Replacing Richelle

12.Dance battle day (part 1)

Emily's POV:

Dance Battle day. A trio, a five and a duet. I'm confident. Whoever wins, wins. I'm prepared to have every member of my A Troupe staying, but is Michelle willing to take on the superior team as a co-head? Who knows? Richelle and Noah are finally-finally- speaking again, and a lot more. Amy's never danced better. Josh is still a hip hop dancer at heart, but he knows what he's doing. My duet are definitely ready. Zara and Jacquie have been losing focus lately which worries me, but I know they'll shine in the five. I know all my dancers are ready. And so am I.

Ms. Kate walks in and I've never been more excited to see her. She's doing better than ever and it looks like she's brought some help. My little sister, her boyfriend who she's practically engaged to and Giselle has finally made time from her tour. I hug all of them, as does Michelle, West and Daniel. Then Ms. Kate takes me and who I like to call, weird obsession with everything pink, over to the side to let us know Eldon would like to do a workshop. I'm thrilled. I would love to see everybody working with him, looking up to him. It's what he's always wanted. He deserves it.

At the last minute, Ms Kate gives us slightly different terms to what we knew.
"Neither of your studio heads know this, but we're going to do a dance battle. As you know, you've each got a performance planned. You will do that performance and be marked as a whole group. However, you will then battle one other Next Step Member to determine your place. This is not necessarily going to rule you out, this is for fun and to show who would win under pressure. The studio heads will take that into consideration when choosing Regional performances." Hearing about the extra round is quite nerve-wracking. I don't know who can pull their weight at improv under pressure. I just hope they all can.

My five piece go first. They're strong, but I can definitely see the weaknesses in their team work and if I can see it, Ms. Kate definitely won't miss it. I shrug a little, believing that it will still be better than Michelle's team, but it's actually pretty good. Not that I'd ever admit that, but Piper has amazing technique and the rest just fit around her. Maybe my team can have one new member. I don't know who we'd disperse of, but that's not my choice to make.

The duets are next. My duet has chemistry, passion and technique. Something Michelle's team will never have. Anyone can see the passion in my dancers. Michelle's are all just misfits put together. I'm confident in my team. Especially since my showstopper act is next.

Richelle, Noah and Amy take to the floor and I just know that if there's any dance I can count on, it's this one right here. Richelle and Noah have the chemistry to rule the world and Amy's conveying emotion like it's natural to her. I think she's finally found the next level, the one I've been pushing her for, ever since she got back on this team. It's all there.

Noah's POV:

As we're dancing, I can't help thinking about Jacquie. She would've destroyed in this dance. Amy may be good, but after everything we've been through, Jacquie would've been able to have that emotion. I'm not saying Amy lacks in it-to be honest I haven't really been watching- I'm just saying what happened would've helped for this dance.

Richelle's POV:

Noah and Amy are crushing this dance. As for me, I always inspire. I can see Piper and all her little baby ballerinas glaring at me in envy. Well, I picture it. I'm not usually like this, but competitions give me that little flare. Especially when I'm competing against a former girlfriend of Noah's. As for Piper, I knew she had a crush on him once, but I'm willing to forgive as long as she makes this team. I've already lost so much. I can't lose my new-found friends as well.

A/N: So before writing this, I took a little break so the characters are changing slightly. Well that and I like to embrace the competition whilst letting it effect them.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it's a part one of two as you can tell and I'll be getting part two up as soon as possible.