I Can't Cope (COMPLETED)

Chapter 38 - Riley

"How are you feeling, Riley?" Miss Kate says as I walk through the doors of Studio A.

"Huh?" I reply, confused. I mean, usually she's nice, but never this specifically focused on me. Oh god, I hope she hasn't worked anything out about Saturday... Or maybe she knows about me and James?

Knows what exactly about me and James though? We haven't exactly broken up, but it's obvious we're now not together. I can't keep going through with any kind of relationship with him, and I won't let him try to fix it. It's too late.

"You said you had a cold..." she says.

"Oh," I say, suddenly remembering my lie, relieved that that's all she's asking. "Yeah, yeah, I think it's gone now."

She smiles.

"Oh, well, that's good then. It's a shame about the other day, but the fact you're okay now is what's important. It was only a minor competition." Ha, if only she knew how much I am really not okay right now.

Thinking about this, I tilt my head up to look for James. He's with Michelle. Wow, seriously? He doesn't even wait a few days? Well, then again, he and Michelle were probably a thing weeks ago, so it's barely any different for him.

"Yeah..." I mumble in reply, going over to my cubby.

"Hey." a voice behind me says, making me jump. I turn around. Phew, it's only Giselle.

"Hey..."

"How are you doing?" she asks.

"Fine, couldn't be better..." I say, fiddling with the cuff of my sleeve. She nods. Maybe I'm getting better at lying...

"So you're good with going through our group dances?"

"Yeah, it's okay." I say, shoving my things in my cubby. We walk over to the dancefloor together and stop in the middle. Miss Kate walks over to meet us and calls everyone together.

"Okay everyone, I just have a quick announcement to make." she says, looking at me. What? "As you know, West got second place at the competition this weekend. Riley, um, didn't dance, but that doesn't matter." As Miss Kate says this, I notice Michelle roll her eyes and whisper in James' ear. I can't help but narrow my eyes at her, knowing without a doubt that she said something about me.

"So, what are you actually saying Miss Kate?" James says cheekily. Something inside me breaks as I realise how much I still love that grin. How much I love him in general, to be honest. I should hate him, but I just can't...

"Alright, alright, James!" Miss Kate says. "Let me get to it!"

"Sorry!" James laughs.

"The organisers of the competition have arranged a duet competition in about a month, and, because of our performance, have invited us to participate! So think about whether you would like to audition." she says, smiling before walking off into her office.

"Alright, everyone! We're going to run through Empire so get in your places!" Giselle calls out, setting up the music. I move into my position, unsurprisingly next to James. I can feel him trying to make eye contact with me, but I ignore it, focusing on just dancing.

The theme of our group dance is that the boys are the puppeteers and the girls are puppets. Thinking about it, it couldn't be more relevant. Boys are always in control, always dominating over the girls, just because they're always perceived to be more powerful. I begin to dance more aggressively as I think how stupid this all is. I shouldn't let everything affect me so much, you don't need to interact with other people in order to live - and if you don't involve yourself with other people, you won't get hurt. If I stay away from James, everything will be fine, right?