unknown // thenextstep

unknown 12 // Not A Sorry

unknown pov

I'd heard about what happened. She'd ended up in hospital after passing out. Maybe if I found a way to really push her.. maybe she'd finally have the heart to leave. And about Richelle.. I'll have to keep trying.

---

Summer was stood in the girls bathroom. She had taken off the bandage and observed the cut on her arm. She'd self harmed. And Emily was the only person who knew about it. Of course, her mother had been informed and she wasn't taking it lightly. After rehearsal, she had therapy with a therapist Emily had suggested. Everything about this had pushed her over the edge.

Amy, Jacquie, Noah.. all of them. And the person who seems to be blackmailing everyone. She fixed her hair into a ponytail before picking up her bag and making her way back to the studio. It was time for the next rehearsal of the hip hop dance. It was a dance that hadn't been too focused on and they needed to perfect it in time.

She noticed Richelle, Finn, Henry and Jacquie were already waiting. Noah was in the office talking to Emily. Summer put her bag in her cubby and took off her hoodie before making her way over to the other dancers. They all smiled at her and gave a warm welcome. Hugs here and there as they warmed up for the choreography.

"Summer, I have an extra ticket to a show of P!ATD in a few weeks.. if you'd like to go with me..?"

"I'd love to, Richelle. Really."

She grinned and continued warming up. Somehow.. Summer felt happier than usual. That might just be being around her friends. They were all around, well, minus Jacquie. They weren't really friends. More of just friendly allies. Henry is a fellow dancer. But Richelle and Finn are two of her closest friends.

Once they'd all warmed up, Noah still wasn't out. So everyone voted Richelle to lead the dance. And that's what she did. She pressed play on the remote to the speakers and they began to mark the choreography. Obviously, they had to imagine Noah where he was supposed to be as they worked. But it was a great dance and got cleaner with every rehearsal.

Noah, meanwhile, noticed the others working without him. "Emily, I'm sorry, okay. I don't know how these things get around." The studio head sighed. She was extremely disappointed with her trusty dance captain. His reputation was getting worse due to these anonymous emails purposely aimed to destroy him and put Summer off. Put everyone off.

He made his way back out as they finished the first run through. They all paused as they were back in first positions, ready to go over the dance again. Richelle made room for him to take over the leading of the dance. "From the top." He demanded bluntly. The others, both confused and unamused by his sudden anger, ran through the dance to the music as he did. Only, he was much more aggressive. Everybody could notice it. And it wasn't exactly helpful with the flow they were going for.

Summer felt she had to say something. "Stop." She said, turning the music off. "Summer, we need to rehearse this." Noah folded his arms and stared at the brunette. She mirrored his body language with a raised eyebrow. "Well you need to stop with the attitude. That's not one of a dance captain. You're being angry and it's not giving everyone positive vibes. Calm down and we'll start from the top." He barely blinked, not moving a muscle. Everyone else was shocked by her sudden outburst but the girl wasn't wrong. He was taking this a bit far.

"You think you can tell me how to do my job?" He growled.

She stepped towards him and shot him a glare. "Yes, because unlike you I am putting my all into this dance. You, however, are not. It's off putting and we can't focus. So get your act together and let's get this done." The dance captain, taken back by her bold statements, turned around and demanded it from the top with a 'better' attitude.

Emily had watched it happen but she didn't stop it. This was something that needed to happen for them to be civil. She'd only step in if it went any further. But aside from all that, the dance was looking great. And that's all she wanted. A perfect routine that was competition ready.

But this tension was distracting the team. Especially with the last few events that had held up their practise of the dances. So these next few weeks they were working harder than ever to prepare for what they were about to face. And what could possibly change TNS forever. Summer was having a hard time and she wanted her star dancer to be in shape for competition. At least this proved she hadn't lost herself. Noah was, in fact, not himself.

Nobody really took him seriously anymore. Because he just seemed like a complete jackass to everyone around him. His 'positive vibes' were overdrawn by negative ones. Those that made it a nightmare to even dance with him without something getting in the way. Him and Summer were supposed to be doing the duet as well. That meant that they had to work together somehow. Or else the duet would be taken away from them and given to two other dancers. Neither wanted that.