The doors swung open before Roman could say another word and Virgil pulled himself away from the bars obediently as the one and only Winona Drake walked in. The other dancers stood to attention as well and Roman copied them, quietly sliding his way behind Patton. This woman looked like a witch and, as he had heard from Remus, behaved like one too.

Winona stared icily at her students, her gaze only softening when it rested on Virgil, who's lips twisted into a confident and proud smirk. Then the woman looked at Roman.

"Ah," She said, a knowing look in her cold eyes. "Roman Prince. I've heard a lot about you from your brother. Let's see what you have."

"Uh, yes, ma'am!" He quickly responded, resisting the urge to salute. Virgil glanced at him, eyes glittering with heartless amusement. Roman glared back.

Winona swept across the elevated stage, walking down the small stairs and pacing in front of the class. "It's been a while, so we'll just practise some stretches and refresh our memories. Thomas, show Prince the weights, you can help him with the exercises and I'll set the music up."

Roman paled a little and turned to Patton. "Weights?"

"Don't worry," Assured the bubbly guy. "They're really not that hard, it's just to remind us to keep our arms and back straight when we kick and stuff. They're only fifteen kilos each."

The new boy nodded, suddenly worrying about what he had gotten himself into. Thomas popped up over his shoulder and dragged him along. "There they are," He said, displaying a small set of weights. Most of the pairs were turquoise in colour, except for a black set.

Roman reached for the black ones, more out of curiosity then want, only to have Virgil snatch them up first. "Watch it, Prince, don't touch my shit," He hissed, before heading back to the back corner.

"Yeah," Whistled Thomas awkwardly. "We've all learnt not to use the black ones. Those are Whitlaw's', he brought them from home and there twenty kilograms, so you don't want to use them anyway."

Roman glared. "He's a bitch."

Thomas nodded in agreement, jokingly adding, "Don't let Winona hear you say that!"

The pair laughed a little and Thomas handed Roman a set before beginning to demonstrate.

"The trick is," He explained, holding out his arms in a 'T' position and raising one leg slowly, "to not wobble your arms. You're supposed to find your centre and hold it rigid. No bending your arms, your legs or back."

"Sounds hard," Commented Roman, quietly.

Thomas smiled. "It isn't really. Once you've clocked it, it's kinda easy."

Roman cast a glance around. Patton was doing it fine, although he hadn't lifted his leg very high; Logan was on a perfect right angle, eyes closed in focus; Virgil was showing off, his leg high in the air. His eyes were also closed, but he opened them to smirk at Roman.

That pushed a mad stubbornness in Roman's' veins and he took his weights in hand before lifting his leg as high as he could. He fell over and Thomas quickly grabbed him, laughing a little. Winona arched a sceptical eyebrow.

"Don't force yourself to get it as well as Logan and Virgil!" The other chuckled, pulling him up. "They're the lifted, so they're really good at holding poses and core strength. Maybe aim to be like Patton. He's a lifter and far more achievable than those two." Thomas beamed encouragingly and Roman smiled back, a little embarrassed.

He took in a deep breath and took up the pose again. This time, however, he'd learnt his lesson. Gently, he lifted his right leg off the ground, keeping his left foot rooted down. His arms were not liking this and Roman was prepared to give up until he remembered everyone expected him to, and the way Virgil thought he was so amazing and the way Remus would never let him forget it, regardless of where he ended up.

So he found his core and straightened his back, brow furrowed concentration, and lifted his leg higher, inch by inch. Thomas was definitely impressed, nodding thoughtfully, and Roman could feel his arms shaking a little.

After a few more seconds, Roman let his arms and leg drop. "That was lowkey fun," He huffed, with a small laugh.

"You did really well!" Thomas exclaimed. "You wanna try again?"

Roman nodded and started again. He got his leg higher and higher each time he did it until he was holding himself steadily, only a few degrees off Logan. Thomas was stunned, to say the least. "You got that really quickly, I'm kinda shook!" He joked. Roman risked a glance to Winona - she only nodded quietly at him, that same look in her eyes from the auditions.

"How high can you get your leg?" Roman asked, looking away from the teacher hurriedly.

Thomas thought for a second. "I can swing it really high, but I can't hold it up there for very long. I mostly end up kicking when there's some kinda burst in a fast-paced bit of music. Like the time we had those ribbons, last year, did you see that?"

"I did," Roman nodded, eyes lighting up. "It was so cool! I was far at the back, though, I didn't get to see it well, but I remember that. You had red ribbons, right?"

"We all did, except Logan and Virgil, who had gold," Thomas answered. "We often do fast dances like that, but the class below us do more middle-paced with fast and slow moments."

Roman continued to nod, and then Winona called for leap exercises. The class began to shuffle to the corner.

"Uh, what do I do with these?" Roman quickly asked.

Thomas pointed to where a small pile of weights were growing in the corner the dancers were gathering in. "We don't use them for leaps, but we'll probably need them later."

Roman nodded, nervous bile of anxiety in his throat which backed down when his new friend nudged him.

"Hey," Thomas assured. "You'll do fine. You're doing really well, and leaps aren't too hard either. They're probably the easiest."

The new student hummed in response, making eye contact with Virgil, which was probably the right thing to do. Virgil just looked down on him so harshly that Roman felt his pride and ego roar in vengeance. If this bastard thought he was gonna turn tail in the face of a few jumps, he was wrong, and Roman was gonna prove it.