Disclaimer: Step Up still not mine. Music by Chiddy Bang feat. MGMT

Chapter Fifteen;
Opposite of Adult

"Where do you get your fashion sense?" Moose muttered, glancing sideways at Camille as she joined him in the hall that morning, walking back from the girls' bathrooms. She was sporting white board shorts with green spots on them, a black swing shirt and black and green sneakers.

"You know, that's a bit rich coming from a guy wearing plaid." She tugged at his loose-hanging checked shirt.

"I prefer the term 'tartan'. I'm embracing my inner-Scotsman." She laughed. "What? There's an inner-Scotsman there somewhere I'm sure."

"And I'm embracing my school spirit." She motioned to the banner above the doorway to the main entrance of the school. It was dark green, black and white. "Plus working on some matching outfits for the competition." She paused. "By the way, I got Holly to steal some of your track pants so I could dye them black, just to be safe."

Moose huffed. "I wish she'd stop stealing into my room and taking things. Handed me back a pencil sharpener just yesterday that she'd taken."

Camille nodded slowly. "She's braver than me. I've seen how you live, it scares me, a lot!"

"Harden up girl." He grabbed her around the head and pulled her into a soft headlock, rubbing his knuckles into the top of her head, before letting her go where she frowned at him, voicing no protest, just glaring. "What?"

"Well, I was going to ask you to give me a tour of the city today, Liberty Bell, parks and (your personal favourite topic) food, but since you're being such a prick then maybe…"

He grabbed her hand. "I apologize. I shall get on my knees and beg forgiveness if you ask it." She raised a solitary eyebrow and he dropped. "Camille, please, I have erred and I apologize sincerely for so."

She just laughed. "Alright dork-zilla, get up and let's walk."

He pushed himself to his feet slowly. "And talk. I have a few things to tell you." He confessed. Camille stopped and assessed his face. "A few admissions to be exact."

…

"I'm glad you didn't take it." Camille said softly after he'd finished telling her all about the fountain dance, the club, the job offer and everything else he'd endured at the hand of Erika Moore before Camille came to Philadelphia. They were walking along the edge of a park, the soccer field beyond no longer green due to the heat but a patchy yellow and dusty mess, he was finishing off a hotdog but she had declined the meal and opted for a can of lemonade instead. She finished it was a noisy slurp through her long yellow straw and shot for the bin nearby. The can rolled around and fell in, but the straw dropped to the ground. "I imagine working for her would've been like death!" She rushed over to gather up the straw and when she stood up she saw them on the other side of the soccer field. "Speak of the devil and she appears." She motioned at the group and Moose looked up, wiping his top lip with the back of his wrist as he did.

"Oh great. Think she's seen us?"

"Us? No." Camille backed out from behind the bin. "But you, yes." She thumbed over her shoulder as the brunette waved. Camille flipped her hood up over her face. "You better go or she'll come over here and," she nodded to the set of stairs behind Moose. "One of us is going to be shoved down a flight of stairs."

"You don't believe she'd actually have the guts or strength to push us down a flight of stairs?"

Camille shook her head. "No, but I might push her." Moose laughed, knowing that was an empty threat, then started to walk over. He paused when he realised Camille was lagging behind. "Hurry up." He waved her forward with his hotdog. She shook her head so, trusting she was likely up to something, Moose continued towards Erika and her little group.

She stepped out of the circle when he got within talking range. "What brings you here Alexander?" She put one hand on her hip and sunk into it, trying to look provocative he guessed, but to him she just looked like a little girl who was trying too hard. "Did you hear about the 'Gathering'?"

"Not until right now."

"Well, let me fill you in." She looped her arm around his and dragged him towards the front of the crowd. "It's your basic sharing the caring stuff. We bring some new moves, everyone leaves with something awesome for their arsenal, and we bring it back to Atherton." She pulled back and smiled. "Now, I'd love to show you everything, but you may take it back to Eckhardt, so it's probably for the best that I don't." She looked at the others. "Say bye bye to Moose."

Moose held up a hand to stop her. "What if I bring something too? Surely that's just sharing then and I can't really be a spy?"

Erika looked up at him under her eyelids. "You know," she cooed. "If it were anyone else, I'd probably say 'no', but you're something else Moose." Her smile went cold again. "You start and then we'll see if you get to see some of our stuff too."

"That's doesn't sound very fair." Camille had been sitting on the edge of the circle, watching the exchange, and finally spoke up, pulling off her hood. Erika glared. She pushed into the middle. "Moose is world class. You're just a bunch of private school kids with oversized egos."

Erika glared at Camille hard but she seemed to have lost the point and she knew it. The crowd went silent and it set her off. Turning on the others she brushed them away and they gathered about a metre away, talking among themselves and often glancing back at Erika, Moose and Camille. Once they were gone, Erika spoke again. "Maybe we should postpone and the 'Gathering' and just offer these people an all-out battle. It's clear you want to start something with me."

Camille shook her head. "Wrong again miss Moore. I have no interest in 'starting anything' with you, I'm here to 'finish' everything between you and Eckhardt."

"Really?"

Camille stepped back as Erika pushed up into her personal space. "We're going. Have fun with your 'Gathering'."

She was about to turn away when Erika spoke again. "Oh well," she smiled coldly. "I guess not everyone can hack it on the streets."

Erika walked off then, her head held high, as Camille just frowned. After a second of stunned silence she looked at Moose. "Is she serious?"

He was frowning too. "I think so." A song had just started up, a poppy-hip hop beat through it, and the crowd cheered as Erika and one other dancer stepped into the centre of the circle.

Camille nodded determinedly. "Okay then." Tugging at her zipper she pulled her jacket off as Moose turned his eyes away from the dancing group to the undressing girl next to him. Without a word she threw her jacket onto a bench nearby and strode into the crowd. Near the front she saw the whole dance. Erika Moore had style, Camille wouldn't deny that, and as she executed something that looked like a hip-hop version of a belly dance, she could tell the kid had a future. But right now she had to learn her place.

"What are you going to do?" Moose reappeared at Camille's side.

"Dish out a hard-learned lesson or two." The song was reaching the end of the first chorus as she flashed him a smile. "A lesson on respecting your elders." Stepping around a blonde guy in front of her, Camille appeared in the circle, stepping up to Erika who now had her back turned to the older girl. Camille made her presence known by singing along and prodding the teen in the shoulder blade at the same time.

"Remember you was a kid?" Camille waved a hand away from the teen as she leant into her left leg, popping her knee out. "Reminisce days of the innocence." As her hand reached her head she tapped her temple and switched legs, now leaning into her right. After two taps she brought her hands forward, cupping them under her chin like a bad baby cherub poster. "Now it's Chiddy Bang, Google me the images." At these words she thumbed herself quite hard in the chest and floated back on her toes as if stunned. As she fell back on her heels she held her left palm out flat and with her right hand started to type on it as if working a computer. The crowd laughed, warming to her instantly, and Moose smiled. Only Erika was left looking positively dumbfounded. "Follow me, follow me I'm the leader and when I park cars I don't pay for the meter." With a turn Camille started towards the ring, slapping hands as she ran the circle wide, only stopping to 'park cars' and quick-stepping out into a pose, raising her right hand as if dipping money into a parking meter. It was so much fun to watch and from the look on Camille's face even more fun to dance. Knuckle thumping a kid nearby, she spun away back into the centre of the circle, twisting her legs under her in a hip-hop move widely known as 'walk it out'. "I remember I was younger, as a kid it was the best." She brushed her hands across her shoulders as she continued, popping her collar for show before spraying her hands wide for the next bit. "I used to touch on all the pretty girls at recess." Crossing her hands over her chest and stomach, Camille finished the bit with an enthusiastic slap on the side of her right leg and a wink. "I'm at my peak yes, I won't leave yet." Swinging one leg out, Camille sunk down on her side, one leg out and the other caught under her as she came almost to the ground. Placing her hands flat on the ground, she gave a small jump and both legs came out behind her so she looked like she was about to do a push-up. "Serial style, serial, I don't need checks." Rolling herself over onto her back, she raised her arms behind her and arched her back up so her stomach rose into the air in a move known as 'the bridge'. At 'checks' she kicked one leg into the air, straight up, then flopped back onto the ground onto her back. "I can make these rappers run like a hard drill." Pulling her legs up and sitting up, she turned on her tailbone until she was able to fall onto her knees, lifting her right leg up to perform the 'knee glide' manoeuvre. As she did she raised her left arm in the air with a 'rock' two-fingered salute on the end. "Rock band show you how the guitar feel." On the third twist she stopped, rose herself a little higher, and executed a strangely good air guitar. Not bad for someone who didn't have a lot of rock music in her iPod. Then she swivelled back onto her toes, rose herself into a crouch and pointed forward, still facing the stock-still Erika who remained watching the whole thing with a look of horror on her face. "I could care less how ya'll feel." Smacking the ground hard with her left hand, her right hand remaining pointed at Erika, she threw her left arm over her shoulder and backwards, quickly following it with the right. "I got the flow to make a b… do a cartwheel." She didn't do a cartwheel, simply doing a backwards hand spring with legs splayed so she landed on her left first and instantly pulled herself to her feet. "This is that good, just pop it and relax bro." Raising her hands out in front of her one at a time, Camille started with two 'puppet' steps before clicking and scraping the dirt with her right hand, coming up with a clenched fist. "And you can get it free, don't worry about the tax no." She launched into one of her trademark moves, a piece known as the 'Egyptian groove' where she started with a 'walk like an Egyptian' hand then raised herself onto her toes and ended resting on her right leg. "And Zaphoo, thank you for the c…" Clicking with her unclenched hand, she twisted herself around and covered her mouth as if scandalised by the word 'crack'. Then, dancing a square, she brought it home, sliding closer to Erika. "But I play a Ron Burgundy, I anchor on the track like…" she walked herself around into a square, stopping to pop one leg out and lean into Erika's face before raising her right clenched fist, leaning back a bit and opening it to reveal a small handful of dirt. After 'like' she blew, discarding the final word in the verse to cover Erika's face in a small collection of dust, falling back onto her left leg and sliding her right one back to meet it.

Erika wiped her face as the crowd fell silent, the look on the teen's face souring the situation, but Camille saw none of it, just passing through the crowd and grabbing her jacket. As she pulled it back on, Moose appeared beside her, watching her wipe her dusty hand on her track pants. "Wow." Camille made to smile a reply but Erika's voice came across the space between.

"Hey, what was that?" She had her hands on her hips and her face was flushed with frustration.

Camille raised an eyebrow. "You don't know?" She glanced at Moose who stayed expressionless, his eyes dancing between the two as if wondering whether he should step between them and drag Camille away now just for safety purposes. "Makes you wonder what they're teaching at Atherton then. See, that's called 'dance'."

Erika gaped like a fish for a second then her eyes narrowed. "I want a rematch, a for real dance-off, not you rolling in on my dance last minute."

Camille cast her eyes skyward. "I'm not here to show you up miss Moore, I'm here to remind you to keep your head screwed on, you're not the best in America yet."

"And you'd know what about it exactly?"

Camille smiled softly. "I have a few more years experienced than you – on the highs and lows of dance." She glanced at Moose who was now watching her intently. She gave him a nod then looked back at Erika. "Until we meet again." Then, with a cheery wave, Camille turned and walked away. It took Moose a second to gather himself before he went after her, frowning at her as they came to the traffic lights and finally stopped. She looked up at him. "Oh come on Moose, you can't judge me. Three years ago you picked a war with Kid Darkness in the middle of a park. Compared to the Samurais, this little girl is nothing, just another 'try-hard and no talent'."

"You get titchy when people insult you." But he was smiling as he said it. Camille's irritation floated away at that smile and she shook her head a little. "What?"

"I can't believe I actually did that. I don't do that kind of thing!"

"You were great." She smiled. "Plus, it means I'm rubbing off on you." Moose raised his eyebrows with a grin. "You're becoming as impulsive and foolhardy as me!"

"That's what I'm truly scared of." Moose frowned before he saw Camille grin and then he grabbed her and hugged her. He let her go as the pedestrian crossing lit up green.

"You know we're going to have to crush Atherton at Elite now, otherwise we're going to look pathetic," Moose said as they reached the other side of the road.

Camille paused. "I know." She smiled. "You better lift your game!" Then, with a punch to Moose's arm, she started back towards the school. Moose just gave a small shake of his head and went after her, grabbing her so she squealed and made everyone in the street look, but he didn't care. He didn't care what anyone except Camille thought. And right now she was too busy laughing to say a thing.