1. Piper

       Walking through the doors of Cordelia Boarding School for the Performing Arts had never felt so nerve-wracking. I wasn't even this nervous on my first day at the boarding school, but right now, my heart wouldn't stop beating out of my chest.

       I had already unpacked my belongings in my dorm, and I was now heading to meet up with my best friend, who told me to go to Dance Studio C.

       One thing I loved about the boarding school was how many dance studios there were. It wasn't only dance studios they had a lot of; there was also a lot of recording studios, art rooms, anything that would be taken up fast with a lot of students.

       I got to Dance Studio C where Brennan Williamson was waiting for me. When he saw me, he smiled. "Long time, no see," he said.

       I raised an eyebrow. "Okay, but you live with me. You were literally at my house all summer. We literally drove to the school together in the same car."

       "Same difference," Brennan said, walking over to where the speaker was sitting. He plugged his phone into it before turning to face me. "So, guess what we're going to do?"

       "What?" I asked.

       "Well, we're in a dance studio right now, so there's a high possibility we're going to dance," Brennan said.

       I sighed. "Do we have to dance right now?"

       "Piper, come on, you haven't danced since the showcase," Brennan said. "The doctors gave you the all clear to dance weeks ago, and you haven't even done something as simple as a kick ball change."

       "I just... I don't want to hurt myself again," I said. "Dance has always been a huge part of my life, and the next injury might actually stop me from dancing all together."

       "Yeah, dance is dangerous," Brennan said. "Anyone can get injured at anytime, but you can't let that one injury stop you. You're going to have to start dancing next week when classes start."

       "I know," I said. "And until then, I think I'll continue resting my ankle."

       "Not happening," Brennan said, turning back to the speaker. "You know why?"

       Brennan played a song on his phone through the speaker and once I heard the first second of the song, I sighed. He knew exactly how to make me cave for almost any given situation, and right now to get me to dance, he just had to play the song for a duet we created years ago.

       Anytime either one of us felt stressed for whatever reason, we would dance together for this song. Not only that, but we both used this song to audition for CBS and we got in.

       "I'm still not going to dance," I said.

       "You are, and I know you will," Brennan said, going to the middle of the dance floor. "Especially if you see me do the dance."

       I didn't say anything else. I just stood there and watched as Brennan began to dance to our routine, and seeing it was really making me miss dance. I hadn't danced all summer, which was very different for me. Before my injury, I would dance every single day.

       Now, I hadn't done it for a while.

       Near the end of the first play through of the chorus, Brennan stopped dancing and faced me, knowing that afterwards was my favourite part of the dance. "Come on, you can at least mark it," he said, holding out his hands towards me.

       I sighed, but smiled softly as I placed my hand in his. He smiled and led me to the centre of the dance floor, releasing my hand right before my favourite part of the dance came.

       I did mark it at first, and I tried not to put too much pressure on my ankle even though I was cleared weeks ago by my doctor to start dancing again. However, the more Brennan and I danced, the less I started thinking about my injury and the more full out I went.

       I wasn't even thinking about my injury close to the end of the dance. When we finished, I couldn't help but pull my best friend into a hug. "Thank you," I said, feeling a bit breathless. I didn't know what I would do if Brennan didn't pressure me to get back into dancing.

       "You're welcome," Brennan said, hugging me back.

       Some clapping coming from the door made us pull away from each other and look over, only to see Harmony Fleming standing there with a smile. "That was beautiful," she said.

       I walked over to my roommate and gave her a hug. "Hi," I said. "How was your summer?"

       "Eh, same old, same old," Harmony said. "Nothing special happened. Can I just say that it was really amazing seeing you dance again?"

       "Well, I wouldn't have done it until the start of class if it wasn't for Brennan," I said.

       "Anything for my best friend," Brennan said, walking over to us. "Hi, Harmony."

       "Hi, Brennan," Harmony said. "Oh, by the way, this is my best friend, Landon."

       She gestured to the boy standing behind her that I didn't even noticed until now.

       "I was finally able to convince him to audition for the school," Harmony said.

       "I was afraid of being rejected..." Landon said in a quiet voice.

       "Rejection isn't that bad," Brennan said. "In fact, if you do get rejected from here, they tell you that if you keep improving over the year, you'll most likely be accepted next time. I would know. Hey, is your last name Lodge by any chance?"

       Landon furrowed his eyebrows. "Yeah, it is. How did you know?"

       "Because you are looking at your roommate," Brennan said. "My last one ended up moving to England or something."

       "Ooh, that's perfect," Harmony said. "Landon needs his space at times, and you're rarely in your dorm."

       "I sleep there, that's all I need," Brennan said.

       "Yeah, and you spend most of the time in my dorm even though it's not allowed," I said.

       "It's not allowed if I get caught."

       "Which you did."

       "Twice. Only twice, Pipes."

       "Twice is too much."

       Brennan just shrugged in reply.

       "Well, Landon and I have to go unpack," Harmony said. "I just had a feeling you two would be here in a dance studio and I wanted to come say hi. We'll see you later."

       After they walked off, Brennan said, "I'm happy I have a new roommate. I hated my last one, which was why I was always in your dorm."

       "That, and because you don't know how to stay away from me," I said.

       "Oh, of course," Brennan said with a smile. "Now, how about we get started on our dance for the Year-End Showcase?"

       I raised an eyebrow. "We haven't even been picked for it."

       "Ah, not yet," Brennan said. "But we will. We're the best dancers here."

       "You and I both know that's not true," I said.

       "You can at least be positive about it," Brennan said. "Don't they normally pick the same people if they're working harder than last time? If we work harder, we'll be picked. As simple as that."

       "Well, I haven't danced in a long time, so I'm up to some choreography," I said.

       "There's the spirit," Brennan said. "It's glad to have you back."

       "It's glad to be back," I said.

___________________

LOL WHY DID I START THIS?

Oh yea, because I HAVE NO SELF CONTROL.

I was just laying in bed last night listening to music while on Wattpad and the song in the video attached came on, so I was thinking about this book and was like, "Imma post it tomorrow."

OOPS.

Speaking of the video, that's the dance I imagined Piper and Brennan dancing to. I love that duet. It's not my favourite of there's BECAUSE MY FAVOURITE IS THE BEST DANCE EVER AND I CRY EVERY TIME I WATCH IT. (if you wanna watch my favourite, look up The Next Step Flying)

But omg I really miss all four of these characters. They've been planned for SO LONG in completely different stories (Piper and Brennan in one, and Harmony and Landon in another). I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. Especially Brennan. He's my spirit animal.