Pas de Deux

o3

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Pronunciation guide!

Madame Chen - Madame Cheun
Lu Yichen - Loo Ee-cheun
Jiang Yingyue - Jeeyang Ing-yüweh

୨ ♡ ୧

Today was one of the rare days when the thirty students that made up the advanced first-year dance class joined the ninety other students in the regular first-year dance class a floor below; a joint class, as they called it. It was announced that they'd be completing the audition process as a big group after classes ended that day.

Yuxing had made her way down near the back of the single file line along with Mofei. As soon as they'd entered the practice room where the joint class would take place, the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees. This was the aura that the advanced class carried with them. It was broken rather quickly, however, as students from both classes started to mingle and group up with their old friends. Yuxing didn't miss the glances her friends were sending her either as she fiddled with her hands behind her back. And of course, there was Wang Chengrui sending her yet another dirty look. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"...xing? Yuxing?" a voice said.

"Huh? Oh, what is it?" Yuxing responded, slightly flustered that she'd zoned out.

"Nothing, I was just wondering if you wanted to sit together or split up? Since I haven't danced with my other friends in a while," Mofei said, smiling softly at Yuxing's foolishness. Despite being ranked first in their grade level, she was still such a normal girl.

"Oh, yes, go ahead. I was about to head over to my other friends, too." 

And with that, the two split up with Yuxing practically being bombarded with hugs as she rejoined her friends.

"Xingxing! I haven't seen you in ages! Have they been feeding you properly?" Qingling immediately wailed, latching onto one of Yuxing's arms.

"Qingling... We had math together a few hours ago," Yuxing deadpans, trying to free herself from Qingling's grip before her arm lost circulation.

"Yeah, quit being so dramatic, sheesh," Zihan added as he slung an arm over Yuxing's shoulder himself.

"Shh! It's starting!" Lihua shushed them all, putting an end to their childish bickering. It was like a flip had switched within Yuxing because suddenly she couldn't hear Zihan and Qingling continuing their argument in hushed voices and was completely focused on what the instructors were saying.

"So with the upcoming dance showcase our academy hosts every year, we will need to decide everyone's parts by the end of this week preferably, next week if absolutely necessary," Madame Huang spoke. She was head of the dance department, which is why was usually in charge of events like this and also why she lead the advanced class.

"We've wasted enough time already. Hurry now, group up into six divisions based on height, three for the ladies and three for the gentlemen," she continued.

Zihan and Mingsheng stood up and made their way over to the boys' groups, putting on the dramatics of acting as if this was a heartbreaking farewell and that they'd never see the rest of them ever again. Lihua and Yuxing shared a look that said it all.

"I guess we're splitting up, too," Huiying says as she holds her hand out to help Yuxing up from where she was still seated on the floor. The height division for girls was as follows: one-hundred-fifty-five centimetres and under, one-hundred-fifty-six centimetres to one-hundred-sixty-five, and one-hundred-sixty-six and over. Huiying and Yuxing belonged to the tallest division, but Yuxing just barely. She was just a centimetre or two over the threshold.