HEARTBURST,, The Next Step

[1.7] love story

Maxie looked concerned as she spoke, "Right so, um, since they drove off without her, how is Michelle gonna get back?" 

After ten to fifteen minutes, Kate and Chris round the group back into a circle in the studio. "Okay, dancers, listen up," Kate spoke, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.

Once she had everyone's attention, she continued, "We're going to do something different this week, okay? We're going to do duets. We all need to work on working together more, listening to each other, collaborating..." her speech is cut short, however, by Chris.

"Sorry, Kate," he chimes in, "Do you guys know where Michelle is?"

The dancers look to one another, tension quickly filling the air in the studio, as they all wait in anticipation as to who would tell the truth to the adults in front of them.

"It's odd that Micelle's not here. Something suspicious is going on," Chris says. 

After what felt like hours, Emily spoke up, "No, I haven't seen her. Anyone?" she asks, playing clueless.

"Really?"

"I do know where Michelle is. She's over at the Elite studio," Daniel explains.

Chloe continues, "And from what I know, she got caught."

"We're so in trouble. You have no idea," James complains.

Emily shrugged, "She's late, though."

"Hm,"

"Interesting,"

From what the dancers could tell, Kate and Chris were 100% not convinced.

Maxie fiddles with her red string, "I know for a fact that I would never lie to Miss Kate, she's honestly been so nice to me since the transition to the US. So, I'm trying to avoid eye contact, hopefully meaning it'll avoid me having to answer any questions," 

Changing the subject, Kate begins to continue with her initial point, "Anyway, as I was saying, duets. We need you all to pair off, okay? But, because there's an odd number of us, one of you guys will be a trio, alright? So, choose your own partner, create a duet, or trio, work together, listen to each other."

"Lately in our studio, things have been a bit divided and we haven't been working as a team," Kate explains. "Duets are so important 'cause it teaches you to lean on your duet partner." 

Finishing up, she asks, "Cool? Questions? No? Ok. Get started. Let's go, come on."

As the group began to pair off, Riley going with James, Maxie going with West, Stephanie, Tiffany and Daniel becoming a trio, Eldon decides to approach his long-time crush.

"Hey, Emily, uh, do you want to be my duet partner?" he pours his words out in a quick motion in order to stop anyone interrupting him.

Emily looks exasperated as she talks, "I don't even know what to say to him. This is probably the thousand and thirty-first time I've turned him down. If I have to do it one more time, I might just kick myself."

She scowls at the boy, "No."

"It's kind of like the same feeling as always when Emily turns me down," Eldon speaks to the camera, a bit let down, "I mean, it's kind of comforting to know that nothing's changed, but hopefully one day she'll actually say yes."