HEARTBURST,, The Next Step

[3.11] sweet spot

  Maxie chuckled lightly, "I mean, I don't know if it'll live up to the double West duet going on, but I can give it my best shot."

  "I'm actually really looking forward to doing this duet with West," The girl smiled innocently, fiddling with the necklace he'd gifted her a few weeks ago, "We haven't really done an official duet as boyfriend and girlfriend, and, if it came down to it, doing one at Internationals together would be such an amazing experience."

  As the group slowly began to disperse, West turned to Maxie with a smile, "So, you wanna get this thing done after rehearsal? We could book out the studio, maybe get a couple of hours in, take breaks down in Hidalgos if you want," He added with a grin, eliciting a chuckle from Maxie.

  Just as the girl was about to respond, a pair of voices from beside her caught Max off-guard.

  "So, since James has band practice 'till three, I can give you a tour of the city after rehearsal's over, if you want," Riley explained to the girl beside her, spiking Maxie's interest further as her eyes landed on her old best friend.

  "Yeah, that'd be great, Riles," Ella grinned, in an almost over-exaggerated manner as she moved over to link arms with her apparent new friend. The closeness of the two sparked some unknown emotion in Maxie that she hadn't felt before, or, at least, not in a long time; she had no idea how to react to it.

  Stepping closer to the pair, she cleared her throat, trying to get both of their attention, "I thought I was showing you 'round the city today, El? We spoke about this last night."

  Ella shrugged, hardly throwing Maxie a second glance as she smiled at Riley, "Yeah, well, it seems you're a bit preoccupied now, with that duet of yours, so Riley kindly agreed to step in. I would've been shown the same things, anyway, doesn't matter who shows me around, does it?"

  "Guess not," Max felt her heart sink in her chest at the sight of what once was her best friend slowly caring less and less — it may have seemed dramatic to think that way, but for Maxie, her mind wouldn't let it go. She'd overthink about it for hours, even if the small interaction only played on Ella's mind for a few moments or less.

  The girls were pulled away from their conversation by the arrival of a familiar dancer, walking back into the studio with a sheepish smile on her face. "Hey, guys," Michelle grinned, eliciting an echo of friendly greetings from the troupe, who hadn't seen her in a few days since helping her mum move back down to Madison.

  "So, you're here now," West spoke up, his attention now on the situation at hand rather than whatever was going on between Max and Ella, "But are you staying or are you going back to Madison?"

  The answer looked like it was fighting to make its way past the blonde's lips and a smile struggled to form whilst the silence of the room lingered within the pause. "I've decided to say here," She beamed, causing the others, bar Ella, who'd never met the girl, to cheer, rushing forward to envelop her in a group hug all of them had long awaited. 

  Ultimately, Michelle's heart was with The Next Step, no matter what had been going on in her home life, she felt she had to be there for the team — they couldn't be happier with her decision.

‧₊˚✩

  It had been three hours since rehearsal had ended and Maxie and West had begun running through their duet: for the most part, things had been running smoothly, with one or two disagreements on the moves cracking through the hard-working exterior, the two had agreed to get themselves a juice and a snack to take a break and rekindle whatever it was that had got their connection flowing through the dance initially.