Empire - The Next Step

piper's in trouble

Miss Angela told the dancers to take a quick break so while the others headed to studio one, Harper decided she would talk to Piper and make sure she was okay. She entered the board game bistro and saw the brunette she was looking for talking to Michelle and Emily who were serving behind the counter. Harper sent a quick wave to the before she called Piper over.

"Hey Pipes, I just wanted to ask if you're okay. That was really awful what Miss Angela did to you back there." Harper said sympathetically as she rubbed her friend on the arm to try and make her feel a little better.

"Thanks Harper. I was just talking to Michelle and Emily and they think that if Angela says anything else then I should stand up for myself." It was probably a good idea, Miss Angela favoured Lily for absolutely no reason and it was getting really old.

"I think that could work, she might realise that she's being way too harsh. But if she pressures you again with your acro, just let me know and I'll help you with it after rehearsals okay?" Piper thanked the girl for her kindness profusely before the two of them headed back into the studio to rehearse. Hopefully Piper would have the courage to stick up for herself.

"Okay dancers, I want you to get in your formation and we're going to run the section of the ten person dance I taught you earlier." Angela informed them as she walked out of the office in her blindingly sparkly outfit. They ran the choreography over and over but there was nothing that could make it better, not even winks and smiles. It was as bland as a piece of toast. "Woah woah woah, Piper what was that extension? Lily will you please show Piper how to properly extend."

Harper kept her mouth shut but was beginning to get fed up with this treatment. Piper didn't deserve this and she probably had the best extensions in the entire group. It just wasn't right.

"No I'm sorry, my extension was just as good as Lily's . Why do you think she's so much better than everyone?" Harper was about to back Piper up but Noah tried to stop her from saying anything else. Why would he do that when Piper was just sticking up for herself? "Let me finish Noah, Lily's a good dancer but we all are. Why do you think she's the best dancer when she's clearly not?" Harper noticed everyone wince. There must have been something everyone else knew but herself and Piper were unaware of.

"What did you say about my daughter?" Miss Angela hissed through her teeth with menacing eyes that glared daggers at Piper. Harper was completely taken aback, how had everyone else known about this? Was it just common knowledge?

"I said, I don't think she's the best dancer. We're all strong dancers." Harper was still proud of her friend for speaking her mind, but when she exchanged a nervous glance with Noah she knew that things were going to go downhill fast.

"Well your clearly delusional. Why don't you sit out and watch what real dancers look like." As much as Harper wanted to support Piper and stick up for her, she didn't want to be benched alongside her so they all continued to repeat that bland choreography continuously until the end of rehearsals. That was a tough first day for everyone in A Troupe, but especially for Piper.

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The following day, Harper noticed that Piper wasn't in the room when Miss Angela arrived. She was getting worried about her and really hoped that she hadn't taken it too badly. Everyone was rooting for Piper even if she didn't know it. Well everyone but Miss Angela.

"Where's Piper?" Harper muttered to Jacquie who she was stretching beside. The brunette didn't seem to know either but she didn't have a chance to response because Angela had walked in.

"Okay everyone, in your places." The studio head called out to everyone and they all scurried into their line positions. "Hold on, where's Piper?"

Nobody said anything, but they were all extremely concerned for what this meant for their friend. Miss Angela didn't seem like she was very forgiving so after what had happened the day before and Piper not showing up for rehearsals, it wasn't looking good.

"Well, if some people don't care about regionals I'll have to do something about that." Everyone looked around at each other with uneasy expressions but were snapped out of it when Angela ordered them to run the routine over and over to clean it up.

After rehearsals had finished and Miss Angela had dismissed the dancers, they all went to studio one to blow off some steam. On the way there in the middle of the corridor, Noah pulled Harper aside letting the others go ahead.

"What's up?" She asked calmly, but deep down she knew what he wanted to say. Noah looked nervous, even more nervous than he had done performing for Miss Angela, but he cleared his throat and began to speak anyway.

"Harper, I just wanna know where are we? The last time we spoke we were okay, but I know there's something else between us. I know that deep down we're more than friends." The blonde felt herself becoming more and more apprehensive under his intense gaze but she just about managed to meet his eyes.

"I know what you mean and I know there's something else there too, but with everything going on right now I don't think this should really be our main priority." Noah looked disappointed but as the dance captain and thinking diplomatically, he could understand where she was coming from. They were just going to have to wait a little longer.

"Yeah, I think so too." Noah agreed thinking that waiting until all the drama with Lily, Miss Angela and Piper had blown over was probably a good idea. But what Noah didn't know was that something else was holding Harper back. Ever since the whole Jacquie thing last year and then him blowing her off just before the qualifier video, Harper had mixed feelings. She liked him so much, but she wasn't sure if she could trust him.

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a/n: sorry a bit of a short chapter but it was more of a filler. thank you so much for reading and let me know what you are thinking of it in the comments, i love to hear feedback! also if you would like to comment some questions then i will do a q & a at the end of one of the chapters or as its own chapter so you can learn more about harper :)