Flying (Fight Song Book 2)

Chapter 33: Semi-finals

24/1/2021 update for this chapter: I've only just realised that there's a huge chunk in between when they leave to go out and when they're performing on stage that I didn't write, which is tragic and so embarrassing. I'm going to finish the story because it's almost over and then I'll go back to this chapter to fill in the gap. Thankfully it wasn't that important, it was literally filler information but I was gonna include a cute moment and it linked the two parts together. Ugh. Tragic. I'll come back to this when I've finished though😭

Joe's PoV:
This is so exciting. Our semi-finals routine is bloody brilliant if I do say so myself. Our finals routine is better, but I know this one will get us to the finals. We're up against Cardiff Dance School, and they're good. EAD knocked them out in the semis last year, so now it's our turn. They're a tough troupe to beat, and their male soloist got 2nd place next to me. They used to reach the finals with us almost every year except for when they were against us in the semi-finals. Then the English Academy of Dance suddenly got better and it became a toss up of which one of them advanced. It's nearly always EAD now, though.

"Huddle up," Alesha gathers us round in the hotel lobby. We're not going onstage for another 8 hours, because it's only 11am and they like to show the semi-finals and the finals in the evening.

"We have huddled," Jack confirms, making the rest of us giggle.

"Thank you, Jack," Alesha smiles lightly. "Okay, so, we have eight hours to kill before we face Cardiff. Anyone got any ideas on what to do? I was thinking we could all grab lunch together then do a bit of shopping. Sound good?"

Everyone shrugs and agrees. It sounded like a decent way to waste time.

"I'm going to take us to the dressing rooms first where we can drop off our stuff and people can stay if they want to, because I know that Chloe and Bruno are staying behind anyway," Alesha announces. "So, you won't be alone. Also, I want you back at least two hours before we begin, because I'm not having any last minute panic. In fact, three hours before would be more ideal."

Everyone nods. None of us want to be late. We have the two point advantage from my solo still, but we ideally don't want to have to use that until the finals.

We all start to walk together over to the venue, chatting away happily.

"Today's gonna be great, I can feel it in my bones," I smile at Dianne.

She nods cheerfully in response. "I agree. I'm feeling on top of the world right now to be honest, like nothing can stop us from winning today then taking home that Nationals trophy tomorrow!"

"That's the attitude," I grin and pull her into a side hug. "Positive attracts positive."

"Exactly," she giggles. "Believe you've already won and you'll win."

I smile at her. I love how positive she is and how even when facing a huge competition like the semi-finals of Nationals she manages to keep her cool. She's awesome.

When we got to the venue, we all huddle into two lifts and go back up to our dressing room, which I'm really at this point going to refer to as a suite or a penthouse rather than a dressing room. We chuck our bags into the corner of the actual dressing area and greet Bruno. He's dressed like a disco ball today, with a silver sequinned blazer over jeans and a black t-shirt. I can see he's got a glittery white suit laid out for later though. I wonder what sort of magic he's got waiting for the final if this is just how he dresses for the semi-finals.

"Right, we're going for lunch first," Alesha says. "Chloe and Bruno, are you coming?"

"I'd prefer to not be walking about the city loads," Chloe admits. "So, I'm out."