Out of step!

After getting our plans down, Therese complained “Enough of this now. We need to practice for this Saturday. Claire hasn't joined in on any practice. If we go on like this the whole thing is going to be a disaster.”

It seemed like I had avoided playing an idol for as long as I could.

Anna clapped her hands in response and said. Okay, girls, let's show her what we got so far.

A solemn atmosphere took over the room, and the 4 of them got into a formation.

Anna got out a Bluetooth speaker and started playing Elsa's song.

It sounded completely different than this morning. They really added a lot of different layers to the sound. The song sounded cute this morning, but now it sounded like something that could be a hit song on the radio.

The girls performed their choreography as far as they had created it and sang together with the song. I was amazed by how well the four were in tune with one another. The chorus already got stuck in my head.

Okay, now this is the part where you will come in. Anna said. It was a duet with Elsa.

“Ahum, you know that I really can't sing right? I have been saying this from the start.”

Anna typed in a few things on her laptop and said. “You only need to get the rhythm right, the rest will be automatically corrected by the system. The days that you needed to be able to sing really well for this kind of thing are long since gone!”

Anna looked enthusiastically at me. Although that may all be true, we were now in a classroom, and those systems were not in effect when singing a cappella. I knew I was going to embarrass myself.

“Let me at least practice the song by myself. Let's just stick to choreography for today.”

Eve became really enthusiastic at my suggestion. “Sure, Claire. You get on stage from that side...”

She explained what she wanted me to do.

I had to come in and take center stage next to Elsa immediately. We had to do a pretty intimate dance with each other while singing. I was really bad at this kind of stuff since I never went to dances and never joined these kinds of group dances as a kid, I was failing miserably. I had no idea choreography could be this hard. It all seems pretty simple when you see it. I noticed Elsa rolling her eyes after the fourth time we had to restart the exact same part. After a few more mishaps Elsa became angry. “Are you doing this on purpose? You did this right earlier!”

“No of course not!” I thought she was overreacting. I was doing my best.

“You'd better practice. I will never forgive you if you make me look bad on stage!”

Anna came in between and said: I will make sure she gets some extra practice in.

After I did the short piece we were practicing right once, instead of continuing Anna stopped the practice. “I want to end on a positive note for our first practice together. Now we have all seen that we can do it! We will hammer it in over the next days.”

I was not entirely convinced that I would be able to do this well enough to perform on Saturday. Anna looked at me with sparkling eyes and said “You are going to be so cute on stage. I can't wait.”

“If she can remember her choreography” Elsa bit. Tina rubbed Elsa's shoulder to calm her down.

I thought we had become better friends than that over the past few weeks, but it seemed there was still some of that inexplicable grudge Elsa had toward me remaining.

“There there, let's all do our best and try to have fun on stage. It is our first show, so it will be normal if it isn't perfect.”

Elsa shot bolts of lightning with her eyes at those words. “That is what people that won't make it say. This is our one shot. I will have no one messing it up! We will get it as close to perfection as we possibly can.”

Everyone was taken aback a bit by how intense she was, but at the same time, the other girls seemed to be inspired by her ambition. “That's why you are the center!” Therese said. “She knows when to put us straight,” Eve added.

Tina hugged Elsa. “I promise I will do my best,” I said. Elsa looked proud that she was the leader of this band. I wonder if that wasn't all this tantrum was about. Asserting dominance as the leader of the group. I never planned on fighting her for that, but ever since I've known her, Elsa always tried to compete with me over things that I had not even considered.

“That was so inspiring. That came almost literally out of an idol manga. That can only mean we must be on the right track!” Anna said with sparkles in her eyes. It appears the manager was happy with anything as long as it resembled 2D. She was so cute when she was being a goof like that.

I looked at the time. The rehearsal for the play was almost over. I was a bit surprised that Ms. Stick never called any of us to help. I would have expected her to do so, just to let us know she was important. I had gotten used to her being like that. So I wondered if something happened. We hurried and put back everything the way we found it. I was feeling really tired of the busy day, but it wasn't over yet. We still had that waltz practice tonight. Anna and I made our way back to the gym hall where the rehearsal for the play was taking place and made our way to where Ms. Stick was sitting. She seemed to be watching what was happening on stage, but at the same time, she seemed a bit out of it.

“We are back!”

I announced.

Ms. Stick freaked out thoroughly. Seems like she was focused on something else completely.

When we arrived at her desk, Thea got up from under Ms. Tick's desk and said “I lost one of my contacts.”

“. . .” I just accepted that explanation, even though my imagination was protesting vehemently.

“Oh, Thea! What brings you here!” Anna said as if what we just saw wasn't suspicious as hell.

“Well, I brought Claire's dress and Narcy told me you organized a dance practice, so I brought dance shoes for everyone. I hope you don't mind that Narcy and I are joining in on the lesson?”

“Of course not, the more the merrier. That way you can help me instruct them.”

It was a bit surprising that Ms. Stick was still silent, so I asked “Are you alright Ms. Stick?”

“I thought I told you to call me Narcy, our girlfriends are best friends, so it would be weird otherwise, and it is not like we are student and teacher anymore.”

She had a point, even though I knew that it was going to feel weird, but I bit through the sour apple and said “Ok, Narcy.”

Yes definitely weird.

“That's better.”

“Hey, no flirting with my girlfriend,” Thea interjected.

Rest assured Thea, nothing of the sort was happening. I rolled my eyes.

But it was Narcy that replied. “Thea, do you know what I do to a jealous girlfriend?”

Thea looked immediately down, and said “But...”

Narcy sighed and said “Tonight.”

Did they really have to do this in front of us? Go get a room already! Now several images of things I did not want to imagine were running through my mind. What would you expect after that scene with that collar? I looked up what all of that symbolized. To think there were people actually into all that stuff...

Anna noticed my second-hand embarrassment and guided me away from the flirting couple. “Let's give them some space,” she said. I nodded and went with her.

The rehearsal ended and we were left with all the girls that were invited to the ball. We gathered in a small group.

“Just to be sure, is there anyone who can waltz besides Thea, Maura, and me?” Anna asked in a loud and clear voice.

To my surprise, Gazette raised her hand. “I had some lessons when I was small, but it has been a while.” She was immediately invited to join the instructors. Elodie looked a bit sad, but when she noticed Fien looking at her with a gloss over her eyes, she immediately cheered up.

Oh no, that meant that I was partnering up with Narcy. Why did it have to be Narcy?

Narcy walked up to me and said “I will make sure to take good care of you tonight.”

I gulped.

Anna started by showing us the basic 1-2-3 movement, and then, together with Thea, she showed the swirls that came with them.

Everyone was picking the 1-2-3 movement up rather quickly except for me. I always knew I was bad at dancing and all that stuff, but I had not expected to be the only one to be in such trouble.

While Maura, Gazette, and Anna were helping the other girls and showing how to proceed to the next step, Thea came to see what the problem was. After a moment she said “Claire, you are going to have to let go. Narcy is the lead, so you have to let go of control and trust where she is taking you. That is what this dance is all about.”

My heart shuddered. That meant I would have to give complete control to Anna tomorrow. That is when everything always goes completely out of control. That comment made me stiffen up even more. Thea noticed and stopped us. “Claire stop overthinking things. Narcy will take good care of you. I know she always takes good care of me.” Thea gave me a little wink. I know Thea wanted to break the ice a little there, but the image that innuendo created in my mind made me stiffen up even more. Thea sighed and proceeded to give me some relaxation exercises. She massaged my shoulders and showed me some breathing exercises and I felt my muscles relax. “Now try again.”

Narcy and I started the dance again and this time I felt like I was floating. With every move she made, I felt my legs and body just fall in sync and follow. This felt actually pretty good.

“Good!, Now you got it,” Thea said. I looked at my dance partner. Narcy seemed like she was having fun. When I saw her like this I noticed she was a rather attractive woman and I did not really mind letting her guide me. Narcy looked back at me, smiled, and said “You see, good things happen when you submit to Narcy.” she said.

I flushed red because of the implications of what she said, and because of that I accidentally stepped on her foot. We almost fell.

“W-What did you say that for?” My heart was beating like crazy.

“Seems like we still have a little more work to do before you'll be ready,” Narcy answered.