Flying (Fight Song Book 2)

Chapter 28: The Fall, The Costumes and Zoe's Return

Right so I felt I was really dragging this out I mean we're on chapter 28 and they're still rehearsing so I've decided to make this the final chapter before Nationals! I'm also like 99% sure I said when Nationals was but I can't find it anywhere so I'm just saying it'll be a week from the beginning of this chapter. If someone knows lemme know and I'll update it!

Dianne's PoV
After two weeks of Bruno bringing us positive daily messages, making us new, sparkly team jackets and rehearsing non-stop, we're finally Nationals ready. I couldn't be more confident about mine and Joe's duet, and our group dances are quite frankly phenomenal if I do say so myself!

"Hey," Joe wraps his arm around me and plants a kiss on my forehead as he enters the studio, sitting down next to me.

"Hey," I smile up at him, resting my head on his shoulder.

"How are you feeling about next week?" he asks.

"Very confident," I nod. "We've got these routines nailed, our team is stronger than ever and this is Nationals so it's probably gonna be a breeze anyway."

"Okay don't get too confident and jinx it," Joe laughs. "We've got pretty strong competition this year. But I agree that our routines are the best they can be and despite all the drama that's happened, our team is solid and I'm feeling very good about it."

Unfortunately, positive feelings just can't seem to last long around here. Just when you're feeling good about something, you get news that completely screws you over.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," Bruno sighs when we're all settled down. Something doesn't feel right. I look around and that's when it hits me. Chloe isn't here. "Our dear friend Chloe has taken a nasty fall and has broken her ankle, so she will not be able to perform with us next week at Nationals. This means that Dianne, you are now our female soloist and we are going to bring a female dancer up from B Troupe."

I feel so bad for Chloe. I know how much she was looking forward to Nationals, and now she won't even be able to dance for ages. It must be heartbreaking.

"What?" Joe asks, his voice wavering. "No, we can't do that. We don't have the time to teach another person two whole dances! It'll be easier to rechoreograph everything."

"Unfortunately we can't do that," Alesha sighs. "We won't have enough dancers to go to Nationals. The minimum number is 10, and should we lose another dancer to injury we'll be unable to compete. Because of how it's happened so soon before competition, the Nationals board have allowed us to replace Chloe and have told us to bring two alternates. So, we're going to be teaching one of the girls from B Troupe, and then we're also going to bring two other B Troupe dancers up to sit and watch every rehearsal so if something were to go wrong we have enough backup. The rules state we're allowed two alternates. I know we've never used alternates before, but I believe this is the time to use that to our advantage."

The whole room is silent. It might not only be Chloe unable to perform.

"Wait," Poppy says. "What about bringing Zoe back? She'll catch onto the dances a lot faster than someone in B Troupe and she's seen Joe and I rehearse the group dances so she at least has an idea of what's going on."

"That could work," Alesha nods. "Would Zoe come back though?"

"She might," Joe says, already on his feet to go and get his phone. "I'll call her now."

The whole team wait in anticipation while Joe is on the phone to Zoe. When he hangs up and turns back to us, there's a huge grin on his face.
"She's coming," he says.

The whole studio erupts into cheers of applause. We still have a good chance.

"Right, are we good?" Bruno asks us all. We nod happily, Joe hugging me tight. "Well then, everyone warm up and get yourselves dancing!"