Disclaimer: 'Step Up' isn't mine. Song by Ke$Ha.

A/N: I saw Step Up 3D at the movies for the third time on Tuesday. I still love it!

Also, forgive Holly's introduction here. She's not a Mary-Sue and she's certainly not as annoying as she comes off here, she's just naturally competitive. That said, feel free to dislike her, she's just plot fodder anyway! ;)

Chapter Five;
There's This Girl

Moose was happy he'd got at least 45 minutes of sleep on the train that night because when he got to his budget motel and found the room barely liveable and the bed a lumpy mess of exposed bed springs, he got very little. Well, he probably could've dealt with the springs, but the fact he couldn't turn his brain off didn't help. He wouldn't say regrets was what he had, but that aching feeling he'd lost Camille forever didn't let him get any shut eye that night. So when he walked into the dance academy the next morning for the try-out he looked and felt like the living dead.

Eckhardt Academy for Dance was a large but clearly in disrepair old school just off the beaten track. That said, there certainly wasn't a shortage of try-outs when he entered and the smiling brunette woman at the entrance, a girl barely older than himself and calling herself Ella, took his name and handed him a number. He glanced down at it. 16. Camille's lucky number.

Could this get any worse?

When an enthusiastic blonde nearly kicked his rucksack out of his hand he thought that maybe it could. "Oh god, sorry, didn't see you there." Sporting the brightest green tights he'd ever seen, the blonde had pinned her number to the end of her swing top. It read '13'. "Hope I didn't break anything."

"My bag or your foot?"

The blonde smiled. "Both." She reached out a hand to introduce herself but before she could Ella appeared beside them.

"Number thirteen, they're ready to see you now."

The blonde smiled. "Cheers." She pulled her hand back before Moose could shake it. "Again, sorry."

Moose nodded. "It's fine. Good luck."

Tipping her camo-coloured cap, she smiled and followed Ella to the room. Intrigued by the process and the bouncing blonde, Moose snuck to the door of the room and pushed it open slowly. Two people, one older woman with her hair pulled so tight it actually seemed to give her a facelift and a scruffy-dressed 20-something guy, sat at the front reading off a clipboard. The guy looked up.

"Holly?" The blonde smiled and nodded. "You're from…" he glanced at the clipboard again. "Washington state?" Another nod. "Okay, so what can you bring to the school?"

"Well, um, I haven't actually had any formal training, it's just years of dancing to escape."

Moos appreciated that. He himself was no professional, excluding the NYU degree of course, but that had been less rigorous training and more expression, bring together would people could already do and collate it into one huge performance. A lot like the World Jam actually.

"Okay, that's fine, just show us what you can do." The guy smiled but the stern-looking woman remained shockingly uptight. Moose pulled his forehead up in an attempt to impersonate her as Holly started over to the boom box sitting to the side and hit play.

She smiled. "I'll be dancing to 'Take It Off' by Ke$ha. Hope you like it." Then she turned away, crossing her hands over herself and wrapping them around her shoulders. Standing side-on to the girl, Moose didn't get the full-effect, but still he could see her fingers wave as the song warmed up. Then, with one powerful jump, she crouched into a backwards hand-spring and rose out of it with a snake-charming like belly dance, swinging her head around as she leant over, arms wide before she rolled them back in to clap them behind her back along with the beat. She was perfectly in time, keeping her moves strong and her smile stayed. Moose found her impressive to watch.

As the song picked up she went with it, turning out of the back and forth clap into three full pirouettes, her left foot alternating between being on her knee and pointed out strong as she span. She ended with her legs wide and hands low, leaning down as she pushed herself into the splits. Then, Moose watched with a frown, she flat out stole one of his moves. She pulled her legs in, resting on her tailbone, then span in a full circle, coming to a stop on her haunches with her legs bent up behind her. Then, swinging her arms side to side, she raised herself to her knees. Moose frowned slightly. He had actually intended to use that move himself. The worse thing came next though she actually bettered it – she rose out of the move and into a standing position without putting her hands on the ground at all. Her palms pressed together above her in a prayer-like pose, she rocked backwards and pushed herself to her toes without showing even the slightest amount of trouble. Staying paused on her toes for a second she slowly brought her hands down, turning her pressed-together palms to each side of her face, then gave a clap, a quick turn and finished crouched down, one fist pressed to the floor and her hair spilling over her face. For a second she stayed there and then she stood up.

The guy nodded. "Well done." She shuffled towards the boom box and stopped the song as he turned towards the stern-faced woman and whispered something. As Holly regathered her cassette, he smiled back at her. "Okay, we'll be in contact, thanks for the audition."

Holly gave a slight nod before she headed back to the door, spotting Moose as she did and giving him a soft frown. As she pulled the door open Moose stepped back and gave her room. "You don't have any formal training?" She frowned deeper and Moose motioned to the glass. "Not very soundproof."

She managed a slight smile at this. "I'm starting to suspect this place has seen better days. One of the mirrors in the bathrooms is at an angle." She held out a hand. "I'm Holly by the way."

Moose shook it. "Robert, but everyone calls me Moose."

"Why?"

"Long story." He motioned towards the room. "They liked you in there."

"The guy maybe, but that woman looks like the only thing she likes is lemons." She made a sour face as Moose did his impersonation of the woman again. They both laughed.

"No, seriously, you were good. You're BFABB." She stopped and glanced sideways at him, confusion evident across her face. "Born From A Boom Box."

"That's a good thing right?" He shrugged and she smiled again. "So, what're you bringing to the table? Should I be worried?"

"Well actually you stole one of my moves in there and made it better, so probably not." She laughed as he stopped at the last free seat in the rows pressed up against the hallway walls. "Well, it was nice to meet you and, again, good luck."

"You too."

As he turned back to face the door he saw a young man walk out of the room hobbling on his right foot and looking thoroughly displeased with the whole business. The next person to enter the room was a very scared-looking young brunette girl and then finally Moose's number was called. He smiled at Ella as she ushered him inside and shut the door behind him. Taking a deep breath, Moose dumped his bag just inside the door and stepped into the centre of the room.

"Robert Alexander." The scruffy-looking man smiled up at him, his eyes assessing him with a slight frown in his eyebrows. He said nothing for about ten seconds and then nodded back at his notes. "Show us what you've got mate."

"Actually, if it's okay with you, I'd rather talk."

The man smiled. "It's certainly a new one but sure, go ahead."

"Well, I guess intros are the best place to start. My name is Robert Alexander the Third, but everyone calls me Moose."

The man nodded. "I'm Chris Barry, I teach funk and contemporary, and this is Prue Sylvester, the ballet teacher." Chris raised an eyebrow. "And if you were employed here, what would be your forte?"

"Hip hop, breaking, popping, locking and tutting are what I do best."

Chris nodded slowly. "We could always use more hip hop teachers. It's an ever popular style of dance." He put down the folder and crossed his arms. "But what makes us want to employ you?"

Moose frowned. "I guess I have a bit of a spiel to answer that, so bear with me." He moved over to his bag and pulled out a train ticket. "This is probably the best example of who Moose is." He handed over the ticket and Chris frowned at it. "He's impulsive and stupid and full of crazy ideas." Moose gave a shrug. "But that's all in the package right?" He paused. "I guess a lot of people have valid reasons not to do something, be they excuses or whatever, but I've never been a huge fan of them. People say they can't because they're not allowed, because it's wrong, because they're poor or, god forbid, they should grow up and be a man now." He gave a slight smile. "That last one's my personal favourite."

"I like 'it's the right thing to do'." Chris added.

Moose smiled warmly. "So you understand?" Chris nodded. "Then I probably won't have to work too hard to convince you that they're stupid and a waste of time. I don't find excuses anymore. If something comes up that makes sense to me, something so obvious it jumps up and slaps me in the face, then I go with it, even if my crew think my mad, my parents don't know and my girlfriend probably won't talk to me ever again." He frowned a little. "I'm not a regretful person, even if the little voice in my head tells me I'm mad, I just jump first and then look second." He shrugged again. "And that's how I dance too. The way you dance says a lot about yourself, but I thought it was time I stopped using that and started to tell you why I'd be good at this, because I've used dance so long now that I find it virtually impossible to form the words I need like 'I love you', 'I'm sorry' and the perfect way to tell someone that in an hour's time I'll be boarding a train on a whim and hoping for the best." Chris smiled but Moose just looked at the floor. "So that's it. That's my bit done."

"Most people coming in here looking for a job wouldn't stand a chance with that, even if it does tell me a lot about you and your current relationship with aforementioned girlfriend." He gave a sly smile as Moose glanced up. "You're lucky I know you can dance." He held up his iPhone and on it ran a Youtube video. It was the Pirates at the 1st ever World Jam. It was 'Crush the Floor', the light dance, and right at the front was Moose. "Moose Alexander, stand-out dancer for the Pirates. I had some dancers at the World Jam in the second year and I finally got a chance to see the Pirates in action. Wiped the floor with the competition again." He shook his head in awe. "Your dance battle with the Samurais is legendary. So big it knocked them out of the World Jam for two straight years. People say they never quite recovered from the humiliation. But then as fast as you burst on to the scene you disappeared again."

"I decided to use an excuse and try and pass my electrical engineering exams. I left the Pirates to focus on school for a year."

Chris nodded slowly. "All makes sense now." He crossed his arms and leant back in his chair, still holding Moose's train ticket in between his thumb and index finger on his right hand. "Hold out until after summer, when the influx of employment begins, and you could teach at any school you want Moose. You could be pulling in classes in LA or treading the boards at Millennium in NYC. So tell me, why Eckhardt?"

"I wish I could give you an answer to that, but right now I can't. Give me a job and some time and I'll try and get you a good one."

Chris gave a small laugh. "Alright." He re-pocketed the iPhone and held out the train ticket. "One last thing: in five words or less, who is Moose Alexander?"

Moose frowned a little, thinking it through, then gave his best answer. "He's loud, fun, impulsive and sometimes very stupid." He smiled. "But more than any of those, more than anything, he just…" he paused. "He just really wants to dance."

Chris nodded slowly, glancing sideways at Ms. Sylvester. "Okay Moose, we'll be in contact."

Grabbing his rucksack, Moose pocketed his ticket and pulled his bag onto his back. "Thanks for the time guys." He grabbed the door and pulled it open, ready to step out, when he was stopped suddenly by a figure ahead of him.

"Are you serious?" Moose almost jumped a full foot in the air when the voice came and he glanced up to find Holly watching him, her arms crossed over her chest. "You didn't even dance?"

"I ju…"

She didn't give him a chance. "You know, I got two inches out the door when your name was called and about six people around me nearly died. They were all like 'Moose Alexander of the Pirates?' and stuff I didn't understand. Then they said 'World Jam' and even that name reached the west states. You battled in the World Jam and won?" Moose nodded slowly. "Well when I heard that I just had to come watch. And what do you do? You talk!"

"I decided to mix it up a bit." He smiled. "Hope I didn't disappoint."

Holly narrowed her eyes at him and then pushed open the door again, sticking her head into the room. "Hey, reckon I can talk my way in too?"

Chris glanced up at her. "Alright, let's see: in five words or less, who is Holly Given?"

She counted the words off on her fingers as she spoke. "Your new work mate buddy." Chris gave a soft laugh as Holly raised her eyebrows and turned back to Moose. "Beat that."

"You're a naturally competitive person aren't you?" She gave an unapologetic shrug. "Alright then, I bet you can't buy me lunch for less than ten bucks in this city."

"Challenge accepted!" Holly started off before she understood what he'd just said. "Wait a minute, I'm not buying you anything World Jam champion."

Moose just laughed. "Fine, I'll buy my own lunch, but if you get this job and I don't, you owe me."