Thousands of dancers filled the large theater as everyone buzzed in excitement. Maya was excited, yet extremely nervous. Here she was, on the other side of the country with a duffel bag full of dance clothes and a bundle of nerves. Her right leg bounced up and down like a jackhammer as she waited anxiously for it all to begin. All of a sudden, she heard a voice direct a comment towards to her. "Nervous?" Maya looked to her right to see a guy with vivid green eyes and a boyish smile.
Letting out an anxious laugh she replied, "Of course. I still can't believe I'm here." She looked out at the stage again and smiled. "It's absolutely insane." She looked back at him. "You?"
"As always," he answered. He held out a hand and introduced himself. "Charlie," he smiled.
Maya placed her hand in his and shook it swiftly. "Maya Hart."
Charlie smiled politely and leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. "So Maya Hart, is this your first time auditioning?"
"Yeah, I actually missed my high school graduation for it," she answered softly.
It was silent for a moment between the two. "Damn," Charlie answered. "Then I guess you just have to work even harder to make up for it." He looked towards the stage. "And that starts now."
Maya looked towards the stage and noticed the judges coming out on stage one by one. The room fell into a quiet hush as they all listened intently to the judges. "Good to see you all here!" Ty exclaimed as he clapped his hands together. "Now, I'm sure you all are ecstatic that you made it pass the auditions and just can't wait to get started with," he paused for emphasis. "Vegas week!"
Everyone in the house clapped and cheered ecstatically as they all thought of the possibility of actually making it. "But," Ty interrupted. "Vegas week starts tomorrow unfortunately and we seem to have one thing we want you all to do before hand." Maya looked over at Charlie in confusion, but all he did was shrug his shoulders. "We only have two hundred and fifty room keys, and there are over a thousand of you."
Maya gulped. "We're dancing for our rooms," she whispered.
Charlie scoffed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "More like dancing for our lives."
Charlie was right. It was literally a dance for their life.
Five hours. It has been five hours of waiting, panicking, and practicing non stop. Josh has seen countless dancers go on stage, absolutely kill it, and be sent home with tears in their eyes. What chance did he have? Here he is: twenty-one, broke, and untrained. As he watched another dancer run off stage from the disappointment of being sent home, he spotted a certain blonde waiting to go on stage.
As she bounded up the stairs of the stage, he recognized her as Blondie. He stopped everything and watched her dance with such passion, such drive, such force that it mesmerized him. "Whoa," he whispered.
"Whoa is right," a voice beside him encouraged. "You can definitely see the difference between her and the other dancers. Not the technique-"
"But the passion," Josh finished. He looked over at the voice and smiled. "She sure does have it. They would honestly be fools to not let her through." He held out a hand and felt the stranger shake it. "The name is Josh by the way."
"Rachel," the voice answered.
"Nice to meet you Rachel," Josh greeted. "When are you going up?"
Rachel sighed. "Right after her. Wish me luck," she called out as she began her walk up to he side of the stage.
"Good luck!" Josh called out.
Josh turned his attention back towards the stage as he watched Maya finish. Clapping softly, he listened as the judges talked to her, only catching her name.
Maya Hart.
Collapsing onto her bed, Maya breathed out in relief. She got the room key. She got the room key. Maya Penelope Hart got one of the two hundred and fifty room keys. Maya couldn't believe it herself. Slowly, she felt her eyelids close as sleep began to take over her. Letting her mind and body rest, Maya drifted off to sleep at three o'clock in the afternoon, without a single care.
Pop! Maya's eyes snapped open as she was jolted awake by some random sound in the hallway. Waiting for her heart rate to slow down, she sat up slowly and peeked out into the hallway. She noticed a bunch of dancers that made it through were all changed and in their swimsuits, ready to glow blow off some steam. Entertaining the idea, she ran into her room and changed swiftly into a black bikini that flattered her nicely.
Arriving down at the hotel pool, Maya smiled as she watched the beautiful chaos in front of her. It looked as if almost all the dancers that made it through were down there celebrating. "There you are!" Charlie screamed as he approached Maya in excitement.
Maya's head whipped around as she turned towards the sound of Charlie's voice. "Charlie!" Maya yelled as she jumped up to hug her friend. "You made it!"
They pulled apart and looked among everyone around them. "This is absolutely insane," Maya thought aloud as she pushed some hair behind her ear.
"I know right," Charlie agreed. The music in the background changed to an upbeat song. "Come on let's dance!"
Charlie grabbed Maya and dragged her towards the core of the dancing crowd. Feeling the pulsing beat, Maya began to move and groove with everyone, just excited to be there. She jumped up and down to the beat and screamed along with the crowd. As the song ended, Maya clapped and made her way out of the crowd as Charlie continued to dance.
Maya walked over to a cooler and grabbed a bottle of water and took a swig as she walked towards the edge of the pool. "Nice to see you again Blondie," Josh said as he stood beside her. He leaned towards her and whispered, "Or should I say Maya "
Maya looked over at him and chuckled silently as she placed her water on the ground beside her. "Now I don't think it's fair that you know my name and I don't know yours."
"You know you're an amazing dancer," Josh complimented as he tried to change the subject.
Maya smiled to herself as she looked at everyone in the pool. "Nice try," she pointed out. "But its gonna take a lot more than complimenting me for me to forget." She dipped a toe in the pool. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked at Josh with her bright blue eyes.
Josh stared right back at her and smiled. "Don't give me that look," he laughed. Maya rolled her eyes and stared ahead. Still staring at her, he stated his name, "Joshua," he admitted. "But I go by Josh."
Maya looked at her feet and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well Josh," she began softly. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
Maya turned to leave but was stopped by the feeling of Josh's hand on her arm. "Wait," he breathed.
Maya turned towards him only to be a mere few inches away from his chest. Looking up at him slowly, blue eyes met brown and the whole world stopped for a moment. "You really are an amazing dancer," Josh whispered.
Maya smiled but kept her eyes trained on his. "Thank you," she whispered back. Looking at him inquisitively, she asked, "What style?"
"Hip hop."
"Jazz."
"I guess we're starting in your style tomorrow," Maya whispered. "I hope you can keep up," she teased.
Josh scoffed and smirked. "I know I will. Its you, you should be worried about."
Maya rolled her eyes and pushed him away playfully. "Whatever." She looked up at him and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow," she whispered as she backed away. "Goodnight Josh."
"Goodnight Blondie," Josh joked. Maya raised an eyebrow at him. "Goodnight Maya," he said this time seriously.
Maya turned around to head back to her room and Josh to the pool. They each smiled to themselves happily and each felt a little too excited than they should be for the day to come.