Your smile - The Next Step

new beginnings

Nerves were flowing through every possible part of Harper's body as she entered The Next Step dance studio beside her mother and elder sister Michelle. The latter was a fully fledged member of the studio's most competitive team, A Troupe, and had settled in nicely despite a bit of tension with a girl named Emily. Michelle and Harper's parents decided that since she had fit in so well there, they might as well send Harper to join their younger group to keep up her dance training.

The three blondes entered a large room that was already filled with a large amount of people. Harper assumed that they were A Troupe as there were eleven of them and they all looked around Michelle's age. The studio had huge mirrors that covered the front walls and overall gave off a very welcoming and warm feeling. She felt a little more relaxed even just taking in its beauty.

"Hi there, can I help you?" A kind voice snapped Harper out of her daze as she turned to see a blonde woman leaning out of the office in the middle of the room.

"Oh hi, I'm Michelle's mother," she greeted the woman with a kind smile and a brief handshake.

"It's so great to finally meet you. I'm Kate, the studio owner and this is Chris our head choreographer." Replied Kate as she gestured behind her to a tall man who was leaning against the desk. He sent Harper a kind smile which she returned, but she was so nervous it came out as more of a wince. Kate stepped aside and welcomed the two of them into her office and they took a seat on the opposite side of the desk. "So what brings you in today? Is Michelle settling in alright?"

"She is, in fact she loves it so much already that I was wondering if you would consider letting Harper join as well. She's my youngest." Said her mother so all eyes fell on Harper. She felt very targeted and feeble under everyone's direct attention.

"Well if she's anything like Michelle I'm sure Harper will be an asset to the studio." Chris said with a bright smile in attempt to comfort the nervous looking girl. "So how long have you been dancing Harper?"

"Uh, since I was three." The young blonde replied as confidently as she could muster. The both of them looked satisfied with her answer, it may have been the policy there that dance experience was necessary, so they nodded looking impressed.

"Very well, we would love to have you join J Troupe. There are no rehearsals tomorrow but there will be a class on Thursday night and then I'll tell you when else you'll need to be here. Of course, the studio's always open so feel free to come and practice even when there are no set rehearsals or classes." Kate explained making the girl far less nervous than she had been before. She was so glad that they hadn't turned her away or told her to look somewhere else as she thought they would.

"Amazing, thank you so much." Her mother spoke once again as she shook hands with both Kate and Chris and stood up to leave.

"Thank you, and I'll see you this Thursday Harper." Kate said as she watched the two of them leave. Without responding, Harper sent her an appreciative smile before following her mother out of the office.

She glanced over to Michelle who was talking to a brunette girl with a stripy blue top and a boy wearing grey shorts and a white tank. They all appeared to be having a laugh while stretching but Michelle noticed Harper and sent her a questioning look. After the thumbs up her little sister sent back in response, Michelle knew that Kate had allowed her to join the studio and she beamed at Harper before sending her a little wave.

The young blonde was giddy with excitement as she followed her mother down the hall with a spring in her step. She saw a door on one side of the corridor with a glass pane in the centre and took a quick glance through it. Inside there was a group of about five or six kids around her age warming up and stretching. There was one boy in red who was doing more turns than she could physically count, it was very impressive. If this was what she was up against, she didn't stand a chance of surviving one day.

"What are you doing?" A voice from behind her made Harper jump out of her skin as she turned around to see a girl with dark hair tied back in a ponytail wearing a confused expression on her face.

"Oh sorry, I was just leaving but I got...distracted." Harper tried to excuse herself, she could not believe that someone had caught her being nosy before she even started at the studio.

"Don't be sorry, it's fine if you wanna stay and watch." The girl replied with a much more inviting expression that eased Harper's nerves a little. "I'm Gabby."

"Uh, I'm Harper." She informed the brunette girl before her in a shy manner. Harper glanced outside and saw her mother standing by the car and with a sigh she continued, "I'd love to watch but I have to go."

"Well hopefully I'll see you." Gabby told her with enthusiasm laced in her tone as she continued on into the room with, as Harper assumed, all the other J Troupers.

The blonde rushed outside to join her mother in the car and couldn't help but be filled with excitement as they drove away. She could not have been more thrilled to be starting at The Next Step in a few days. It looked like a really great studio and she was sure that it would push her to become a great dancer. Or at least she hoped it would.

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a/n: soooo there's the first chapter. i know it's kinda boring so sorry but i promise it will get more interesting as the story goes on! please let me know what you thought and if you have any predictions about what it will be like when harper and noah first meet, i'd love to hear them :)