Left or Right

Chapter 45

.James.

The Finals couldn't have got here any sooner. Before I knew it, we were all huddled backstage, ready to step out there and go head to head against Sweden.
The last time we had experienced such a thing was all the way back at Nationals but this feeling of possibly becoming Internationals champions was a hundred times bigger. 

Everyone was in a hassle, getting themselves ready, the girls making sure they looked the best they possibly could while the guys worked on a couple of the flips we were expected to execute.

I was about to make my way over to Riley to check on how she was doing because I knew she would be feeling particularly anxious over a performance as big as this.
However, before I had the chance to go over to her, I'm met with Eldon's presence instead as he made his way over to me instead, this time with a look of concern on his face. 

I wasn't sure what was up. He had been the most concentrated and hyped up out of all of us. I knew he was ready to go up on there and smash it, we all were, but something about the look on his face right now made me think it wasn't just because he was trying to focus on winning.
Something else was going on alongside it all. 

"Hey, man, what's up?" I ask as he glared at me heavily, making me raise an eyebrow, having no idea at all as to what was going on with him.
"Really? Are you the only one who hasn't addressed your shady behaviour these past two days?" he inquires, making me look at him even more confusedly.

I hadn't been on my phone since this afternoon. I'd done everything I wanted to do and I sorted out everything I needed to.
If he's talking about something going on with how isolated I've been lately, he has nothing to worry about. No one does. 

"What are you talking about, Eldon?" I ask him, letting out a light scoff. 

He rolls his eyes at me and steps aside, allowing my eyes to wander towards Riley where she was stood on her own, pacing up and down whilst playing around with her hands, twiddling the rings on her fingers.
I knew she would be nervous - it was exactly why I was about to head over to her before Eldon beat me to it. 

"She needs you right now and instead you're just lazying around on that phone of yours. What's going on? Things between you just got good and now you're breaking things all over again," he says as I look at him, growing more and more lost with each syllable he allows to leave his lips.

He wasn't giving me a chance to speak. He wasn't listening to my point of view. I hadn't done anything wrong. 

"I was just about to go and talk to her now," I tell him sternly in response.
It was almost as if I was being controlled. Did he not trust me with Riley or something? 

I know he's wary of her because the two of them used to be like siblings back when he was together with Emily.
But where was this protective instinct when Ri was hurting? Where was it when I wanted to invite her over to our 'bro-nights'? Why is he only showing this side of him now? 

I roll my eyes at him, scoffing as I barge past him before heading over towards my girlfriend like I was going to do two minutes ago. 

"Hey," I whisper to her, taking hold of her hands and standing in front of her to stop her from pacing as well as bringing her shaking to a halt.

She looks up at me and bites her lip before looking towards Eldon.
"What was that about?" she mumbles, glancing between us both but I shake my head, lifting her chin up with my forefinger so her gaze was fixed on me and me alone.

"Nothing you need to worry about," I tell her before catching her lips in mine softly.
When we pull away, she sighs, looking down, letting go of my hands to smooth her dress down.

I look over her body, taking in her stance before I bite my own lip, unsure of what she was thinking right now.
 Clearly everyone had the same idea in their heads about me doing something shady. But what would they expect me to be doing? I would never do anything bad. 

"Are you okay?" I ask, taking a step closer towards her, forcing her to have to look into my eyes again. Her pupils wander around my own with uncertainty, as if she wasn't sure if she could trust me.
What was going on?

"Fighting to become Internationals champions - please welcome to the stage, The Next Step!" the speakers boom with the announcer's loud voice, distracting us both as Riley looks away again, avoiding my gaze. 

I knew I had bothered her by doing something. I don't know what it is but I've clearly done something... 

"Riley," I call out to her just as she turned around to depart my side.
She shakes her head, continuing to walk towards the rest of the team. "We're due on, James. We can't talk about this right now." 

"But Ri," I plead with her, not that it had much of an effect. 

She continues to walk on regardless, causing me to have to follow after her.
But she was right. We didn't have any time to talk. We were already walking on stage and that meant having to perform on stage with a rift between us both.
That was never a good thing...

"You better have dealt with it properly, man," Eldon mutters into my ear just as we walked on, making my breath hitch.

I just have to hope I haven't caused as much damage as I think I have.

Waiting to hear what the final verdict was was daunting.
I never usually worry over these sort of things but it wasn't long before I begun to break a sweat beneath the spotlight shining down on us. 

I stood next to Riley, her hand clutching mine even despite our slight misunderstanding earlier on and I hold onto hers just as tightly. Something told me she needed it right now.

"The Next Step scores a total of 97 points," the judge announces. "But with Sweden's five point advantage, it's a tie."

A tie. 

My eyes widen as we all look up, glancing around at each other in sheer confusion.
The exact chances of it being a tie were near zero, but somehow it happened. And that means it's not over yet. 

"The tie-breaker for this season will be duets. Both teams will have ten minutes to prepare before being asked to head back out on stage," we're told and I sigh, looking at Riley even as she continued to look to the ground, avoiding my gaze.
She and I had to sort things out and get it together for the good of all of us. It was now or never.