Maya watched her own fingers relax at the end of her outstretched arms, taking note of the slight sway of her hand as she pointed her toes ready. Her fingers curled, moving as her entire body span round twice on a single set of toes. Her legs were strong, she kept her eyes fixated on a spot in front of her and rest came with the moving her arms round quickly to push her body with it.

The moment she landed Maya sprung off the floor with two legs and did the splits as best she could in the air before landing with a thud. Her feet throbbed, she wasn't even sure she could feel her toes anymore.

She'd pushed herself harder in the last two weeks than she had done her entire life. Her feet were probably more bruises, scraps and blisters than normal feet anymore.

She ran over to the stereo, changing the track to something modern she liked, something upbeat and positioned herself to begin an unchoreographed dance.

They never tell you how painful pointe is going to be before you try it. Maya still remembers the first time she put the shoes on, how right they felt. They were practically the first thing she'd ever owned that was new before. They were perfect. She remember how much she'd been upset after her first session in them, when the blood had tarnished the fabric. She'd cared more about the shoes than the pain, but she got over the shoes. The agony of dancing pointe stayed.

Hurricane started to play.

There's a place way down in bedsty. Where a boy lives behind bricks.'

Maya took a pointed step forward with every beat, circling the room nearly before she felt a time she could start was.

'Got an eye for girls of eighteen.' Her left arm extended, gently circling from the bottom of her stomach, around over her head and back down to her side.

Both arms circled in front of her, triple toe point and quick plié.

As soon as the chorus began, Maya lost her train of thought. She focused on a hurricane, allowing herself to forget what she was doing and just move how she felt fit. Her arms went out and in, her body twisted, her skips and steps went from fast as lightening on moment to balancing her perfectly still a second later. Three pirouettes in a row.

She felt completely unstoppable and entirely in control the entire time.

Air gushed over her bare arms as she moved, her hair began to loosen slightly and her breathing became paced without her having to think about it. The music danced became her partner, the two of them dancing together and following her as much as she was following it.

Strange, Maya thought, how something so chaotic could bring her so much peace.

Tomorrow she could take her dancing and achieve her dream. She hoped.

A couple months ago she applied to the Dance Academy in Nebraska. Tomorrow she would start the week where she'd either pass or fail the entry exam. She was ready. She could do this.

The taxi to the academy made her feel physically sick. Her cab was so late it didn't even look like she was going to get there on time. She'd been so good at getting her flight on time and calling a cab. Maya's mind raced with pessimistic thoughts on how she'd not be allowed to audition because of her lateness. She paid the second they got there and sped out the cab, running faster than she'd ever run before even with her luggage. She had ten minutes to change and get to the main hall.

She stopped the first girl she saw when she entered the academy, hardly stopping to appreciate the fact that she was there, there in the place of her dreams. Maya was a firm believer that hope was for suckers, allowing the academy to be the only thing she'd ever hoped for in her life. Now she was here she couldn't believe it was true. The girl had long brunette hair tied up in a tight bun. She was skinny as hell, elegant small arms and dainty little legs. She looked completely harmless and like she'd help Maya out.

"Can you tell me where the changing rooms are please?" Maya asked, and the girl turned and smiled at her.

"Awh! You're here for auditions too! Third door on the left I think. Good luck!" Her voice was light and sweet, like it could never sound negative even if it tried.

"Thank you!" Maya rushed down the corridor. She left her main bags to the side to pick them up later, just taking her sport bags in with the things she'd need for the audition. She wasted on time taking off her shirt, leaving her bra exposed as she tried to find her leotard.

Somebody wolf whistled behind her. Maya snapped around to see a very pretty looking blonde boy behind her, averting his gaze.

"Damn, well I was not expected this today." He teased as Maya covered herself up a little.

"What the hell are you doing in the girls changing room?" She demanded and he just shrugged.

"Pretty sure those are urinals back there shortie, or maybe you ballet girls have evolved to stand when they pee and I just wasn't notified." Maya now took the time to look over the corner of the changing room and she spotted urinals. Oh god.

The blonde boy had already picked up her shirt and was holding it out for her. She came up close to him, taking her shirt back with a snatch.

"Sorry didn't realize I was interrupting something." Another male voice came from the doorway and Maya quickly shoved her shirt back on while the blonde was distracted. His stare could have pierced through her if he'd tried hard enough. Maya caught sight of the new boy. He was dressed in his dance gear already, his muscled body showing through his tight shirt. His hair as mahogany color, and his eyes looked like they matched. He looked older than Maya, but he looked mature and handsome as hell.

"No! You weren't! I was told this was the girls changing room, I'm sorry!" She raced out before she had a chance to embarrass herself anymore. She tried the next dor along and it was most certainly the girls changing room and luckily this one didn't have company.

She got to the main hall the minute auditions started. She was out of breath, messy looking and stressed but at least she was there. She looked around the room and spotted the brunette girl who'd told her the wrong room and the blonde boy she'd just had an unpleasant encounter with.

"Welcome to audition week of the Nebraska Dance Academy." The stern looking lady at the front began. "By just being here today, you are extremely lucky. This academy is the first stage of the rest of your lives as dancers." Maya was just able to make out the blonde boy rolling his eyes. Huh. Maybe some people didn't want to be here as much as her.

"Today I'll be giving you simple exercises, a few bits of choreography and then you'll be given the day to explore the campus and get settled into your own rooms. Today is not a test, but first impressions are very important. Take a place on the barres, we'll begin with a warm up."

The crowd scattered to line up along either of the barres at either side of the room. Maya did the math. Only half the people in this room would be selected. The boy in front of her took a tiny step back and fell, almost colliding with her. Maya's hand shot up and steadied him automatically. He turned to face her for a moment.

"Thank you." He said politely. "I'm Farkle."

"Maya." She replied, then got back to looking straight at the teacher who'd been staring at her like she'd done something terrible.

Practice was hard. Maya and a dozen other teenagers were being yelled at every few seconds. 'Stand up straighter, put some effort into it, point your toes.'

Maya felt like she was under so much pressure already, she wasn't sure how she was doing. Back home she was confident. She was the best at something she loved to do, and that was amazing to her. Here she was average. Not even that, below average. Maya knew she'd come from a small group and there was bound to be people here that were better than her, but she felt like she was even dancing the same dance.

After 2 intense hours, Maya was exhausted. The session came to an end and Maya headed straight for her water bottle at the side of the room but collided with another dancer who'd not been looking where they'd been doing.

"Hey!" Maya exclaimed and the girl looked her up and down.

"Oh. So you're the one." The girl replied.

"The one what?"

"They let one in every year." The girl explained, brushing over her perfect bun with her delicate hands. "A charity case to make the rest of us look better for the auditions. I think it's to build up our confidence."

"How dare you." Maya snapped, ready to punch this girl so hard she went flying, but instead she took a deep breath. She needed to be on her best behavior.

"Nice leotard by the way. Really helps with the whole poor person look." And with that the girl strode away. Maya furiously stomped and took a drink of water. What a bitch. The boy who'd fallen, Farkle saw the exchange and came over to join her.

"That's Missy. Don't worry, she has a reputation for being the nasty one already. Apparently some girl almost trod on her toe in the changing room and she slapped her round the head with her bag." He said, making Maya feel a little better. "I really like your leotard by the way."

Maya couldn't deny that her leotard was homemade. It was ruby red with black stripes down the side, and she was wearing a matching black tutu. There was no color code for the auditions, but Maya did feel a little out of place in her red when only the boys were wearing anything dark. Girl's leotards tended to be pink, purple or occasionally blue. The red leotard was made for Maya when she found out she'd gotten the audition and she'd loved it.

"Thanks. What can you tell me about blondie over there?" She asked, noticing the same boy glancing their way for the second time.

"No idea. Not even a name. I heard him talking in an accent in the changing rooms, but I haven't heard him speak more than a few words to anybody here so I don't know where he's from." He'd said more than a few words to her earlier when he'd decided to mock her.

"Brunette in the corner?" Maya asked, moving his attention to the girl who'd given her the wrong directions earlier.

"That's Riley Matthews..." Farkle trailed off for a second, smiling her way even though she wasn't looking at them. "She's legend around here. Apparently she's known in her old group around here as being the fun one. The girl that doesn't need to try hard to be good. She's just naturally talented, and according to my many sources, she takes advantage of it."

"Is she mean?"

"Not that I know of." Maya nodded. At least she would be able to assume the directions thing was a mistake and not somebody being purposely cruel to her.

"And how about you Farkle?" Maya started packing her things back into her bag. It was time to go check out where she would be sleeping for the next week.

"I'm nobody. Just the average guy." He shrugged.

"You don't seem like nobody. You seem like the nice person who took the time to introduce himself to a girl who apparently won't be here after this week." She tried to reason with him as they followed the directions to their rooms, picking up their luggage on the way.

"Thanks, but I'm nowhere near as good as any of the people here at dancing. I'm surprised they even let me audition. But I'm glad I'm here." He said, really glad he'd made a friend almost immediately. Being a ballet boy didn't exactly make it easy to make friends.

"So where are you from Farkle?" She continued.

"Just a few towns away, barely an hour in the car. I used to visit here a lot when I was allowed, this has always been where I wanted to be."

"Me too." Maya admitted.

They reached a third year helper who took their names and looked for where they were staying. Out of the corner of her eye, Maya spotted a semi familiar face. The brunette hottie from the changing room. He seemed to be looking for somebody and Maya saw Riley bounding down the corridor and squeeze him in a tight hug. They seemed very friendly.

"Who's that?" Maya asked, her curiosity got the better of her. Farkle looked to who she was referring to.

"Oh that's Riley's uncle, Joshua. Seems okay."

The third year pointed them in the opposite direction to the family reunion that was happening. "Take the elevator. Fourth floor, both of you." The pair looked at each other excitedly, heading to where she said to go after thanking her and taking their keys.

"Hold the door!" Another boy said, rushing to the elevator as Farkle made sure the door didn't close. Maya recognized him from downstairs. He'd been really graceful, she'd tried to copy his Ronde de Jambes a terre*. The way he'd moved him feet along the ground had been something to marvel at, effortless but perfect.

"Thank you." He said, putting his suitcase in and squashing himself into whatever room was left which wasn't a lot at this point.

"No problem." Farkle nodded, pressing the button for the fourth floor. "What floor?"

"Four, same as you two. Hey there, I'm Zay Babineaux." He shook Maya's hand and then Farkle's.

"I'm Maya, and this is Farkle. I have to say, you're a really good dancer." Maya felt foolish saying it, but she was an honest person and it would bother her if she didn't say something.

"Awh, well thank you. I was very stressed about today, that teacher is scary as!" He chuckled.

"She seems stressed already." Farkle agreed. "So what, is it single rooms up here?" He asked as the doors opened on their floor.

"Nah, two double rooms, one for girls and one for boys, and two single rooms, one for boys and one for girls. I asked downstairs." Farkle checked out the room numbers, and saw he was in the double. Zay did the same. He clapped Farkle on the back.

"Nice man!" He cheered and noticed Maya was looking pretty miserable. Double room. She hated sharing her personal space.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be fine and when you come back for real, you'll be able to request a single room." Farkle consolidated her.

"If I come back." Maya sighed.

"So you want to look around the grounds in a little while?" Farkle asked. "I've been here a lot, I can show you around."

"Let me get in on that." Zay added, and Maya nodded.

"Sure thing, can I knock on your door when I'm done getting settled in?" Farkle nodded and joined Farkle in their room. Maya tried to take a second to prepare herself for meeting her roommate but didn't really get a chance. Before she could the evaluator doors opened again. Blonde mystery boy.

"Hey look it's the short stack of pancakes." he smirked. "But something's different...she's wearing all of her clothes." He even had the cheek to wink at her as she joined her next to her door, leaning against the wall.

"Is that a Texas accent?" Maya asked, but she already knew the answer. "Oh, we've got a farm boy have we?"

"Maybe you do." He shrugged.

"Wow. So Ranger Rick likes to peak on girls in the locker room, does he?" Maya wasn't about to take no shit from anybody here, and if she let this guy walk all over her now, it could continue for the whole week.

"You were in the boys changing room, or did you forget?"

"Not yet." She replied snidely.

"And it's Ranger Lucas, not Rick. What's your name shortie?"

"See you around Ranger Rick." She grinned before walking into her room and shutting the door. Hopefully that would be the last time he mentioned that whole changing room thing.

Maya looked the girl who was already getting all her stuff settled her in.

"Missy?" Maya asked and Missy looked like she'd just been smacked. Maya was just disappointed that she'd not been the one that slapped her.

"Oh great, this is just perfect." Missy replied. She threw the rest of the clothes into a drawer. "Make yourself at home or whatever, I'm going to go see if there are anymore room available."

"Joy." Maya responded. Missy kicked the room's trash basket towards her.

"Here. This is for your stuff. I'm assuming this is where most of it belongs." Missy walked out and Maya threw herself down onto the spare bed, sighing loudly.

This dream of hers was not turning out anything like expected. It was chaotic, stressful, she felt useless and untalented and she already had two people who hated her. Great. It was exactly how she'd imagined it.

She could do this, she kept telling herself. She needed to remember why she was here, and then that would make her feel better.

This was going to be the most interesting week of her life.

*A circle of the leg on the ground.

Hey! Thanks for reading, feedback is always loved :) This is going to be a pretty long fic, so I hope you enjoy!