She didn't turn the offer down, however. In fact, the next morning, straight away, as Orla was just putting her phone in her bag by the cubbies, Emily sought her out.
"Hey," Emily smiled.
"Hey," Orla said. "Um... have you made your mind up about the whole... co-captain thing? Have you decided?"
"Oh..." Emily explained. "Well, I spent a lot of time thinking about it last night..."
"And?" Orla crossed her fingers.
"And I've decided to officially accept your offer!" Before the words were even out of Emily's mouth, Orla had jumped to her, hugging her tight.
They stood like that for a few seconds, then pulled back, grinning.
"Sorry," Orla said. "Did I, um..."
"No, actually," Emily smiled sheepishly. "I actually, I mean..."
"What?" Orla asked.
"Now that we're going to be co-captains, I think..." Emily sighed. "I think a long overdue apology needs to happen."
"Well, I just wanted to say..." Emily sighed. "I'm sorry."
Orla was taken aback as she went on.
"I'm sorry that we stopped being best friends. I'm sorry that I replaced you with Steph, and that I chucked you out of E-Girls. I'm sorry that I wasn't there, all the times you needed me. I'm sorry that I was so mean to, and that I disregarded you as a dancer and a friend. I'm just sorry, Orla, and I hope that you can still be friends with me."
Orla was so taken aback by this apology that she became a little teary.
"Emily, you don't need to say any of that," she said, holding one of Emily's hands and blinking back the tears pricking her eyes. "I'm sorry that I chucked myself out of E-Girls. I'm sorry that I turned all your friends against you, and I'm sorry that I let myself believe that you would never ever be my best friend again. Because you are."
Emily looked at her, tears also in her eyes. "Seriously? You... you mean... I'm forgiven? We could... we could be best friends again?"
"Of course," Orla nodded, letting a tear fall down her cheek. "I've really missed you, Ems."
Emily nodded. "You too, Orlie."
As Orla hugged her, she felt like jumping up and screaming. Orlie was what Emily used to call her when they were best friends.
"I mean, I don't even know what just happened," Emily shook her head. "But Orla and I are friends again. And that's all that matters."
♥︎♥︎♥︎
Telling Kate and Chris about the whole co-captain thing went better than Orla thought it would. But when they told the team, that was when Orla thought heads would turn.
"Alright, dancers!" Chris announced, walking into Studio A with Kate, Orla and Emily. "We got some exciting news, gather round, gather round! Miss Kate, the floor is yours."
Miss Kate could barely contain her excitement in a huge grin. "Orla and Emily are now co-captains."
Everyone clapped unsurely, gasping as Emily put an arm round Orla and they both smiled.
"Orla and Emily being co-dance captains?" Riley was surprised, but happy. "I definitely did not see that coming."
"Orla's about free form and doing your own thing and Emily's about being clean and structured," Tiffany shrugged. "I mean, it might make a good team."
"Having both their strengths together could really bring us together as a team," James smiled. "I'm glad to see that they've put their differences behind them, though. And to see that Orls has her best friend back."
"So, we need to choreograph a new routine for Regionals," Kate announced.
"Actually," James stepped forward. "Y'know- y'know what? I think we need two routines."
"Why?" Orla asked her boyfriend.
"Yeah, why?" Emily echoed her.
"Because we're gonna make it to finals," James shrugged with a smirk.
"Ohhhhhhhh!" Everyone joined in, grinning and laughing.
"Love the way you think, James! Love the way you think!" Chris smiled.
"We also need a second routine because, if you make it to finals at Regionals, you compete with a brand new routine," explained Kate.
"Some studios don't even bother choreographing a second routine because they know they're not going to make it to finals, but obviously The Next Step is," Orla smirked. "Right?"
"Are me and Michelle still doing our duet?" Eldon asked.
Michelle instantly said. "It's really not that important, we can cut it."
"Well, actually, Michelle," Emily said. "Considering what James just said, what I was thinking is that we could put your duet in the last dance. I mean, Riley and Orla have both told me how amazing it is."
"It's amazing!" Riley grinned.
"So, why don't we utilise that and use it to win Regionals?" Emily said, letting everyone digest this idea.
Most were onside. Except for Michelle, who looked weirdly against this idea.
"Okay, so I guess you guys start talking about concepts, because we have a lot of work to do, alright?" Chris said, as he and Kate left the room.
"Okay, so, does anyone have any ideas?" Emily asked immediately. "Orla?"
"Um, well, I was thinking we could do a sort of 'school's out' theme, y'know?" Orla pitched.
"Oh yeah," some seemed to like the idea.
"Yeah, and we'd have like, props, definitely, props for everyone," Stephanie smiled.
"James?" Emily raised her eyebrows at the boy.
"I just got outta school, Orla! Don't put me back in school!" He laughed.
"I do appreciate Orla's suggestions, but, they are a tad cliche, I mean, why not try something new?" Emily shrugged.
So she pitched. "Why don't we think about, kinda, an Alice in Wonderland vibe routine?"
"Oh yeah!"
"That would be so cool!"
"Emily's suggestions for the routine are cool, just very unlike mine," Orla smiled.
"And Eldon can be the White Rabbit!" Emily cried out, laughing.
"Of course! Of course I'm the White Rabbit!" He exclaimed to the team's laughs.
"I think brainstorming to th new routine is going well," Chloe smiled.
West shrugged. "The co-captain thing actually might work out."
"What about cowboys?" He suggested.
Everyone laughed at this, but it wasn't ultimately chosen.
"Now that I see how they're working together..." Eldon smiled. "I mean, it's unnerving, but it shows how this might just work."
♥︎♥︎♥︎
They had chosen not to go with a black and white theme for their first dance, the one that would take them (hopefully) to the finals.
"Orla?" Chloe suddenly asked the girl as she went through the choreo by herself.
"Yeah?" Orla said.
"I have to go," Chloe told her hurriedly.
"Go ahead, don't worry, I'll cover for you," Orla smiled at her.
"Thank you," Chloe grinned, as she picked up her stuff and started to run out.
"Uh- Chloe?"
Emily stopped her before she even got off the dance floor. "Where are you going?" There was a warm look on her face, and her tone was understanding, but in reality, she understood nothing.
"Um..." Chloe bit her lip. "I've gotta go, I have somewhere to be."
"Uh... Chloe, we have to choreograph two routines," Emily said hesitantly. "You can't- you can't really be leaving us right now."
"We're so close to Regionals right now and here Chloe is, still pulling the same old stuff."
"Um..." Chloe looked down. "I know, I- I just have a commitment-"
"Chloe, this is gonna affect the team, I mean, this is- it's Regionals, it's what we've been preparing for all year," Emily shook her head.
"Emily calling Chloe out, even if it is in a nice way now, is kinda nerve racking," Orla bit her lip. "I just felt like I had to step in."
"Actually, I let her go," she spoke up.
"What?" Emily frowned.
"Yep, I said she can go. She has somewhere to be," Orla said strongly, giving Emily a please-don't-continue-to-press-this look.
She got the message. "Alright."
"Don't worry about it," Orla said.
"When I find out Orla let Chloe go..." Emily sighed. "I'm flabbergasted. I mean, we're supposed to be co-captains, why didn't she run that one by me?"
"Orla?" She called the girl over after Chloe had run out. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Yeah, cool," Orla nodded.
"Can you guys just keep rehearsing?" Emily announced to the team, who nodded. "Um..." She turned to Orla. "What was that?"
Orla stayed strong. Emily could be tough, but she was tougher. "I let Chloe go. She has to go somewhere."
"Orla..." Emily said in a low voice. "We have two routines to choreograph... you can't just let dancers go like that."
"Okay," Orla said. "But... she had to go and do something really important."
"I just- I can't tell anyone what's going on with Chloe."
"Look," Emily sighed. "I don't feel comfortable humiliating one of my dancers because I don't know what's going on with her."
"I can't say anything," Orla said, praying that Emily got what she was hinting at.
Emily smirked. "You can't... say anything?"
"Yup," Orla nodded. Get the hint. Please.
And she did. "How about... showing me?"
Orla nodded. "I was hoping you were going to say that."
Emily nodded.
"Wait," Orla said, as they left. "You have to promise me, that you won't tell... anyone."
"I promise," Emily said, shaking hands with her.
The deal was done. And Orla was already imagining Chloe's face.
♥︎♥︎♥︎
"No! No! Nope! No- Orla- no, please-"
This was Emily's reaction when she found out that they were taking the bus to wherever Orla was leading her. The girl couldn't help laughing.
"Emily hates buses, so it's only too funny to get to take her on one," she grinned.
As they got off, Emily was horrified. "That bus was disgusting. I- like- I'm never doing that again."
"I have never been on a bus before, because it's disgusting," she shuddered.
Orla sniggered. "You're such a princess, Ems. Everyone's been on a bus before."
"Yes, Orlie! My point exactly!" Emily yelled. "Strangers have sat there! And who knows where their pants have been?!"
Orla just shook her head. "Are you serious?"
Emily fixed her with a cold glare to prove this. "Where are we?"
"You know what? Can you be a little more patient!" Orla exclaimed. They were just across the road from Chloe's work, and the girl surfaced, coming out of the door to serve some customers, just then.
"Is that Chloe?!" Emily shouted, as Orla shushed her and shoved her behind a nearby car. "What is she doing?"
"She's working," Orla answered. "She has a job. It's the only way she can afford to dance."
Emily was shocked.
"When Orla tells me that Chloe has been working to put herself through dance... I'm shocked," she shook her head.
"That's the secret," Orla said. "And don't you wish you didn't know it?"
Emily stayed silent and still for a second, and then she said. "If I was in her position, I'd want it to be a secret, too."
Orla nodded, before she stood up. "Look, we better go. I don't want her seeing us and getting embarrassed."
"You know, it seemed Emily kinda understood Chloe's situation," Orla shrugged. "Finally, I might add. But... I just hope she treats her differently now."
"The bus should be here soon," she announced to Emily, who looked at her, horrified.
"Are you kidding me? I am not getting back on that thing, my mum's gonna pick us up," she said, getting her phone out her bag. "She's getting lattes, but I'm guessing you want a frappuccino, right?"
Orla fought the temptation to smile as Emily remembered how she didn't like lattes, but instead opted for something else. Frappuccinoes, often.
She sighed. "Yes, Ems, I do. Now, let's go."
♥︎♥︎♥︎
The next day at the studio, Chloe got called into the office, and ran out of it three minutes later, taking her bag and her shoes with her. Orla watched, her eyes cloudy.
Kate then came out. "What's going on?" Giselle asked.
"Chloe's no longer in A-Troupe," Kate said, her voice choked up.
Everyone but Orla and Emily exclaimed "whats" and "whys"and sported confused looks.
"It's a sensitive subject, I don't wanna talk about it, okay?" Kate snapped. "Get rehearsing."
In the silence that followed, Emily turned to her co-captain with cloudy eyes. "Orlie... did you know it was this bad?"
"Kind of," Orla said gently.
"Wh- what?" James looked between the two girls.
Emily sighed. "Chloe's been having some money troubles, okay?"
"And... her parents can't afford for her to dance," Orla continued tentatively. "So... she's been working multiple jobs to get the money."
The team digested this.
"We were all just kinda getting annoyed with her," Eldon spoke guiltily. "And we were getting actually really mad."
"She could've just been honest with us," Stephanie said in earnest.
"Like, how come nobody told us?" West demanded.
"Because she's embarrassed!" Emily exclaimed.
"Guys, if any of you had money troubles, would you tell everyone you knew?" Orla asked.
"You don't understand her situation," Emily followed up. "We all have money."
"None of us had any idea," Giselle said. "I wish she would've told us, that's what we're here for, we're her family."
"Well, we can't do it without her," she announced to the troupe.
"That's why I have an idea," Emily said. "Come on, gather in!"
♥︎♥︎♥︎
Emily's plan wasn't what Orla would call brilliant, but it would work.
So, just as Chloe was coming out of the door at Southside Johnny's, the cafe she worked at, Emily strutted in, ignored a sign that said the section of outdoor seating was closed and sat right down.
Orla watched, round the corner with the team, as Chloe tried to hide her face behind the man she was serving.
Emily just snapped. "Chloe, I can see you. I want to order something, so serve that fine gentleman and come over here!"
Orla winced, the harsh tone cutting through her.
Chloe walked over to Emily. "This section is closed."
"Does my face look like I care?" Emily raised her eyebrows .
Chloe rolled her eyes and then put on a smile. "Hi, welcome to Southside Johnny's, my name is Chloe, I'll be your waitress for today."
"Great, I'm gonna take a water with a lemon, please," Emily sat back in her seat. "And that will be all."
Chloe's face flitted with hurt and surprise, then she headed inside.
"Okay, come on," Orla whispered to the team, and they all walked round the corner and into the seating area.
"Right now, um... we're kinda just carrying out a plan I devised," Emily said, a devious smile on her face. "Chloe has absolutely no idea what's in store for her."
"So, I take her order and I come back out and..." Chloe bit her lip. "Everyone from A-Troupe is sitting there."
"Excuse me?" West tapped her on the shoulder. "Could I get a chai tea with extra sugar, please?"
Orla braced herself, sitting opposite James, as Chloe walked over to her and hissed. "How could you do this to me? Why would you bring them here?"
Orla's insides screamed at her as she said rudely. "I'm just thirsty. Could I get a drink?"
"I don't know how she could do this to me because I thought we were friends and I thought we were closer than that," Chloe said, tears starting to appear.
"I'll have a frappuccino, please," Orla told the girl.
"Having to be so mean to Chloe right now... it's tearing me up inside," Orla bit her lip. "But once she sees that we're here for a good cause, I just hope that she'll understand."
"And what can I get for you?" Chloe turned to Eldon.
"I'll have a... water," Eldon smiled up at her.
"Great," Chloe turned round.
"Oh! With one ice cube!" Eldon shouted after her.
"I don't know how the plan is going... Chloe doesn't look too pleased with what we're doing right now."
And so it went. Riley had a tea, Stephanie asked for water, then James had a mint ice tea.
"All they're ordering is waters, and teas, and..." Chloe cried. "They're obviously just trying to get me back for what I did."
"And I would actually like another lemon wedge, please!"
"You forgot the ice cube-"
"You gonna take my order or what-"
"I need my ice cube-"
"I'm still waiting for the tea-"
Chloe had now turned, putting her head in her hands, a tear falling out of each eye.
"They're people that I've spent almost everyday with, and hours and hours and hours with... aren't my friends anymore," she sobbed.
Come on, you're stronger than that, Orla thought, as she too yelled for something along with the team.
She tried not to smile as she watches Chloe wipe her tears.
"I just decide, you know what? I'm gonna prove to them, that I'm stronger than that, and just go out, and... do my job," she pressed her lips together.
Orla felt pride bursting within her as Chloe walked back down to Tiff and Steph, smiling. "Hi, welcome to Southside Johnny's, my name is Chloe, I'll be your waitress today, how can I held you?"
"This is who I am," she said, brave faced. "And if you're not okay with that, then you're not okay with me."
As she delivered Tiffany and Stephanie's orders, West finished his tea. "You know what? I'm think I'm done. Yup, I'm done, I'm done. Thanks miss."
He smiled, delivering a fifty dollar bill onto Chloe's tray. Orla disguised a smile as West walked out and Chloe went after him. "West! This is too much!"
"Well, you know what I gotta say about that?" West told her. "Did you know that tea was first discovered by Chinese emperor Shennong in twenty seven thirty seven BC? Yeah, I bet you didn't know that."
Chloe just looked at him confusedly.
"It was pretty much a fifty dollar tip," she shook her head. "And I'm really confused as to why he would do that."
"Hey, Chloe," Giselle grinned, as she and a few of the other girls stood up. "Money's on the table."
"Yeah, we left it on the table."
"And then everyone else starts to leave and says-"
"Thanks, money's on the table," James said, as he said goodbye to Orla, who was staying with Emily, and went with Riley, Michelle and Eldon.
"And everyone has left fifty dollar tips," Chloe said in disbelief.
And then, soon, only Emily and Orla remained, standing opposite Chloe.
"You know A-Troupe's a family, right?" Emily asked the girl, who was in a state of shock, looking down at the money she had collected on her tray.
"And you know you're part of that family," Orla smiled, too.
"And sometimes... families help each other out," Emily finished, as both girls chucked two fifty dollar bills each onto the tray.
Now Chloe had enough to cover her Regionals debts.
"I think I know know, why they all came. You know, everyone left me money. They're all really my friends," tears of joy suddenly started to take over the ones of sadness.
She looked up at Orla and Emily in disbelief and joy.
"I would've never asked for help either," Emily smiled knowingly. "And I also wouldn't accept charity. But Chloe can't turn down a tip, now, can she?"
As the two co-captains left, the girl smiled, genuinely. And Orla was so, so glad to see it.
"A-Troupe is my family. They're my best friends," Chloe cried.
♥︎♥︎♥︎
The next day, at the studio, Orla was almost bursting with joy at the site of Chloe coming back into the studio.
"Guys," she silenced the troupe, as the smiling girl walked over.
"As soon as I see Chloe coming into Studio A, I know what's happening," Stephanie smiled. "She's back on A-Troupe. And I couldn't be happier."
They all clapped the girl as she took off her shoes, and then she ran onto the floor and hugged them all.
"Just to know that we all helped out and did our part to make sure Chloe gets to Regionals, it felt good," Eldon added.
"A-Troupe is like a salad," West proposed. "I guess I would have to say that each of us are those special ingredients that make the salad taste great. And, you know, if you take out any one of us, out of that salad, then that salad is just lousy, y'know?"
"Come on guys, from the top!" Orla called out, as she and Emily ran the rehearsal. She switched the music on and off them went.
She didn't miss Chloe's focus, which was infinitely better, or her beaming smile.
"Walking back into rehearsal, and everyone's happy to see me, it's the best feeling," Chloe smiled. "And... I'm just so ready to go to Regionals and win. Let's do this!"