Of Tin Hearts and Point Shoes (Book 1)

How Many Times

//Beckett//

I walk into the dance studio with a smug expression on my face. V has been telling me to stop looking so self satisfied, but watching her squirm is just too cute.
"Let's go people! I don't need you wasting my time!" My mom shouts, herding everyone into the center of the floor.
"The qualifying groups for the IMADs will be posted on the board shortly after class," she announces before leading us through warm up.
"Do you think we made it?" V whispers over my shoulder.
"You have nothing to worry about V, if anything, my group is the one that's questionable," C says.
"I think both groups will qualify," I tell them.
"Ms. Morita, Mr. Bradstreet, is there something you'd like to say to the class? No? Perhaps you'd like to sleep on it?" Helsweel asks. V blushes and I smirk at her.
"No Ms. Helsweel," I reply.
"Did she just?" C asks.
"She did," Sasha replies. My mom proceeds to spend the rest of the class making passive aggressive comments at me and V.
"Should I take you to the nurse, you look a little, red," I tell V as soon as rehearsal is over. She rolls her eyes at me.
"How can you possibly keep your composure that well?" She asks.
"Well, I do have to live with her," I reply with a laugh.
"Well apparently V practically lives with her too," C remarks, causing V to, once again, turn an adorable shade of red.
"Whatever. I want to see which groups qualified," V announces, walking away from us.
"It's kinda hot when she gets blushy," I remark.
"Eww. I don't want to know when you think my best friend is hot," C says. I roll my eyes and meet V at the board. My mom pushes through the crowd and pins the paper to the board. There at the top of the list in the first place spot, reads: Beckett Bradstreet, Miles Lennox, and Vanessa Morita.
"We took first!" V squeals, jumping up to hug me. I pick her up and spin her around.
"C? Sasha? Jenna? How'd you guys do?" V asks when I place her back on the floor.
"Fourth!" C and Sasha say in unison.
"Eighth. But I totally blame it on Jax and Bianca fighting half the time at the beginning of the project," Jenna replies.
"Guys, this is so great. There are gonna be Juilliard scouts there. We could get seen," C says excitedly. I look at V.
"Didn't you tell her?" I whisper. She smiles up at me nervously.
"Not yet?" She replies as though she's asking a question.
"You're gonna have to do it eventually," I tell her.
"I know. I just don't know how she'll, react," V responds.
"React to what?" Jenna asks. V looks at me.
"Umm," She says, stalling for time.
"V and I got accepted into Juilliard's early admission program yesterday," I announce.
"Just rip the band aid off," V mutters.
"Dude. That's amazing," Sasha says giving me a bro hug before going over to hug V.
"I'm so proud of you V," C says, giving her a hug too.
"You too I guess," she says with a smile.
"Yea, that's so cool," Jenna adds.
"So does that mean you're both going to the summer intensive again?" Sasha asks.
"Yeah, and C will probably go too. I mean, if she isn't doing something cooler like touring with Selena Gomez," V replies. C laughs but you can tell it's half hearted, and I know V noticed too as she looks down at the ground.
"So do you guys know what you're going to do for finals? The competition is being divided into duets, trios, and quartets, right?" I ask, changing the subject.
"Yeah, and I have zero ideas, so I hope you have something," Sasha says looking at C.
"Lucky for you, I'm ready to pick up on your slack," C jokes, returning to her normal self.
"Guys, we gotta get to class in three minutes," Jenna warns, looking down at her phone. We all look at each other before sprinting out of the studios.

Word Count: 691