Riki's POV
The competition was officially starting and I stood backstage with my team alongside other schools. My hands were sweating and my breathing was uneven, but I tried to push past the nerves to calm down.
As my eyes scanned through all the contestants, I noticed one of them looking at me with a cocky smirk, causing me to roll my eyes in annoyance.
God, these people are so full of themselves.
The first school's dance team made their way onto stage and began their dance once the music started.
I watched them through the TV backstage and it was honestly embarrassing to watch. They were out of sync and one of the students even slipped and fell mid performance.
Yikes, now I was a bit afraid of what would happen with my team.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to see Yuqi smiling at me.
"It's okay Riki, there's nothing to stress about! We all practiced hard and with you in center we will be fine."
Her words were comforting and I couldn't help but return the smile as well.
After the performance ended, the audience clapped and some cheered, while I just quietly snickered as they rushed past me, hiding their faces from embarrassment.
After a few other performances, it was finally my team's turn. My palms began to sweat as we slowly walked onto stage after being introduced. My eyes skimmed the crowd and I spotted 5 familiar faces. As soon as I saw Jake, my eyes lit up when I saw him give me a thumbs up.
I slowly let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding as the music began.
The sound rang through my ears and we all began the choreography as we practiced, in fact, even better.
No one made any mistakes, we were all in sync, it was perfect.
My confidence grew the more I danced and my stage presence seemed to gain the attention of the crowd. I smirked and let my body move the way it wanted to, finishing the performance off as I launched myself up into the air and flipped over Yuqi as she landed in the splits.
The music stopped and we all were trying to catch our breaths as we huffed and listened to the applause.
It was the loudest I've heard so far, and I was pretty proud of it.
We all went backstage and talked about the performance, and of course I got praised for my dangerous stunt that I put little effort into during the practices.
"Riki I was honestly so scared when you flipped over me- I thought I was gonna die," Yuqi ranted, but I was lost in thought.
Did I put my all into that performance?
What if I made a mistake that I was unaware of?
Did Jake like it?
Wait..
Why do I care about what Jake thinks?
My head snapped to the side and I saw that dance student smirking at me again. What is his issue?
I let out a sigh and grabbed my water bottle before chugging the water.
My muscles ached, and I just wanted to go home and sleep, but we had to wait for the final announcements after the last few performances.
From my knowledge there are 3 schools left, so we'll be waiting for a bit.
I took a seat on the floor backstage and just waited as I closed my eyes, slowly passing out from exhaustion.
When my eyes opened, I groaned from the bright light, and that's when I could hear the mc announcing the winners.
I quickly got up and stood beside my dance team as I anxiously tapped my foot, waiting for the results.
Third place was announced..
And then second.
It was time for first.
My palms were sweating, so I rubbed them against my pants as I chewed on my bottom lip.
Once I heard my school's name being called, everything felt like slow motion.
We made our way on stage and Yuqi held onto the trophy we achieved, while I just stared at the ground in disbelief.
No way did we beat some of the most prestigious dance schools...
This is a dream.
My head shot up and my eyes locked with Jake's who was holding a camera and smiling.
I couldn't help but feel my lips slightly curve upwards as I avoided my gaze from his photos.
So embarrassing, he's like paparazzi.
We said our thank yous and went backstage once again, squealing and celebrating over our victory.
What a good day.
