IN REGARDS TO THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER:
Omg, so only mid-way through writing this chapter have I realised I uploaded the last chapter unfinished, which is HUMILIATING. There's like this whole chunk between when they go out for lunch to then when they're actually dancing on the stage. I mean, thankfully it was just filler information that didn't matter to the plot and was literally there to join up the two scenes and maybe have a little bit of cute stuff and drama, BUT STILL. I'm gonna finish this book and then I'll go back and write what I missed bc omg how embarrassing. This is what I get for not proof reading.
Joe's PoV:
This couldn't be any worse. We don't have any alternates, and the likelihood of Dianne being able to perform are slim to none. Sure, there is the slight possibility that she could get it all bandaged up and stuff, but we don't have our two point advantage anymore and having an injured dancer who couldn't go full out in the finals was catastrophic. We'd only won by a tenth of a point. That's what they said. A tenth of a point. There's no way we can win this. It'll be the first time in almost a decade where the British Dance Company doesn't make it to Internationals.
And it's all my fault.
Everyone is stood in the auditorium with Alesha and Bruno begging with the competition hosts to let us perform a dancer down, but I can't see it happening. This is Nationals we're talking about. We might get special treatment for dressing rooms, but not for the actual competition rules.
Frustrated, I walk off and go and sit with Neil in the foyer.
"I hear you lost a dancer," an annoying voice leans over me. I can literally hear the smirk on her face.
"Tilly," I turn around, giving her a death stare. The last thing I need right now is an annoying brat messing with my head.
"You should just give up now," Tilly shrugs. "Let's be real, you and Dianne carry this entire trainwreck of a team and with her gone not only do you not have enough dancers, but you also don't stand a chance."
"Tilly, leave," I growl.
"Make me," she puts her hands on her hips.
"GO AWAY!" I yell louder than I intended to. "STOP INSULTING OUR TEAM WHEN YOUR TEAM HAS LOST WAY MORE THAN OURS! GO FIX YOURSELVES! IF ANYONE IS A TRAINWRECK IT'S YOU TILLY!"
"How DARE you!" Tilly yells, shoving me into the doors.
I have to admit, I was gonna hit her back, but the shove Tilly gave me had broken the doors.
"YOU AND YOU! IN MY OFFICE RIGHT NOW!"
We turn around and see the executive board leader of the competition standing over us. If looks could kill, we would be dead.
———
"What on EARTH makes you two believe that sort of behaviour is acceptable?" she says as she slams the door to her office, pointing to two chairs that sat opposite this very extravagant marble desk. The whole room is filled with award plaques and I can see the Nationals trophy for this year in a glass case in the corner of the room. I highly doubt we'll be getting that after this fiasco.
"It's his fault," Tilly sticks her nose up and points at me.
My jaw drops. At this point, we've basically already lost, so you know what? We've not nothing more to lose. I'm not letting her get away with this.
"Excuse me?" I look at her. "Neil and I were harmlessly sitting in the foyer trying to come up with a solution to our problem because Dianne probably can't dance and we don't have any alternates. It's then YOU who came over and started saying our dancers were awful and Dianne and I, and I quote here, 'carry this entire trainwreck of a team' as if that's in any way appropriate and in any way true! Maybe singular people carry your team, but in our studio everyone has a role to play and everyone, EVERYONE, is important. We're dealing with crap here so just stop going for us! So, yeah, I lost it. I shouted at you, but you know what, I don't regret that. You then acted like a five year old and shoved me into the doors. YOU'RE the one who started this and YOU'RE the one who caused the damage."
Tilly seems to have nothing to say, as she's cowered back slightly in her chair. I glance at the Nationals board head. She still looks angry, but her glare is more at Tilly now than it is me, which is a relief.
"I'm not giving either of you the chance to forfeit, as Internationals requires one team from the UK to participate in their competition every year," she says. "However, this behaviour is totally unacceptable. Tilly, you're banned from competing for the final and Internationals, should you make it, and your next Regionals. You will not be dancing in the finals. Because both your teams are therefore left with nine dancers, you are allowed to perform with only nine. I will also be docking two points from EAD before you even step on that stage."
A wave of relief washes over me. Dianne doesn't have to perform. And EAD is already at a loss.
"Joe, I'm not letting this slide on your part either though," her gaze shifts to me. I panic. What more could she say? "I'm docking 1.5 points from your team before you even step on that stage. So, bring your A game."
I nod slowly. We still have a 0.5 point advantage and one of EAD's best dancers can no longer perform in the finals. Sure, this isn't my ideal situation, but it's given us a slight advantage.
"Oh, by the way," she says as she leads us out the office, "you will both be paying for the damage done to this building."
We both groan. I don't even want to think about what that's going to cost.
Tilly doesn't even look at me as she storms back to her dressing room. Neil is in the foyer still waiting for me, a very cross Alesha by his side.
"What the hell did you do?" she glares at me.
I sigh. "Let's go back upstairs and I'll explain. On the bright side, Dianne doesn't have to perform."
Alesha looks horrified, and I realise she must think I've just got our entire team disqualified.
"We're not disqualified!" I say quickly to reassure her. Her expression calms and is replaced by one of confusion. "Look, I'll explain everything to everyone once we're up there."
All three of us are silent in the lift back up to our suite. I can sense Alesha is still mad at me. I feel like maybe we've been given a slight advantage, though. Like, we have a 0.5 point advantage before we even step out on that stage.
Dianne's PoV:
When Joe, Neil and Alesha return, Alesha looks really mad, but also somewhat confused. Neil looks awkward, like he's just got in the middle of a fight between mum and dad, and Joe looks very guilty.
"So?" I ask. We've all been informed about what happened. Neil texted the group chat.
"Well, I'll start with the good news," Joe says as Neil and Alesha take a seat. "Tilly got disqualified so they only have nine dancers, which means Dianne doesn't have to perform."
I feel a wave of relief wash over me. I'm still in pain, even with this supposed help, and I knew I wouldn't be able to dance well enough to take us to Internationals. Then I see Joe still looks uncomfortable.
"What's the bad news?" I ask.
He looks at me. "We've been docked 1.5 points before we even step onto that stage."
"WHAT?!" Alesha stands up in fury.
"Wait! Wait!" Joe gestures for her to calm down. "It's actually not all bad because EAD got docked two points, which means that actually we're half a point ahead before either of us even perform. It just means we're probably not in with a chance of beating our record. I do, however, have to pay for that door I broke. Tilly's paying half, I'm paying half. I'm not sure how my parents will take that."
"Joe!!" Zoe exclaims. "Mum and Dad will be livid!!"
"I know, I'm gonna have to be the best child ever for the next few months."
"Years..." Zoe mutters.
I suppress a smile. I can only imagine Joe's parents' horror as they find out they have to fork out a huge amount of money to fix a glass door. I feel bad for him, but it's also a little amusing. He clearly sees my face, because he glares at me. It's a kind glare though, the sort of "I love you but I hate you" sort of lighthearted gesture. I smile back at him.
"So, what you're actually saying is we're headed onstage with an advantage?" Neil looks at Joe.
"Yeah, I guess," he says, as if he hasn't realised that until now. "The only downside is we still have to rechoreograph our finals routine as a nine person dance instead of a ten person dance."
Everyone nods slowly. It's difficult to change a dance this late in the game. We're performing tomorrow evening. This gives us barely 24 hours. The only upside is that EAD is having to do exactly the same thing.
——
We ended up going back to the hotel at about midnight, after having rechoreographed our routine to the best standard it could possibly be. We don't have to be up early, because we're not performing until the evening, but even so, it's exhausting. We've had one heck of a day, with the semi-finals, my injury and Joe's spat with Tilly. I'm literally barely paying attention to what Alesha is saying, but I'm pretty sure it's just like, 'get good sleep you're gonna need it tomorrow is a big day', as if all of us aren't already completely aware of this.
"You okay?" Joe whispers as he comes and sits beside me on the sofa.
I nod holding my head up with my hands.
"Just tired. I never thought I'd say this about a competition, but I can't wait for it to be over."
Joe nods. "I get that. It's stressful, especially with these last minute stresses. However, what's keeping me going is knowing that EAD is in a worse position that us right now. Firstly, it's what they get for being so cocky they don't believe in alternates, so they've also got to rechoreograph, but secondly because they're at a half point disadvantage. At least we have that."
I rest my head on his shoulder. "You're right. I just really hope we win tomorrow. It's also so disappointing I can't be up there dancing with you. It's not gonna be the same from the audience."
He pulls me closer and rests his chin on top of my head. "At least we'll get to dance together at Internationals. Plus, we got a perfect score duet. I've never got one of those before."
"Me neither," I smile. "That was pretty impressive."
"We'll still be winners even if we don't win tomorrow," he decides. "I've got you and you've got me, and at the end of the day, that's all that really matters."
I take my chin off his shoulder and smile up at him. I love Joe. I will always love Joe. He knows exactly what to say. And he's always right.
Tomorrow, no matter what the result was, we are winners. And you know what? That's enough for me.
A shorter chapter, but at least I got through it without skipping stuff LIKE LAST CHAPTER. Omg I'm so sorry.
ALSO, I've started writing a story on a different account: phoebejoyful
It's still pretty dance centred, but it branches out into the television industry, an unlikely love story and performing arts as a whole. It's got a slow start, but I've written a lot more chapters than I have posted and I think it's good :)
Anyway, thanks for reading!! ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT BEFORE THIS IS OVER AHHH!!!