Chapter 26
At rehearsal, Lilith walked into the studio with a clipboard while we were all stretching. She noticed me and smiled. "I see you're able to dance again," she said.
I nodded. "Yeah. I just have to take things easy first, so no jumps or flips quite yet."
"Well, we're happy your able to dance again," Lilith said. "And now, we have two things to talk about, both about the state competition. First, the required amount of dancers from each team is eight to ten so April, if you want, you can join in anyway instead of being an alternate. And if there just so happens to be another injury before the competition, we just have to modify the dance a bit."
April smiled. "Yeah, I'd love to join in."
"Okay," Lilith said. "The next thing we have to talk about is your roles in the dance. We decided on Beauty and the Beast, so we have to figure out costumes. I have an ideal list of who I want for each part, but I want to see what you guys think first. Who do you think should be the Beast?"
"Ryder," Dempsey said almost immediately.
"Yeah," Arthur agreed. "He's ugly enough."
"Excuse you, but I am not ugly," I said. "Am I ugly, Mae?"
"Definitely not," Mae said.
"See?" I said to Arthur.
"Okay, so Ryder as the Beast," Lilith said. "And what about Belle?"
"Definitely Mae," Isla said. "She and Ryder are dating after all."
"But dancing isn't just putting dancers who are dating together," April spoke up. "Shouldn't the Beast and Belle be the strongest dancers? Ryder was the male soloist and Isla was the female soloist."
"That's true," Marnie agreed. "Having the soloists as the Beast and Belle would make our dance really clean. I agree with April."
"No offense, but I don't," Dempsey spoke up. "Dance isn't just about being strong. It's about chemistry and who better to be the Beast and Belle than an actual couple?"
"I don't know," Amelia said. "April does have a point. Imagine our two soloists and the lead. That will set our dance over the top."
"No way," Milton said. "Having the only couple as the leads will set our dance over the top."
"A lot of dances at the state competition tend to center who they chose for the leads earlier on," April said. "And it works, so it will work for us."
"But we shouldn't follow what everyone else does," Dempsey said. "We want to stand out and be unique."
"It does work for others," Marnie said. "So it will work for us. It's better to play it safe."
"No, it's better to take risks," Milton said. "How about Ryder decides who Belle would be since he's the Beast?"
"Obviously he's going to pick Mae," Amelia said. Well, she wasn't wrong. "Why don't we vote on it?"
Isla started laughing then, which made everyone look at her. "Are you guys serious?" she asked. "You need to think more logically about this."
"We are," April said. "Ryder was the male soloist. You were the female soloist."
"But the solos aren't the only competitions we had," Isla said. "Besides, I came second in that competition, behind stupid Kimberly."
"Kimberly?" April asked.
"From our biggest rival," Isla explained. "Nonpareil. They try their hardest to beat us and, most of the time, they do. Anyway, I came in second to them, but they came second to Ryder."
"Exactly," April said. "Meaning it evens out and if they focus on those two, then it will be the same as us focusing on you and Ryder."
"But we don't want the same," Isla said. "We want better, which is why my vote for Belle is going to Mae. That is the logic answer, considering they came in first in the duet competition. You joined the studio after Ryder's injury, right? Meaning you haven't seen Ryder and Mae dance together yet." April nodded. "Trust me, they're the perfect leads."
"I still think it should be the soloists," April said.
Mae scoffed quietly and rolled her eyes, but I noticed. I looked down at her curiously and she just frowned in reply.
"But only three of you think that," Dempsey said. "The rest of us think it should be Mae. Lilith, you said you had an idea of who should be each part, but you wanted to see what we thought of first. So, who did you have in mind for Belle."
"Well, as good as a point April made, I do think the best choice is Mae," Lilith said. "The duet completely blew away the competition and the chemistry between Ryder and Mae is one of the strongest things I've ever seen. So, majority wins and Mae is Belle."
"Aww, you're the Belle to my Beast," I said to Mae, pulling her into a side hug.
"Cheesy alert," Arthur said with a scoff. "Can I be Gaston?"
"Ooh, I want to be Maurice!" Dempsey said. "I can rock being an old man."
"Sweet, because I want to be LeFou," Milton said.
"What about the enchanted people?" Isla asked. "We don't have enough boys."
"I think it will be fine with the girls are some of them," Lilith said.
After deciding who was going to be which part, we had to tune the dance to adjust to who we were being. We then did a whole run through and it felt like my problems flew out the door. It felt great being able to dance again.
We were going to add some flips later on, but decided to wait until my ankle could handle it.
After running it a few times, we decided to take a five minute break. Mae grabbed my wrist and pulled me across the studio to a bench. We sat down and she crossed her arms over her chest. "I really don't like April," she said.
"Now what?" I asked.
Mae raised an eyebrow. "What now? She was trying to make sure I wasn't Belle because she can't get over you. You are really oblivious to everything, aren't you? I'm just happy Isla was able to step in because obviously you couldn't."
"Mae," I said, grabbing her hands and holding them in mine. "I'm oblivious because I only have eyes for you."
Mae scowled and pulled her arms away to cross them over her chest. "Saying romantic stuff like that won't work," she said, looking away.
I sighed. I really think she was overreacting about this. If she just ignored April, she would be fine.
But I had to get her to stop being mad, so I placed my hand on her cheek, turning her head to face me before pressing my lips on hers. When I pulled away, I gave her a smile. "Will that work?" I asked.
"Smart aleck," she said before pressing her lips back on mine.
When we pulled away, I threw my arm around her shoulder. "Feel better?" I asked.
"Yeah," she said. "I really need to stop getting so mad at April. I just hate the way she's been treating me."
"She'll get over it," I said. "Because you and I will always be together."
_________________
The blister on my finger still won't go away, but at least it's easier for me to type without that finer now. The only thing I'm worried about is my final exam on Friday because I was writing in my notebook yesterday and my writing was really messy because I couldn't hold the pencil properly.
Besides that, April really needs to shut her mouth unless she wants a huge mob of Maeder shippers after her. :)
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Ryder the Love Expert | Protector 2.1
Teen Fiction*cover created by hotsforhoran* Ryder Tony Prince has been known as The Love Expert ever since he was three years old and decided to give his father some advice at love. Not to mention Ryder is the son of Grayson and Poppy Prince, also know...
