Something To Dance For

Chapter 15 - Pon De Floor

In Round 2, the heat was on. Each crew were getting fiercer and fiercer and Tina was constantly asking Maria questions to help ease her doubt.

'Besides 718, uh, who else we gotta look out for?' she asked.

Maria shrugged, 'It's hard to say. I mean, some of the best crews from last year will be back. It's not for the week.'

At the end of Round 2, Beat Freaks were voted off, leaving the HD's in the clear once more.

When Round 3 was up, the HD's had a lot of extra confidence, and did their performance amazingly, earning them full points from the judges. That week, Quest were voted off, bossing the HD's confidence tenfold.

'We're gonna need your toughness, Tina,' Maria said to her a few days later.

'You mean that?' she asked.

Maria smiled, 'Would I give you a compliment if I didn't mean it?'

Tina smiled shyly before Ricky and Brandon started to "aww" and push her playfully.

'Okay! Alright!' she said, laughing as she tried pushing them away.

A few days before Round 4, Maria was lecturing them again. It seemed to be a way of easing her stress lately.

'You guys, come on. You gotta loosen up. The other crews will smell the fear on you. Especially the 718.'

When it came to Round 4, the guys outfits consisted of bright t-shirts and jeans, while the girls wore bright loose cropped tops and denim shorts. At the end of the round Super Crew, were voted off, leaving the HD Crew and Strikers All-Stars going against each other for the semi-finals.

'Join us next week because you don't wanna miss the semi-finals of Dance Battle Zone.'

...

A few days later, they were all sat on the floor of the dance studio, taking a break as Jess and Maria shared their stories of how they got hooked up with Luis. Jess was first.

'I had just finished school, and I didn't really know what to do. I mean, when your dream is dancing and you live in Britain, you're screwed. That's why I wanted to come here. Britain doesn't really have that much of a dance scene, and maybe that's why my mum didn't like it. I dunno...'

Ricky put his hand on top of hers, 'So, when did you meet Luis?'

She sighed, 'I saw they were touring over there, and I still hoped I was gonna get noticed, so I needed all the skills I could get. I managed to get myself a backstage pass to the show to meet them and... well, I told Luis I was a dancer and he asked me to show me some moves. After that, I basically became on of the crew.'

'So what changed your mind?' Tina asked.

'I, uh... I was told by Luis to help him steal stuff from a jewellery store. I refused to o it, and... he hit me.'

Everyone gasped.

'He didn't, did he?' Carla asked, her mouth agape in shock.

Jess looked down and nodded.

Lyric tilted her head, 'And what'd you do after that?'

She laughed slightly, 'Well, I headed back home. But, of course I still had a dream of being a dancer, so I told my mum that the 718 had another tour over in America, and could she fund me to go over there.'

Brandon laughed slightly, 'You mean you lied to get over here?'

She smiled and nodded.

Darnell frowned, 'Wait, wouldn't she have said something about Luis hitting you?'