Take A Chance

Chapter One

James' POV

"It doesn't look like good news" Eldon said looking at Miss Kate pacing around her office on the phone to Emily presumably 
"Let's not worry until we have something to worry about" Michelle said trying to remain optimistic
"I think her injuring her knee on stage was enough to worry about" Hunter said making Michelle sigh, for once in his life he was right 

During our final performance at Regionals, Emily landed one of her jumps wrong causing damage to part of her knee. She's been trying to work on healing it faster but we were supposed to be preparing for Nationals for the last few weeks, but with no Emily? There is no Nationals for this team

"Here she comes" Thalia said grabbing everyone's attention to the office as we watched Miss Kate take a deep breath in before exiting to face us 
Honestly the look on her face alone was enough to know it wasn't going to be good news
I have had this gut instinct since it happened that this would be the end of the road 
And this is solidifying that 

"I'm sorry guys" Miss Kate said before almost everyone sunk their heads
This was the furthest A-Troupe had made it in years, but now it was almost like all that work was for nothing at all

"Emily's knee is severely damaged and there is a huge likeness that she may never dance again, let alone in a month or so for Nationals" She continued but I think she lost everyone attention at the first sentence
"That can't be the end can it?" Giselle asked
"Not necessarily, I spoke with Emily and she wants you all to find her replacement. But she wants a say too" Miss Kate said with a small chuckle
"In true Emily fashion" West laughed
"So we have the show case tonight. Go and watch it, anyone you think could be the replacement, write down there names and Emily will be here tomorrow to help you decide" She said almost restoring everyone's faith  

--

Personally, I'd never been to the showcase. There wasn't a specific reason behind it, it just had never been on my radar
"I don't know why but I didn't expect it to be this packed" Hunter said as we finally met the girls who got here early enough to save us some seats
"Have we missed anything?" Eldon asked but the girls shook their heads
"It's mainly been young kids at the moment" Michelle said

You can join The Next Step as early as 3 years old, but obviously we need someone our age for Nationals and A-Troupe in general. If Emily isn't returning then this person will have to be a full time replacement 

"Is that our Regional number?" West asked with a light laugh to his tone making us all look to the stage 

Sure enough it was our exact number with some extra additions like a lift sequence in the middle, one that Emily had actually mentioned but Miss Kate frowned on saying we didn't have enough time for it

"Why did that look better then ours?" Giselle asked making most of us shrug, but Eldon had a smirk on his face. One I hadn't even see and I'd known this boy since we were in baby ballet

"Because they have Emily's secret weapon" He chuckled grabbing all of our attention
"The smaller one who did all the lifts? That's Riley" He continued
"And Riley is?" Hunter asked
"Emily's little sister" Eldon said in a tone sounding like we should have already known this

"So Emily taught Riley the whole routine?" Michelle asked but Eldon shook his head
"If I know them like I think I do, Emily and Riley spent countless hours in the music room working on it together, Riley probably choreographed most of it" Eldon shrugged like it was no big deal

"If she is Emily's secret weapon, why isn't she just becoming Emily's replacement?" Hunter asked bringing up a very valid point

"Riley doesn't compete, a lot happened with it in the past so for her own well being she took the needed step back" He answered
"We're gonna need more then that" I said but Eldon shook his head
"It is not my story to tell and I am not going to betray either of them" He said, I won't lie.. That did earn a hell of a lot of respect from me but I can't help but want to know more

"Look she's back!" Giselle said making all of us look to the stage again

"Eldon, she needs to be Emily's replacement" Michelle said in a more authoritative tone
"She might need to be, but she won't be. Emily would never agree" Eldon said 

"There is only one way to find out" I answered making Eldon look at me slightly concerned