Nationals Here We Come (A TNS Season 7 Story)

Part 6

"Hello everybody," Emily says cheerfully. The dancers around the room all focus their attention on her, " It is great to see everyone so bright and early."

"Like we had a choice," Ozzy mumbles to Kingston softly.

"What was that Ozzy?" Emily asks.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just excited about the auditions today."

"Great, well try to keep that excitement on the inside. Anyway, we will have the auditions today for the trio and small groups. It looks like everybody is auditioning. We really want to test you guys today. With that being said, three of you will learn one part of the trio, three of you the second part of the trio, and four of you the third part of the trio. You won't know who your partners will be until we pick them out of this hat and then you will perform right away. No rehearsing as a group beforehand. Two of you will be asked to go twice so that the fourth person in the third group can perform. If you do perform twice, only your first performance will be judged." Everybody looks around the room at each other.

NOAH: This seems like it's going to be hard, but I'm up for the challenge.

JACQUIE: No rehearsing beforehand??? Are Emily and Michelle insane?

KENZIE: I kind of like this idea. It sounds like a lot of fun.

"We have brought in three former alum who have already choreographed the dance, and they each will get a group to teach their part too. Each group will be in a separate area so that they can't see what the others are doing," Michelle says.

MICHELLE: This is definitely going to be challenging but this will help us make a decision. We are able to see who works well under adversity.

"Please welcome Amanda, Giselle, and Chloe," Michelle says as A-Troupe claps.

"It's so great to see you," Giselle says as she opens her arms up to give Michelle a hug. Thalia and Amanda also hug Michelle and then head over to hug Emily.

"Hello everybody," Chloe says, 'It's so great to be back here."

RICHELLE: These are three of the greatest dancers that have walked the studio halls of The Next Step. They have each gone on to have great professional dance careers, touring the world. I am excited to see what they have in store for us.

"The groups are as follows: With Giselle, we will have Noah, Finn, and Summer, with Amanda will be Richelle, Henry, and Kingston, and with Thalia will be Piper, Jacquie, Kenzie, and Ozzy. Any questions?" Emily asks. A few hands go up, "No you may not switch groups. Are there still any questions?" All the hands go down, "Great. So Amanda's group will be on one half of studio A, and Giselle's on the other half. We will put a divider up. Thalia's group can head to studio one. Let's get to work guys." Emily walks away, back to the office, her heels hitting the floor hard. Michelle follows behind.

The three groups rehearse for forty-five minutes and then everybody reconvenes. Michelle and Emily walk back out with three bowls.

"I am going to do the honor of picking out.." Emily says.

"I thought I was going to Emily," Michelle interjects.

"Fine... Michelle will do the honor of picking out the first name. Then that person will come up and choose out of the second bowl, and then that person will pick out the third bowl." Michelle sticks her hand into the bowl and rustles the papers around, "Michelle there is literally only three pieces of paper in there just pick one." Michelle gives her a straight face and pulls out a piece of paper.

"Looks like we will have Summer up first," Michelle says. Summer walks over and picks out a name from the second bowl.

"Richelle," she reads out loud. Richelle walks up and picks out the third name.

"Jacquie," she says.

JACQUIE: Of course we all three would be together.

RICHELLE: Just my luck that I'm in a group with Summer and Jacquie.

SUMMER: Knowing those two, this is either going to go really good or really bad. There's no in-between.

The three get into their placements and the music starts playing. They're synchronized, hitting every move and turn. The dance finishes and they stay in their final pose for a few extra seconds. Everybody is clapping around them.

"That was amazing guys," Giselle says.

"Thank you," they all say in unison, short of breath. They head back to the side of the room.

"Thank you, girls," Michelle says, " The first person of the next group will be,' Michelle reaches her hand in and picks a piece of paper, " Finn."

"Alright," he says as he walks forward. He sticks his hand into the second bowl and reads the name aloud, " Kingston." Kingston comes forward and he and Finn do a bro shake. After, Kingston reaches in and picks out the last name.

"Kenzie," Kingston says.

KENZIE: This group sounds pretty awesome.

They all take the center of the floor and begin their routine. Halfway in as they go for the lift, Kingston drops Kenzie. They recover quickly and finish the dance.

KINGSTON: That was not good. I might have just ruined all our chances of being picked for the trio.

KENZIE: Of course Kingston dropped me. I just knew it was going to happen sooner or later. I just wish it wasn't during an audition.

FINN: What just happened there, was not good. It might have just cost us each an opportunity to be in the trio.

The room is filled with silence and then eventually Noah starts clapping and the rest join in. Emily scribbles some notes down.

"Thank you guys," Emily says, " Since the first two groups have only Noah, and Henry left, I will have Michelle pick out the third person. Michelle reaches in the bowl.

"It looks like we will have Piper," she says out loud.

The three of them make their way to the center and begin the dance. They perform the dance well and end with a round of applause engulfing the studio.

"Now we'll have two of you go again with Ozzy. From the first group, we will have," Emily says as she puts her hand in the bowl, "Finn and from the second group it will be Richelle."

FINN: I know Emily said that the first audition would be the only one that factored in but maybe this is my time to shine.

OZZY: One of my best bros and the girl I love dancing with me. What's not to love about that?

The three perform their dance well and finish with those around them clapping.

"Thank you everybody for those auditions. We will have an hour break before the small group starts," Michelle tells A-Troupe. As they disperse Kingston tries to catch up with Kenzie.

"Kenzie, I..."

"Save it Kingston," Kenzie says as she grabs her bag from her cubby and heads out the studio.

"Just give it some time bro. We all make mistakes," Finn says.

FINN: Am I a little upset? Yeah sure, but there is no point in staying mad at Kingston. We have to support each other. A-Troupe is a family.

"I just wish it didn't have to hurt others," Kingston says as he walks over to the bench to sit down.

"Don't worry about it too much," Finn says as he gives Kingston a reassuring smile. Kingston cracks a little and Finn playfully pushes his shoulder.