A/N

Hey guys! This is the first real chapter of Spotlight. Thank you all for reading this so far, and I really hope you enjoy it. Please, please, please comment! It only takes a second, and it really helps. I'll definitely check out your work and comment in return xoxo

 And then it was the first rehearsal of the season. The twelve of us filed into the studio, and two of the most well-known teachers in the company were sitting near the mirror. Miss Andrea and Miss Claire— they're twins and have been dancing together since they were born. They've both performed in major ballet companies and on Broadway, but now they're getting a little older and can really only teach. They always teach the highest ranked dances, so now the highest ranked team. Seeing them in the room was intimidating and terrifying. When you're dancing for icons like them, mistakes seem fatal. They had choreographed one of my trios the summer before. It was me, Tara, and Logan. Because they're known to be two of the best, the best teachers had choreographed for my partners before. They were used to it, and I was freaking out the entire time.

"Girls! Everyone listen up! Andrea and I watched your auditions yesterday, so we have a general idea of your dancing. We've seen you do a choreographed combo. Now, you have twenty minutes. Pick a song, choreograph your own combination. You can improv, but we will be examining your musicality and technique, so please try to focus on that. Planning it will help you. After twenty minutes, you will each perform your routine in front of your teammates. You must dance for at least a minute, or until we cut you off. We have yet to decide who will perform each routine for the first competition, so your performances now will make that decision. Any questions?" There were none.

And so our final summer had begun.

"What song are you using?" Bea asked me instantly.

"No idea, I'll find something. Lyrical, probably."

"Same. They want technique, I hate technique," she groaned.

"You'll be fine. Just do something with a beat and you'll kill it," I suggested this while looking across the room, scanning to see what anyone else might be doing. So far, it was all about finding the perfect song. The twenty minutes sped by, and we were called to the front of the studio to watch our friends perform. Or friends and others. By now I had talked a little bit to almost everyone on the team, Courtney's trio discluded. Although I've known her practically my whole life, she was still too cool to acknowledge me, even at summer camp.

Anyways, she volunteered to perform first. She looked great, which pissed me off. She doesn't even dance at home. At home, it's all about volleyball and partying. Nobody there even knows she dances. I stared at our teachers' faces, hoping I could get some idea as to if they love her or hate her. Teachers always loved her, but these two showed no expression. If anything, they looked bored. I know how rude it is to say this, but I couldn't have been happier to see that. This was a new summer, and I knew that this year, Courtney was not going to overshadow me. I wouldn't allow it.

Following Courtney, Presley performed. Again, Miss Andrea and Claire didn't crack. It's not surprising, since Courtney was always definitely more talented than Presley, as much as it pained me to admit it. Bekah performed next, and they definitely looked happier to watch her than they had her friends. The next to go after the trio was Noah. I looked towards Bea, who looked pissed. They always hated each other; they were always rivals. 

Most of the choreographers here despise hip-hop. Everything is based on technique and lines and emotion. The wildness that is hip-hop doesn't fit the basic criteria. It doesn't win competitions, and we need to win in order to keep our legacy as the highest ranked intensive dance camp. Basically, there would rarely be more than one hip-hop routine per week per grade in years past. If there was a solo, which it often was, it almost always went to Bea or Noah, and they both always wanted it.

"I swear to God, she better have learned to do something other than that one trick. It's all tricks, all the time. She can't even dance," Bea mumbled as soon as Noah began to dance.

"Shut up, that's mean," Anna nudged her, smiling.

"It's true," the former retorted. She wasn't exactly wrong, Noah was known to have a handful of tricks that nobody else could perform, so whenever she was given a solo, these moves were pulled out. This routine though was different. The girl was full-on break dancing, which we'd never seen her do before. Honestly, there had only ever been one other break dancer in the whole program, and he was a year older than us and gone now. Our teachers looked impressed, and the team was really getting into it.

Bea was livid.

Her eyes stared straight ahead, arms crossed across her chest, absolutely no emotion. Noah danced for a whole two minutes before the teachers cut off the music, and the whole room burst into applause.

My best friend turned to me, "What the hell am I supposed to do now? I can't outdo that. I can't break dance. "

"Just do your dance, you'll be fine," I assured her.

"Yeah, I know I'll be fine. I'll just be the hip-hopper that's not Noah. I'm not living in her shadow. I have to be different," she snapped. "I'll do lyrical, what's a good song?"

"You're not improving lyrical. It's your weakest style—"

"Tap is my weakest style. Give me a song, there's not much time."

"At least do jazz." Being a good friend, I'm supposed to help my friends not embarrass themselves. Bea has never been bad at lyrical, so it wouldn't have been an embarrassment, but she wouldn't have stood out at all. Rather than just living in Noah's shadow, if she had improvised a lyrical routine, she'd be in the whole team's shadow.

"I'm not a junior. I can do something mature." She rolled her eyes and turned away.

"Let her be, she'll be fine," Anna sighed. Hayden and Carter both performed next, performing lyrical routines that didn't stand out much. Hayden's was a little better, but they're the sort of dancers that blend in well. They're both really talented and their technique is great, but it's nothing memorable.

"Who's next? There's six of you left."

Bea stood up, "I'll go." I gulped and gave Anna a worried look. Bea didn't tell us what song she chose. I sent my friend a smile and crossed my fingers that she would make a good choice.

She made a good choice.

It ended up being a sassy jazz combo, but mature. It wasn't the sort of routine we usually expected from Bea, but she killed it. From the first beat, she was exactly on time and hit every single accent. I recognized the song, it had been her favorite two summers before. She might have been improvising, but she knew the rhythm like the back of her hand. Our teachers looked impressed too. They were smiling, and grooving along, as was the rest of the team. Even Noah and Courtney looked impressed. This positive energy fueled Bea's fire, making her shine brighter on the floor. She was the first dancer to not get cut off halfway through the song.

"How'd I do?" She asked after her performance and applause, completely out of breath.

"Is that even a question? You're amazing," Anna praised her.

"I told you lyrical would be a bad idea. This was perfect," I smiled.

Anna was the next to go. She performed lyrical, and while the energy wasn't as obvious as Bea's performance, everyone was into it. Bea was a tough act to follow, but of course Anna could pull it off. Her control over her movements is breathtaking. Miss Andrea and Claire looked happy to watch her; she's so talented and satisfying to watch.

I followed her. I know that I'm not as good as Bea or Anna, but I'd rather go after my roommates than someone else. I was performing a contemporary routine that borderlined jazz.

"What's your name?" Miss Andrea asked as I took the floor.

"Abigail Sayler," I smiled.

"Thank you, whenever you're ready."

I nodded to Anna, and she began to play the song. Instantly, I let my body take over. I had chosen a song I knew by heart, and I knew where every accent and beat fell; I hardly needed to think. I just danced. When Miss Andrea cut off the music, I couldn't feel any overwhelming emotion in the room. I didn't expect any, but I knew that meant I didn't do an incredible job. Not like Bea or Anna or Noah. They didn't feel bored either, that was a good thing.

"That was really good," Anna assured me as I returned to the front of the studio.

"Good job." This was from Tara, on the other side of Bea. Logan was the next girl to perform. Although her strongest style is tap, she performed a lyrical routine. She's talented at both, so I guess it makes sense that she doesn't want to establish herself as an unversatile dancer. Tappers have a reputation for only excelling at one style, but honestly, that's contrary to the truth. She was beautiful though. Ramsey performed after her, and did a routine similar to Bea's. She was definitely trying to out-perform her, and while she looked great, that's not what happened at all. Tara was the last girl to go.

Tara is the most talented girl on this team. She was doing lyrical as well, but she outshone everyone else in the room, in any style. Tara is perfect. Her lines were gorgeous and she knew how to give just the right facials and how to hit all the accents. If I didn't know better, I would have thought she'd been performing this routine for years, not just improvising. The room was silent as she performed. Even the air stood still. There was nothing we could do either than hold our breaths and watch her incredible talent.

"Alright, thank you for that. We will be right back with information about your next project. Please, don't do anything stupid," Miss Claire said after we had all performed. Our teachers left the room and I let out a sigh of relief. Our first big project in this team was over. We were into the season.