HeartBREAK

Chapter thirty-four

"How's everyone doing?", Valentine asked. It was five in the morning and everyone had to come in very early for the final rehearsal before the open house. "Good!", everyone moaned. Alec yawned- he was actually excited to put on the costumes for the first time ever. "Let's warm up, then!", Valentine said and everyone got going. ALec loved these early morning rehearsals. Obviously everyone was tired but he just loved the overall vibe. Everyone was wearing warmup clothes, hoodies and huge socks. The girls wore no makeup and had their hair thrown up in a messy bun- the dresscode didn't apply to those early morning practices so basically everyone was wearing baggy clothes or trashbag pants. Alec hasn't done his hair either, he just threw on some sweats and a hoodie and got going. Everyone was yawning but the overall atmosphere was just so relaxed. Looking outside, everything was dark and Alec could see some lights shining through the huge windows in their rehearsal room. New York in the dark was a new level of beauty, in his opinion. The academy was close by central park so there were a couple of trees whose frozwn leaves stuck to the windows. The temperatures dropped rapidly and it was obvious winter was on its way. "We only have a couple of hours to work on the routine as afterwards you will rehearse with your partners and the rest of the students. It will be a busy day." "Cheers to that!", Maia yawned and took a sip of coffee out of her thermal mug. Alec grinned- that was exactly why he loved early rehearsals. Everyone as just so relaxed, all those formalities were dropped, everyone was just having a good time. Usually, everyone wore tight clothes, sat up straight, didn't have private conversations. But now it all was different. He felt like he really needed that. "Anyone elses Hip flexors feel like they are going to rip any second?", Simon asked and everyone started laughing. "Same, actually.", Alec said and saw a couple of other peple nodd. "How are you?", he asked Raphael a little more quitely. "Good. It doesn't hurt that bad anymore, I put some pain dimming lotion on it and iced it. Simon taped me so I guess it will be alright.", he replied. ALec nodded and smiled weakly- that was good to know. He did the same- icing his knee and taping it made it all better but it was more and more swollen from day to day. "Okay, the costumes are in the back, they are labeled with your names so take them to your rooms or to the bathrooms, change and coma back as soon as you can.", Valentine said and everyone ran towards the clothing racks. It was one of the most exciting things about competitions or shows. The dancescould be fantastic but the costumes always brought it together and made it look so much more epic. The dance was fairy- themed so all the costumes looked really pretty and somehow magical. Alec finally found his costume and quickly changed. It was beautiful. He wore white tights, purple knickerbockers, a violet shirt, a matching purple vest on top of it and thin, small, silver wings that matched the silver embroidery all over the costume. "Hey prince charming!", Maia joked as she saw him for the first time. "Blessed to see you, mylady.", Alec grinned. Maia wore the same white tights and a matching purple bell tutu with lavender accents. She also wore silver wings, but hers were way bigger than his. As they entered the training room, Alec gasped- every pair was wearing the same magical, matching costumes in different colours. Raphael and Maureen's costumes were yellow, Simon's and Gretel's outfits were red and Jonathan's and Aline's costumes were in a pretty, indigo-blue colour. "You looks fabulous!", Valentine clapped his hands and Alec grinned- they did. Like fairies, literally. "Okay, let's kill it! The costumes dafinitely do some of the job, but they won't save you unless your dancing isn't amazing as well! You need to live up to your looks!", Valentine said and everyone lined up. "5, 6, 7, 8!", Valentine commanded and the music started playing. Alec just got carried away in the dance- they have rehearsed it so many times, he could do it in his sleep. Every step felt right, perfect, like made for him. It came naturally, even the difficult lifts. To his suprise, the costumes worked really well and not at all limited him in his range of motions. The fabric was really soft, not at all scratchy and seemed to fit him just perfectly. "That was an amazing rehearsal!", Valentine cheered. Alec thought so too until he noticed the pounding pain in his knee. "Oh come on!", he cursed to himself but must have whispered the words out loud. "What's wrong?", Maia asked and Alec shook his head:" Nothing, my knee just randomly acted up again. It's nothing though." "Are you sure?", Maia asked worriedly and Alec nodded:" Yes, I am. I'll be good for the open house." "Don't you want to see a doctor? It looks pretty swollen, even hrough the tights.", Maia asked and Alec sighed:" I will see one after the open house. And I will have to drag Raphael there with me- I am not letting him make the same mistake I made last year." "At least you learned from it. Raphael didn't.", Maia scoffed and pointed at Raphael who was in the corner of the room, icing his back. "Honestly, when is this ever going to be over?", Alec asked in annoyance, "I am so sick of all the injuries and the stress- can't we just dance?" Maia chuckled:" You can. Once you properly heal and grow the hell up." "What do you mean?", Alec asked ironically. "I don't want to break it to you but notice how only guys get injured around here? Just think about that for a hot second." " Well, maybe it's harder-", Alec asked with a grin on his face, ready for a shitstorm. "You do not want to go there.", Maia replied and Alec chuckled. She was right, he didn't. In fact, he didn't want to go anywhere but on stage and perform this open house. Little did he know the audience was a different one than he expected it to be.

Hello beautiful people! It's quite a twist I gave you here, didn't I? I hope you guys are as excited for the next chaper, the open house chaper, to be up! I can't wait to share! Some drama is on it's way! Anyways, I jope you are all safe and doing alright!                                             XOXO, AllyMaii