Following her outburst, Richelle is eager to get back to business and resume her role on the team. Only problem is, TNS East doesn't feel like her home anymore and she thinks it's time for a change.
4 days after Noah had watched TNS West's rehearsal, TNS East's Friday rehearsal had ended. As soon as Emily had dismissed them all for the day, Jacquie had grabbed a water bottle and headed for the locker room. She hadn't even said goodbye to anyone! No one had seemed to care but as Zara was one of Jacquie's close friends, she was a bit concerned.
Now that it was only Zara and Josh in the studio, as everyone else had left, Zara decided to vent her worries. She went over to him, even though she thought he seemed to be avoiding her. "Hey, Josh?"
Josh was stretching out his neck, "Yeah?"
Zara knew Josh would help her sort out her thoughts out, "I'm a little worried about Jacquie, has she spoke to you recently?"
Josh rolled his shoulders a few times, then sighed. He really didn't care about whether Jacquie was okay or not. "Zara, why do you care? Even if she's not okay... It's what she deserves."
Zara frowned as Josh lunged and stretched out his legs carelessly, as though he hadn't just basically said Jacquie wasn't worth their time. Zara shifted how she was stood and wondered how she was supposed to respond to this. Did everyone think the same as Josh? She carried on talking about Jacquie, ignoring the comment, "Do you really think she's taking things too far?"
"Yes!" Josh told her immediately, and stood up, facing her. He actually looked a little scary when he was frustrated. Zara gulped and Josh sighed, "And if you insist on being friends with her still... I can't be friends with you."
Zara felt her stomach twist a little at the prospects of not being Josh's friend, but she had known Jacquie slightly longer, so maybe it wasn't so bad? Jacquie had told her girls and boys shouldn't be friends and as Zara compared both Josh and Jacquie, she realised that Jacquie's drive, ambition and determination, was positively contagious for her. Josh was laid back, and although this was what initially made her like him, it wasn't great for her to follow his example. Zara looked at the ground, making her decision. "Well then I guess we're not friends..."
Josh didn't want to take back his statement just because Zara now looked sad and he knew he had hurt her feelings a little bit. He just hoped she would see Jacquie's true colours soon and see he was doing this for a good reason. "Alright... See you later..."
Zara looked at him, almost pleadingly, not to let their friendship go so easily, even though she thought this might be a good thing. Josh knew this would give her a reality check though, and looked confident with his decision.
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In Neutral Grounds, Noah had already got his usual table after leaving rehearsal pretty much as soon as it happened. He didn't want to be late. He knew Richelle hated people being late.
He also knew Jacquie would hate this though, and although he was keeping his head down and trying not to attract attention, he did keep checking out the corner of his eye to see if anyone was watching him.
