We will meet again

Chapter 7

"Ok, girls and boys let me introduce myself once more. My name's Brian. I'm from LA. I started dancing 16 years ago, since then I worked with some major names in the industry. Britney Spears, just to name one." He laughed.

"Aly?" Wait? What?! He wants me to say something too? Oy.

"Ummm... Hi, I'm Aly. 17 years." I saw a few heads shoot up. Great. "I'm originally from London. Now based in LA. I dance and teach (hey we all lie here and there and Brian didn't seem to mind) at Brian's dance studio. Yeah, that's about it" Some giggled. Awesome. They're already mocking me.

"Ok, ummm... I think we need to divide you guys into two groups. Right here down the middle." He said and his hand slowly came down as if he was parting the Red Sea.

"Group on the left, you're with me. The group on the right is with Aly." Nods everywhere. At least they respected him.

A young man raised his hand as if we were in class.

"Can I switch? My band mates are in the other group."

"Of course, someone please switch with What's-your-name-again?" Shit, Brian thought to himself, I should've studied the papers Simon gave me.

"Liam. I'm with these guys." He said, pointing to four heads in the other group. "We're One Direction." He said proud.

"Let's see if you can also go in one direction." I heard myself say. A lousy attempt to be funny. I mentally face-slapped me. So now the whole boy band was in my group. Man this day keeps getting better and better.

"Brian can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure. Guys we'll be right back." He ushered me out the door.

"What?" I could tell by that one word that he was in a big hurry.

"Can we trade groups? I don't wanna sound ungrateful but I got the group with the boy band. And we both know boy bands can't dance. And I made that awkward joke." What I really meant to say was I'm scared I wanna go to my mommy.

"Aly, you'll be fine. Trust me. I believe in you. Listen, I know this is too much responsibility for you but it's the only way these things work in this business." Brian does great speeches. I had to smile.

"Ok. I know, I'm sorry. I know you're under a lot of pressure. You know if you will be leaving after today? Did Simon say anything? Can I replace you?" God, I hope not!

"Let's discuss this later. Now we must hurry" and with that he dragged me back in. No more escaping now.

"Ok fellas, listen. Let's get down to business. Me and Aly we prepared a short routine for you guys. We'll be teaching you the steps today and hopefully most of you will be able to memorize most of them until tonight.

"Aly. You and your group, you stay here. I'm taking my group next door. If there are any questions, don't hesitate to ask. And please remember Aly is as good as me in this so please pay attention to her as well." And with that he was gone, forming a long line of contestants behind him.

Now, here I was. Alone. About to teach my first class. Something they didn't know, so I needed to stay calm and focused.

"Alright people, let's do this."

Aly’s POV

I walked towards the back of the room, took a tape out of my bag and handed it over to a guy that was sitting next to the hi-fi equipment. “It’s track number 3” I said.

I wasn’t sure how to do this. I knew the routine by heart, for me it was very easy. I suspected for some of them it wouldn’t be. So I figured they needed a little encouragement.

“Has anybody ever danced to a routine before? Anyone here who has any kind of experience?” Only a few raised their hands. The rest looked worried. The boy band looked extremely worried. I was extremely worried.

“Ok, ummm…Don’t worry at all. This routine might seem too complicated for most of you, but I promise you it’s not. Once we break it down to its single steps you’ll see it’s actually very easy.” I said with a smile, hoping to convince them.

I knew Brian’s dance routines were always intimidating to non-dancers.

“I’m going to do the routine one time and then we will begin. Ok?” I asked, as if they had a choice.

“Music please.”

I danced with all my heart. Gave it all then and there. Partly because I wanted to do good (in case there was a hidden camera in the room), but mainly because I wanted to prove to the group in front of me that a 17-year-old can dance like a pro. I don’t know if I misunderstood the signs earlier, but I thought I saw disbelief in some of the contestants’ faces when Brian said I was just as good as him. I am just as good as him, and I’m about to prove it too.

“Wow! You’re really good!” The curly-haired boy band member said.

“Thanks…”

“Harry. I’m Harry.”

“Thanks, Harry. I really appreciate it.” I said with a wide smile.

“So, what did you think?”

“It’s tough.”

“Yeah…”

“And so fast. My God it’s fast!”

I sat there listening. I didn’t expect them to jump up and down from excitement.

“Let’s do this together. Step by step.”

I stood in front of the huge mirror. 15 people behind me.

And the countdown begins now…