It won't keep us apart

Chapter 21: Don't be so insecure

Richelle's POV
My fingers fiddle with the ribbons on my pointe shoes as I tie them on.

Today, Noah and I chose to challenge his and Summer's duet. Noah and I haven't worked on this duet for long. It only took us a day to get ideas, then we figured out choreo within a week and put it together. She was shocked to hear the news but I'm happy that she's feeling somewhat intimidated. Maybe even insecure about her spot.

We, as in Noah, Summer and I, are waiting for Emily and Michelle to come and assess the second duet. You never know whether those two could change their minds after they see Noah and I perform.

All I know is that Summer and Noah showed Michelle and Emily their Regionals duet yesterday. I don't know how that went because I haven't asked Noah about it, but I rather wait and see. I'm confident that Noah will keep his game up today.

I slowly warm up my ankles and feet as Noah comes over to me. He places a hand on my shoulder and asks, "You ready?"

"I was born ready," I answer with a grin.

"Hmm, who have I heard that from?" Noah says jokingly.

"I think it was from someone named Noah."

"Sure it was," he gives me a playful shove and moves away.

"Hey! What was that for?" I exclaim in surprise, rubbing my shoulder as if he hurt me. Which of course, he wouldn't physically hurt me. He just enjoys teasing me when he's in a cheerful mood.

"Richelle and Noah, we don't have all day. Get into your positions and start," Emily commands.

The music begins playing; it's a soft instrumental that was the chosen song for the Regionals duet. All we changed was the choreography.

He lowers me down from the lift and we smile at each other. For the next few counts we move in sync, then I pause while he executes his turns.

Together we dance our hardest, I'm giving this my all because this is the only opportunity I have to get featured in another Regionals dance as I'm only in the ten person dance. If I don't get it, there goes my chance of being a featured dancer for Regionals.

We finish up with our hands outstretched towards each other, still maintaining eye contact and we bow. Michelle, Emily and Summer give us a round of applause.

"This will be a tough decision, but we will announce which duet will be performing at Regionals at the end of the day," Michelle promises.

I take a seat on the bench and untie the ribbons of my pointe shoes. From the corner of my eye, Summer is approaching me.

I glance up at her coolly and cut in as she tries to speak.

"Save it, Summer. I don't need you to tell me that – "

"Richelle. I was just going to congratulate you on this duet, I wasn't going to say anything else," she rolls her eyes at me.

"Okay... Well thanks, I guess?" I'm a little dumbfounded about her warming words, but she's being nice to me.

Summer appears satisfied and comments on how well Noah and I did. She also adds that there was 'certainly something different between you two'.

"Something different?" I frown in confusion.

I lift my head back up to question Summer, but she's already disappeared. Just when I think about her words, Summer is gone. How convenient.

There was also something yesterday that I'm still wondering about. Franci was vague about what she said in the kitchen to me. She refused to answer me when I asked about what she had realised.

Summer and Franci are on the same page and I'm stuck on the wrong one. I need to find a way to get on the same page as them, but I don't know how.

What have they both noticed that I haven't?

Henry's POV

I'm off to Shakes and Ladders for a smoothie, but as I approach the counter, I notice someone with their head down on the table. Someone I know pretty well.

I walk a couple of steps back to check whether it was the person who I thought it was. She seems a little down.

"Hey Jacquie, can I sit with you?" she pops her head up to glance at me.

"Yes," she answers in a monotone.

"I'll get my shake first, and I'll be right back."

There's something clearly not right with her right now. Yes, she's my ex-girlfriend, but we've already solved things between us. I'm glad that we're friends now.

I wait for a few minutes at the counter. The barista places the smoothies on the bench with a thump, waking me up from my thoughts. I grab them and hurry over to Jacquie.

"You got one for me?" Jacquie asks as I put the two smoothies onto the table.

"Why wouldn't I?" I pull a stool out from under the table.

"Thanks for the shake anyways," she tries to smile, but it doesn't reach her eyes.

"You don't seem your usual self," I comment.

Jacquie plays with her straw. "It's just hard..."

"What do you mean?"

She takes a deep breath and speaks. "I'm finding it hard to admit that Noah's losing feelings for me. Everything with him now doesn't feel like what it used to be. I can't believe that he's losing interest in me."

Gotta give her the truth, so here goes. "Hate to break it to you, but it sounds like he is."

"How can I tell him? I still love him, and I don't want to end what we have."

At this point, Jacquie is so close to tears. This has taken toll on her. It's obvious to me that she's been thinking about this for a while, and I'm thankful that she has managed to get it out of herself instead of letting herself drown in those thoughts.

"Don't be so insecure, Jacquie. If you want to let him know, then go ahead and say it. I'm sure he'll understand."

Jacquie slowly nods her head and her lips turn upward in a smile.

"You're right, Henry. I didn't realise that you give good advice," she raises her eyebrows, impressed.

"Well, when you need someone to talk to, I got you," I nod solemnly.

I've got her back, and she's got mine.
It's funny how relationships change.

A/N: Like my song references?
It didn't take me long to figure out how I could link a bit of the lyrics into this chapter, but it worked well🙂