Empire - The Next Step

kingston for valedictorian

The notion of Noah leaving the next step because of this audition still terrified Harper, but she wanted to support him no matter what. That was why she agreed to lie to her sister and Emily about his whereabouts until he had finished, although it was proving a harder task than anticipated. Waiting around for Noah had become so frustrating that Emily had called Harper into the office to interrogate her until she cracked.

"Take a seat Harper." The blonde studio head said firmly as she also took a seat in the opposite chair. Harper nervously sat down as she chewed on the inside of her cheek, Emily's threatening glare burning into her. She felt like she had committed a crime and was in an interrogation room. "Where's Noah?" When the girl didn't answer, Emily hardened her glare making Harper even more uncomfortable.

"I can't tell you but he'll be here any minute I promise." Emily's glare only intensified the more she lied.

"Harper, you will tell me we're he is." The studio head seethed as her eyes narrowed and she leaned down to the girl's level. If there was one thing that everyone at the studio knew, you don't lie to Emily.

"Well he went to an audition for a musical. But he said he'll be back soon, and rehearsals don't start till after regionals so it won't interfere." Even as she was defending Noah, Harper could tell that this wasn't going to go down well with Emily. She hated when people weren't fully committed to the troupe and although Noah was, him attending an audition and missing rehearsal was not good for him.

"It already has interfered with regionals, he's missing a rehearsal that we can't start until he gets here." Emily seethed with her nostrils flared in anger. It was clear that she was extremely frustrated with Noah. "I'm gonna go handle this." Without another word she marched out of the studio. Harper could only hope that Noah wouldn't be in too much trouble when he got back.

"What's going on?" Michelle asked her as the elder of the two sisters watched Emily storm out. Harper just shook her head in exasperation and turned to face Henry who looked as though he was about to make an announcement.

"Look guys, we need to help Kingston. Regionals are coming up and we have to be ready so missing a rehearsal just isn't an option." Henry said making everyone nod in agreement. Even if Noah had been there, it was still a good idea to get Kingston back on the team. Everyone decided to split off and help Kingston with different areas of study and Harper decided to go with English Literature with Henry as it was her strongest subject.

Piper and Finn were going first and decided to help with his History work so Harper decided to go to Shakes and Ladders to get a snack. She grabbed a banana and a strawberry smoothie from the barista then decided to join Henry who was sitting alone.

"Hey Henry." She greeted the boy as she sat opposite him on the sofa. He sent a smile her way and put away the English notes he was studying to help Kingston, as Harper presumed. "Sorry things didn't work out so well with Amy, although I'm glad you and Summer are hitting it off. How's that going?"

"It's actually really great. I guess Amy and I weren't meant to be." He said seeming a little dampened, although he seemed happy with Summer. "How are things with Noah? I heard you guys hit a rough patch."

"Yeah, I was just being a little dramatic. I think we're good now, although I'm kinda nervous about him doing this audition." She admitted to the boy whom Harper had enjoyed getting to know a little better over the past season. She felt that last year on a troupe she spent a lot of time with Richelle and sometimes Lola, but now she was branching out and really getting to know other people on the team a little better.

"Why? Aren't you excited for him?" Henry asked in confusion as the girl released a sad sigh.

"Of course I am, it's just gonna be weird if he gets the part. I've never been here without him." Harper wasn't often one to cry, she felt more emotion than Richelle of course but rarely enough to shed tears. Just thinking about Noah possibly leaving almost brought tears to her eyes. It was finally hitting her.

"I know but this could be really great for him, and it's all gonna be okay. You'll have me at least." Henry sent her a small smile as the girl chuckled lightly. It was true, although Noah wouldn't be there she would have other friends to get her through.

"That's true I guess. We should probably go help Kingston though? Last I heard, he thought 'To Kill A Mocking Bird' was about bird hunting." The pair shared an uneasy look as they ventured back to studio A ready to tutor Kingston. If that really was the case, they would have a much harder job than anticipated.

"Alright hoverboard boy, are you ready to be schooled?" Henry asked as he grabbed the hoverboard from Kingston's grasp and began to ride it around the room while he pulled out a set of flash cards. Kingston shot Harper an odd look to which she just shrugged in exasperation.

Herself and Henry constantly shot English questions at Kingston and although he started off a little clueless, he was definitely getting into it. It even got to the point where they had gone through each flash card a second time and he got them all right.

"Wow Kingston, you've improved so much. You're gonna nail that test." Harper gushed enthusiastically as Henry continued to rise around on the hoverboard.

"Thanks for the help guys, if I pass it's all thanks to you." The boy replied as he pulled Harper in for a hug and gave Henry a high-five as he rode past.

Harper gave them both one last smile as she made her way to her cubby. She pulled out her phone and noticed that she had five missed calls from Noah and a the same number of voicemails. She pressed play on one and almost dropped the phone when she heard the other line.

"Harper I'm freaking out! This audition is going to be a complete disaster. I didn't learn my lines, I don't have a pic and res, my outfit isn't original and to top it all off Elliot's here. Elliot!" Came Noah's frantic whispering voice down the phone. Harper instantly felt guilty that she hadn't answered earlier and hoped that she could give him some words of advice, but it was likely that he had already gone in. She decided to call him back anyway.

"Hello?" Came Noah's voice, this time at the normal speaking level and far less panicked.

"Hey Noah, sorry I missed your calls earlier but we were helping Kingston with his studies. Have you done the audition already?"

"Yeah I'm on the way back now and before you say anything, I was panicking for nothing. It went really well." The girl released a sigh of relief.

"Oh that's great, I'm so proud of you! I'll talk you about it tomorrow night at dinner."

"Okay, see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

As Harper hung up the phone she had a mixture of emotions swimming through her. She was thrilled that Noah's audition had gone well but that could also mean that he had gotten the part. It would be amazing for him to be in an actual musical, but that would also solidify the fact that he was leaving after regionals. She wasn't sure she could face it.

| | |

a/n: hey everyone, sooo it's been a hot minute since i updated so i'm really sorry about that. i've been catching up on a lot of work for college and then i went on holiday and it was my birthday a couple days ago so i've basically just been really busy so sorry for not updating. it's also not the most exciting of chapters but we're getting pretty close to the end now and at least there was a little bit of noarper and obviously my brotp, henny penny and harpsichord. love them. but anyways, thank you so so much for reading i appreciate you all so much for taking the time to read, vote for and comment on this story. we've now reached 6K which is absolutely INSANE!!! beyond my wildest dreams so thank you so much and please keep reading :)