flying • james and riley

| chapter twenty eight |

move your feet to the music

"LISTEN UP, A TROUP," said Riley as she entered the studio. The dancers all stood up, giving their studio head their full attention. "Now, I know that not all of you agreed with my decision to pull us from the last qualifier-"

"Did the Gemini's even end up going to the last qualifier?" Amanda asked, cutting her off.

"They did," she answered. "And they won."

"So, you were right, Riley," commented Piper, with the said girl nodding.

"Yes. But that's in the past," Riley didn't want anyone to think back on what couldn've happened. They had to move on. "and we need to focus on the future, which is the third qualifier."

"So what kind of competition are they having for the next qualifier?" Henry asked.

"Duets," Riley answered. Raelynn zoned out, her mind wandering back to the duets she did with Alfie. It amazed her how they were able to dance together effortlessly. They weren't uncomfortable or afraid to do any wicked stunts cause they knew that the other would always have their backs. "Noah and Raelynn."

"What?" questioned the brunette, whispering to Alfie.

"You and Noah are going to dance in the qualifiers."

"Oh." She turned to look at the said teenager and smiled softly. "This'll be easy then." she winked at the male, who nodded hesitantly.

"I just need to do one thing, and I'll be right back." Noah left before Raelynn could say anything.

"Okay?" she furrowed her eyebrows before shrugging. Standing on her toes, Raelynn began to do some pirouettes, warming up until Noah decided to grace her with his presence.

"Raelynn?" The brunette stopped spinning, watching as Riley exited her office. "Can I talk with you for a second?" Raelynn nodded and plopped onto the bench.

"What's up?"

"We need to talk." Raelynn furrowed her brows. "About us." Her mouth formed into an 'o'.

"What about us?" she asked hesitantly, fiddling with her fingers.

"Don't play dumb with me, Rae. We both know that everything's going downhill." Riley sighed. "It's not the same as it used to be. It's like our connection is gone."

"You don't have to worry about it, Riley," reassured Raelynn, grabbing one of her hands. "It's just the stress of Regionals that's getting to us." Lie. "I'm sure that after this qualifier, everything will go back to normal." Also a lie.

"Are you sure?" Riley looked up at her, unshed tears slowly coming to the surface of her eyes.

"Of course," she reached forward, tucking a strand of Riley's hair behind her ear. "Don't worry about it, Riley." The two stared into each other's eyes, lost in the moment. It was times like these that Raelynn reconsidered her choice of having a secret lover.

'Why am I even dating Alfie?' she thought.

'Cause he gives you more than they do. He loves you with his whole heart. Them? God knows. They spend more time with each other than you.'

"Anyway." she coughed, clearing her throat as they sat back awkwardly.

"U-um, where's Noah?" Riley asked, biting on her lip as she turned to look away from the brunette that stole her heart.

"I'm not sure. He said he had to do something." Riley rolled her eyes. "Shall I go get up him?"

"N-no!" exclaimed the ombre-haired girl as she got up. "I'll get him." They smiled awkwardly at each other before Riley rushed off to find the teenager.

Raelynn continued her warmup. She was stretching her arms over her head when Noah came rushing in. "You're late," she said as she turned to look at him.

"Sorry. I was having girl trouble." Raelynn rose a brow before sighing, wanting to start making their duet.

"Do you like her?" Noah nodded. "Does she like you back?" He nodded. "Then you don't have girl trouble. Now can we please start?"

"What do you have in mind for the duet?" The two were practising jumps with Raelynn leading them. Although Noah wasn't her ideal partner, he was good enough to do a dance with her. When Noah landed one of the high jumps, Raelynn took notice of the wince he made when he landed.

"Are you alright, Noah?" she asked, walking towards him.

"You know what I just realised?" Raelynn rose a brow. "I left mid-conversation."

Raelynn sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Fine. Go. But be quick." Noah smiled at her gratefully. Raelynn sat on the bench, knowing that it was going to take a while. She was scrolling through her phone when Alfie came wandering in.

"You ready to go?" he asked, his hand in his bag.

"Yeah." she smiled warmly, walking to the cubby holes and pulling out her bag. Together they left, unaware of a younger girl watching them, suspicious of their close relationship.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

The next day, Raelynn was sitting in the juice shop with Alfie in front of her. She was sipping on a drink that he got for her, not really knowing what it was called but liking the taste of it.

"Do you know how Noah's doing?" Alfie shook his head.

"Amanda said she was going with him to the hospital, but I don't know how it's going." Raelynn hummed, her leg bouncing up and down in slight anxiety. "Raelynn?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to choreograph a duet?" Raelynn looked up, furrowing her brows. "You know, just as a backup?"

"Why not?" she grinned, finishing up her drink before discarding it into the trash. The two walked to studio A, brainstorming ideas. "So you know that new song that just came out? The one by dean lewis?" Alfie nodded. "I was thinking we could do our dance on that."

"That would be good." Once they were inside, they began to choreograph their duet slowly. The day passed quickly, and soon the dancers piled in after Riley said she wanted to talk to them.

"Okay, everybody, gather round for a second," Riley said as she walked out of her office, smiling at the couple. "Glad you two can make it." Noah and Amanda nodded. "So, I called everyone together because I think it's in the studio's best interest if we have another duet just in case Noah can't perform. We're still holding your spot," she reassured, smiling sympathetically at the male. "We just need to cover all bases."

Raelynn could tell that Noah was upset, but after seeing him and Amanda connect hands, she was sure that he'd be fine. "I'm holding auditions tomorrow. If you want to be considered, then show up and show everybody what you've got. Thank you." Raelynn and Alfie glanced at each other, smiling. They were going to win this competition.