[1X12]
I do not own any characters/plot from this show apart from my own!
{Michelle begins choreographing a new routine for Regionals in secret, but makes the mistake of asking one of the E-Girls to learn the dance.}
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❝All I know is that it won't be Emily. The chances of her joining our dance to overthrow herself? Very, very unlikely.❞
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In the juice bar, Riley, James, Maxie and Michelle were all sat around a table discussing how they were going to overthrow the current Dance Captain.
"We just need to show Kate and Chris that nobody really wants Emily and her bad choreography here any more," James explained to the girls.
"We need a new dance captain because the way that Emily's treating people is horrible and we're not gonna win Regionals with her choreography," Maxie said.
"I have an idea," the blonde told them, "I saw we re-choreograph the Regionals routine. Make it so good, make it better, include people's ideas."
Riley nodded, "Yeah, and then we can show it to Kate and she'll love it so much that she'll have to put you as Dance Captain.
"I'm down," Maxie grinned, "When do we start, then?"
"No time like the present," Michelle sighed.
Later on in the day, Maxie was sat in the same place in the juice bar with Chloe, Giselle, West and Daniel. She was currently wedged between the two boys chatting about whatever was on TV.
"I don't mean to take Emily's side or anything," Daniel spoke up, "But I don't really understand why you've been so distracted lately. It really takes away from the group."
At hearing that, Maxie's head perked up, looking to Chloe to make sure she'll be able to stand her ground.
"I'm concerned for Chloe, I mean, there is only so long she can go on for before she can't keep her job a secret any more," the girl sighed.
Chloe continued, "I don't want them to know about my job so I just change the subject."
Chloe nervously stirred her juice before looking to the girl next to her, "Uh, Giselle, don't you have a rehearsal to be at or something? Don't you have to go?"
Giselle looked a bit confused before getting up to leave, "Oh, yeah, I should probably go. Bye, guys. See you later," she said, hugging Maxie before leaving.
"I don't know why Chloe is dodging my questions," Daniel told the camera, "What is she trying to hide?"
While making her way to the exit, Giselle runs into Emily, who embraces her tightly, "Hey, how are you?"
"Good," she responds before walking off, sending a small smile over her shoulder.
The blonde cautiously approaches the four at the table, plastering on her best fake smile.
"Here comes Princess Dance Captain," Maxie mumbled to West upon noticing the girl, causing him to chuckle.
"Chloe?" she asks, walking over to where she was sat.
Turning, the girl answers, "Yeah?"
"Can I talk to you for a second?" she questioned, holding out her hand for Chloe to take.
"Um, sure."
She helped the girl up from the chair, before continuing, "I just came to apologize," Emily said, causing both Daniel and Maxie to choke on their drinks, and West to furrow his brows.
"I can't believe Emily is apologizing to Chloe," the boy says, "She never apologizes to anybody. "
"What I did was really unprofessional and... And mean. I-I'm sorry," she told her, "You're... you're part of A-Troupe and you're an amazing dancer and you're meant to be in A-Troupe. You're also an E Girl," the Dance Captain says, causing Chloe to smile back at her.
"Really?" she beamed.
Emily squeezed her hands, "Yeah."
"I accept Emily's apology because it takes a lot of guts to get up in front of everyone and admit that she's sorry," Chloe smiled.
Scoffing, Emily glared at the camera, "I don't mean that apology. I'm apologizing to keep my role as Dance Captain, which means the world to me."
"E-Girls for life?" she asked, offering her the handshake symbol.
"E-Girls!" she cheered, reciprocating the gesture and then hugging the girl.
"I mean, I'm pretending, like, I'm caring about her, and she's totally buying it."
Over in Studio B, Maxie walks into the room to watch what the other three had for the dance so far. Addicted 2 U was playing as Michelle, James and Riley walked through the routine, showing it to the girl so she could see how far they had progressed.
"I'm choreographing a new dance to get rid of Emily," Michelle stated.
James continued, "Well when Michelle brought up the thought of me and Max using hip-hop, I loved it. It was right on for the both of us. We obviously love adding that swag and I love the fact that she's so chill about everything."
Maxie grinned, "It feels super good that I can finally incorporate the dance moves I spent so long perfecting and I absolutely love Michelle's routine, it's just super unique. Oh my gosh. Wait, it's like, that movie. Um. About the song... Pitch perfect, yeah, yeah we're the Beca Mitchells of the dance world," she gave a dopey smile.
"We're all putting in our own inputs so it's turning out great because we all have a say in it," Riley explained, "It's so new and fresh and different, like, even better than I expected it would be."
Most of the dancers are gathered in Studio A when Chris walks in.
"Where is Riley, Maxie, James and Michelle?" he questions them, trying to scan the room for the dancers.
Eldon spoke up from opposite him, "Oh, I thought I saw them in Studio B."
"Studio B? You sure?"
"Yeah."
Chris begins to head out of the Studio, but not before giving the dancers a look, "Okay, I'll be back. Keep warming up, guys."
Emily looks irritated as she speaks, "When I hear that my four best dancers aren't in the studio, I'm kind of curious. What are they doing?"
The four dancers in the studio were working hard on their own routine, dancing and performing to the best standard for the music.
All of a sudden, the door swings open and Chris saunters in, "Riley, James, Michelle, and Max."
"When Chris walks into the studio, I think we're all busted," Michelle says.
Riley looks nervous as she continues, "My heart kind of skips a beat a little."
"Studio A is where rehearsal is," the man sighs, giving them the benefit of the doubt.
The four of them tried to play it off lightly, "Oh! It's supposed to be in Studio A," James chuckles anxiously.
"Ohhh, we were wondering where everyone was," Maxie stated with wide eyes, trying to avoid Chris' gaze.
"You know, we covered it up good," the girl smirked, winking at the camera, "Just pretended that we were waiting for him."
"No worries," Chris told them, "Come on, hurry up! Go, go, go, leave," he ushered them as the four dancers jogged speedily out of the studio to dodge any further questions.
Riley exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding in, "I feel relieved now that we haven't been caught. He doesn't know, so, thank goodness, we're fine."
As the speed-walked over to the next studio, Maxie nudged her brunette friend lightly in the ribs, "See? Dunno what you're so paranoid for, we're bloody professionals," she smirked, whilst Riley just shook her head and rolled her eyes playfully.
They cautiously walked into the dance studio, trying not to draw attention to themselves, however, Emily had other ideas, "Welcome to class! Thanks for joining us!" she exclaimed sarcastically, making the Brit pull a face right back at her.
Ignoring Maxie's childish looks, the blonde dropped her high-pitched tone, "It actually started five minutes ago. Let's get in our first positions, everyone."
"Guys," Chris called from the front, "100%! You ready?"
ADDICTED 2 U BEGAN PLAYING
The dancers started the routine, performing Emily's choreography to the music.
Smiling, Stephanie spoke, "I love Emily's choreography. ALways. No matter what it is, she's brilliant and she always makes us look good."
"I mean, it's great and everything. Don't get me wrong," Riley confessed, "It's very energetic, but I don't know, I want something more. I want something more fun, more groovy."
"It's really just showcasing her, you know," West stated, "It's not really incorporating anybody else's strengths or ideas. "
Maxie scoffed, "I mean the only way we'd actually win regionals with this is if the judges were half blind. No offence."
"We're rehearsing Addicted 2 u right now and Emily's choreography is great," Eldon nodded, "It's not really that challenging 'cause I'm kind of used to the way she choreographs now. It's... I don't know, but it's good."
Daniel grumbled, "I think she needs to bring in some new ideas and we all have great ideas in the group and she really doesn't consider any of them. It's Emily's way or no way."
"Emily's routine, I really don't like," James admitted, "It's too choppy and too bland."
Emily huffed, "Riley, Maxie, James and Michelle seem particularly lazy. It just seems like people aren't committed."
The four of them were back in the smaller studio practising their newly created routine once again.
"As soon as we're done with Emily's rehearsal," James starts, "we're back in Studio B working on Michelle's routine."
"One, two, three, four..." Michelle begins as she and Riley begin their spin section.
Maxie lands a flip in the front when she turns to James, "You can't go too far back there."
"Right, right, right. I'll turn around and come right back to that," he begins, showing the girls the move he wanted to do.
Right then, West walks into the studio, "Yo, James, Maxie," he nods.
"'Sup."
"Yo, waddup, man?"
"I come into B Studio because this is where I keep my extra socks," West pointed out, nodding towards the camera, "and then I get suspicious because I see Riley, James, Michelle and Maxie rehearsing something."
The boy furrowed his brows as he asked, "What are you guys doing in B Studio?"
The other four looked between themselves; lost for words at what on earth they were going to do now.
"Should we invite him to the dance or not?" Michelle pondered.
After a minute or so of them just speaking with their eyes, Maxie and Michelle nod in agreement and turn back to the boy in front of them.
"Uh..." the brunette began.
James finished her sentence, "We've kind of got something to show you, man."
"All right. So show me."
The group are currently showing West their version of Emily's Regionals routine in hopes that he'll join them and help them with their mission to replace the current Dance Captain.
"We've been forced to show West our dance and tell him what's up," James sighed, "I just hope it works out."
Maxie smiled, "I trust West. I know how much he doesn't like Emily's current dance, so if he doesn't want to help us, I at least know that he'd keep the secret."
When they had finished, the four of them turned to their friend, wanting to get his approval.
"That's all we have so far," Michelle pointed out, a hopeful grin on her face, "What do you think?"
"Let me get this straight," West begins, "You guys made this new routine to show to Kate to overthrow Emily so that Michelle can become Dance Captain?" he confirmed, "Is that right? Am I right?"
"That's right," the blonde nodded, not too sure on how his reaction was going so far.
West nodded, "Really? That's what you bright lights worked out?"
James looked concerned as he uttered, "I am a little bit worried as I wait for his reaction."
"We literally, like, just put it together not too long ago and, like, it was kind of messy, so I didn't know if he was going to be like, 'This is a joke' and then go tell Emily or something," Riley panicked.
"If West doesn't like the dance, it could be all over for us," Michelle murmured.
Maxie rolled her eyes and sighed, "I have no patience for this whatsoever, I mean, will he just answer already."
After what felt like hours, West smiled, "Love it!" he sang, making everyone exhale in relief, "But you know what? I've got some good ideas. I mean, why don't we, you know, we just add a little bit of..." he trailed, demonstrating his moves, "You know, some..."
"Oh my god, yeah, that fits super well," Maxie stated, joining in with his tutting.
Michelle looked to Riley and James, "You guys are going to have to teach us that."
"No problem, man. All right."
"I am loving West and Max's moves," Michelle concluded, "Those two being in the routine is probably one of the best things that have happened so far," she winked.
West continued, "I love the fact that Michelle lets me incorporate my own style and I definitely think Michelle will make a better Dance Captain."
Later on during the day, James, Riley and Michelle were sat with juices in the studio talking about how well West's style is in the dance and how well it mixes with Maxie's as well, when they heard someone do their signature knock on the door to Studio B.
Riley smiles as she begins to explain, "All right, so we have this secret knock..."
James begins knocking the tune as he sings lyrics, "I'm so addicted to you, to you, to you."
"Just so that we know who's coming in," Riley finishes.
"Come in," Michelle called out.
Mere seconds later, West and Maxie skittishly come through the door and face the trio on the floor.
"Guys!" West exclaimed, looking excitedly from Max, to the door, and back.
Maxie smiled sheepishly, "We... uh, kind of did something."
"What?" the group questions the pair, growing increasingly nervous by the second.
"We... told somebody about the dance," the boy admitted, causing the others to burden the two with questions, such as 'Who', 'What, and 'Why'.
"I'm really nervous," Michelle stuttered, "Um, I don't know who Max and West told and this is getting out of hand."
The answer to all their questions came when Daniel walked through the door and smirked at the sight of their shocked and nervous faces.
"I come into Studio B because... I know that they're working on a dance. That's huge so I really want to make sure that everyone's up for it and they know what they're getting into," Daniel pointed out.
As the three of them stood up, Daniel began to question the group's motives, "Riley, Emily's your sister. It's going to be war," he cautioned.
"Is dance more important than my sister?"
"Yeah, but my sister does not deserve to be Dance Captain. She's not..." the girl trailed off, "She's tearing us apart more than she's bringing us together."
"If I'm going to join," Daniel begun, "I have one condition."
"What is it?" Michelle pressed.
"I get to keep my solo."
The five of them scoffed playfully, agreeing to his terms, and breathing sighs of relief knowing that he was on board with their plan.
"I think it's great that Daniel's joining our dance," Maxie chuckled, "I mean, he's just gonna take it to that next level that we need."
Michelle grinned, "Having Daniel join the routine is awesome, you know. Between his technique, West's style and Maxie's ability to adapt to each type of dance, you know, I think we're going to have some great moves."
The six of them were sat on some chairs in the corner of the Studio, whilst Daniel begins to tell them one of his stories, "Last night I was watching a video on YouTube and it was this guy, and he was doing 24 different accents."
"Yeah, I've seen that," James says.
West seemed very intrigued as he asked, "Is he good?"
"Yeah, he's so good," Daniel responds
"We're sitting around, um, talking and doing funny accents," the boy explains.
"Because we don't want to deal with what we have to deal with," Maxie continues.
James added, "Which is who should be added into the group next?"
Riley tries her hardest to put on a British accent, much to Maxie's dismay, "'Allo, 'Allo! Crumpets and tea" she tried.
"Oh my god, shut up that was terrible," Maxie laughed along with the rest of them, "and also, I absolutely despise crumpets."
"What, why?" Michelle asked, furrowing her brows.
James' eyes widened, "Max hasn't told you about the crumpet priest incident?" he asked, making everyone gawk.
"The crumpet priest incident?" Daniel questioned the girl, on the verge of tears from laughter.
Maxie faked a serious tone as she folded her arms, "You know what, if none of you are going to take it seriously, you don't deserve to hear the story," she huffed, much to the group's protests, however, they fell on deaf ears, causing Michelle changed the subject.
"Guys, this would be so much better with more people," the blonde proclaimed.
"We need at least one more person to make the dance work," Riley stated, "I'm just not too sure who it could be."
Michelle looked optimistic as she spoke, "I think it would be great for Eldon to join the routine, but you know, I don't think he'd ever turn on Emily like that."
Riley agreed, "We'd be able to do partnering while Daniel does his solo and stuff."
"Yeah, exactly it would make it look better," Max backed her up.
"Not Emily, Stephanie..." Maxie began.
"Maybe Chloe," James continued.
"Even if we just added one more," Michelle confirmed.
"Yeah, like one more," the group began to agree.
West began to explain his theory, "All I know is that it won't be Emily. The chances of her joining our dance to overthrow herself? Very, very unlikely."
Suddenly, Michelle's face paled and she turned to the group, "Guys, we're missing rehearsal."
The six of them quickly proceed into Studio A, hoping that they're not noticed, just in time for them to hear, "Where the heck is everybody?"
"I'm not sure, but I think something is going on," Emily says with a suspicious look, "I'll play it cool now, but I'm keeping my eye on them."
"Let's take it from the ball change step. Here we go."
As the dancers mark the routine, Chloe steps off to the side to talk to Chris.
"Could I ask you something?" she questions him.
"Hit me," he says.
"I've been practising a new move."
"Okay. New move?"
"Yeah. I think that we should put it in Emily's routine."
"I want to show Chris my new move because I want to show him and everyone else in A-Troupe that I am dedicated to the troupe," Chloe explains.
She begins to demonstrate, "So you know that ball change kick, right?"
"Yup."
"I'm thinking maybe one, two, up," she begins to perform her move, "instead of, you know, just a regular old kick."
"You know, that's a great idea," Chris tells her.
Emily was walking over to the two, curiosity taking over, "Sorry, I just couldn't help overhearing. As the Dance Captain, just because it's my dance, maybe could I see it?"
"When Emily approached me, I get really nervous because I know how Emily is, and she's really judgemental," Chloe mumbles.
"We should do this. Up," Chloe says, showing the move again to the blonde.
Emily twirls her hair around her finger, whilst the rest of the troupe watch from the side, "That's really pretty and looks great on you, but put it in one of your routines, not one of my routines."
"All right."
"Okay."
The girl furrowed her brows, a hurt expression etching onto her face, "I thought that once Emily apologized to me, that it would be a start to a whole new friendship, but now I realize that maybe things are never gonna change."
"All right, everybody, let's take it from the ball change kick again."
"Right now is the time to approach Chloe because I'm assuming that she feels really horrible about the way that Emily's treating her," Michelle theorized, "So why not allow her to become part of a dance where she can include her own ideas."
As everyone gets to their start positions, Michelle walks over to Chloe, "Hey, Chloe?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I talk to you in Studio B later? It's really important," she whispers.
"Sure," the girl nods back, confusedly.
"But you can't tell anyone. It's secret."
"All right."
The time had come to show Chloe the routine and everyone was performing the dance for her with smiles on their faces, assuming that she would be 100% in on it after the way Emily had treated her earlier on.
"When I'm watching the new dance, it's awesome," Chloe admitted, "There's some of every person's style of dance in the group. It looks like a lot of fun and nothing like we do with Emily."
When the dance finished, Chloe applauded along with the rest of the group, an impressed smile gracing her face.
"So what do you think?" Daniel asked her.
"It's amazing!" she told them.
"Yeah?"
She continued, "It's so good. But what's it for?" she asked, causing the rest of them to look over to Michelle.
Shaking her head, Riley cautiously said, "I don't know. I still don't think we can trust Chloe with this."
"It's for regionals," Michelle told her.
Chloe did a double-take, "I'm sorry, what? Does Emily know about this?"
"Nope," Maxie grinned, not realising Chloe was having a very negative reaction, causing her an elbow to the ribs from Riley.
West cut in, "And we'd like to keep it that way."
"I'm already on pretty bad terms with Emily, so joining this dance and being a part of this group is probably a really bad idea," the girl said.
"Guys, do you know how mad Emily would be if she found out you were doing a dance behind her back?" the girl frustratedly exclaimed, "Do you?"
Riley scoffed, "I knew this was... It was too early to tell Chloe."
"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested. And if you guys knew what was good for you, you wouldn't even be doing this right now," Chloe told them, backing out of the room.
Maxie looks concerned, "We could have just ruined everything by telling her."
A/N
Heyyyy! I haven't updated in a few good days, but here I am :)
This chapter is an absolute shambles because I had big-time writers block trying to get it done.
Also, in other news, I've just published the first five chapters to my new book, it's a fanfic about ATLA so if you like the show, then feel free to read it!
Thank you so much for 1K reads, too, like that's mad broskis.
Stay safe <3