Finally stepping out of the hectic airport, an eighteen year-old girl smirked as she slipped her sunglasses on top of her head. Her brown eyes scanned the lively city of Sydney and shook her head in amusement as she looked down back at her phone.
"I cannot believe they actually convinced me to come all the way here again." She murmured to herself as she tied her waist-length burgundy brown hair into a high ponytail.
She sighed to herself as she walked towards the line of taxis, dragging her luggage with her. As she pulled up the strap of her duffel bag that was draped over her right shoulder, she put her stuff in one of the taxis before hopping into the backseat. Once she got inside, she told the driver where she was going and got comfortable. Patting the duffel bag beside her, she looked at the logo and shook her head once again, still in disbelief that her friends managed to convince her to come all the way to Sydney. Looking outside of her window, she smirked to herself and said, "Look out Chrissy, look who's back."
"Alright that's good guys; now keep up the good work! Jayden, make sure your arms are stronger when doing those pirouettes. You're letting them flail too much." Christian coached as he watched the intermediate ballet class do pirouettes across the floor. His eyes looked over at the young boys that have improved over the past year since the memorial studio opened. An unnoticeable smile ghosted upon his face as he paused the music and faced the class.
"That's it for ballet today guys. I'll let you guys out early for your lunch break before we start our hip-hop class next." He announced and shook his head in amusement as the kids cheered. Christian walked towards his corner and began to gather up his belongings.
"Well, well, well, looks like our Christian has gone soft." A chirpy voice said as they skipped into the studio.
He looked up and smiled as he opened up his arms for the person to jump into them. "Look at you Miss Grammy Awards. Congratulations on your last film by the way. The girls in my class have been going crazy over you, Kat."
Kat smiled brightly as she got out of his embrace and ruffled his hair. "Well what can I say? Jaime has been a great coach and I've been catching a lot of roles lately. Have Ollie and Abigail arrived yet?"
Kat shrugged as the both of them walked out of the studio and headed towards the academy's café. "Ollie called while I was boarding the plane to come here but I haven't heard since. Oh, but the Benstar did say he had a surprise coming in today before he landed here tomorrow with Grace."
"A surprise, huh? I wonder what this guy has up his sleeve this time." He murmured as they queued up for their lunch.
Kat laughed as her eyes skimmed the menu that was once very familiar to them and turned her head to look at him.
"Apparently, Ben emphasized that the surprise was meant specifically for you Christian. Abby was ranting about it how Ben was asking for her and Ollie's help for this the other night."
"This guy really needs to stop his shenanigans...but then again, he is the lead for Cinderella in Marcus's company. I mean it's their second strong year running. So he can do whatever the fuck he wants." Christian replied before ordering a BLT sandwich with a bottle of Gatorade.
"That's also true. Then again Christian, when did having a lead role ever stop the Benstar from doing something stupid or over the top?" Kat chuckled and ordered a grilled Panini and an iced tea for herself.
The both of them laughed and sat down at their regular table as they settled into a comfortable silence. Christian looked around the area and began to reminisce in the memories of being a student at the academy with his friends. So much has happened and now that he was on the path of finding himself, he just needed to find that missing piece in his life. He turned his attention back to Kat who was busily tapping away on her phone.
"…how's Tara?"
Kat looked up at the mention of her best friend's name and smiled slightly as she noticed the change in Christian's behavior. "She's doing fine and totally excited to see everyone else. I can't wait to see how this little reunion will go. Then again, Sammy's watching over us and is going to make sure that none of us mess this up for him. Especially since the reason why we're all back is to put a celebratory showcase for Ms. Raine for her promotion to being one of the artistic directors for the company and it's the one year anniversary for Sammy."
"How was her book tour? I heard from Grace that she toured the entire United Kingdom and United States."
Kat raised an eyebrow at Christian and smirked at him. He noticed the look that she was giving him and crossed his arms, "…what?"
"Don't what me, Christian. You still have feelings for her. You've been keeping tabs on her all this time even though you refused to contact her yourself. Our little dark Romeo still loves the now grown Juliet."
Christian rolled his eyes and crumpled up a napkin before throwing it at Kat. He shrugged and said, "After I pulled her aside from the thank you performance and told her what I was thinking, she said that then wasn't the time. She was just getting her career as an author started and there was just so much on her plate for her from the accident that I didn't want to overwhelm her. So…I let her go."
"And there is the secret corniness to this all because if you let the person you love go, they'll eventually come back if you guys are meant to be." Kat sang as their food arrived.
The both of them thanked the waitress before digging in. Kat wriggled her eyebrows at him and he shook his head in amusement. He reached over the table and Kat looked up from her food just in time for him to flick her forehead.
"Just shut up and eat your food Karamakov. Don't mention this to anyone, you got it?"
She laughed out loud and cheekily smiled at him, "Yes sir!"
Christian laughed and they continued eating their lunch. The two of them caught up with their lives over the year that everyone spread their wings. They didn't realize that lunch was over until Jayden ran up to them and he told Christian that it was time for class.
"I'll catch you later then?" he asked Kat as he slung his duffle bag over his shoulder and pushed his chair in.
She nodded her head and looked down at her phone as she got a text. "Yeah, totally. I just got a text saying I need to pick up Ben's surprise. I'll just meet you at the dorms then?"
He nodded his head and looked down at Jayden. "Aight kid, let's get back to class."
Kat watched the two of them walk away before getting up and dialing the number that just texted her. She screamed as the other picked up the phone and immediately said, "I can't believe you're here!"
The girl stepped out of the taxi and thanked the driver for helping her bring down her luggage. She stared up at the building in front of her and cocked her head to the side as she leaned against its handle. "So this is where I'm going to be attending for the rest of the school year, huh? Ben wasn't joking when he said that it was bigger than Marcus's company in Austin."
She shrugged before texting her favorite person in the world after Ben introduced them to each other and headed inside the main building. The girl walked into the hall of fame and looked at the famed company members that had become legendary in the ballet world. She looked at each and every one until she came upon the most recent ones and smiled slightly. "Looks like Saskia made it anyways…"
Faintly remembering what Ben told her, the girl walked down the hall more and turned left until she reached the dance studios. Dragging her luggage behind her, she walked up to one of the windows of the studios and watched one of the ballet classes that were going on. Nodding her head in acceptance, she made her way to the staircase and set her stuff down before sitting down at the bottom of the steps. The girl unlocked her phone and decided to call the person.
"Hello? Kat? You there?" she said as Kat picked up the phone.
"I can't believe you're here!"
The girl chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. "I mean the Benstar and Grace managed to convince me to come. They've been telling me that my dear cousin has been losing his touch at Cupid's little love game, so I flew in to help."
Kat chuckled over the line and the girl smirked to herself as she leaned her head against the railing of the stairs. "I was just talking to him before he had to go back inside to teach another class. Ben is a genius for bringing you over here, Keila."
"I mean it's your guys' reunion plus you're all working together again? How can something not happen? Chrissy filled me in with his love life while you guys were still attending the academy and he stayed at Uncle Raf's for a while. Tara sounded like an amazing girl whenever he talked about her and he's just a stupid idiot for messing things up."
"Well, why don't I help you with the plotting if you just tell me where you're at?"
Keila chuckled and said, "I'm sitting on the stair case right in front of studio two. I think I'm just gonna watch the pas de deux while waiting for you."
"Alright, sounds good. I'll see you there in five minutes."
And with that, Keila hung up the phone with Kat. She scrunched up her nose and stood up before going towards the window once more. Zach was watching over the third years as they practiced their pas de deux routine and she swayed along to the music that echoed along the empty halls. Unconsciously, her feet began to move and Keila was marking the routine with the third years as she continued to watch their class. It was one of her favorite routines from the Black Swan and performed it with Ben for fun at the academy back in Austin.
"Are you gonna go in?" someone asked from behind.
She stumbled slightly and turned around to see a boy her age. Keila smiled sheepishly and shook her head. "Nah, I was just watching. I'm waiting for a friend."
The guy nodded his head and cocked his head to the side as he looked over her. "You're new around here, aren't you?"
She nodded and leaned against the wall. "The name's Keila. I just transferred here and was looking for Ms. Raine, but my friend promised to take me to her."
"I'm Kai and where are you from?"
"I was born and raised in Los Angeles but moved to Texas when I was ten."
"I meant dance wise."
Keila rolled her eyes and chuckled. "I knew that, you just didn't give me the chance to finish."
"I've been dancing since I was three. I transferred here from an academy back in Austin due to personal reasons."
Kai nodded his head in understanding before glancing behind her at the class going on.
"Well, I gotta get to class or else Zach is going to kill me. Guess I'll see you around, mate?"
Keila nodded and pushed herself off the while as she saw Kat coming from behind. "'Yeah, that sounds good."
Kai smirked at her before giving her a short salute. She watched as he was about to go into the studio before pausing in his step. Before she knew it, he snatched her phone out of her hands and typed something in before handing it over to her.
"Text me if you need help around campus after talking to Ms. Raine. I'll catch you later, Keila." He smiled slightly before jogging in and tossed his bag to the side to join the class.
Keila's eyes lingered on the guy that she just met and smiled to herself as she watched him dance. There was a gut feeling within her that she was going to see that guy a lot more from now on. She turned her attention back towards Kat and ran towards her before jumping onto her favorite friend from Christian's group.
"I missed you kiddo!" Kat chuckled as she spun Keila around.
"I missed you too Kitty Kat! God, I can't believe it's been six months since you last visited us in Austin. It's been quite boring without you. Oh, Ben and Grace send their congratulations on your film by the way." She responded as she was put down.
"Thanks. Now why don't we get you settled with Ms. Raine, hm? It seems like these couple of weeks are going to be interesting."
Keila nodded and the both of them gathered her things before heading up the stairs towards Ms. Raine's office. She looked up at Kat as they continued walking and smiled to herself. It was going to be an interesting time here in Sydney indeed.
Christian smiled as he watched the kids flow with the music as they did groups for the hip-hop routine he choreographed. He nodded his head to the beat and walked around the class to make sure that everyone was on the same level.
"Alright guys, now it's time for the cipher. Everyone gather around and show me what you got."
The kids followed his instructions and gathered up in a semi-circle. Jayden was the first to go as he did flares into a baby freeze. Christian nodded, impressed by how much Jayden had improved since he joined the academy and headed towards the speakers to change the music. He was grooving along to the music as he searched his music library for a good song to play.
"I would suggest the one by Oliver Lloyd featuring Abigail Armstrong."
Christian jumped in surprise and smiled widely as he turned around and looked at the two said people in front of him. "You guys made it!"
Abigail rolled her eyes and flipped her hair to the side as she watched the kids. "Well duh, Tara was the person who organized all of this. Plus we get a break from the company's tour for a couple of weeks due to all these festivities going on."
"And of course, you're always straight to the point with your sass Abigail. I missed you too." Christian said sarcastically as Ollie patted him on the shoulder.
"Looks like things are going pretty solid here as well. Jayden's improved a lot since the last time I saw him. The little brat has a really good form now." Ollie commented as the three of them watched the kids battle each other.
"Well what can I say? I'm a great teacher." Christian smirked as he played a different song and walked towards his students. He faced towards Ollie and Abigail and walked backwards.
"C'mon, show the kids what you guys are capable of for getting into the company."
Ollie and Abigail looked at each and nodded in agreement before setting their stuff down and joined everyone else. They danced and grooved along to the music. The three of them missed this type of feeling of being able to just dance freely and have a good time. Now that everyone's slowly coming back together again, the three of them knew as they showed the kids one of their old combos that the little reunion and showcase they're doing is going to relive the old and create new memories along the way.