This took so much longer than I expected because I kept getting distracted by my dance playlist and ended up dancing instead of writing :)
~~~
Natasha
Natasha sighed as she stood in front of her full length mirror and tugged her jersey over her head. Mondays weren't her favourite, especially not at the start of the new school year, but she had more responsibilities now. A takeaway cup of coffee perched on the edge of her dresser and she took a sip, desperately wishing for the caffeine to kick in soon.
The black and turquoise football jersey was her favourite item of clothing. Flirting with the captain of the football team for long enough to get her own personalised one sure was worth it, even if it meant putting up with guys. Safe to say her move of dumping Steve the moment she got her jersey was a powerful one at that, and only inflated her terrifying reputation.
Her laptop sat open on her desk, this semester's rehearsal schedule on her tab. It was jam packed, but they had no room for slackers. If someone didn't want to show up or put in the work, Natasha would have no problem replacing them in an instant. Getting onto the P.O dance team was no mean feat.
"Hey, we gotta go. You ready?" Maria poked her head around the door, backpack slung over her shoulder. Their decision to get a house just off campus was definitely for the best, giving each of the six girls in there some privacy that just wouldn't come with being in dorms. Everyone was on the dance team anyway, so it made rehearsals easier too.
"Yeah, I'll be right there," Natasha answered, brushing some lint from her chest and grabbing the rest of her supplies. She checked the time on her phone and quickly swiped up into her messages, thumb hovering over Yelena's contact momentarily. Having her sister at the same university still hadn't got any easier, but luckily the younger blonde wasn't exactly a threat to her reputation. Yelena was loveable and stayed clear of trouble, winning over everyone she met with her wide smile and bubbly personality. How the two of them were sisters when they were such polar opposites, it was a true mystery.
To: Yel 🐻
Have a good first day. Don't do anything stupid. Luv u :)
Emojis weren't really her thing, so a simply smiley would do enough. She tucked her phone into the back pocket of her jeans and raced down the stairs, scarlet hair swinging down her back as she ran and tried not to spill her drink. Maria honked her horn just as Natasha pushed open their heavy front door and she rolled her eyes, climbing into the passenger seat and not paying any attention to the brunette's rambles about being late.
It was only a ten minute drive, but the girls preferred driving and having access to a car if they needed for emergencies. Natasha's first class was Russian history, which she despised, and the sour look on her face sent freshmen scurrying away as she stalked down the halls towards her lecture theatre. She wasn't even that tall, yet her presence was that of a six foot body builder, with everyone giving her as much space as possible in the narrow hallway. A few tried to smile at her but she just narrowed her piercing eyes and they dropped their heads, muttering to their friends.
She sank down into her seat and pulled out her laptop, getting the digital textbook open before grabbing her phone and scrolling through her socials. Yet more random accounts had started following her instagram, but she didn't care. Probably just the same freshman she'd seen in the halls. She took a quick photo of her laptop and tumbler cup, posting it to her instagram story with a little caption of text. Natasha wasn't an influential figure by choice, but she kept up her mysterious and fiery persona across her social media accounts. Her feed was aesthetically pleasing to look at, of course it was. Natasha Romanoff was as put together as they came. Nothing out of line, everything just perfect, exactly the way she wanted it to be.
Her thumb absentmindedly flicked through stories without truly registering what she was seeing until a familiar face appeared on her screen.
Kaiiarina.
She'd just posted a little selfie with some school related emojis, her chin resting on her palm as she looked off to the side. It was a cute picture, anyone could see that, but it only made Natasha roll her eyes and swipe right. She didn't need to indulge with Kaia's sunny persona this early in the morning. Natasha needed more coffee and at least two more hours of sleep before she could deal with that.
But despite her efforts, Kaia's ocean blue eyes had burned into her mind, and suddenly the Russian Revolution was completely taken over by the brunette's little post which made Natasha groan inwardly.
With her phone hidden behind her laptop, she returned to her messages and scrolled to find Kaia's contact. Anyone would think it was weird that two supposed enemies had each other's phone number, but they were duet partners during the competition season one year, and Natasha hated using Instagram dms with a passion. They hadn't texted in over a year and Natasha couldn't help but hesitate as her thumbs hovered over her keyboard. But she shook the doubt from her mind. This was strictly business only.
To: Kaiiarina
Rehearsal tonight, 5pm. Don't be late or you'll be kicked off the team.
Blunt and slightly harsh, but that's just how Natasha worked. Kaia didn't get the special treatment. She shut her phone off and turned back to her notes, the lecturer at the front still on the same paragraph he was on five minutes ago. One of the many reasons why she hated this class so much.
A buzz came from beside her laptop and the screen lit up, Kaia's contact name illuminated against Natasha's phone background. She clicked on the message, unable to stop her eyebrow jerking up in surprise.
I know. You sent the schedule out three times last week, and emailed me too. I'll be there, don't worry
Natasha scoffed. She wasn't worried. Quite the contrary.
Good. And I'm not worried. There's a whole list of reserves who want your spot
I know. You've reminded me of that plenty of times too
I don't think Maria would be happy if you kicked me off though... 🤷♀️
Well
Maria doesn't run this team, I do
And texting during your first class doesn't look good on you Lenkova
There was a moment of silence as the three dots danced at the bottom of Natasha's screen.
Hypocrite
What's good enough for the captain is good enough for me 🫡
Natasha couldn't hide her smile. It tugged at her lips for a split second before she caught herself and hauled her frown back into place. She couldn't be seen smiling at her phone in class, that was pathetic.
I mean it
She pushed her phone into the opening of her backpack and turned her focus back onto her lecture, trying to erase Kaia from her mind. But those stupid emojis and quick comebacks stuck around longer than she wanted, prodding at her concentration until she felt like she wanted to scream.
It was the coffee... right? She was jittery and unfocused because of the caffeine. Her greatest nemesis but also biggest lifesaver. Weird how something she hated so much could simultaneously be something she couldn't live without.
As her professor continued to drone on about the Bolshevik, Natasha slipped one of her AirPods in and hit play on her latest choreography track. Nothing distracted her mind more than dance did.
~~~
Kaia
"What even is the point of being here?" Yelena whined from her seat which earned an eye roll from Kaia. She couldn't lie, that thought had crossed her mind too, but that was the third time Yelena had asked the same question in the last ten minutes.
"You know why. Attendance and participation credits."
"But being told how to say 'I am going to the beach' in Russian isn't beneficial to me," the blonde groaned, staring at her page that was filled with Russian curse words instead of the required vocabulary. "Maybe I'll just submit this instead."
"Please try not to get yourself kicked out in the first week," Kaia complained, drawing a heart around one of Yelena's words. "Besides, we picked Russian for a reason. We don't have to do anything."
Yelena hummed. "I guess. If I pay you, can you do my assignments for me?"
"Absolutely not," Kaia scoffed. "I'm just bored as you are." Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out, confusion evident on her face so much that Yelena had to comment.
"What is it?"
"Nothing." Yelena wasn't convinced. "Your sister."
Yelena pulled a face. "What does she want?"
"Reminding me not to be late tonight." Kaia punched out a quick reply and placed her phone on the smooth table. "I don't think she's grasped that I'm not a forgetful 13 year old anymore."
"True. You're a forgetful 18 year old instead," Yelena quipped with a toothy grin, narrowly dodging the notebook that came flying her way. "I'm kidding."
"You better be. I'm always on time."
"She's just being an asshole, it's Natasha, you know how she is."
"Do you think if I poured my water bottle on her, she'd melt like that witch in 'The Wizard of Oz'?" Kaia stared at her water in thought, the clouded blue plastic looking rather enticing.
Yelena let out a laugh, making the girl in front of her turn around disturbed. "Are you calling her the wicked witch of the west?"
Kaia looked sheepish. "Well... I mean... she's from Ohio, which is west, kinda. And she is sometimes witchy..."
Yelena's face had turned red as she struggled to hold her laughter in, hiding behind her laptop screen to avoid the disapproving stares coming from the front of the class. But with each second that passed, it got harder to breathe and she let out a snort, which only made her laugh harder.
Kaia had her bottom lip pulled between her teeth as she chuckled silently, watching Natasha's messages light up her screen. "Aye aye captain," she muttered under her breath, giggling as she tried to find the emoji she was looking for. She was a little keyboard warrior, having more confidence from the safety of her phone screen. Natasha couldn't bite her head off this way.
"You're really not making this easy for yourself," Yelena wheezed, finally having recovered enough to form a sentence. Kaia just shrugged.
"She hates me anyway, so I might as well entertain myself whilst I'm at it." But her fun ended abruptly when Natasha sent a dry response back, clearly ending the short conversation there. Kaia was tempted to reply, but maybe that was enough for now.
"Don't come crying to me if she makes you do extra sit ups tonight."
"She won't..."
~~~
Natasha didn't make her do extra sit ups, but that didn't mean that Maria's warm up and strengthening routine wasn't brutal. Kaia was in good shape, they all were, but even she had to really dig deep to finish all of the exercises and follow along in time. Muscles she didn't even know she had now ached and she cursed inwardly at how sore she'd be tomorrow.
"I don't think I can walk again," Wanda whispered as they went for a water break. She was leaning against the wall as Kaia took a moment to stretch out her hamstrings that hadn't felt right all class. She was still tight and hated it.
"And that was just the warm up."
"We've got this four times a week?" Kaia nodded and smiled as Wanda's eyes bulged in their sockets. "I'm going to get abs of steel at this rate."
"They already look like steel to me," Kaia commented as she stood up. There was no dress code for rehearsal, but most girls were either in leotards or crop tops and shorts. Both Kaia and Wanda were in crop tops and she couldn't lie, Wanda looked good.
"Really?" Wanda asked, peering down and lifting her chest a little to look at her stomach properly. She placed her hand on her abs and tensed, nodding to herself. "Maybe."
Kaia watched and then placed her own hand on Wanda's stomach, eyebrows shooting up at how toned she really was. "Definitely!" After having known someone for a week, this would look weird in any other situation. But dancers spent most of their time around half naked people, so this wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
Wanda laughed at the feeling of Kaia's hand, her cool fingertips chilling her warm skin. In the opposite corner, Natasha was observing her new team when her eyes fell on Wanda and Kaia. She watched them for a moment before gritting her teeth.
"Water break is over," she barked, her voice carrying loudly across the studio. Kaia looked over in her direction and made eye contact for a split second before the redhead looked away with a scowl. "Stella, c'm'ere."
The blonde walked over with impeccable posture, carrying herself more like a regal queen than a college student. "I want to teach the combo but I need you to watch them and start making notes on soloists and featured dancers." Natasha very rarely let other people do her job, but she needed to be interacting with her team, watching who picked up the fastest and who thrived at the front.
"On it," Stella agreed, grabbing a chair from the corner and setting up her laptop. She had an eye for details so Natasha trusted her. Maria watched with her arms folded, feeling slightly put out.
"Don't be moody," Natasha teased, brushing her elbow as she walked past. "I need you up front with me." Maria narrowed her eyes with suspicion. "We're a team, Hill. Remember?"
"Damn right."
Natasha turned to address the room. "Let's space out. I don't care where you stand, as long as you can see me."
Kaia looked around the room and took a couple of steps forward so she was near the front. A lot of the other girls were taller than she was, so she had no chance of seeing Natasha from her current position.
"Go to the front," Wanda hissed, giving Kaia a little shove. The brunette glared but found an empty spot at the front right. Maria was fiddling with the music in front of her and Stella was already typing away on the other side of the room, her head occasionally scanning the room before dropping down again.
"Ok, so we're doing a contemporary routine today," Natasha started, adjusting the waistband of her shorts as she spoke. "It's nothing too difficult, we just want to get you all dancing as one."
"What are we dancing to?" One of the girls in the middle of the room bravely asked.
"Hill?" Maria looked at Nat and pressed play before turning around to watch.
The music started and Kaia's face lit up, her body moving slightly to each beat. First her hands, then her shoulders, marking through whatever moves came into her mind. 'Work Song' by Hozier was a favourite for good reasons.
Natasha started marking through the routine subtly as the lyrics echoed around the room. She hit each beat, movements small, fully in her head as she ran through the number.
But as the chord struck for the beginning of the chorus, she stopped marking and started dancing properly, making everyone in the room freeze.
Natasha had raw talent, anyone could see that. She looked so effortless, transferring her weight and moving her body with such precision that even Kaia couldn't help but be in awe. She smiled softly and goosebumps littered her arms as Natasha floated out of her turns and came to her finishing pose.
The room broke out into appreciative applause and Kaia couldn't help but join in. They may butt heads from time to time, but there was no denying Natasha's passion and talent when she was dancing.
The redhead looked around the room and smiled gratefully, and it didn't falter when she got to Kaia either. It meant more from her in a way, knowing they'd grown up watching each other dance.
"Well, that's your routine, so let's get started."
"Did you choreograph that?" Wanda spoke up, genuinely curious.
Natasha glanced at Maria. "We both did."
"I really liked it." A chorus of 'me too's joined in and Kaia swore she saw a hint of red flood into Natasha's cheeks. Maybe she wasn't such a toughie after all.
~~~
Kaia cursed the steps leading up to her dorm and with each movement she felt her whole body ache. She hadn't danced properly in two weeks and she wanted nothing more than to stand under the warm shower and let the water soothe her aching limbs. She imagined it so vividly that she opened the door with a loud groan, making Yelena jump from her bed.
"That was loud," she commented, watching Kaia slump against the door as her dance bag fell to the floor. "That bad? I thought she'd go easy on you guys." No she didn't think that. Yelena just wanted to wind her up.
"Natasha? Easy? Never." Her bed looked so inviting, but Yelena's was closer so she trudged over and flopped half of her body onto it, her head landing in Yelena's lap. The blonde stroked her hair and then slapped her cheek lightly, shoving her off.
"I don't want your sweaty body on me. Go shower."
Kaia rolled onto her back. "I have been dreaming of this shower since I left the studio."
"Good. Go fulfil your dreams, sunshine."
"пошел на хуй." (fuck you).
"Love you too," Yelena called out to her as she walked to the bathroom. "Nice ass!" Kaia just stuck her middle finger and wiggled her ass in her shorts, hearing Yelena laugh.
The shower did indeed soothe her aching body and by the amount of steam fogging up the mirror, she'd been in there for a while. Her towel was wrapped around her body as she stepped back into the dorm and picked up her phone. Whether it was the weightless feeling that dance gave her or the totally relaxed state of mind she was in now, Kaia just felt peaceful. She wasted no time and landed on Natasha's previous text.
I just wanted to say that ur dance was stunning today
Ur really talented Natasha
"Do you wanna go on a late night walk?" Yelena piped up, closing her laptop and moving to the edge of the bed to swing her legs.
Kaia squeezed her hair with her towel after wriggling into some sweatpants and a crop top. She didn't really want to move anymore tonight, but Yelena looked hopeful and saying no to her was like kicking a puppy.
"Where to?"
Yelena shrugged, suddenly very interested in her sleeves. Kaia tilted her head and lowered her towel knowingly. "You want ice cream from the store?" The blonde's guilty smile couldn't be hidden from Kaia who rubbed her hands over her face. "Ok fine but you're buying mine."
"Deal."
Kaia's hair was a wavy mess but she just twisted it up into a bun and sacrificed her curl pattern for Yelena's happiness. And her own happiness really, seeing as ice cream was worth it. It was dark outside but they chatted away happily, Yelena rambling on about the annoying people in her class.
Kaia listened intently, but her phone was heavy in her pocket and she found her mind drifting off. All she could think about was that message she'd sent. Maybe it was the wrong thing to do. As far as she was concerned, Natasha hated her. One successful dance class wasn't going to change that. But the same question still circled around her brain and bounced off every wall of her skull.
Would Natasha text back?
~~~
A/N: Hello! Thank you for reading and being so patient with me whilst I take ages between uploads. I love writing this story but life gets a little crazy sometimes. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. We got a little more insight into Natasha, which is fun. Take care of yourselves, I'll see you next time xx