The next day all the girls were lined up in Studio A. There was no pyramid this week because Abby had come down with the flu so, since Abby would not be at rehearsal or be attending the competition Gianna would be taking over for the week.
"Okay this week, there will be a group dance and there will not be any solos, but there will be a duet.." Gianna said.
After Gianna said that there would be a duet, all the girls let out a little squeal and clapped their hands.
"The duet will be Maddie and..." Gianna led on, waving at someone to come in through the window of one of the doors. A minute later Nick walked through the door and Maddie almost fell to the floor.
"Nick!" All the girls screamed, running up to give him a hug.
Nick hugged all of the girls one by one but held onto Maddie a little longer than the other girls. He loved all the girls but Maddie was a little more special in his eyes.
Maddie blushed when she pulled away from him and lined back up in front of the wall of mirrors with the other girls.
"Now the group dance will be called, "We Are The Roses." You will all have on beautiful red costumes and you will look just like a rose and what do roses represent?" Gianna questioned as she finished.
"Maddie? Do you know?"
Maddie paused before she answered. "Love." She said.
"Yes, so you will all be telling a story that you are all beautiful roses that have been given as a symbol of love to the judges. Okay? Now Maddie and Nick your duet will be called "Looking For You Again." You will be telling the story that you two used to date but you broke up to see other people but then you realize that you are both perfect for one another."
Maddie and Nick nodded, both liking the name of their duet.
"Now I want to work on the duet first so the rest of you stretch while I teach Nick and Maddie." Gianna said going over to start the music. She taught the whole dance to the two of them and the final pose came the two of them were staring into each other’s eyes. Blue meeting green. It was like they were the only two in the whole room. Before setting Maddie down Nick gave her a light kiss on the cheek.
The two of them pulled away and looked at everyone. All the other girls and Gianna had wide eyes and were speechless. A minute passed and soon Paige started to clap followed by everyone else. Nick sat Maddie down. Maddie made eye contact with Brooke as she turned around. Brooke gave her a knowing look that had be careful written all over it.
Maddie turned around quickly and tried not to freak out. She loved her duet with Nick and apparently everyone else did too. When she turned she looked at Nick, who was looking at her smiling. Maddie smiled back and walked up to him and gave him a hug.
The two of them pulled away a minute later. Brooke was still looking at them and it was kind of scaring Maddie a little bit. No matter how much she tried to get Brooke's words out of her head, she just couldn't do it.
Brooke walked up to Maddie and Nick a minute later. "Maddie, can I talk to for a minute out in the hallway?" Brooke asked. "Uhh-" Maddie didn't even have time to give her an answer before Brooke grabbed her elbow and pulled her out of Studio A.
"Brooke, what is up with you lately? You've been acting really strange ever since Brandon broke up with you." Maddie said cautiously, not wanting to offend the older girl.
"Nothing...Just... Do you really want history to repeat itself?" Brooke questioned kind of raising her voice.
"What do you mean?" Maddie questioned.
"You and Nick are acting just like Brandon and I were whenever we got a new duet, and with my mistakes that is the most stupid thing both of you can do, even after I warned both of you that this would happen." Brooke yelled, her cheeks becoming a little red.
"Brooke I see that you are just trying to look out for us, but you have to understand me and Nick are not you and Brandon. So maybe what happened to you two won't happen to us." Maddie squeaked out, knowing Brooke was going to take what she just said the wrong way.
Brooke narrowed her eyes. "You know what? Go ahead and make the same mistake I did but don't come crying to me when you lose another one of your best friends."
"What does that mean?" Maddie questioned, getting a little annoyed also.
"that means that you and me are no longer friends. I tried to keep you from setting your heart up to broken but, looks like I was a little late, considering you two are dating already." Brooke said, a sour look on her face and in her toen of voice.
"Woah! Nick and I are not dating!" Maddie yelled, her cheeks flushing pink as she remembered what had happened last night.
"Then why did you two kiss?" Brooke questioned, her eyes a darker shade of blue.
"I-I" Maddie tried to explain, but she couldn't, she didn't know the answer to that question. Why had her and Nick kissed last night?
"Brookie...Please don't be mad at me." Maddie pleaded. Brooke was like her older sister and the two of them had fought with one another before, but something felt different this time. Was Brooke jealous? Maddie thought.
A soft look came across Brooke's face, before she let out a sigh after seeing Maddie's blue eyes start to water a bit.
"I'm sorry Maddie, I just don't want you to have to go through the pain I did after Brandon broke up with me." Brooke said, walking over to the younger girl and giving her a hug. Maddie hugged Brooke back and then pulled away.
"And I'm also sorry that I brought up, you and Nick kissing last night." Brooke said, her cheeks becoming red with embarrassment.
"Where did you even hear that?" Maddie asked, a small grin appearing on her face.
"Nick came in to the dancers den all happy this morning and I asked him and he told me." Brooke said, letting out a laugh.
Maddie smiled. "I'm glad we talked about this." She said.
"Me too. No hurt feelings right?" Brooke questioned. Maddie nodded and walked back into Studio A with Brooke to go learn the group dance. Everyone turned to look at them. Brooke and Maddie's cheeks turned a little red hoping that no one heard what they were talking about out in the hallway.
Gianna showed them their starting positions in the group dance and soon all the girls had learned the routine and were dismissed for the day. All the other girls scampered towards the door to the dancers den except for Maddie who walked with Nick.
"So, Maddie would you want to come over to my house tonight?" Nick questioned.
Maddie's blue eyes widened and she turned to look at Nick. "Sure." She said, after thinking if she had anything else to do tonight. "Let me just go ask my mom real fast." Maddie said, before running up to where the moms sit and watch the girls dance. She asked if she could go and Melissa said yes, so Maddie ran back down the stairs and into the dancers den to tell Nick.
"Awesome!" He replied.
The two of them grabbed their dance bags and walked out of the studio together. They got into Nick's moms car and started to drive to his house. Nick lived a little farther away from the studio than Maddie did, but she was excited to go to his house. She could only imagine what the rest of the evening would hold for the both of them.
