Empire - The Next Step

sisters stick together, right?

Emily and Daniel had gone into her office to discuss who would be on A Troupe that year. Harper was thrilled with how she performed and didn't think she could have done a better job so if she didn't make it then she clearly just wasn't up to the standard of A Troupe. Richelle and Michelle, who were still completely flabbergasted, both rushed over and engulfed the girl in a group hug.

"Harper I had no idea you could dance like that! You really did work hard in B Troupe." Richelle exclaimed as Michelle nodded in agreement. It had come as a shock to everyone to see Harper perform as they had never seen her dance and were honestly not expecting her to be any good. The miss national soloist genes must have run in their family.

"You really think I did a good job?" She asked uneasily as the two girls in front of her nodded eagerly. Harper's solo was almost flawless, she hit all her accents, jumped higher than ever before and her turns were clean. She had done everything in her power to secure a place on the team, it was all up to Emily and Daniel. The studio head and choreographer suddenly left her office and the whole room fell silent. They were about to announce who made it onto the team.

"If you hear your name being called then congratulations, you've made A Troupe." She paused leaving everyone leaning forwards in anticipation. They were all so desperate to know if they had made it or not. "Michelle, Lola, Richelle, Noah, Harper, Zara, Danielle, Tyler, Jacquie and finally, Piper." Harper was speechless when she realised she had made it. She could have cried she was so excited.

As the other dancers filed out, the new team celebrated making it into A Troupe. Once Emily had dismissed them they all went down to Neutral Grounds which was the new juice bar at the studio. Harper thought it was one of the nicest so far, although her personal favourite was Culture Shock.

"Congrats on making A Troupe, your solo was amazing. Were you on the team last year?" Lola asked as she approached Harper. The girl smiled appreciatively and was very flattered but her compliments, they were very unexpected.

"No this was my first time auditioning." She replied politely and Lola looked shocked but nodded anyway. While the preppy blonde had gone off to congratulate some other team members, Harper's line of sight once again drifted towards Noah, he was talking to Jacquie who he seemed to have developed a big interest in. Harper kept telling herself that she was completely over him, but it was getting harder and harder to believe.

"Hey Harps, are you ready for our first rehearsal of the season?" Richelle asked eagerly as she beckoned her friend over to follow the crowd of A Troupers who were making their way back to studio one. The girl nodded with a mixture of excitement and apprehension, but she followed Richelle regardless.

Emily had them all line up beside each other and when Harper noticed that Michelle wasn't in the room, she sent an odd look towards Richelle who looked equally as confused.

"First of all, I am very pleased to announce our tenth member of A Troupe, Josh." Everyone seemed a little perplexed about where Michelle had gone and why she was suddenly being replaced, but they all applauded Josh anyway so they could hear Emily's start of the season speech.

"You have all proven that you are the best of the best, and we will continue to prove that throughout the remainder of this year. We will take regionals, nationals and internationals. It's going to take some work, but we can get there if we live as a team, die as a team, but always a team." Emily glanced at each and every one of them with her intense gaze and Harper almost felt as though she was staring into her soul. "Daniel is going to teach you our first section of choreography, Harper could I please speak to you in my office?"

Harper couldn't stop fidgeting nervously as she followed Emily into the cool toned office, exchanging a nervous look with Richelle as she passed her. She wiped her sweaty palms hurriedly on her shorts as she sat in the seat opposite to Emily but managed to relax slightly when the studio head gave her a warm smile.

"First of all, I wanted to congratulate you on making A Troupe. Daniel and I weren't expecting much since you didn't even audition last year but you've really improved since J Troupe and I know you'll contribute a lot to this group Harper so I'm really proud of you." Hearing those words from Emily was shocking as she rarely showed any signs of kindness to anyone. It was strange but reassuring. "I also wanted to make sure you were focused and ready to go because Michelle left."

"I'm actually still a little confused about that. Why did she leave? I was so excited to finally be dancing on the same team as her." Emily placed her mug down and looked at Harper with a serious expression. Surely Michelle hadn't done anything wrong.

"Your sister has decided to form her own competitive troupe, TNS West, which will run from studio A." Emily explained in a slightly bitter tone, but Harper could hardly blame her. How could Michelle had abandoned the team like that? Sure, Emily had cut some amazing dancers but that was no valid reason to leave A Troupe.

"Well even though she is my sister, I promise I'm one hundred and ten percent committed to the team. I won't let our relationship get between us and regionals." Emily seemed satisfied with the blonde's answer and she dismissed her to go and learn the choreography with the other team members.

Harper noticed throughout the rehearsal that Piper was having some trouble with the acro in the routine so, although she wasn't an expert, she made a mental note to offer her some help with it after. But as soon as rehearsals finished, Harper knew exactly what she had to do. Talk to Michelle.

She swiftly left the studio as all the others grabbed their bags to head home and she briskly walked down the corridor towards studio A. Turning her head round the corner, Harper saw Michelle sitting inside the office as her 'team' was rehearsing some hip hop out in the studio.

"Michelle, how could you do this? You know how hard I've worked to make it onto A Troupe and all I wanted was to dance on the same team as you, but now you've gone ahead and set up a rival studio." The blonde bursted out as she stormed into the office. Michelle was shocked at first but then a look of guilt came across her soft features.

"I'm sorry Harper, but it's not okay that Emily cut all these amazing dancers. They deserve to compete too." Michelle argued, but Harper was having none of it. To her, this was a complete betrayal.

"Well just so you know, I would do anything for A Troupe so I am more than willing to sacrifice whatever's left of our relationship for the team." This seemed to strike a nerve inside Michelle as her expression visibly saddened. It was clear that Harper had nothing left to say she she rapidly rushed out of the office and went back to studio one. Another thing that was abundantly clear was that the relationship between the two sister would never be the same again.