The Project

33

Riley

It's been a while since I felt like I'm able to dance my emotions. Over the years, I could have used the escape that is dance but I was so set on not dancing again I took that away from myself
But now, nothing is stopping me

Everyone else should be arriving from school any minute but I couldn't help but sneak into the Music Room to just mess around
I didn't expect it to amount to much but the routine wasn't half bad

"Woah" A Voice said coming into the Music Room, I looked up to see Michelle stood there clapping
"Hey" I smiled getting off the floor to join her
"You know Riley, you have a lot of talent you are hindering" She chuckled making me look at her confused
"I think you should audition for the National Solo" She said only making me more confused

"I thought you already where the Soloist?" I asked and she nodded
"But I never had anyone to challenge me so it was just handed to me but you Riley, you have the potential to give us that advantage" She said and I shook my head
"no no I can't take that away from you Michelle" I said making her chuckle throwing her arm over my shoulder

"Oh honey, you are challenging me. That doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you" She smirked making me chuckle as we walked into Studio A

"Alright, now we are here I want us to work on the semi-" Miss Kate started before Michelle cut her off
"Actually Miss Kate, we have a challenge" She said making Miss Kate and the rest of the team look at us confused
"What are you on about Michelle?" West asked
"Riley is challenging me for my National Solo" Michelle said making a few gasps leave peoples lips
"Who does she think she is" Beth muttered making me roll my eyes

"For context. I didn't challenge, she sort of challenge herself using me?" I said only confusing myself even more making everyone chuckle
I looked up at James as he had his arm wrapped around me smiling down at me
"I think this will be interesting" He smiled
"I think it's about to be a show down" West laughed 

"Okay a Challenge it is" Miss Kate said
"Well Michelle you know the rules but Riley, you have 1 hour to choreography a piece completely on your own. You can practice in the Music Room, Michelle you'll be in Studio B" Miss Kate said looking between us
"As for the rest of you, we'll work on the routine. Hayden and Beth you can sub in" She continued
"I have to be a girlll" Hayden teased making us all laugh before we all separated 

--

James

The girls have had their hour and I'm on my way to meet Riley while we all have our usual break
As soon as I walked into the room, I could see a breathless Riley bent over head in her hands before taking a big gulp of her water
"Someone's been working hard" I said making her head snap up with a gentle smile on her lips

"Hey" She smiled coming over to me
I chuckled pressing me lips gently against hers before we pulled away
"How are you doing today?" I asked, we hadn't had much time to talk since I left for school
"I'm okay" She said
"Okay okay or Riley okay?" I asked making her laugh
"Okay okay" she said nudging me

"Thank you for your letters, they were incredibly sweet" she smiled
"But it now explains why I randomly had pen on my shoulder when I woke up this morning" she smirked making me chuckle
"You are more then welcome. There are plenty more to come. We started in Letters and we'll continue to thrive through them" I said winking at her only making her smile more

For the first time, I'm pretty certain this smiles are legit
Riley is okay