This is an excerpt that will be part of my previous fic Waltz Tango Shuffle, which is going through a heavy revision at the moment. This was mainly written by Sen Writez, which offers ghostwriting services on Fiverr. Honey's family OCs Candace, Lozen, and Ceralba are owned by Cylent-Nite.
The clinking of utensils on porcelain plates was the only sound to be heard in their family dining room. The meal was exactly as it always was, perfectly balanced in nutrients to provide the best amount of energy with the least amount of drawbacks. Or, boring, in more simple terms.
Candace, as always, ate diligently. She didn't snarf her food down or eat excessively slowly. Her mother had long since instructed her on the best eating etiquette to ensure she didn't get a stomach ache. She kept her eyes down at her plate, unwilling to gaze up at her parents, whose expressions had been grim all day.
It was a Friday night, which was usually one of Candace's only moments of reprieve. Her homework amount was light thanks to the time she'd have to work over the weekend, and her parents usually spent more time at home, too. Sometimes, Honey would take Candace out shopping or to the movies. Not this weekend, though, because Honey wasn't home. She had left on a bus to Twinkle Park after school, and when Candace had walked through the doors without her, her parents' entire mood had shifted to a dark one. There was no telling where their daughter had spirited herself away to, and they had long since given up on asking.
A commercial on the TV in the adjacent living room ended, and a crescendoing orchestra played through their high tech speakers. Candace finally raised her head to peer into the next room just in time to see the title, "DANCING UNDER THE STARS" come across the screen in flashy, bold letters. Her parents noticed as well, momentarily pausing their utensils to look up.
The camera zoomed in on a sharply dressed hedgehog with a wide, too-friendly smile. His suit was glittering and his hair was slicked black, making all the lights from the stage bounce off of it. He waved to the cheering, live crowd, as well as to the judges, who sat at a table near the front of the stage.
"Welcome viewers, to the season premiere of Dancing Under The Stars! I'm your host, Dazzle, and tonight we have a great selection of performers for you. Now, who's ready to start this season off with a bang?!"
The live crowd cheered, but the vibe within Candace's home couldn't have been more different. Her father grumbled something under his breath, and her mom rolled her eyes. Candace did her best to keep her true emotions under wraps, and her expression perfectly measured. In honesty, she had always been a bit interested in these competition shows. She continued to eat, but looked up at the television from under her eyelashes.
The host went about introducing each of the dancing pairs. All the young, attractive couples smiled back into the camera with differing levels of nerves and excitement. Finally, the camera rolled onto two familiar faces, and Candace felt herself tense.
Honey, Candace's sister, and a stranger armadillo that Candace had never seen stood arm in arm. The armadillo had a pleasant and handsome, yet indifferent expression on his face that didn't reach his eyes, and Honey was using her free arm to wave excitedly at the camera. The host directed the microphone towards her and asked, "Who do we have here?"
Honey immediately leaned towards the microphone to speak, giving no time for her partner to pitch in, not that it seemed like he wanted to. "I'm Honey, and this is Mighty!"
The host seemed instantly attracted by Honey's energy and bright smile, and brought the microphone back to himself to ask, "Got anybody you'd like to say hi to back home?"
Mighty shook his head, but Honey nodded. Candace held her breath as she made eye contact with her sister through the camera. "I'd like to say hello to all my friends, and especially my family! Mom and Dad, and my little sister Candy, hi there!"
Candace's parents were now completely focused on the television, and Candace wanted to curl into a ball and disintegrate. Both of them looked shocked and completely disapproving. Her mother sighed, and wiped her mouth with a napkin.
"I can't believe that girl, that's why she went to Twinkle Park? She could have warned us before she made a fool of herself on television."
Candace's father dropped his fork to the plate with a clatter, and turned to Candace, "Who is that man she's with? Candace, does he look familiar to you?" He demanded, narrowing his eyes.
Candace shook her head, which only seemed to make her parents suffer more. They really only trusted the friends that Candace also had in common, since they trusted Candace's judgment far more than Honey's.
Candace, it seemed, was the only one at the table not in disbelief. When her sister had decided to spend the weekend in the city, she figured that part of the reason was so that she could be in the live audience for this exact show. It was always one of Honey's favorites, but her parents had never taken them. The weekend was for regaining energy and preparing for the week ahead, not staying awake and going on long trips or out to parties. That was, at least, what Candace's parents had always said.
The meal was basically at its end anyway, and the family moved into the living room quickly. Candace's mother and father sat on the couch, while Candace sat on the floor. She brought part of her homework with her, spreading it across the ground and doing her best to make it look like she was focused on the papers instead of the television in front of her. In truth, she had specifically chosen the homework for her easiest subject (math), and her closer position to the television would allow her to react without her parents seeing her face.
The host finished his introductions of the performers, and the stage lights came down as the judges were introduced. Candace could vaguely recognize them all from other television programs, but since she didn't spend much time in front of the TV, their celebrity status meant nothing to her.
Honey and Mighty were part of the second block of performers, which meant they wouldn't be performing until the second half of the show. That meant that Candace and her family had at least some time to adjust to the shock.
Candace knew that if the roles were reversed, Honey would be cheering her name to the television and bragging about her to everyone who asked. Candace, however, could only watch with a mixture of jealousy and nervousness. Candace had always been envious of her sister's spontaneity and status as a social butterfly, but that didn't stop her from being worried. Honey was so friendly that people with bad intentions could easily take advantage, and she often lept without looking.
The first couple took the stage, and the crowd silenced as overhead lights crossed to meet them. They seemed to be doing some kind of samba routine, which was very intimate and jazzy. Candace could immediately sense the skill and dedication they had to their craft, and felt a bit impressed, until she heard her mother scoff from behind her.
"Can you believe how much time they had to spend on this choreography? And for what, a chance to win money? I go to work every day, and my check is always guaranteed. That's what hard work is meant for."
Her father hummed in agreement. "Of course. All that athleticism has gone completely to waste."
Candace did not have any thoughts of her own to weigh in with, and thankfully she wasn't asked for any. In her mind, she wanted to agree with either her mother or her father, but the truth was that she couldn't help but feel envious of the dazzling performers on the screen in front of her. She imagined what it would be like to work so hard towards a goal, and to be able to showcase all the hard work you put in in front of a live audience, or a camera. The applause and cheers must feel incredible, or else nobody would want to do it in the first place.
The next several performances went similarly, with varying degrees of talent. Some of the contestants had been working on their craft since they were children, and moved with one another like they were one body. Others stumbled or missed queues, showcasing their novice status. Despite this, every performer had the same determined look in their eye. It was the same look Candace would get during a test, or she'd see her father get before tournaments, or her mom before an intense board meeting.
The show went to commercial, and Candace let out a momentary sigh of relief. It was punctuated by her father's own sigh, and Candace looked back over her shoulder at her parents. Both of them looked tense and upset, completely unconvinced despite the stellar performances they had just been privy to.
Candace could understand her parents, to some degree. Her mother, Lozen, was the Chief of Medicine. She had worked to get to the top of her class during university, and graduated with honors. She had a brilliant mind, and dedicated her life to medicine and academics. She had been endlessly overjoyed when Candace had shown interest in the scientific field, and had pushed her to do her best in everything related to school. Candace had, of course, done what her mother asked of her. It had been so long, that Candace forgot if she had any desires before her mother started impressing the need to be the smartest and best student onto her.
Candace's father was Ceralba, famous in his own right yet completely different from Lozen. He was a champion martial artist, and had been since his youth, getting recognized in national tournaments before he was even a teenager. After winning every award there was to win for his craft, some even more than once, he retired to open his own dojo. Both Candace and Honey were students of his in their young age, and while Candace had shown no natural gift for it, Honey definitely did. She was incredibly athletic, and it had upset Ceralba incredibly when his older daughter had decided to put her effort towards the arts instead of sports.
Lozen shook her head, and gestured at Candace. "Why couldn't she have turned out more like Candace? She should be home right now studying, but instead she's out in the city performing on television like some kind of circus act."
Ceralba nodded. Despite their differences in passion, Candace's parents were always of one mind when it came to the futures of their daughters. "I can't believe she'd rather waste her talents on dancing instead of focusing them on the martial arts. That's a respectable, ancient sport that doesn't require you to be floated around in front of a bunch of rabid fans."
Of course, Candace knew that dance wasn't truly Honey's passion. It was a means to an end, as Honey had described it to her as they sat in her room the night before she left to go to the city.
"Did you know how much they're offering for the winning prize?"
Candace had looked up from her homework, and shook her head. "No, and I don't really care if other people are winning money, anyway."
Candace had learned very early from both of her parents that focusing on oneself was the best road to success. If you cared too much about things or people outside of your goals, you'd get sidetracked, and a distracted mind could never be the best. Despite Honey asking her to come to her room for some company while she painted her nails, Candace had brought her math binder and continued working on it even as her sister hummed along to the radio.
Honey sighed wistfully, and continued painting the sparkling red polish onto her nails. "Fifty thousand dollars. Isn't that incredible?"
Candace flipped a page on her binder, taking down another note with her highlighter as she shrugged. "I guess. Mom and Dad both make a lot more than that every year at their own jobs, though."
Honey had set the nail polish aside, and laid back onto her shoddily made bed. "What would you do if you suddenly had that kind of money tomorrow, Candy?"
Candace looked up from her notes for just a second to ponder Honey's question. "I guess I'd put part of it into my PHD fund, and invest the rest."
Honey laughed, and rolled onto her side while taking care not to disturb her still wet dye. "That's such a you answer. So boring."
Candace rolled her eyes. "Alright then, what would you do if you suddenly had fifty thousand dollars?"
Candace sat up, and looked down at her red fingertips. "I'd open my own boutique, with all my own designs for people to order. I'd open in the city, where people care about when and how their fashion is made."
Candace watched her sister for a bit. These were the exact kind of words that would send her parents into a spiral of lectures and judgement, but that had never been the case between Candace and Honey. They had been close all their life, possibly because they were twins, but more likely because they had to undergo the pressure from their parents. While Candace had been able to give into it and find her passion in a field her parents approved of, Honey was different. Her wants and desires rarely, if ever, aligned with what their parents had in mind for her. The only person in Honey's family she could express herself the most openly with was Candace, despite how different they were in personality.
Candace sighed. "It would cost a lot more than that to operate it for more than a few months. You'd need to have sales immediately, and the city is always full of shops that appear and disappear in the same year."
Despite Candace's pessimism, Honey remained undaunted. "I know, the fifty thousand is just to start it. I know my designs will be famous as soon as people see them, so, I'm not worried about the after."
Honey was, of course, rarely worried about that after. Candace had brushed it off that night as just another one of her impulsive quips, but now she was in her living room, watching it play out in live action. What was Honey thinking? She was athletic and charismatic, that was true, but dance required a level of skill outside of that as well. There needed to be a sense of rhythm and synchronicity, on top of some kind of rapport with a partner. What rapport did Honey have with Mighty? They barely even seemed like they came from the same planet, their expressions and mannerisms were so different, and Candace didn't even know he existed until that night!
The commercial ended, and the host of the show was back on stage, waving to the cheering audience. He looked back into Candace's living room as he began his second intro.
"Welcome back, everyone, to Dancing Under The Stars! How was that first round of contestants, everyone?!"
The host directed his microphone towards the crowd, and the editor in the back made sure to ramp up the crowd reaction to almost ear splitting levels. Dazzle brought the microphone back to himself after a few seconds, pretending to clean out one of his ears.
"Whew, what a reaction! Seems like this season is off to a great start! Judges, what do you think?"
The three celebrity judges have bright smiles and thumbs up, and Dazzle clapped his hands together happily. "Perfect! Alright, well, let's see what the second half of our performers have to offer. First to the stage we have… Pumpkin and Alabaster!"
Candace completely ignored her math homework as she watched the next few performers. Pumpkin dropped Alabaster twice, making the judges cringe and the crowd gasp. Her father in the background let out a barked laugh at their inadequate athletic abilities, and her mother tsked.
"Think of how destroyed their backs and knees will be after years of this…." She said under her breath.
Candace continued to not add her thoughts, as her parents always seemed to assume that she was on their side. Finally, after three more performances, Dazzle introduced the names that Candace and her parents were waiting for.
"Now, please welcome to the stage, Honey and Mighty!"
The crowd cheered, no doubt remembering the adorable, bubbly girl and handsome young man from the start of the show. Candace could feel her pulse in her neck as she stared at the television unblinkingly, her parents momentarily forgotten.
The spotlights lit up, directing down on where Honey and Mighty stood together, hand in hand. Candace noticed the sparkling nail polish on Honey's fingers, and how it matched her frilly, no doubt hand-made garment. Mighty was in a matching suit, and he had a serious, determined look in his eye.
The music picked up, and Candace was immediately assaulted by an intense pop-beat. Candace recognized it as a favorite of Honey's, a confident song from a female singer about loving yourself. It was very Honey, but not very serious or classic. Her mother gasped at the sound, and Candace looked over her shoulder just in time to see her father connect his hand with his forehead.
"This is so embarrassing! What if my instructors at the dojo are watching, and see this? My oldest daughter makes a mockery of such a sacred art form practiced for centuries!"
Her mother looked just as displeased as she watched her daughter be twirled across the stage by Mighty. "I'm going to have to make sure my assistant keeps track of who speaks of this performance next week." Lozen hissed with venom, causing Candace's spine to freeze.
Candace turned her attention back to the screen, unwilling to miss a moment more of her sister's surprise performance. Mighty had a light expression on his face, but it was Honey who was truly captivating. Her movements were obviously those of a novice, and she and Mighty were not perfectly in sync, but Honey allowed none of this to show on her face. Her expression was one of complete confidence in every move she made.
She hammed it up for the cameras, batting her eyelashes and wiggling her fingers at the crowd. The camera changed to show the judges, and all three of them were watching the performance with smiles on their faces. The audience was clapping along to the beat, despite the song being popular for years, it was like Honey had been able to breathe new life into it.
"How immodest. What dance technique is this? And the crowd is eating up!" Ceralba shouted in disgust.
"How brazen and un-lady-like. She is acting more like a ruffian than a lady!" Lozen snapped. "Unacceptable!"
Candace once again felt the all too familiar twinge of jealousy in the back of her head. She had been on stage many times, for mathlete competitions and spelling bees and debates. There was always an audience and judges, but they never looked at Candace the way the judges and audience of Dancing Under The Stars did. They would stare with critical, judgmental eyes, waiting for Candace to say the wrong answer or wrong word or use the wrong argument; and that was with Candace doing everything perfectly.
Honey's performance was nowhere near perfect. In fact, it bordered on sloppy. Both she and Mighty missed queues several times, were offbeat at moments, and at one point Honey nearly slipped from Mighty's arms. Candace could tell from the grumbles and long-suffering sighs behind her that her parents were noticing all of these flaws, and none of Honey's overwhelming charisma or stage presence.
Candace felt stuck between the feelings of her parents and the audience on screen. She also noticed every flaw, cringing when Honey or Mighty messed up. She mentally changed it in her head, trying to think of the perfect way to complete the choreography. Despite this, she felt none of her parents disdain. She was nervous, sure, and admittedly envious, but she could also see exactly what the audience was seeing. As Mighty ended their choreography by dipping Honey, and Honey smiled at the camera while upside down, she almost felt moved.
The track ended, and the crowd cheered. The judges even began to clap, and Honey righted herself to bow at them alongside Mighty. The host came back on stage, and clapped as well.
"An excellent performance from Honey and Mighty! Thank you both, head backstage and give yourself a few pats on the back!"
Honey waved at the camera one last time before they disappeared off stage, and Candace was pulled away from the screen at the sound of her mother's voice.
"Well, that does it. There's no way they can move on with a performance like that."
Her father kept his arms across his chest as he nodded. "Of course. She went all the way to that stupid amusement park just to come back empty handed."
Candace finally began to work on her homework as the next few performers danced on stage. Finally, the show theme song played again, and the camera cut to all of the night's contestants standing in a row. They all had differing mixtures of dread and excitement on their face, and Honey, who stood near the middle of the group, was smiling.
The judges began to read out the names of those who would be moving on to the next performance, and Candace held her breath as she waited for her sister's dream to be dashed on live television.
"... And, following Thistle and Eloria… the second to last group to move on will be…. Mighty and Honey!"
The crowd went wild, and Candace's eyes widened as she heard both of her parents gasp behind her. The camera zoomed in on Honey and Mighty, and while Mighty looked almost as surprised as Candace felt, Honey was positively beaming.
She hugged a surprised Mighty, and audibly shouted, "We did it, we did it!"
Candace looked back over her shoulder again, and saw her parents with their jaws dropped. They couldn't understand how they could advance with such an imperfect performance, but Candace knew exactly why.
It was all because of Honey.
Later that night, Candace couldn't sleep due to her parents bickering.
Despite her bedroom being a bit far from her parents, the sound of their voices can still be heard over the thin walls.
"I cannot believe they progressed!" Candace heard her dad Ceralba roar. "How pathetic is that tournament!"
A very audible tsk followed after, which came from Lozen, "Of course. Honey is so adorable and charming that they made her and that armadillo progress. Pathetic and pitiful!" Candace shuddered as Lozen said.
"Chaos, I am going to be the laughing stock in the martial artist world. A martial artist prodigy turned to an immodest dancer, how deplorable! And that Mighty guy, I am going to kill him for touching my daughter like that once they return!" Ceralba bellowed, causing Candace to flinch.
"Kill? Something we are not doing is murdering someone." Lozen shouted.
"Come on sweetie…" Ceralba protested.
"Don't, 'come on sweetie' me! I can care less about her partner!"
The negative energy in the house was immense. Candace tried to cuddle up in her bed and fall asleep, but her parents continued yelling. Her heart raced as fast as her wall clock was ticking.
"Since Honey wants to be a star and wants to undermine our authority, I am kicking her out of the house. She will be 18 in a couple of weeks. Since she wants to act like an adult, let her figure things out in the real world." Lozen snapped with venom.
"Indeed, let's see if her new fans can help her out." Ceralba replied.
Candace's eyes opened as dinner plates and she felt her heart dropped. Honey was being kicked out?