Disclaimer: 'Step Up' isn't mine. Song is 'All Night Long' by Alexandra Burke feat. Pitbull.

A/N: I apologize for the delay and for the one about to come because: it's Bathurst time. The Bathurst 1000 is the biggest and toughest race in the entire world and, as Sydney's #1 female rev-head (I will fight ANYONE for that title and still win) I am headed up there this evening for some horsepower awesomeness. Next update will be mid next week so until then, enjoy fire… (lol, I am a pyromaniac too, go figure!)

Chapter Eleven;
The Night Life

All night, all night, so tell the DJ to play it…

Moose was so caught up in his phone that he didn't even realise he was about to walk into a wall, saved at the last moment by a guy walking past who gave him a slight shove, a laugh to his mate about the 'zoned out dude' and went on his way. Moose glanced up from the device to find himself outside a bright and busy bar named 'The Place', a pretentious name that seemed to attract almost every young person in Philadelphia despite it's need to oversell itself. For a second he considered walking on, going back to the school to watch TV or something, but then he remembered why he'd left in the first place – to avoid thinking about Camille again. Going out had seemed like the best idea so he'd found the only shirt he owned that hadn't been on the dorm room floor yet and left the school. He regretted it five minutes later when he realised how cold it was outside. Even in the middle of summer Philadelphia froze.

The bar looked warm too.

"Oh what the hell?" He muttered to himself before walking in to the brightly lit room. The lights and loud music seemed to daze him for a second but then he looked up at the dance floor and all the people on it. The DJ was loudly blasting a Pitbull song he'd heard once but he paid it no heed when his eyes fell upon the tall, thin brunette drawing attention to herself in the middle of the floor. Moose groaned. Why couldn't he avoid her?

He was going to turn and walk back out when a girl walked past and bumped him by accident, knocking his phone from his hand. It clattered to the floor and the girl stopped, turning to pick it up and hand it back to him with an apologetic smile. She had the same coloured hair as Camille.

Glaring at the phone he remembered what this was all about. He may as well use this moment to forget about it. Plus, he noticed, all beers on tap were three dollars. So, pulling himself away from the sight of the dance floor, he opted for a drink.

…

Security hadn't been high on Chris' list of things when he was buying up for Eckhardt. It was common knowledge that the place was usually quite open. Anyone could come in and walk the halls during the day, albeit seen since the place was always busy with kids coming in and out from classes, school and their social lives, and even at night it was quite loud and open. It wasn't until well after eleven that things started to die down. It was quarter-past eleven when Holly emerged from the girl's shower room, sporting a fluffy pink robe and bare feet, and headed for her dorm room. Security hadn't worried Holly so far. You needed a swipe card to access the dorms section of the school and only the teachers had keys to the classrooms, but the place didn't have high fences or security cameras. None of this had even rated a mention in Holly's mind until now. Some areas of Philadelphia were high in crime, but this wasn't the badlands or the high society side, this was just somewhere in the middle, and here people looked out for their neighbours as best they could. Crime here was just like every other normal, suburban-like area – just average.

It was why no one expected the four young men who slipped into the school that night and broke the two outside windows for the ground level ballet room. Why no one noticed them slip inside and set alight a small pile of clothing and training mats left inside the room. And no one saw them slip back out again as the fire grew and grew.

Half asleep, her headphones still stuck in her ears, Holly sat bolt upright when the screech of the alarm came through. Tossing her iPod away, she jumped out of bed and headed for the door.

…

Unaware of what was happening back at the school, Moose was caught up in trying to avoid the attention of the figure on the dance floor, planning on making his way over to the bar to grab a drink before sliding into the nearest dark corner and simply watching.

He wasn't quick enough.

"Hey, come dance."

Moose glanced sideways at the girl. She was sporting another short dress like the one he'd first seen her in, this time a lot more tight-fitting and sparkly. She knew how to draw eyes on her, that was for sure, but right now Moose deemed avoidance his best response to her advances. "No thanks, I need a drink." Motioning to the bartender, who ignored him, he took a seat figuring now that moving to a dark corner would only be taken as the kind of invitation he didn't want to offer her.

"No problems." Erika lifted herself up onto the bar beside him and brought her feet up onto the stool, resting her arms lazily against her knees and leaning forward with just the right amount of suggestive. "So, what brings you here Moose?"

"Circumstance." He glanced at his phone one last time and then shut it and pushed it into his pocket. He watched as Erika motioned to the barman and the guy nodded, fixing her a drink.

"Well, I should thank circumstance then." She smiled a brilliant smile but Moose didn't move an inch, his attention still focused on the lump of his phone in his pocket. The barman placed a drink down next to Erika and she picked it up, sipping from the straw just a little noisily.

Moose frowned. "Are you old enough to drink that?"

She winked. "No, but I know people." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. "I hope this doesn't come across as weird, but I did some research on you Moose." She slapped the paper down and pressed it flat. "You're famous."

"It's alright, I asked about you too."

She grinned. "Wow, it's hard to not feel flattered by that!"

"You're Erika Moore. Your brother owns Atherton."

"And you're Moose, lead dancer for the famous New York Pirates, winners of the World Jam two years in a row." She held out a hand. "Now we're formally introduced."

He ignored her hand. "I'm not joining Atherton miss Moore, but thanks for asking."

Her eyebrows narrowed and the fake smile quickly disappeared. "If you know about me then you also know Atherton is the best school in the state. We take in dancers that are so far above schools like Eckhardt that they struggle for relevance." She smiled proudly. "Thanks to our school I am the best dancer under 20 in the state and it's only a matter of time before I'm the best in America." She paused. "The best aside from you of course. Who could possibly forget your stand-out performance at the World Jam three years ago?" She flicked her hair off her face. "My brother and I were there you know? Poaching young dancers. You'd be shocked how many young people pointed up at you and said 'I want to dance like him'." She leant forward and lowered her voice like she was about to tell him a big secret. "You're an inspiration."

"Well, thanks, but like I said before, I just want to teach and at Eckhardt I can do that."

She shook her head slowly. "How old are you Moose? 21? 22?"

"22."

"22 is not too old to win championships. Teaching is for old people like my brother who are so far past dancing that they don't even know their left from their right anymore. You've got what dancers strive for Moose, that 'born to dance' style, so don't confine it to the classroom. At Atherton you can return to the top."

"No offence miss Moore but this is pointless. I'm not leaving Eckhardt, no matter what happens."

She hopped off the bar with a shrug. "Okay, point made." She pulled a card from her pocket and put it down on top of the piece of paper. "When you change your mind, call me." Then, with one last fake smile, she disappeared into the dancing crowd. Moose scrunched up the card and pushed it into a half-empty glass of water nearby before he glanced at the printout she'd left behind. A picture of the Pirates at the World Jam, the first ever, looked back at him. Luke, Jacob, Cable and the others stared back. But what stood out most was his silver-hat figure at the front and beside him, his arm wound around her shoulder, was Camille. With a sigh Moose refolded the paper and stuck it in his pocket.

…

Once the place was clear and the kids were marshaled out of the way by Ms. Sylvester, Holly joined Chris, stepping lightly to avoid dripping walls and puddles where the fire hoses had made their mark. "What's lost?" She asked, surveying the mess from a distance. The bright yellow tape showed she could go no closer without risking her own safety.

"The ballet room and the wall to the cafeteria. The firies say it's structurally unsound. They reckon the roof will cave in any minute." Chris sighed heavily. "Could you find Moose? Tell him what's happened?"

"He hit the town tonight, to, you know, forget about his girlfriend ditching him."

"Right, yeah, well, give him a call anyway, see what he's doing. I'd like to talk to everyone all together when I get back from the police station. I need to go make a statement tonight." Holly nodded as he wandered off, pulling his phone out and dialing. She was about to turn and say something to him when she realized he'd gone from the hall. Taking one last look at the mess, she followed him to the hall outside his office where he stood, his phone to his ear and his voice hushed but desperate. "…yes, I know it's late but it's important. The school's been attacked. Arson. We've lost the main ballet room and the cafeteria." Holly frowned, assuming he was talking to the insurance provider. Holly had realized some time ago that Chris was personally involved with his insurance agent, obviously because of the financial problems Moose had informed her of that afternoon, not because he was the type as she'd assumed earlier. "We haven't got the money to fix it. I need to access the insurance as soon as possible. Is there any way to fast track the waiting period? It's the main ballet room and without the cafeteria our boarders have nowhere to eat." A pause as the insurance agent spoke. "How much are we covered for?" He slumped and Holly realized it wasn't good. "That's nowhere near enough. We don't have anything else; we can barely keep up with repayments as it is. If we cut anything else we won't be able to run water." His voice strained from anguish as he continued. "Well, you're my financial advisor, what do you suggest?" What came next made Holly's frown deepen. "We just hired them." She took a step back as he figured she was being spoken about. "Their classes have only just started – we haven't given it a chance yet." He sighed as the advisor spoke. "Yeah, thanks, yeah, got to speak to the police. I'll call you back in the morning." He hung up and Holly ducked around the corner as he turned and entered his office.

With a sigh, Holly fished out her phone and rang Moose. After a pause he answered, his voice sporting a defeated tone. "Moose? You better come back to the school now." He muttered something. "Yes, right now." She hung up then, tired and short with Moose but not minding in the least, and glanced back at Chris' closed door. "Of all the weekends too." Then, pocketing her phone, Holly headed to the front doors to meet up with Moose.