slow motion | ozzy

all the marbles

RIPLEY POV
currently the troupe and i were all in the studio just going over our 11 person dance for regionals.

i could tell something was off with noah, he wasn't acting like himself. soon emily and michelle called our attention.

"look I'm just gonna get straight to the point.  noah just turned 18, and because of this year's regionals rules, that means we have to compete in the senior advanced division." emily told us

i wasn't that surprised at the news. we weren't going to be competing in the intermediate division forever.

"or we can compete in the intermediate advanced division, but that means Noah wouldn't be dancing with us at regionals."

that absolutely couldn't happen. noah's been here longer then some of the current a troupers. competing without him would be crazy.

"that cant happen." henry was the first to speak.

"we have to dance with noah." i said and he gave me a small smile. 

"he's the best dancer on the team."

"he's the best dancer."

"I couldn't imagine the team without noah. I've been dancing with him since j-troupe he's like a brother at this point."

"i've thought long and hard about this and I'm not sure what to do. but because it affects you guys, were going to take a secret vote." noah told us.

"everyone will get a red marble in a white marble." michelle said.

"if you think I should stay, drop a white marble in the jar. if you think I should go, drop a red one. since we're a team the vote has to be unanimous. one vote for me to go and I will, no matter what you guys decide on. no hard feelings."

with that he left the studio and we all fumbled with the marbles in our hands. i already knew my vote before being handed these marbles.

"guys, guys I came to the next step to win regionals. noah's a great dancer but I'm not going to lose because it's right." kenzie told us, which was sorta selfish.

"noah's my bro. and I'm not voting him off the team simple as that." henry said and i agreed from beside him.

"me either." i nodded.

"he said no hard feelings." kingston told the two of us.

"and?" we asked together.

"bro's will stay bro's always."

"what kind of a bro are you to vote him off the team?" i asked and he groaned

"i don't care noah has to stay. I don't care what division we dance in, as long as he's dancing with us."

"guys we just have to believe in ourselves." summer said and i rolled my eyes.

"we can do this as a team. think positive. more training let's just kick it up a notch." richelle insisted which started a loud mix of talking over each other

soon after emily shut us up, she set up the marble and one by one we all went up and dropped a marble. after ozzy i went up and dropped a white marble.

once noah was back in the room michelle picked up the jar and pulled the cover off to reveal one red marble.

my head dropped in disappointment. is someone really not that confident in the team's ability to compete in a higher division that their willing to vote noah off. this sent the whole team into an argument.

"i can't believe this is happening. someone was only thinking about themselves and now noah's off the team."

~~
after the whole marble thing, i walked into the locker room to see ozzy on the couch with a bunch of textbooks with him.

"um, oz what are you going?" i asked going over to him.

"well kingston is failing school, so I though I'd help him." he told me, which was sweet.

"that's sweet, but he's pretty stubborn and not gonna like it." i said putting my knee on the couch and bent down to kiss his cheek.

"maybe, but what kind of friend am I if I don't try?" he said and i nodded

"your a good friend babe. and a great boyfriend." i told him making him smile at me. he kissed me on the lips and soon i left the locker room to meet up with my sister.

the next day michelle and emily called the troupe to studio A and told us whoever put the red marble im decided to change their vote.

so noah gets to compete with us after all. just like it should be.