Empire - The Next Step

from bad, to worse, to a little brighter

The pounding music of the song 'Falling Apart' was all Harper could hear as she spun rapidly, her emotions powering each turn. Her supporting leg was burning as she did relevé after relevé. The blonde slowed herself down to stop turning and slowly sank to the floor as though she couldn't hold herself up. Glistening tears streamed gently down her cheeks as she sat alone on the floor of the music room.

After her parents got divorced, everything started to fall apart for Harper. Michelle had taken the news badly as well but she was more open about her feelings, the only reason she was letting all her emotions out there was because nobody else was there. Usually it would bottle up inside her until she could no longer take it.

Harper brushed blonde strands of hair away from her face which glistened with sweat and tears as she sighed and stood up. If one thing was for sure, no one could know how much this divorce was affecting her. It was a good job she had managed to wipe away all her tears because she soon heard brisk footsteps approaching and turned around to see one of her two best friends Noah enter. He had an enormous grin on his face and his eyes were so full of wonder, Harper could only imagine what had made him so ecstatic.

"You're not gonna believe what Miss Kate just told me." He said with excitement oozing out of every part of him. He was almost shaking in exhilaration. Noah was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet and his hands looked as though they were physically incapable of keeping still.

"What is it? You seem really excited." Harper asked him curiously with a hint of amusement laced in her tone, he was clearly excited. There was no question about it.

"She asked me to compete for a place on the internationals team!" The boy exclaimed as his smile somehow grew even wider. If he had held it in any longer, it looked like Noah might have exploded. Harper tried to match Noah's enthusiasm, but there were two things preventing her to do so. Firstly, she was of course still extremely upset about her family drama but also, why had Miss Kate not thought of herself or even Richelle for the position. Noah was a fantastic dancer, no question about it, but it hurt to not even be considered.

"Wow, that's great. I'm really happy for you." She said as eagerly as possible, but it was difficult to feel truly happy for Noah without a hint of bitterness. Noah himself didn't seem to notice in his cloud of joy so the smile on his face remained as large as it had been when he entered the room. He quickly excused himself so he could call his mum about it and Harper waved weakly as he left the room. She needed to find out why Kate had overlooked her.

The girl of fourteen briskly walked out of the music room and down the corridor to find Miss Kate in her office. She felt a little nervous talking to the studio head because she never really went into Kate's office and it made her feel rather small, but this was something she had to do. Harper gently knocked on the door to Kate's office and entered when Kate looked up from her work with a smile and gestured for her to take a seat.

"Hi Harper, are you hear to talk about your parents? I know Michelle has been having a really difficult time with everything so I can imagine that its just as hard for you." Asked the older woman in a tender and soothing voice. Harper was surprised to hear that from Kate because that was the complete opposite of the real reason as to why she was there, but it was reassuring to know that Kate cared about her situation.

"No that's actually not what I wanted to talk about." She told Kate in a small voice and the studio head signalled her to continue. "I know that Noah's an amazing dancer, but I was just wondering why you chose him to be on A Troupe instead of me. What does he have that I don't?"

Kate sighed to herself with a sad smile as she stood up and took a seat in chair next to the young dancer instead of behind the desk. Harper was extremely nervous, she could feel her palms sweating inside the pockets of her hoodie and she nervously chewed the inside of her cheek while awaiting the studio head's response.

"Harper, you are a beautiful dancer and you've developed so well here at the next step, but you just aren't ready for A Troupe yet. With everything that's going on in your family life right now I just don't think you could handle the pressure of internationals, and I know you'll get there if you put in the effort, but Noah is just on a higher level at the moment. I hope you understand where I'm coming." Harper was extremely disappointed that Kate didn't think she was good enough for internationals yet. Herself and Noah had been training pretty much the same amount of time so she couldn't comprehend what made him better. It was a real kick to her confidence.

"I understand." She replied with a weak smile as she excused herself from the office. Glancing back to studio A, another wave of disappointment hit her as she watched all the amazing dancers in A Troupe stretching and warming up and knowing that she wouldn't be a part of that. At least not internationals, but Harper knew that if she worked hard and kept pushing herself then she would make A Troupe, no matter how long it took.

As she made her way down to Hidalgo's, she saw Michelle sitting alone at a table and decided to go and comfort her sister. They didn't always get along, but at the end of the day they would be there for each other in a split second.

"Michelle, what's wrong?" Harper asked anxiously with a look of concern swimming in her bright green eyes. Her sister looked up with glistening eyes and it was clear to the younger girl that she had been crying about their parents.

"Mom needs me in Madison again." Michelle mumbled quietly and her younger sister nodded in realisation. Their parents hadn't recently been paying much attention to the girl's dance lives which was fine as they had their own drama to deal with but at the same time, it was difficult when it kept dragging them away from dance. This was the second time since Nationals that Michelle had to take time away from the team to help their mom, and now Harper would have to listen to their dad talk badly about his ex-wife for the remainder of the weekend.

"I know its difficult right now, but at least we have each other to get through this. And you have the team who are all there for you." Harper told Michelle soothingly. Although she was the younger sibling, they really had to be there for each other during tough times so she would do anything she could to make Michelle feel better.

"I'm so glad I have you here with me Harps, I don't know what I'd do without you." The two sisters embraced tightly as Michelle dried her tears and they knew that they had each other to rely on. Harper's day was one of the worst she'd had in a while. She was struggling to deal with the news of her parents divorce and she had found out from Kate that she wasn't a good enough dancer for A Troupe which was never something anyone wanted to her, but having Michelle there for her made her day go from bad, to worse, to a little brighter.