you back on the team, of course we did, but you were meant to be the alternate for us. Instead, that's been given to Michelle and you see no problem with that and she's meant to be your best friend. Then, let's not forget how you're in literally all of the routines and it's clear Kate's playing favourites with you again," she snaps at me, making me stutter as I look around at them all.
But none of them seem to be capable of sticking up for me.

I guess they all felt the same way.

"Stephanie, I didn't-" I begin, but she cuts me off again.

"As if that wasn't enough, Giselle got spoken to by Kate earlier this morning about her being dance captain and it's most likely going to be stripped off from her and given to you. Because little miss Riley is just so perfect," she says sarcastically, causing my eyes to look towards Giselle as she hangs her head, looking down and biting her lip.
But it was clear it was true.

"Giselle, I swear I had no idea about that. I don't want to be dance captain-"
"Yeah, but Kate wants you to be. She wants you to follow in Emily's footsteps. Where's the harm in that, right?" she asks, her voice low. Despite the fact she was making it seem like nothing, I could tell this was affecting her a lot.

"Guys, I don't know what you want me to do. I don't even know what I've done wrong-" I begin, but neither of them seemed to want to hear it right now, making me take a large gulp to stop me from crying completely. 

"That's what makes this that much worse, Ri," Thalia says, shaking her head at me. Stephanie begins to pack up her things and so does Giselle as she stands up to help Thalia get herself together while I stand there, utterly confused and hurt.
Being like Emily was the last thing I would ever intend to do.

"Where are you all going? Can't we go and talk to Kate now or something and make some amendments?" I suggest. Giselle stops to look at me and shakes her head lightly.

"It's too late for that. Based off of what she told me this morning, I can tell her mind's been made up. Congrats on being the new dance captain," she tells me, taking a book out of her dance bag and handing it to me for my eyes to meet the words 'Dance Captain Diary' engraved in it.
Before I can say anything else, the three of them begin to make their way out and Amanda slowly joins them. 

I look down at the remaining two girls - the two who hadn't spoken a single word.
"Cierra, you can't hate me too, can you?" I ask her, but she looks towards the others and Stephanie shakes her head at her, telling her to not give into me. So I sigh to myself, already knowing what that meant.
"Sorry, Riley," she whispers before shuffling up along the sofa and following the others, leaving me with the one person I've ever considered as being my best friend.

"Come on, M," I whisper, tears forming inside my clouded eyes as I watch each of my teammates diss me one at a time while I stare at the shattered reflection of Michelle's frame. "You have to see that this isn't my fault."

"It might not be your fault, Riley, but the girls aren't lying," she whispers to me, making my heart break more than it had already.
"You are becoming more and more like Em. Sometimes I wonder if you're still the same girl I called my best friend three years ago," she says, leaving me stood there, my mouth slightly open while I try to hold myself together. But it really wasn't as easy this time around.

She stands up and places her hand on the Dance Captain Diary before looking into my eyes, then she exhales.
"Congrats . . . You'll find my bit on page 40. Hope it helps," she says emotionlessly, then she turns around to follow the girls out of the diner, leaving me to stand on my own. With no one here to support me. Not even James.

I joined dance again to help the team.
But just like I expected, it's only broken my heart all over again.

"Hey," a voice whispers from behind me, making me turn around, only for my eyes to land on Harry while my breathing hitches slightly. 
"Oh, uhm, hey," I mumble, dabbing at my eyes. He sighs and gestures towards the diary, making me hesitate.

"I think that was real bitchy of them just now," he tells me, but I shake my head, not wanting to say anything to ruin the whole dynamic even more. "Where's James?" he asks lightly.
I look down at my phone, turning it on for my eyes to meet my background photo of the two of us but I sigh when I see he had texted me the usual three words: I love you, with a 'x' on the end.
"He's out having fun with the other guys. I thought they would have invited you too," I say, but he shrugs his shoulders.

"I've never really enjoyed hangouts," he tells me, making me raise an eyebrow as I tilt my head to the side.
"Really? Aren't you the social type though?"
"Just because I'm on a dance team doesn't mean I have to be friends with everyone," he replies, making me roll my eyes but chuckle softly, causing him to smile back at me in response. 

"Come on, why don't I take you to wherever those boys are at now? I'm sure you could do with James's presence right now," he tells me, but I shake my head in disapproval.
"It's okay. I was going to head home anyway."
"On your own? That's not very safe, Riley," he says, making me look down. He wasn't wrong. It was late and getting dark already - not to mention Nate was still out there somewhere, waiting for me. "I'll drop you, okay," he says. "Saves your boyfriend the hassle."

"I guess that will stop the other boys from completely slashing his throat," I chuckle.
"You see. It's a win-win situation. You go home safely and it won't ruin the boys' night," he says, clearly trying to get my mind off of everything.

"Thanks, Harry," I tell him, but he rolls his eyes.
"Slow down, I haven't dropped you home yet. We could end up in a car accident with you in hospital," he exaggerates, only making me laugh a little more.

At least someone on this team, who wasn't James, didn't completely hate me right now.