This chapter wasn't written to anything particular so just listen to your favorite music while you read it. That's generally what I do. I'll have the rest of round three in the next chapter. I just didn't want it to get ridiculously long so I split it in two.

Let me know what you think. Opinions are always welcomed in my review box.

Chapter 7- Curveball

POV- Bella

I jumped as someone knocked softly on the door to mine and Angela's room. The glowing green lights coming from the clock said it was only 5:30. I placed my book mark back into my worn copy of Wuthering Heights and peeked through the hole in the door. My breath caught for a moment and I scowled at the strange reaction my body was having. It was just Edward.

I unlocked the door and quickly pulled it aside. Edward was standing in the hallway still dressed in his pajama pants. He was barefoot and the T-shirt he was wearing was two sizes too big. His hair was messier than usual and he looked like he had only just rolled out of bed.

"Edward what are you doing here? Is everything ok?"

He smiled and glanced over my shoulder. "Everything's ok. Emmett kicked me out. I was hoping I could hide in your room until he wakes up."

I covered my mouth with my hand and tried so hard not to laugh out loud at him.

"Did you wake him up again?"

He nodded. "Yeah, then he tossed me into the hall and told me to go bug someone else. He didn't even let me get dressed."

I stepped aside so he could come into the room and shut the door behind him. I was still in my oversized sweat pants and the blue tank top I liked to sleep in. Angela was curled somewhere under her quilt.

"I'm afraid Angela is still asleep."

He nodded. "Then perhaps I should just wait outside. She probably wouldn't be too comfortable with me being in here while she's asleep."

"I'm not going to make you sit out in the hall. She'll be ok. I'll wake her up in a little bit so she can take a shower before breakfast."

"I'm sorry to impose on you like this. I hope I didn't wake you."

His eyes traveled over my pajamas and I could feel the pink tinge on my cheeks. I had a few pairs of nice Victoria Secretpajamas that Summer had given to me but, I had foolishly left them all at home. I didn't generally care what I slept in and this outfit was far more comfortable. I always found it easier to sleep in cotton rather than silk.

I shook my head and pulled one of my zip-up sweat shirts on over my tank-top. I showed him the book I was still holding. "No problem. I've been up for half an hour. I was just reading."

He sat down in the small chair I had been using and I took my book from me. He smiled at the title and seemed to find my choice funny. "You like to read the classics?"

We were talking with low voices so Angela wouldn't wake up. "Yes, Wuthering Heights is one of my favorites."

"This one looks pretty beaten up."

I sat down on my bed and folded my legs underneath me. "It should be, I've probably read it over a hundred times."

"Emmett took my book before he locked me in the hall."

I giggled again. "It's hard to believe your not blood brothers."

"We're brothers in every way it counts. We just don't share any of the same genes."

I leaned against my headboard. "How long have you known each other?"

He sat back in his chair and thought about how to answer before he spoke. I could feel the adoration in his voice as he spoke about his adopted family.

"Carlisle and Esme adopted me when I was six. Emmett is three years older than me and he was already living with them at the time."

He stared at the wall for a while and I hoped I hadn't asked him something to personal. His personal life was none of my busses. "I don't mean to pry, Edward. I was just curious."

He quickly looked back over at me. "No, it's ok. I'm not embarrassed that I'm adopted or anything like that. Carlisle and Esme are the best parents anyone could ask for. Emmett and I are very lucky to have them."

I couldn't resist the chance to ask him more questions. I just hoped he would tell me if there was a question he didn't want to answer. "What are they like?"

He smiled at me and then started to tell me about his parents. "Carlisle's a doctor, probably the best in the state of Washington. He and my mother live in Forks, Washington. You've probably never heard of it, it's a really small tow-"

"No, I do know Forks." I cut him off, unable to believe that another person here knew of the tiny, oddly named town I had been born in. "I was born in Forks. My dad Charlie still lives there."

"You're Chief Swan's daughter?"

I nodded. "That's my dad."

"I don't believe that. Wait until Emmett finds out. I know your dad, he and Carlisle sometimes have to work together."

I asked him about Forks and he filled me in on all the details about the small, rainy town I had stopped calling home a long time ago. His family had moved there from Alaska the same year I had spent my last summer in Forks.

"What about your mom, Esme. What does she do?"

Edward had moved so he was lying across the foot of my bed. It was 6:10 and I was trying to forget that I should be waking Angela up. I found that I didn't want him to leave. He was so easy to talk to.

The love in his voice as he talked about his adopted mother was almost as strong as the respect I could tell he had for his father. They sounded like unbelievable parents. I hoped I would get to meet them sometime.

"Esme is an interior decorator. She spends most of her free time drawing blue prints and knocking parts of the house down."

"Sounds like fun. I bet she's very talented."

He nodded and ran his hand through his strangely reddish, bronze hair. I couldn't think of a proper name for the color.

"She enjoys it. I'm not sure I would like to spend all my time building."

I moved so I was lying on my stomach next to him. "What do you like to do in your free time, other than dance?"

"I like to read and study. I've always had an interest in medicine and school. I spend a lot of my time dancing, Esme turned one of the extra bedrooms in our house into a small studio for Emmett and I to use."

"That's so cool. Does she dance too?"

He shook his head "No, not anymore. She and Carlisle used to dance more but they haven't gone dancing in a long time. I have a picture of her up stairs I'll show you if I ever get back into my room."

I pulled myself to the edge of the bed and hung over the edge. I had forgotten until now that I had a picture of Renee in my bag. I pulled my suitcase out from under the bed and grabbed the picture. I pulled myself back up next to Edward and handed him the photo.

"That's me and my mom, Renee."

He smiled at the picture. "Is this your house in Phoenix?"

"Yep, that's it. We took this picture a few years ago. I was probably six or seven."

"How old are you now?"

I faltered for a second at the unexpected question and he started backtracking.

"I don't mean anything by that. You don't look very old. I was just curious-"

I smiled and interrupted him. "It's ok, I'm not embarrassed about my age. I'm only nineteen. How old are you if you don't mind my asking?"

He smirked at me. "I just turned twenty a few months ago."

The clock on the small table between the beds started buzzing and Angela started wiggling under her covers.

"Oh shoot. I forgot to wake Angela up."

Edward grinned and I had a feeling he knew I had purposely put off waking my roommate up. Angela pulled the covers over her face and then jumped.

"Edward? What are you doing here?"

She sat up quickly and kept her blanket on so it was covering her pajamas. Edward quickly stood up and took a step towards the door. I could tell he was uncomfortable with this situation and he didn't want to make Angela uncomfortable.

"Emmett kicked me out an hour ago. I was just talking with Bella. I'll go see if he's awake now."

I walked Edward to the door. "Don't be afraid to come back if Emmett locks you out again."

"I'll do that. Tell Angela I'm sorry for startling her. I'll see you at breakfast Bella."

I shut the door after I watched him walk to the stairwell and found Angela still sitting in bed.

"I'm sorry I didn't wake you sooner."

She shrugged it off. "I'll be fine." She smiled at me and there was a mischievous glint in her eye that looked more suited to Alice's face than hers. "So what were you talking about?"

She put emphasis on the word talking, like she didn't fully believe that's what we had been doing. I felt my cheeks go red and I hit her with my pillow.

"We were just talking. Emmett kicked him out of their room. He was still in his pajamas. He just didn't want to sit out in the hallway." Her grin didn't falter and I tried to defend myself. "We were just talking."

She nodded. "Of, course you were." She grabbed some clothes and hurried into the bathroom. I waited until I heard the shower start before finding some clothes for me to wear today. I settled for a pair of black leggings and some shorts along with another bright T-shirt.

I was brushing my hair when Angela emerged from the bathroom fully dressed for the day. She had on dance pants with a matching tank-top and her soft brown hair was up in a bun.

"Ready for breakfast Bella?" She asked as she pulled on a pair of flats.

I slipped on a pair flip-flops and followed her out the door.

Emmett was looking much happier at breakfast and he flashed me a big grin when I sat down next to him.

"Did you have a good morning Bella?"

I felt my cheeks go pink and Angela tried to hide her smile by taking a sip of her milk. I did my best to keep my face smooth and not give him the satisfaction he was looking for in my response.

"It was fine Emmett. I'm looking forward to getting to work today."

He chuckled quietly and Edward flashed me an apologetic smile. Tanya seemed to be the only one who caught the double meaning in Emmett's words and she glanced at me confused. I shrugged my shoulders and started paying close attention to the way I cut my pancakes before eating them so I wouldn't have to look her in the eye.

"Yuck, it's raining."

We were standing in the doorway of the hotel staring out at the street. The sky was filled with dark gray clouds as far as the eye could see and it was pouring. I was glad I had kept my sweater on and I tucked my hair into the hood pulling it low over my forehead.

"Let's run for it."

Emmett nodded. "We just need to get across the street."

"You guys aren't afraid of a little rain are you?" Alice asked as she pushed the front door open. The wind blew some of the rain inside and Tanya jumped away from the door.

Alice flashed a grin at Jasper who was standing next to her in the doorway. "I'll race you to the studio."

He nodded and took Alice's hand. "You're on."

They both shot through the door. Jasper easily over took Alice with his long legs but, instead of racing ahead of her, he grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder as they ran across the street and ducked into the studio.

Angela giggled. "Aww that was cute." I nodded in agreement.

"Pardon me while I vomit." Tanya said sourly as she shoved the door out of her way, pulled her hood low and started jogging across the street.

"It's the only way." Sam said and soon he, Erik and Jake were all racing out into the rain.

I shot a dark look up at the clouds and Edward chuckled at me. "You really need to visit Forks more often. Eventually you get used to the rain."

"I hate the cold and the wet. That was one of the reasons I stopped visiting Charlie."

He pushed the door open and grabbed my hand. "Afraid to get wet?"

I grabbed Angela's hand and pulled her out after me and we hurried across the street. I slipped on the wet curb and once again missed hitting the ground by inches. Edward pulled me to my feet and ushered Angela and I into the safety of the studio lobby.

"How did you ever become a dancer Bella? You are on gravities hit list." He asked as he shook out his hair, spraying Angela and I with water.

I rolled my eyes at him and shook my jacket so the water droplets got him wet. "Tell me something I don't know."

Crew members in black were passing out towels and trying to dry everyone off. I took a towel and dried myself off as best as I could. The others were busy trying to dry themselves off and eventually we got pushed down the hall as more wet dancers packed themselves into the small lobby.

We piled into the auditorium with the other dancers. Some of the crew workers were busy trying to dry off camera cases and I could see Mary backstage getting her hair redone. It took longer than usual for everyone to get set up but then Nigel and Mary walked on stage.

I wasn't the only one who recognized the third man with them and whispers spread like wildfire around the room.

Alice tugged on my arm. "Oh my god Bella! That's Twitch."

"Yeah, I know. He took second place in season four."

She was bouncing in her seat. "Do you think he's the guest judge today?"

"That would be so cool."

"Do you think we'll get the chance to meet him?" Angela asked.

"I hope so. He's fantastic." Alice said.

Nigel waved everyone to stop talking and the whispers fell silent as all eyes turned to the faces of our judges.

"I'm going to assume you all recognize our guest judge for today's round of callbacks?"

There was mumbled 'no duh's', choruses of 'yes', and someone in the back shouted 'love you Twitch'.

"Today's round is going to be a little different. We're going to give you all a curveball to see how you work together and I'm going to let Stephen explain it better for you."

"What do you think that means?" Erik asked.

"Could mean just about anything." Jake said as we all switched our attention back on Twitch.

Nigel passed the microphone to Twitch and he explained how the next round was going to play out.

"Ok, so instead of working on just one type of dance today we're going to split you into small groups and let you come up with your own dance. You can pick any song you want, do any type of dance you want, basically it's all up to your small group. We're going to start the performances at the same time as we always do so you need to work fast. You will be judged based on your dance style and the creativity of your routine as well as how well you showcase each member of your team. At the end of the day you will be judged as individuals and maybe only one of you goes home, maybe you all go home. That's for us to decide."

He passed the mic over to Mary who started talking about what groups we would be in. "I'm going to draw a name from the hat. Whoever I call will come up here and roll a dice. The number on your dice will determine the number of people in your group. Then that first person will draw the names of their team out of the hat. We'll go until there are no more names."

Mary drew the first name and Jessica Stanly was called onstage. Jessica rolled a three and drew two more names from the hat. Jessica joined her team and Mary pulled another name from the hat.

One by one people got on stage and rolled the dice. Erik ended up in a group of four boys. Sam and Edward wound up in the same group as Mike. Ben joined Jasper's sister, Rosalie along with two other boys and I heard Jasper whisper something to Alice that sounded like "Poor bastards". Emmett was in a group with two girls and he looked only too pleased with those odds.

Mary reached into the hat and called out the next name. "Alice Brandon."

Alice jumped from her seat and hurried up the stairs and onto the stage. She took the dice and rolled it along the small table they had set up. Mary watched the dice as it rolled and when it stopped she announced the number.

"Six, that's the highest number of the night." She held out the hat to Alice and told her to draw five names.

Alice smiled and stuck her hand into the hat. She unfolded the slip of paper and read the names one by one into the Microphone. "Lauren Mallory."

A girl with shoulder length white blonde hair joined Alice on stage as she read the next name. "Angela Webber."

Angela rushed on stage and tried to keep the smile off her face. I was feeling kind of bummed out. I was hoping to get partnered with at least one person I knew but, my new friends were dropping like flies. I was sitting alone with Jasper and Tanya feeling kind of awkward. Jasper didn't speak too much to anyone other than Alice and I really didn't want to talk to Tanya.

Alice reached into the hat again and called another name. "Leah Clearwater."

A girl with skin as dark as Jake's and Sam's walked on the stage to stand with Alice and the other girls. She was the tallest in the group and her long black hair fell in straight sheets down her back. Alice grabbed another name and smiled. "Bella Swan."

I jumped from my seat and joined her on stage with the others.

"Ok Alice, draw one more name. Let's see if we can get our first all female group." Mary held out the hat for Alice to draw one last name. Alice pulled a slip of white paper from the hat and glanced down at the name in her hand.

"Jane Ross."

A girl only a few inches taller than Alice joined us on stage. She had short, mousy, brown hair and dark brown eyes. There was an olive tone to her skin and a childlike roundness to her face. She had long legs and moved almost silently across the stage to stand with the rest of us.

"Ok, here we have it." Mary said happily turning back to the camera. "Our largest group so far and it's all girls. I look forward to seeing how you use that to your advantage."

Mary called the next name and I followed Alice off the stage. We found a small group of open seats and sat down to wait while the rest of the names were called. The girl Mary called on stage was named "Victoria Reed." I recognized her from the audition tapes. She was the red head Summer had put a little sad face next to.

Victoria rolled a four and got both Tanya and Jasper in her group along with another boy whose name was Will. We waited as the rest of the dancers were put into groups and eventually we had the last 88 dancers sorted into thirty groups of various sizes.

Crew members in black led us to places where we could work around the building. Alice was the only one who had rolled a six so we got a small studio to ourselves upstairs. One wall was lined with mirrors and there was a large stereo along the wall. We were given an I-pod attachment so we could choose our own music and everyone was given access to the large prop room.

We all stripped out of our extra layers and sat in a circle so we could stretch and start planning our dance.

"What song are we going to do?" Angela asked trying to get the ball rolling.

"It's got to be something good." Alice started.

"We should use the fact that we're all girls to our advantage." Jane added. "They'll be expecting something different from us, so we have to make sure we live up to their expectations."

There was some mumbled agreement.

"Something sexy," Lauren suggested.

"Something sassy," Leah added as she started flipping through her I-pod.

We tossed song ideas around. Everyone suggested different artists and each song had a different style feel to it. We decided against anything country music and there was an agreement to stay away from classical. We wanted something fast, something fun, and something that seemed to fit the feel of our group. The only thing we seemed to have in common was that we were all girls.

I flipped though my own I-pod and felt the little light come on above my head.

"Bella what are you thinking? You've got this stupid grin on your face."

Alice pulled on my arm and looked at the song I had highlighted on my I-pod. She giggled and was then wearing her own stupid grin.

"That's perfect."

The other girls had listened to our conversation and they were all waiting for one of us to say the name of the song.

"What is it?" Leah asked, kind of annoyed.

I glanced around the room. No one was wearing a wedding ring. I had found one more thing we all had in common other than just being girls. We were all single girls.

Alice took my I-pod and danced across the room to the stereo.

"Hold on one second, I'll put it in."

Alice plugged in my I-pod and the familiar notes of a very fun song started playing throughout the room. This song definitely worked to our advantage and I was sure the judges would like it as long as we didn't blow our dance.

All the single ladies, all the single ladies
All the single ladies, all the single ladies
All the single ladies, all the single ladies
All the single ladies

Now put your hands up
Up in the club, we just broke up
I'm doing my own little thing
you Decided to dip but now you wanna trip
Cuz another brother noticed me

I watched the other girl's reactions to my song choice. Jane had a small smile on her face. Leah was tapping her toes and she seemed to agree with Alice and I. Angela smiled at me and nodded her agreement to my selection.

Lauran shrugged. "Do you think this song is sexy enough?" She asked.

"We could make it sexy." Alice said and she started dancing a little on her own.

Jane nodded. "And there are a lot of chances for little solos in it so the judges wouldn't be able to say one girl hogged the spot light."

"I think it's a good choice." Leah agreed. "Lot's of attitude. We could have a lot of fun with this song. It's a party song."

Alice moved into the center of the room. Her eyebrows were pushed together and she looked like she was thinking about something unpleasant.

"Who here has experience in choreography?" She asked. There was the ultimate question. If our dance was stupid, then it wouldn't matter what song we did. The judges would tear us apart without a second thought.

Leah stepped forward. "Better question. Who has experience in group choreography? That's totally different than solo work."

I glanced around the room. No one was speaking up and I wasn't sure I wanted to step into the spot light. If the dance was a flop it would be easy to turn on the choreographer. Eventually I gave in. There was no point in hiding the fact that I had experience in choreography.

I raised my hand. "I've done a bunch of small group dances but, it's always Latin dancing." I said turning my ears back to the stereo. This was the perfect song for our group but it didn't have a Latin feel to it and I was pretty sure I was the only one in the room with a background in Latin dancing.

Jane raised her hand. "I've choreographed a bunch of solos but I don't have much practice in group numbers."

"I've done a few group numbers before." Alice said stepping forward.

"Maybe we should pick a dance style first." Lauran suggested.

"Hip-Hop makes the most sense." Leah stated.

I nodded my agreement. "It's definitely a Hip-Hop dance. I think. The back bass in this song is perfect for Hip-Hop."

"I've never done Hip-hop before, but I'm willing to learn." Angela said.

"Me either, but I pick things up pretty fast." Jane said standing next to Angela.

Lauran smiled. "I mainly dance Hip-Hop so I could help teach them the feel for the style."

"You'll have to show me too. I'm just a jazz dancer." Alice said.

"We definitely need a leader or this is all going to fall apart." Angela said. "Every time they do this the judges tear the groups apart because the dances fall apart. We need to have time management."

Leah agreed "Lauran and I have a back ground in Hip-Hop. Bella you have a background in Hip-Hop and in choreography."

She moved Alice so she was standing next to me and stood next to Lauran. "We can start teaching Jane and Angela some of the basics while you work with Alice. You guys can come up with a rough version of the dance and Alice can get a feel for the style while you work it out. Then we can come together and embellish it. I agree with Angela. We need to be one of the groups that doesn't completely fall on our asses. This would be the best chance to prove to the judges that we belong here."

"That's a good idea," Alice said grabbing my hand and leading me towards the door. "Come on Bella let's talk choreography in the prop room. I have a feeling the judges will be impressed if we can successfully use some kind of prop in our dance."

"See if you can find a ring," Leah suggested. "That would fit the song."

Alice and I walked down the hall and into a room about the size of one of the large studios. The room was filled with shelves and boxes and props hung from every available surface. A girl dressed in crew black with dark purple hair ran forward and blocked us from moving forward.

"My name's Toni and this is my prop shop. What can I help you find?"

Alice pulled up short and almost ran into Toni. It was almost comical, like someone stepping in front of a charging bull. "We need six gold rings."

Tony nodded and disappeared into the maze of shelves and boxes. She returned a few minutes later popping out on the opposite side she had entered and handed a small black box to Alice.

"Is this what you're looking for?"

Alice opened the box and nestled in the black velvet were six, shiny gold rings. Alice glanced up at me and I nodded. They were perfect. Alice flashed Toni one of her signature smiles and slipped the box into her pocket.

"This is perfect."

~Darkrose

They'll start work on choreography in the next chapter. I really wanted to get some more Edward/Bella going in this chapter and I thought the Random CD would be a good way to show more Alice and introduce some of the girls who may or may not make it to the top twenty.

This has nothing to do with the story but, I'm getting my tattoo today! Yippy!