Keep your shirt on, Noah.

"Okay, you ready?" Richelle tied her hair back into a ponytail and looked at Noah who was changing out of his shirt to his vest. She rolled her eyes as she saw him pause, while topless, to look out of the corner of his eye to see if Richelle was checking him out. She turned her back on him and sniggered at how full of himself he had become since he developed an addiction to the gym. His muscles were great, no denying it, but Richelle wasn't here to check out her best friend. She was here to practise their duet so they would impress Emily enough to perform at Regionals together again.

Noah pulled his vest down over his head, "Yeah, let's go." Richelle smiled at him as got in position, and he smiled back. He loved dancing with Richelle, as she did with him, and he thought that they were probably two of the few people who understood how James and Riley must feel when they dance together. It was just easy.

Both he and Richelle understood each other's bodies, seeing as they had basically grown up together and been dancing together for as long as they could remember. Their dance ability was exceptional and they complimented each other with how powerful they both were when they danced. The trust they both had in each other also helped, and they were able to pull off a lot of lifts and tricks most of A Troupe wouldn't dare attempt with each other. They had been through a lot together, and Noah did regard Richelle as almost like a younger sister to him.

"Okay," Richelle connected her phone to the stereo and clicked on her 'recently played' playlist. Of course it was at the top, she had listened to it on her bus journey to the studio so she could recap the choreography.

She hurried into the centre of the rehearsal room after pressing play, and got on Noah's back, which was their opening position.

They stood and imagined the lights fading up and the audience staring at them, as the intro to the music began.

The dance was filled with all of Noah and Richelle's best moves, and around 20 seconds in, Noah was due to perform around 20 pirouettes, but he only did 10, falling out of them. His phone had made a sound to say he had a new message, and it had distracted him.

Richelle did her jete as planned and once landed assured him, "It's fine, it's only a rehearsal!" She was trying to become a little less serious, as she was starting to get a reputation for being stubborn and 100% about dance, when there were definitely other interests she had. She also kind of wanted to make friends this dance season, as she never really made any once she left J Troupe. There was only really Abi, but Noah's crush on her meant Richelle never really enjoyed third-wheeling and spending time with her.

The rest of the routine was pretty much flawless and while Noah gained huge amounts of height on his flips and jumps, Richelle nailed her illusions.

Noah's phone chimed for a second time, and he kept getting distracted by it. Richelle's head was fully in the game though and it was almost as though she couldn't hear it.

Richelle leapt across the space after Noah flipped into a new pose, and struck her own pose with precision, letting out a large exhale once she hit it, to which Noah shouted while still holding his pose, "YES GIRL!" She giggled and they continued, but then Noah's phone chimed yet again.

Richelle knew her lift with Noah was coming up so kept checking out the corner of her eye, that he hadn't got completely distracted and was in his space.
He was there, she was fine.
She made a mental note to tell him to turn it off for their next rehearsal.

She did a side aerial and then went into the final set of pirouettes that they were supposed to perform in unison, ignoring the fact that Noah's phone was now loudly ringing. She was slightly flattered though that the 'Bicicletta' duet they performed together at the last regionals, had meant that much to him, he had the song as his ringtone.