What's the Deal?
Chapter 5: What's the Deal?
Monday: First Rehearsal after Competition
That marks Lydia's second week as a member of Ms Lexis Elite All Star Competition Team. The first week Lydia would describe as “interesting” but nonetheless fun.
If she could describe her teammates, it’d go a bit like this
Crystal: Strange, sometimes she's serious, sometimes she’s not so it's hard to tell what she means. She is also incredibly Diva-licious, which isn't a word, but if it was Crystal would be the definition.
Kori: Kori is very pretty, and pretty loud. She boasts a lot and reeks of confidence, but Lydia tends to notice that confidence starts to falter depending on Lydia's actions towards the tall girl.
Arrietty: Arrianna is the biggest bitch Lydia has ever met. It’s a shock that someone as timid as Acacia would like her, and someone as kind spirited as Jewels would be besties with her. She is very talented though.
Acacia: A girl of not much words, a silent but deadly type of girl. Lydia can’t figure out much about the blonde girl besides the fact that she is very blush blind, and her blonde hair is permed.
Suzie: A smartass who likes to play mind games on people, she could remember Suzie saying that she doesn't feel strong in her modern skills, yet she was just as good as Arrietty.
Jewels: Jeulianne comes off shady but Lydia came to learn that it’s her love language. Jewels has the attitude on the stage that can make the judges overlook bad technique, not that she has bad technique.
The most impressive member of the team is Kori. There's this charm about Kori that draws Lydia in at the first look. Whatever looking at Kori does to Lydia, she couldn't tell you. Whenever Lydia sees Kori she just wants to touch and be close to Kori, and Lydia is the type of person that does what she wants.
As Lydia lays in her all black bed sheets, in her dance clothes, ready for class, she thinks about Kori. She and Kori are almost exact opposites. Opposite styles, opposite personalities, opposite strengths. Though they also have a lot in common, they're both hopeless romantics, they both love to dance, they both love music, and they both have a knack for not taking things too seriously. The thing is that Kori has more of the knack for not taking things seriously, she doesn't even take dance seriously, she's just naturally good at it. Lydia is kinda thankful that Kori doesn't take dance too seriously, because keeping up with Crystal is hard enough.
INT - The Studio 1 - Day
Lydia walks into the studio, she doesn't pay any mind to Front Desk Lady Lisa, or to the Joella girl gassing herself up in the mirror.
This week was a new leaf to be turned, Lydia may go back to doing her solo’s, she may not, if so the only difference is that she’d have to balance doing a group dance, as well as the solo, and she may be expected to value the group dance more than the solo. There's also the possibility of doing a smaller number with someone else as well!
Speaking of solos, when Lydia opened the door the first person she saw was Crystal. Ms Captain Diva Crystal who happened to be the winning solo last weekend by a landslide. It was a landslide, but not a perfect score. It made Lydia wonder, if she were competing against Crystal that week, would she have been the perfect score, or would Crystal have beaten her?
“Lydia! Hi” Crystal greeted cheerfully, “Sit down sit down! Finally I’m not the only one here!”
Lydia sat down just like Crystal had told her to, she sat across from the other girl who was stretching. The silence was awkward, that was until the door came crashing open, Kori busted through the door and waved enthusiastically. Lydia smiled and waved back, when Kori saw Lydia she put her bag down and ran to sit down next to her,
“Wow, you're excited to see Lydia.” Crystal stated, Kori rolled her eyes,
“Yeah, I happen to really like Lydia's company” Kori said, “She adds a lot to the team”
“Yeah, you're right I guess” Crystal hummed. Lydia didn’t utter a word, she didn’t feel the need to.
“Lydia, how are you angel?” Kori asked, Crystal made a gagged face,
“I’m fine, how are you?” Lydia replied, Kori smiled,
“I forgot, but I’m great now that I’m here with you” Kori basically gushed,
“Bitch get a fucking room” Crystal spat, “Before I return to my Wattpad author career.”
Wattpad Author Career, why does that sound appealing, wait! Oh My God Jewelzie!
The kiss they shared on stage after their duet basically solidified their status as a ship, everyone was rooting for Jewelzie and they are basically cannon now!
“Oh my god, Jewels and Suzie!”Lydia loudly recalled, “They-”
“I swear to god if they deny it when they get here im gonna quit defending them when you tease them” Crystal declared, “I am so done with their bullshit!”
“Acacia and Arri made fanart of them yesterday” Kori told the other two girls, “I mean they MADE fanart, when I do that shit I'm just sketching for funsies or something.”
The door opened again, Jewels tiptoed through the doorway… Great, so she knew they were talking about her and Suzie. Jewels thoroughly examined the room before putting her bag down and quietly sitting next to Crystal. Crystal waves to Jewels, but doesnt press her on her awkwardness.
“So guys, what song do you think we're doing for the group dance this week?” Lydia asked, Kori shrugged, but Crystal cleared her throat,
“I had an idea, but I forgot what it was, I think it’s gonna be three numbers we send, a group dance which could be jazz, but I’m not sure, a duet that I’m certain Kori will do, and then I think Lydia will do a solo as well.” Crystal theorized,
“bitch if i'm doing a ballet duet, I will throw a fit” Kori declared,
“Chill chill Kori! If you're doing a duet it probably would be Suzie Kori tap duet reunion” Crystal noted,
“Auntie Sam said she’s been listening to a lot of-” and then bam, Jewels cut herself off.
The door opened revealing the ginger queen herself, and no not Ginger Rogers, she was actually blonde, but Suzanne Toot herself. She hadn't seen Jewels yet, but the look on Jewels’ face was as if she found a ghost. When Suzie looked at Jewels it was like watching a long distance gay couple reuniting at the airport. Suzie smiled softly before walking over and sitting next to Jewels, all Lydia could think was, ‘god they're being weird’.
“What was that Jewels?” Kori nagged, “You were saying something before your little 50s wifey-poo came in”
“Shut the fuck up Kori” Suzie’s sharp tongue stabbed Kori, “Get a fucking job”
“Girl dont you fucking reheat my nacho crunch supreme” Crystal sneered, she grabbed her phone and AGAIN started pretending to dial a number, “You see Suzie, this is what you should do… Hello yes SAVERS are you hiring? Great! I’ll be over in a second to fill in the application!”
“Good god how much Jasmine Masters have you been watching?!” Kori implored,
Yet before Crystal could defend herself, the door opened again revealing Arrietty and Acacia.
“Hi Arri!” Jewels chirped,
“Is she here yet?” Arrietty questioned,
“No, she’s not,” Kori said.
“Great! So what do you think the group dance is?” Arrietty asked,
“Oh my god! Such a great question!” Crystal cheered, “We were literally just talking about it!”
“Good god if it's a Grimes Halfaxa song again I will quit” Arrietty groans, “I cannot believe that dance won, I felt like I was eating grass in Canada.”
“Did someone say group dance?” they all heard Ms Lexi through the door, the door opens with Ms Lexi walking into the room, “I’m gonna be so honest, I have no idea what we’re doing”
“Are you serious?” Crystal basically scolded, “are you fucking serious?!”
“Crystal, Crystal! Chill out brah” Kori said to Crystal like a hippie, “You gotta be cool like a fool in a swimming pool”
“Shut up Kori!” Crystal snapped, “Ms Lexi doesn’t know what the fuck she’s doing! Ms Lexi, why didn’t you tell me this earlier?! What the fuck!!!”
“Sorry Crystal, I had an idea of what we were gonna do, but then I walked into the studio and I high key forgot what that idea was” Ms Lexi admitted as if she had done nothing wrong, “Give me a minute I gotta think”.
“Girl you should've thought yesterday,” Arrietty stated, “Before you got into the goddamn studio.”
Great, so Ms Lexi doesn’t know what the fuck to do with the group dance, and god forbid they redo “My Sister Says The Saddest Things”. They can't do it, it’s impossible because of how good the last competition was.
Lydia could only sit next to Kori and think about the possibilities, does Ms Lexi even know what she’s doing with the solos, or solo, or the duets, or will she just make EVERYBODY compete solo. Although it wouldn't make sense for the 3 girls in the 16-19 category because that creates rivalry’s that Ms Lexi has been trying to avoid ever since Lydia joined the team. She’d learned that Ms Lexi likes it when teammates don’t feel as if they are competing with each other which is why she sends one solo at a time to competition. Yet, how does she decide?
The main problem right now though is the group dance, yet Lydia is so concerned on whether or not she would do a solo, again, not used to competing in a group. Lydia probably would have a hard time competing in a duo too.
“Alright girls, I’ve decided!” Ms Lexi announced, Lydia watched as all the other girls stood up and lined up horizontally in front of the mirror, but if there's no pyramid, why do they do that? Whatever. Kori eyed Lydia intensely as if to telepathically tell her, ‘girl, get your ass up’.
Lydia stands up and goes next to Kori. Ms Lexi clears her throat,
“Anyways, our group dance will be ‘I Just’, a beautiful contemporary dance to one of my FAVORITE songs by Red Velvet.” Ms Lexi announced, (again), “For the smaller dances, I’ve decided to put Lydia and Crystal together for a duet to “Don't Wanna Go Back” by Jihyo and Heize, see what I did there! Hah! I’m a genius, and then for the solo… I’m gonna throw Arrietty into the ring, we got our 16-19 crown, I want a 14-16 crown”
“Ms Lexi what’s my solo?” Arrietty asked, Ms Lexi paused her speech and glared at Arrietty,
“Anyways! What I was GONNA say is that Arrietty you will be doing a solo to Bachelorette by Bjork” Ms Lexi continued, “This is very in your zone Arrianna so I expect a lot”.
So it’s not a solo, but it’s a duet. A duet with who was supposed to be Lydia's biggest rival, someone who Lydia still kinda sees as a rival because they competed against each other all the time before Lydia joined the team. Every competition, Crystal was always the hardest to beat, Lydia would beat her, but by the skin of her teeth. Now they're doing a duet TOGETHER?! Where both of them have something each other lacks?! It should be awkward…
“Ermmm, Ms Lexi, about that duet with Lydia,” Kori started, “Can I do the duet instead?”
‘Please say yes please say yes please say yes’ was all Lydia could think
“No” Ms Lexi said, Crystal sticks her tongue out at Kori. “Okay! Everybody! Rehearsal time!”
—
After a long group rehearsal, Lydia grabbed her things and started walking to the second studio. Nobody knew who would be teaching this duet, but Lydia knew that this dance would either go really well, and that she and Crystal would compliment each other very well, or it would go absolutely fucking henious and they would be tripping and falling on stage, yes with no safety net.
When Lydia walked into the room, she noticed not only Sam in the studio, and not only Crystal, but she noticed Kori sitting in the corner on her phone, her pink headphones covering her ears.
“What's Kori doing here?” Lydia questioned,
“Oh! I give her a ride home after rehearsal, so she’s kinda stuck here with us this week.” Crystal elaborated, “She shouldn't be too much of a bother, those headphones aren't just noise cancelling, they're world cancelling.”
“Yeah, right now she probably doesn't remember where she is” Sam adds, “Anyways, this dance! The number is going to rely heavily on your musicality, there's a lot of syncopation, and dynamic. Basically, this dance ain't easy So first-”
When Sam said the dance wasn’t easy, Lydia was expecting it to just be very stunty and technically difficult, but nooooo. It was difficult in ways Lydia had never thought she would find difficult, and Crystal was just flying by. Fuck that bitch and her natural musicality. When watching Crystal run the dance by herself Lydia started to notice that Crystal was not as strong technically as Lydia was.
“Do you need help?” Crystal asked, Lydia just shook her head, Crystal walked closer to Lydia and went over the rhythm with her. When Lydia looked to Kori, Kori was eyeing Crystal. Eyeing her like a hawk, almost as if Crystal was about to steal her lunch money
“It's a very bow bow hit hit,” Crystal explained while doing the part perfectly, “Which I know is strange cause we are syncing our arms with the LYRICS, and the song isn't cat kitty cat hurricane katrina. It’s about levels.”
“Did you choreograph this dance?” Lydia asked,
“I helped with it a bit, I just never thought we’d actually be doing it… You know… You and I, I thought it was for you and Kori”. Crystal elaborated, “I guess not though.”
Great, another reason Crystal was better than Lydia, she fucking CHOREOGRAPHS. Of course! All of the girls who can't win turn to choreography, but Crystal can win, she can win by landslides, she can give Lydia a run for her money! In fact, why is Lydia pinning herself against Crystal when they are teammates, and their strengths and weaknesses should compliment each other. If Lydia causes the rivalry Ms Lexi was ever so trying to prevent, than what is the point of being on a team anyway?
—
The duet rehearsal had ended at 9:00, the three girls walked out of the studio while Sam stayed back to close things up, Lydia pulled her keys out of her pocket and twirled them around her finger. While she wasn't paying attention, she heard a hand on her shoulder,
“You were breathtaking in rehearsal today” Kori muttered, oh, nervous Kori is back again, “Group and duet”
“I thought you weren't paying attention” Lydia teased with a smirk, “Don't those 500 dollar headphones cancel out the world too?”,
“Well I happen to have great peripheral vision,” Kori chuckled, tapping on Lydia’s glasses, “Unlike some people”
“At least I can actually drive-” Lydia spat playfully, Crystal covered her mouth, muffling an “Ohhh-!”
“Girl I wish you drove me home more often,” Kori complained, “Crystal has some cultural obsession with Soulja Boy.”. Crystal froze at the door of her car, she slowly turned to where Kori and Lydia were (Coincidentally, Lydia was parked next to Crystal).
“Excuse me?!” Crystal panted, “SOULJA BOY IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF WORLD HISTORY!”
“Your acoustic ass just likes the instrumental” Kori grumbled,
“Oh bitch I KNOW you're not talking!” Crystal scoffed, “Bitch, you know what, since you like Lydia so much, she can drive you home! Since you wanna hate on Soulja Boy so much”.
“Damn, someones been watching old Flamingo Admin Commands Videos a whole ton” Kori teased, “Anyways, Lydia would you mind giving me a ride home?” Kori followed her request by batting her eyelashes a couple of times, Lydia smiled, how could she refuse that face?
“I don’t mind at all” Lydia said, she unlocked her car and opened the drivers side door, Kori sat in the passenger seat, Crystal knocked on the window, Kori rolled her window down and glared at Crystal.
“Don't you disrespect the Flamingo grind EVER” Crystal scolded, “Do you UNDERSTAND?!”
“Yass diva werk,” Kori laughed. Lydia waves to Crystal and then she starts to drive off.
And that's when Crystal had retired as Koris Uber driver, and Lydia started her shift as the new one.