6x05

Maybe she had a fear of being in the front row? Or maybe she had trouble picking up choreo, so she had to be in the back to follow the rest of the team?

Finn sighed and finished off the last of his juice with a loud slurp before setting the empty cup aside. Piper was a complete and utter mystery. She stands up to Miss Angela - something no one else has ever dared to do before - then completely disappears for weeks with no explanation, and when she finally shows back up, the new (or apparently not new?) studio heads put her in the back row, and she's happy about it. Finn saw her audition for Miss Angela and had seen her dance in rehearsal earlier that day. Piper was no back-row dancer. (Of course, he would also say the same thing about himself, but, well... That was beside the point.)

The point was – something wasn't adding up with this Piper girl, and he wanted to know what the deal was. She'd already dodged his questioning once, however, and he was debating whether or not he should try again or just let it go like she'd told him too. He knew what his older sister would advise: "She told you to let it go, so let it go. It's not rocket science." The difference between himself and his sister Ayla, however, was that Finn had always been interested in rocket science, and Ayla, well... There was a reason she was going to school to be a lawyer and not a rocket scientist (which was way cooler as far as Finn was concerned).

"Hey, man. Is this seat taken?"

Finn was drawn out of his thoughts as Noah suddenly appeared across the table from him, juice in hand. "No, man, go for it," Finn told him, and Noah slid into the seat across from him, letting out a long exhale as he did so. Finn could tell that something was on his dance captain's mind and asked, "Everything alright?"

"Just some drama with the other dancers and line placements. I've got it under control," Noah told him before taking a long sip of his juice and observing Finn as he did so. When he lowered his drink, he asked, "You got a girlfriend, Finn?"

"Nope," Finn told him, shaking his head. He hadn't had many opportunities yet to get to know his dance captain, so he was glad for the chance to talk to him for a bit. "But you're dating Jacquie, right?"

"Yeah." Noah nodded, looking down and smiling to himself before taking another sip of his juice. "She's, uh... She's a force to be reckoned with."

"She's a great dancer though."

"Incredible," Noah agreed before looking at him seriously. "Word of advice though: never comment on another girl's dancing around your girlfriend. I learned that the hard way."

Finn grimaced. "She got mad?"

Noah nodded grimly. Laying his hands out on the table, he explained, "I just told Summer she has good turns."

"Summer does have good turns."

"Exactly! But Jacquie didn't like that." A haunted look flashed through Noah's eyes as he continued. "And I just did something else that she's not going to like, but I guess that's the price of being dance captain."

"Well, if it's for the better of the team, you did what you had to," Finn assured him as Noah took another long drink. He'd already downed half of his juice in just a few sips.

Noah nodded seriously, setting his juice aside and mirroring Finn's posture as he crossed his arms on top of the table. "Yeah, thanks. The drama's just not good for the team. We just got rid of Miss Angela. We can't have the team already falling apart again."

"Definitely not."

"Yeah..." Noah smiled and pointed at Finn. "You're a good listener, Finn."

He shrugged at that, thriving at the compliment. "My mom thinks so too."

Chuckling, Noah crossed his arms again and asked Finn about his dance history. After telling him about his first few studios and learning some of Noah's history at The Next Step, Finn leaned in as if they were conspiring about something secret. "Hey, what's the deal with Piper?"

Noah finished off the rest of his juice before answering. "Piper? She's a great dancer – really versatile. She came to the studio last year and joined A-Troupe. Her brother was on the Internationals team with me."

"So she's from a family of dancers?" Finn asked, genuinely curious. There was something about this girl that just drew him in. While he really wanted to know why she was so happy to be in the back row, he was content to learn anything he could about her at the same time.

Noah shook his head. "Just her and James, as far as I know anyway."

"She seemed really happy to be in the back row..."

Noah frowned, seeming to choose his next words carefully as he said, "She's missed a lot the last couple of weeks, but you'll all have a chance to be featured at Regionals even if you are in the back row for now. Don't worry."

"Oh, I'm not worried about me," Finn told him quickly. Although, he supposed, it was a consolation to know that he could still have a featured moment at Regionals... Getting back to his point, he added, "I just think Piper should be further up."

Noah nodded slowly as he listened. "I trust Michelle and Emily to make the right decision for the line placements, but it's good of you to look out for Piper like that. I'm sure she'd appreciate it." As he trailed off, he pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the time. Moving to stand up, Noah said, "I should get going. I'll talk to you later, man."

Finn nodded and agreed he'd see him later then Noah picked up his empty juice cup and walked out of Shakes and Ladders. Not ready to head home for the day yet, Finn decided to head to Studio One to get in some extra rehearsal time on his own. All of the other dancers on A-Troupe were strong dancers, and the competition here was tough. However happy Piper may have been about being in the back row, Finn couldn't say he felt the same. He'd never been a back-row dancer before, and he needed to prove that to Michelle, Emily, and the rest of the team. If he had to put in extra rehearsal time to do that, then so be it.

Music floated down the hallway as he neared Studio One, and Finn quickly deduced that someone else must already be in there. When he walked into the studio, it was to find Piper dancing her heart out. This solo was different than the small one she had performed in front of Miss Angela. Emotion was thick on her face as she danced, and he could tell she was pouring her heart out through her movements. Instantly, Finn was captivated. He couldn't bring himself to look away from her.

Why had Emily and Michelle put her in the back row?

She was a front-row dancer at best. He had half a mind to go to Emily and Michelle right now and tell them they had made a huge mistake. Piper was incredible.

When the song came to an end, Finn breathed a silent, "Wow," and clapped. Her back to him, Piper jumped at the noise and turned to him in alarm before darting to grab her water bottle and looking very much like a deer caught in headlights. Confused as to why she seemed so embarrassed, Finn took a step towards her, gesturing enthusiastically as he said, "Piper, that was incredible! You're an amazing dancer." He paused, noting the way her eyes were shining – like she was holding back tears.

He considered the way she had been pouring her heart out in her dance and the emotion on her face while she'd been doing so. There was clearly something going on with her, but maybe she wasn't ready to talk about it.

Was he coming on too strong? His mom had warned him that he tended to do that sometimes.

Quickly changing his train of thought, he told her, "I still don't get why you want the back row, but if that's what you want, I'll let it go."

She took a deep breath, her brows furrowing as she looked at him, like she couldn't quite figure him out. "I still don't get why you care," she told him after a moment. "But I'll let that go too."

With that, she quickly stepped around him and hurried out of Studio One. Finn watched her retreat down the hall before heaving a sigh and slumping on the bench against the wall. He wished he could know what was bothering her, but he was just going to have to let it go like he had said he would. Maybe one day she would confide in him. He hoped she would. He liked Piper, he decided. She was pretty and interesting, and she clearly had guts to stand up for what was right, which he respected.

Finn glanced around the studio, thoughts of Piper's solo still running through his mind, and smiled softly to himself. He hadn't been sure about coming to The Next Step initially. Their reputation as a studio that had won Internationals and then lost to a new studio at Regionals the very next year was fairly well known in the Toronto dance community. If he had known from the beginning that he would be dancing with someone like Piper, however... Well, he definitely wouldn't have been so hesitant to accept Miss Angela's offer. And it wasn't just Piper that was amazing. The whole team was. He had clearly made the right decision coming here.

One of these days, he would win over Piper, but in the meantime, he had some extra practice time to get in.