Mountain

3.4

as Kate, Phoebe and Lucian walked in the office i walked towards Noah.

Noah is a B troupe member, or was until now. i'm happy that he took Emily's place on the team. he's great.

"how are you feeling?" i asked him.

"pretty good." he answered and i chuckled. "i mean—"

"Noah, don't worry about it. you and me are probably the only ones who actually feel confident about this situation. James too maybe." he smiled at me. "don't let it go over your head, though."

"never."

"alright you guys!" Kate said, walking in and i took my place by James' side for comfort.

"all of the names have been placed in the hat." Phoebe pulled a name out of the hut. "Hunter."

we all cheered for him as he took his side next to Phoebe. "go Hunter!"

he put his hand in the hut, took out a card and looked at it. and the face he made was not good. at all. "Eldon."

all of our faces immediately shifted from happy and excited to absolutely heartbroken. my heart dropped. why? why do we have to start like that?

"alright, you guys have an hour to rehearse and then we'll come back and compete." Kate said to them.

This is it. we're losing a member of The Next Step.

i looked behind me at James and we both looked so heartbroken. i don't know what we're going to do.

i wanted to go speak to Eldon over that hour. but everyone convinced me not to go. so when Eldon and Hunter came back, they didn't say a word to any of us.

"alright, round one. let's do it." Lucian called.

Hunter is a great dancer. and this is the best he's ever danced. he's dancing like his life depends on it. and to be honest, this could mean life to him. to any of us.

he finished and we all clapped for him. he danced well and i don't know how i'm going to choose.

Eldon started so strong with three back flips. as soon as he started dancing i remembered how good of a dancer he is. how The Next Step without Eldon is not The Next Step.

he's phenomenal. he's killing it. he deserves to be on the internationals team. he deserves everything.

he stopped and i knew what my choice was. as much as i love Hunter, as much as he bought so much to this team, my choice is Eldon. and my choice is always going to be Eldon.

"okay. do we have a clear winner?" Kate asked everyone. "on the count of three, everyone point to who you think should be on the team." i took a deep breath with tears. "one two three."

everyone. and i mean everyone pointed at Eldon. "Eldon. you're on the Internationals team. i'm so sorry Hunter."

Hunter and Eldon hugged and then he left. and he did not turn back.

"Eldon, since you won, you get to choose the next dancer to compete." Kate said to him and he went to take a card from the hut.

"Abi." Eldon called.

first dancer from Elite. we got this in our pocket.

she went up and took a card out. "Noah." she called and i smiled and we all cheered for him.

"alright, you have an hour to rehearse and then we'll meet back here. good luck."

Noah danced first. Noah is kind of a young Eldon. he is too good to be in a B troupe dancer. he deserves to be on this team. he's amazing.