HEARTBURST,, The Next Step

[2.23] better than this

Soon enough, the tapping of shoes could no longer be heard: instead, applause swarmed the room as the dancers whooped and cheered for their guests, showing just how much of an impression they had left on them.

After noting down the route James would probably be taking for his driving test, courtesy of a quick message from Deborah, Maxie strolled over to where Chloe, Thalia and Giselle were discussing the dancers, just in time to catch the end of Chloe's statement. "That's how clean we need to be if we're gonna win Nationals," She told them with a serious expression.

"To be honest, we'll need to be cleaner," Maxie announced out of nowhere, nearly giving Giselle a heart attack as she stepped beside her. "If you paid enough attention, they were a bit sloppy. Any Irish dancing judge worth their money would've deducted a fair few points, especially towards the end." She noted, before noticing the shocked looks on her friends' faces as to how she could've found any flaw in the dance they had just watched.

Backtracking slightly, the English girl gave a half-hearted cheer, "But, yay, together for Nationals!"

Giselle nodded, still in confusion as she quickly changed the subject, "Speaking of Nationals," She began, a small frown etching onto her lips, "Have any of you three talked to Michelle recently?"

"She's taking improv classes and she's on the debate team," Thalia muttered, concern riddled in her words.

Chloe rolled her eyes with a playful smile, deciding to look at the silver lining in Michelle's new hobbies, "She's just trying to fill up all her time."

"Yeah, exactly, which means she's doing everything she can to avoid dance," Giselle grinned enthusiastically, her hopes high.

‧₊˚✩

"Are you sure it complements my hair, though? I don't wanna walk around here looking like I've gone hat shopping blindfolded." Maxie asked the boy in front of her as she tried on what felt like the fiftieth hat that day.

Holding up his phone to take more pictures of Maxie in ridiculously sized hats, West chuckled. "Yeah, of course, it looks good on you, now would you pose one last time." He then squinted, acting as if he were a professional photographer whilst he got into multiple positions to get the 'perfect angle', making Maxie giggle at his enthusiasm.

Once the boy had snapped at least seven more shots of Maxie in various different hats, he reached up and grabbed a cowboy-style hat from the rack beside them. Turning the camera on his phone into selfie mode, West held it up to take one last picture of the two of them together, wearing matching hats to go with their matching grins.

Maxie seemed like she was about to say something else before somebody walked over, cutting their moment short. 

"Hey, guys." Amanda grinned, stopping beside them to indicate she was talking to West and Maxie.

"Oh, hey, Amanda." West gave her a half-hearted grin, trying his best to hide his disappointment at the fact she had interrupted them.

Maxie seemed to share an opposing attitude to their friend's arrival as she presented Amanda with a warm smile. "Hey, Amanda," She began, her grin growing further as she pointed towards her and West's hats, "How do you like the headwear?"

The brunette who had just approached them examined their hats before responding with a playful shake of the head. "I don't know, Max. I mean the grey one really suits you, but I'm not sure if this one really suits West." She muttered before leaning over and grabbing another hat.