Sydney's dance at the top as well as an amazing cover from one of my favorite readers  @kathleencahill ❤️

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Chapter Forty Two: "Dramatic."

"RAVI, YOU MAKE this the longest bus ride ever." Hailey said in front of me, sighing.

"You guys look so dead. I mean this is the moment we've been waiting for. Nationals! Eduardo man, at least try to look alive."

Eduardo gave him a smile that clearly didn't reach his eyes on the other side of me. He's been acting like this for a while. He didn't even bother showing up to lunch for the past week due to what's been happening between him and Mary Anne.

I brought one knee up against my seat, finding a comfortable position to talk to him. "You okay?" I asked him quiet enough for anyone to hear. Out of everyone on this coach bus, Eduardo and I were the only ones that chose to sit beside each other. And I figured that he would need someone to talk to.

He shrugged, leaning his head against the side of his chair, face towards me. "We haven't spoken in a week."

"It's that bad?"

I knew it was that bad but I asked as if I was clueless. Mary Anne had been telling me everything. After exams it was like Eduardo and her got into arguments about anything and everything and eventually they just stopped talking and avoiding one another.

Eduardo rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, sighing. "I guess so. I figured she would speak to me before I left like she usually does before this happens but clearly that hasn't happened."

"Wait... so for the past years you've been going to important competitions you've been expecting Mary Anne to apologize?"

"Not apologize just be the one to speak first."

I stared at this idiot in front of me and felt the need to hit him upside the head but I wasn't really one for violence. "Eddie?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Get your head out of your stubborn ass and talk to her," I exclaimed before lowering my voice. "You depend on her to apologize for something she didn't even do. She's trying to be there for you and the frustration you feel towards the competition is what you're pushing onto her. You're causing the arguments but you're making her come to you when you're pushing her away? Does that even make logical sense?"

He rubbed a hand under his eye. "I guess not. I don't-I don't even know why I keep being so hard on her. It's not like she deserves it."

"Um...I think it's because we're always the hardest on people we're close to. Of course she doesn't deserve that but please explain that to her. Now, please. Call her."

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and stared down at it. I rolled my eyes, grabbing it out of his hand and pulling out Mary Anne's number, shoving it back towards his face. "If you want to be with the girl you love call her and stop playing around."

He held the phone up to his ear and started the conversation and I got up to give him some privacy.

Not even knowing why I did this, I moved to sit next to Isaac who had his headphones on. When he noticed me, he took them off, staring at me with confusion

It made sense. We didn't really speak outside of dance since Lucas and I got together and for some reason my body decided to sit right beside him.

"Sydney."

"Hi."

"What's going on?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"You're the one that came here." He had a point.

"How's everything?" I tried to make conversation but clearly that wasn't going to happen.

"Really," He made direct eye contact with me before leaning his head back on the chair. "I thought it was implied that we don't talk outside of dance?"

"What possibly gave you that impression?"

"I don't know. Maybe you shooting me down every time we tried to talk outside of it."

I cleared my throat. "About that-"

"You like Lucas that's why."

It wasn't just me liking Lucas. It wasn't even me being allowed to date. It was weird that Isaac came up to me with so many advances in the first place. It didn't feel right and I had way too many doubts about it. It was just so weird.

"Partially."

He hummed, turning his head to face me. "You guys are good together."

I didn't ask for your-Its then I realize in my mind I was being really harsh on Isaac. I don't know if he actually did like me and I was annoyed by him bothering me in the past but he wasn't a bad guy. "Thanks. By the way I think you should talk a little more to Matilda."

"Matilda? We're just friends."

"Don't you know that-"

"She likes me? That she possibly loves me? I know. And I sometimes I wish I could see her that way just to make her happy but I just can't."

I could already feel someone watching me and I leaned towards Isaac. "She's staring at me."

"She's been doing that since you sat beside me." Isaac chuckled and put a hand out towards me. "I'm sorry for the past trouble since you've got here. I know I should've just stopped asking you out even though I knew you weren't interested."

"Well, clearly you don't understand the term 'give up' which can be handy especially in dance but...friends?"

"Friends."

I shook his hand before glancing down at his phone to see the music coming from his headphones. "Really? This is what you listen to?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Michelle!" I screamed, running over and almost tripping over the same carpet I fell on in fourth grade. I tackled my cousin into a much needed hug, almost knocking us over the back of the couch.

"Ate!" She calls me her older sister in tagalog because she was like a sister to me. "Holy shit." She screamed again and this time I cringed.

"Okay relax."

"I haven't seen you in like six months, you toad."

"I'm a toad? Really? Shut up frog." We both laugh at our little inside joke and I sigh in relief at the idea of being back here again.

I came here my mom and tita, my aunt, talking near the staircase. But the second Michelle and I stop laughing I could hear the footsteps of someone running towards us.

Wesley skidded to a stop and smiled widely at me. His hair looked different but he was still the same guy I knew. I threw myself into his arms and he laughed. "I missed you."

"I missed you," I cupped his face in my hands, inspecting for anything different close up. "What the hell? Have you been working out?"

Wesley scoffed. "I swim remember?"

"I dance remember?"

"Well, bitch, no one asked what you do." He rolled his eyes and I hugged him tighter. "It's great to have you back again."      

"It's great to be back."

"Now, tell me all about..." He lowered his voice. "Lucas."

I pushed away from him. "I haven't seen you in person for six months and the first thing you want to know about is my boyfriend?" I whispered to him just as my mom and tita passed by.

"Yes." He whispered back, the both of us sitting down on the couch where Michelle had her feet perched up, watching the TV.

"Where is he?" She asked.

"Um...he'll probably be here in an hour or so."

"So Nationals," Wesley rubbed his hands. "You excited?"

"Opening ceremonies began this afternoon and then solos begin tomorrow." I said that nervously, bringing my feet up on the couch.

"What's the problem with that? You've won solos for so many years, what's the problem?"

"Nothing. You know how I am. I always get nervous before elimination round."

"We know. The first time you went to Nationals as a soloist you almost threw up." Michelle pointed out.

"Correction. She did throw up when you went to the bathroom but didn't bother telling you. She said it made her feel better and didn't want you worrying." Wesley said. He really did know a lot of things about me. 

"What," Michelle stared at me. "For real?"

"Yeah," I groaned, leaning against Wesley's side when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. "That day was overwhelming and embarrassing I thought I would faint on stage."

"Don't be dramatic."

"I'm not being dramatic. Nothing truly prepared me for going to Nationals as a soloist. I mean, suddenly you make the youngest person on that team do a solo that chose whether or not your team would be continuing on or not? That terrified me."

"Now?"

"It's not so bad. I'm still scared but not as scared as I was back then." I mumbled, taking my phone out of my pocket.

"Ooh the iPhone we haven't seen. The upgrade from your crusty phone," Wesley loomed over, looking at my lock screen. "I see my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Michelle and I both questioned at the same time.

"Octavia is most definitely not your girlfriend. I'm pretty sure either of you would've told me."

"She's my fake girlfriend. Of course I would tell you if I'm dating someone. You would be the first one to know. I see...text from Lucas."

Before he could read it out loud, I moved my phone away from his view. "You can meet Lucas tonight. Last time someone had taken my ph-device I almost embarrassed myself in front of him."

I think back to when Mary Anne sent messages to Lucas from my iPod and Eduardo was holding me back that day in the quad.

"You'll meet him tonight."

"Meet who tonight?" Michelle's mom asked me, appearing out of nowhere.

"Eduardo," I lied as my mom came out of the kitchen as well. "Wesley just wants to meet one of my dance friends.

When Wesley met Lucas that I night I was sitting with him in my hotel room with Octavia, Michelle and a couple other girls I was sharing the room with.

The second Wesley and Octavia saw each other it was the most dramatic thing I had ever seen. Octavia had burst the door open to the hotel room and it was like they had planned it out and everything beforehand.

I'm pretty sure they did.

Octavia threw her bag on the bed and like the immature amazing people I knew, they ran towards each other in the worst slow motion I have ever seen in my entire life. I was mentally crying at how bad it was but it was kind of crazy seeing two people who had always talked through screen finally see each other in person.

And they couldn't stop talking to one another. It was like their friendship was made for one another.

Fast forward an hour later, someone was knocking on the door. I reached over to get it while Wesley told everyone how he broke a city record in grade eight and I was pretty sure a girl from my dance team, Hailey was falling for him. She was hanging onto his every word.

"Hey." Lucas stood there with a tired smile. There was a pencil behind his ear and the large sweater he was wearing made me want to take it off and put it on myself. 

I smiled back at him, pressing a kiss on his cheek. I closed the door behind him and he stilled, looking at all the people in the room. Octavia gave him a hug, "Missed you." She hopped back on the couch and I tugged at his sweater.

Before I knew it, he was taking his sweater off, revealing his simple tee underneath. I could hear Octavia yell out, "strip" making Lucas blush immediately.

"I could tell you were eyeing it the second I got here. Just take it." I gratefully slipped it on just as Wesley walked over to Lucas. I watched my boyfriend swallow heavily because if there was someone he definitely wanted to get on a good side it was Wesley.

"Lucas this is Wesley, my best friend."

Wesley eyed Lucas, "So...you're Lucas."

"Uh...yeah."

Wesley looked at him up and down before turning to me. "He's better looking than you made him out to be."

"What?" Lucas and I both said, me more of embarrassment because I used to gush about Lucas to Wesley almost every day before we started dating.

"The pictures on the internet of you and your family don't do you justice man. Just saying."

"Let's not flirt with my boyfriend."

"I wasn't flirting," Wesley put his hands up in surrender. "I was complimenting him. Can't a guy give another guy a compliment these days? Is that wrong?"

"I never said it was." I defended myself and could see that familiar look of annoyance cross Wesley's face.

"But-ugh Sydney I hate you." Wesley walked over to the bed I was sharing with Hailey and sat down, continuing his story from before.

"He wasn't as scary as I thought he would be." Lucas whispered in my ear.

I smiled to myself, patting him on the chest. "Trust me...he's going to question you hard. He does this with all of my old friends when they end up dating someone."

"But you're his best friend."

"Then be scared." I said with a smile, taking both of his hands in my own.

"Wow, I love assurance Canada girl."

"Anytime," I moved towards my friends but Lucas didn't make any movement to leave that spot by the door. I actually had an idea that he just came to drop by, say hi, them leave. "C'mon, you can't just stand here."

He looked at the people in our room nervously especially at Octavia and Wesley. "But-" I gave him a look and he softly smiled, leaning forward to kiss me on my forehead. "It's not like I can actually say no to you."

"Let's go lovebirds," Wesley yelled. "Lucas I heard you're really good at any card game. Let's see about that. I brought my poker chips."

Oh God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm going on soon. I have to get ready guys." I tried to untangle myself out of my cousin and best friends arms but they weren't letting me go until Octavia got them too.

"You people can be insane." I heard her mutter before taking my hands. "You'll do great even though your entire team is depending on you to beat the other team."

I gave her a fake smile, not trying to let her show how much more nervous her dumb sentence made me. "You suck at pep talks and I hate you so much."

"I love you too." She patted my back before sighing dramatically. "But seriously, why do they make this competition like this? Like who says that you have to beat the another female soloist in order for your team to move on or if you lose you and your team goes home? Like I don't understand this."

"I think you do. You literally just explained it." Wesley stared at her.

Octavia rolled her eyes. "I mean that it's so stupid. I know Sydney's going to win but do they not understand how much pressure that puts on the dancer," Octavia took my face in her hands and inspected my face. "Look, you're already breaking out."

"I've been breaking out since the sixth grade. Leave me alone and thanks to this thing called makeup, you won't see a single acne scar. We're good? Okay." I told her like she was a six year old and she swatted me on the arm, making me laugh.

"Oh, there's your boyfriend now." Michelle pointed behind me to where Lucas and Greg were walking towards us.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. This idiot wanted to explore the downtown area of this city." Lucas explained, one of his hands behind his back.

"I've never been here before," Greg explained. "What did we miss?"

"Um...Isaac did his solo and beat his opponent so our team is moving on and I have to go get ready for mine."

"You guys totally missed out friend-Oh there he is now." Wesley pointed behind me and again and quickly handed my phone to Michelle to run over to my old friend.

"Oh my God, Tim." I leaped into the arms and he laughed, letting me wrap my legs around his waist like I used to do every time we saw each other at dance.

I pulled back to inspect him, holding his face in my hands. "Holy, I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"I saw you get past this morning. Your solo was amazing."

"Thanks, the studio misses you, you know?"

"I miss everyone too."

"Ugh, it sucks that you're gone. Who else am I going to dance bachata with?"

"What about that girl...what's her name? That girl you dated and was starting at the studio when I left?"

"Oh her," Timothy let me stand on the ground and scratched the back of his head. "We're sort of-"

"You're dating someone again? I swear you always have backups. Didn't you just end things with that girl last week? You told me this on the phone."

"We're not really dating. We're just...hanging out. Yeah, hanging out."

"Hanging out." I repeated, staring at him like he thought I was a complete idiot for realizing what that meant. Timothy had the dancer's body and the attitude of a fuckboy no matter how much he denied it.

"Yeah. Plus, she can't dance to Spanish music like you can." He nudged me and I laughed, remembering my friends behind us. I grabbed Lucas by the hand and pulled him over.

"Timothy this Lucas my boyfriend-" Timothy's jaw dropped when I said that and I held in a huge eye roll. "And Lucas this is Timothy, my old dance partner." 

"This is the boyfriend?" Timothy looked at Lucas like a strange creature before lancing at Wesley. "When you told me she was actually dating someone from the Cahill family I thought you were kidding."

"Why would I ever joke about Sydney dating someone?" Wesley said dryly, gesturing to Lucas like Timothy should realize that he actually exists and is in front of him.

Timothy laughed and stared at Lucas. "Sorry, man it's just- you know how awkward she is right?"

"Hey!" I hit him on the arm to stop talking but he kept going.

"And she stutters a lot. Did she stutter around you? I bet she did. She does that to people she gets nervous around and if she really likes you then she probably thought about fainting whenever she spoke to you-"

"Stop talking!" I whined and Michelle reached over to smack him upside the head.

"I'm sorry," He burst out laughing and I was questioning how I spent fourteen years of my life dancing with this idiot. But laughter turned into one of amusement to some sarcastic laugh. "You're dating someone and it's not even just... someone. He's a part of one the most famous families in the world. His mom's sweatpants could probably pay for my entire college tuition. Does he not realize how many people are staring at him right now because of how famous he actually is?"

"I'm not famous," Lucas said, on hand behind his back and there was a flush on his face that didn't signify embarrassment. It looked like he was getting mad. "My parents are."

Timothy eyes trailed over to Lucas and I caught the way he looked at him, his eyes going over Lucas' long plaid button up shirt, the band shirt he was wearing underneath and his jeans. That rings on his fingers and the watch on his wrist. I didn't like the way he looked at him. Almost like he was judging him.

"Huh," Timothy rubbed his jaw. "You're not carrying loads of cash in your pockets?"

"Greg, how much money do you have on you?" Lucas asked, keeping his eyes locked on Timothy.

Greg looked through his pockets. "I think I have a dollar. That's it."

"Does that answer your question?" Lucas directed towards Timothy.

I exchanged a glance with Michelle and she immediately tried to stop the next sentence from coming out of Timothy's mouth. "Hey guys how ab-"

"Is the money in your trust fund? Do all the people in your family have one? So they don't have to work for life?" Timothy asked and I knew was trying to get under Lucas' skin.

Why he was