Mountain

2.29

we had an hour of practicing on the stage.

after that hour was done i went to an empty studio backstage and practiced more.

i'm nervous. and the only thing that makes me feel less nervous is dance.

i turned to look at the door and saw James standing in front of me. "hi." i said softly.

"hey, i've been looking for you."

"well, here i am." i said, grabbing my water bottle.

"how are you feeling?" he asked me hugging me from behind.

"honestly, mix of everything." i turned to look at him. "i am very happy, and i'm proud of how we've achieved, but i've never felt more anxious in my life."

"and that's normal!"

"yes, but all of you are nervous and people keep coming to talk to me about it, and it's fine because i'm the dance captain but i'm tired of listening to others when no one listen to me."

i am not complaining. but since our duet, no one asked me how i'm feeling about this whole experience. and i keep asking my friends that, and i'm just a bit sick of being there for everyone.

"Iz..."

"no, i'm fine, i am. i just don't know how to deal with all of this."

i sat on the floor in frustration. "Isabel Jones," i looked up at him. "how are you feeling about dancing at the semifinals at Nationals?"

i chuckled with tears.

James: seeing izzy that upset is never easy. it's not good for her, not good for me and not good for the rest of the team.

"i am excited." i looked into his eyes. "i'm mostly grateful for my boyfriend."

"you have a boyfriend?" he asked in a joking tone.

"oh yeah, it's new, he's very cocky."

"he is not!"

"he so is!" i said laughing. "thanks for asking."

"always." he put his hand out for me and pulled me up. "let's go get dressed."

he wrapped his arm around me and we went to get changed.

we are all backstage now, finishing last makeup touch when Joanne Chapman Studio went up. "we should honor them with our presence." Phoebe said to us and we all looked at her weirdly before turning closer to the stage to look.

Eldon and Riley told me that LOD won the last round, which means that if we win this round, we are going up against them.

Joanne Chapman's dance is beautiful. they came fierce this year to win, and they're doing a great job. i think winning this round is going to be hard but i believe in us.

we all started to say good luck to each other and hug everyone.

when i look at them, they are my family, and whether we lose or win right now, we did this as a team. and nothing could change that.

and now that Joanne Chapman is done, it's our turn to go on stage and dance as good as we possibly can.

the story of the dance is basically we're all trying to get somewhere but we can't do it alone. so it's all about the team work and team chemistry.

so as one person tried to get there, they can't make it without all of us being there. so Riley tried to get up and we all go with her and as people start moving closer and closer to the edge of the stage it's kind of pulling everyone forward. we can't move on if we don't have everybody. very similar to A troupe.

throughout the whole dance we could hear the crowd cheering for us. and then we stopped dancing and i felt amazing.

that was until i saw Emily leaning on West like she was injured. and then, before we bowed she ran off stage, with limping steps.

we bowed quickly and me and Riley ran after her to see what happened.

"Em? what happened?" i asked her, Kate pulling her down on a chair.

she yelled in pain the whole time.

"what's wrong?" Riley asked her.

"my knee." Emily said.

"which knee?" i asked her, Riley pulling her skirt up to look at her knee.

"i think i might have rolled it."

"what?" i put my hand around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head.

Gisele and Chloe joined us at this point. "try standing on it, carefully." Giselle suggested.

we pulled Emily up but as soon as she put any weight on her knee she screamed in pain and sat back down.

Joanne Chapman went up on the stage and Kate told us to go back on stage and we ran back next to the rest of the team.

i stood between James and Eldon who both wanted to know what happened. "she's gone you guys. Emily can't dance." i told them quietly.

"and the second team, moving up to the finals is... The Next Step!" we clapped because we were happy but right now Emily is more important.

i hugged James slightly and then ran off the stage again with Riley and the rest of the team followed.

"guys... i don't think i'm gonna be able to dance." Emily said, choking up which makes me to tear up slightly.

"don't say that. you just need rest." Riley tried to convince herself.

"no, Riley. no." Emily said sharply but heartbroken.

i am so sad for what just happened. after everything Emily went through , this is so unfair. and i don't know what we're gonna do in the finals, we don't have any alternates. i'm very scared.