Mila's POV

"I literally can't work with you like this," Ajax growled in frustration, throwing his head back to look at the ceiling. 

"I'm fucking trying okay! It's not like I'm doing it on purpose," I shot back, placing my hands on my hips. 

"Listen," he spoke, coming closer to me. "I don't care that you're new. If anything happens, and I don't win regionals, it's on you. You got that?"

"Threatening your partner when your success balances on them is a great idea," I drawled, giving him a sickly sweet smile. He narrowed his eyes at me, clenching his jaw. 

"Alright, how far did you two get," Adam entered the room, interrupting our glaring contest. 

"Around 2 minutes in," I mumbled. 

"Great, that's good progress. Mila would you be okay if we added a bat hang after the chorus?"

"What the fuck is a bat hang?" I blurted, furrowing my brows in confusion. Why do they have such weird names here?

"So you're on your back and lift up your legs so Ajax can get them over his shoulder. Then you hang on his shoulders until he grabs your hands to lift you up."

"I'm still holding his hands right not just dangling?" I asked uncertainly, earning a reassuring nod from Adam. 

"You good with that?" I asked Ajax, who looked surprised for a moment before nodding. 

Once again, I laid on my back, waiting for the cue. My heart raced as I used my core strength to lift my legs as if I was doing a reverse crunch. Warmth spread through my legs as Ajax wrapped his arms around my thighs, holding me against him.  We finished the move, even managing to make it through the individual parts. 

"Great transition," Adam clapped, a grin on his face. 

"Wow, nice bat hang," Lena complimented from the doorway. I glanced over to see the rest of the group watching from the glass windows. 

"Thanks," Ajax mumbled as I smiled at Lena, gulping down my water.

"It would've been smoother if she weren't so heavy," he added, making my cheeks flush with embarrassment.  I had to force myself not to choke on the water I was drinking, watching as he slipped off his dance shoes. Lena had a surprised look on her face as her eyes darted to me, mouth parted in shock. 

I bit my lip, turning away from everyone to get control over my thoughts. Anger flared through me and I clenched my fists to keep it at bay. Did he just say I'm fat??

"Why are you guys here?" Ajax asked Dean. 

"Anna's here to visit so we took a break."

"I want to see it," the nasally voice spoke as everyone parted to let the blonde on crutches through the doorway. 

"Why?"  Ajax scoffed, capping his water. 

"Because I said so?"

"Well, once from the top wouldn't do any harm," Adam shrugged. Ajax groaned, putting his dance shoes back on. He sent me a glare as we stood in our starting position. 

We easily went through the routine, but I wasn't really paying attention. His words kept repeating over and over again in my head. I let my muscle memory guide me through majority of the moves after having done them so many times. I avoided his gaze as he pulled me up out of the bat hang, his grip still as tight as before. 

"Good job you two," Lotte grinned, clapping as everyone else joined her. 

"It tells a story. Judges are always suckers for stories," Gabby nodded. 

The group chattered about, filtering out of the room to head to lunch. I quickly threw on my yoga jacket, grabbing my duffle bag. As I stepped out of the room, Ajax called my name. I stopped but kept my back towards him as he spoke. 

"Just for next time, no need to squeeze my hands so hard. Just because you're heavy doesn't mean I'm going to drop you."

I clenched my jaw tightly, balling my hands into fists as I hurried down the hall to the courtyard. 

The nerve of that boy. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Group dance today!" Lena cheered, holding onto my arm as we entered the room. 

"What are we doing?" I asked, taking off my jacket. Adam always had Tuesdays and Fridays as group dance days after lunch. He would teach all of us a short choreo so we could dance together as a group and I thought it was a great idea. Only I sucked at learning choreo that wasn't mine. 

I also learned over lunch that sometimes a few people would end up performing the dances for the camera to be posted onto The Royal Dance Academy's YouTube channel. I had seen a few of the videos and I'm pretty sure Anna and Lotte were in a few but I couldn't remember. 

"Anna was so jealous of you," Gabby piped up as we did a short warmup.

"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, leaning down to touch the floor. 

"She was s-"

"Alright ladies, enough gossip. Today we're working with a bit of pop music," Adam interrupted even though we'd just started talking. 

"Just follow his lead, he usually keeps the moves simple and you can do a bit of improv," Lena spoke quietly beside me. 

"Ok," I nodded.

"Also, we're very competitive about this. So don't take  it lightly," she smirked.

"Noted," I grinned, feeling excitement spark in me. I loved a good competition. 

It went fairly smoothly, I had to focus a lot though to make sure I didn't screw up. If I was confused, I would stop for a moment to drink water and watch Lena or one of the others do the move and then try to copy it the best I could. 

"Hello everyone, today is filming day," Oskar announced, entering the main studio room. The girls groaned, rushing to the mirrors. Gabby and I stayed put, sharing a glance. 

"I don't really care if I look sweaty," she shrugged, sipping her water. 

"Same, I mean, all dancers look like they ran 30 miles after dance," I said, earning a chuckle. It was a bit odd conversing with Gabby after she was initially rude. 

"Alright, Gabby, form groups. I want one duet and the rest up to you," Oskar said and Gabby nodded quickly. 

"Wanna do the duet?" she asked, turning to me. I hid my smile and nodded. 

"Let's see what you've got Violet," Max called, leaning back against the wall. My eyes flitted over the group, pausing when they reached Ajax. He had an impassive expression on his face, arms crossed over his chest making his bice- no. Bad Mila. 

I was a bit nervous about the camera but I took Lena's advice and pretended it didn't exist. 

(The first two girls are Mila and Gabby, video up there^)

- - - 

As we finished the dance, I couldn't help but shift my gaze to Ajax, a smirk on my face. He was constantly pestering me about being new at dance. I was hoping this would make him realize that I wasn't a "newbie". Not that I needed approval. 

It wasn't much, but the simple nod he gave in my direction would suffice. 

Mila 1 - Ajax 0.