7x01

"It'll be so weird without Michelle around, huh?" Amy asked. She and Piper were pulling their shoes on, getting ready to leave the studio after staying behind to help the new studio owner Nick clean up the decorations from Michelle's going away party.

"Tell me about it," Piper said as she pulled on her converse then spun around on the bench to face Amy. "Hey, do you remember A-Side?"

"How could I forget? It was our first A-Troupe dance!"

Piper let out a nostalgic sigh, holding her hands over her heart. "That was such a good day."

"It seems like so long ago now."

It felt nice to talk to Piper again. They had drifted apart due to their busy, conflicting schedules while Amy had been at AcroNation. She had missed Piper the most while she was at the rival studio, and she was ecstatic to be dancing with her best friend again. Coming back to A-Troupe felt like coming home from a long trip away. It was like nothing had changed in some ways.

But in others...

"Hey Pipes! Check this out!"

The girls looked up as Finn approached them, sucking the helium out of a balloon then saying, "Nick told us to take the balloons with us," in a nasally voice. He promptly burst into giggles at his own voice, and Piper laughed as well, her eyes shining in amusement.

Amy simply raised her eyebrows, frowning as she glanced around Studio A. Henry, Kingston, and Ozzy were doing the same thing across the studio. "Um, you do know that's really bad for you, right?"

Finn's gaze flicked to her, his eyebrows knitting together in disbelief. "What? People do it all the time," he retorted though it was difficult to take him seriously when he sounded like a chipmunk with a bad cold.

"It can cause lack of oxygen. People have died from it," she told him shortly, glancing to Piper, who appeared to be internally debating whose side she was supposed to take. Clearly, she should be taking hers.

Finn chuckled, his voice already returning to normal as he said, "Okay. Sure, Amy." He glanced at Piper and rolled his eyes as if Amy wasn't sitting right next to her and could see him.

Amy huffed, but Piper simply smiled good-naturedly. Without a moment's hesitation, Piper reached up and snatched the balloon out of Finn's grasp. He protested at that, and she quirked an eyebrow as she told him, "We can't go to the movie tonight if you die of helium inhalation beforehand."

He sighed and threw his head back dramatically. When he looked at her again, however, he was grinning a charming smile that, for whatever reason, really annoyed Amy. "See you at 7:30?" he asked, pointing to Piper as he took a step toward the doors.

"It starts at 7," Piper reminded him patiently.

"Oh, right." His brows knit together again. This seemed to be news to him. "Got it. See ya then."

"Don't be late!" Piper called after him as he turned to leave Studio A.

"I would never," was his response followed by a wave of the hand.

Amy watched their exchange with her lips pursed. She had known that Piper had started to become friends with Finn after she had gone to AcroNation, and that hadn't bothered her until the Christmas party when Finn had basically told her he was better at cheering Piper up than she was. She had taken full offense to that. Who had been Piper's best friend longer? (Spoiler alert: Not Finn.)

"So, you're going to the movies tonight?" Amy asked as casually as she could once Finn was gone.

Piper looked back to her and smiled. "Oh, yeah, we're going to see some spy movie. Finn says it's supposed to be really good, but we have very different standards of what qualifies as good entertainment, so I'm keeping my expectations low. But don't tell him that."

Amy nodded, trying not to feel too disappointed that Piper was hanging out with Finn tonight. She had been hoping to hang out with Piper tonight. Apparently, she hadn't been quick enough to fit into her schedule. Piper was busy with Finn more often than not these days.

"You two are pretty close now," she observed.

Piper shrugged and nodded. "Yeah... Bet you never would have guessed Finn would be my new best friend, eh?" she asked with a grin and a playful nudge. She had indeed put up quite a front when Finn had first come to the studio. Back then, Amy had been encouraging her to give him a chance.

Maybe she shouldn't have done that.

"It's a little surprising, yeah," Amy admitted with a tight smile.

Piper checked the time on her phone then jumped up and moved to the cubbies where she pulled out a red hoodie Amy had never seen before. "I should probably go. I want to change before the movie tonight."

As she pulled the hoodie on, Amy couldn't help asking, "Is that new?"

Piper shook out her arms, and it was then that Amy noticed how baggy it was on her. That could only belong to one person...

Sure enough, Piper said, "Oh, yeah, it's Finn's. He never wears it, so he gave it to me." She shrugged then turned toward the door. "I'll text you later," she promised before hurrying out of the studio with a wave.

Amy watched her go, a sad frown on her lips. She hadn't gotten to know Finn that well before going to AcroNation, but he had always seemed like a fun guy. She had liked him well enough, and he certainly was cute, especially with the new curly look he'd been sporting since the holidays. All of that said, however, he was really getting on her nerves. Did he have to be around Piper all the time? Honestly, it surprised her how comfortable Piper was around him, especially considering how much he used to ask her out last season.

This was just weird. Amy was used to being Piper's best friend, and now she wasn't. It wasn't like she had expected Piper to sit around and wait for her when she had gone to AcroNation. She knew Piper had been stressed a lot because of her aerial last season, so she supposed she should be happy that Finn had evidently been there for Piper when she hadn't, but it hurt to know that Piper was closer to Finn these days than she was to her. It felt like she'd been replaced.

But maybe Amy had brought it on herself. It's not like she had necessarily been a good friend or teammate last season. She had proven to herself, her mother, and Michelle that she could be a featured dancer, but what good was that if she lost her best friend in the process?

Amy didn't want to admit it to anyone else, but she didn't think that going to AcroNation had been worth it.

"What are your plans tonight, Amy?"

She glanced up to where Summer was grabbing her things out of her cubby. Of all the people on A-Troupe, Summer was surprisingly the one person she had seen the most while at AcroNation. The lyrical dancer had just happened to be around every time Amy seemed to have downtime last season, and they had formed a good friendship.

Ironic, really, considering Summer was dating Henry, who Amy kept insisting to everyone, including herself, that she didn't have feelings for. Never mind the fact that every time she saw the couple together, she felt a twinge of sorrow and jealousy deep down inside of her.

With a sigh, Amy told her friend, "I was hoping to do something with Piper tonight, but she's hanging out with Finn."

Summer smiled at that and said, "Yeah, not surprising. Those two are always together these days."

Amy frowned at that, longing for her best friend. Spending time with Piper again was one of the things she had been most excited about when coming back to The Next Step, but she couldn't do that if Piper was always with Finn.

"What about you? What are you doing tonight?" Amy asked in an attempt to distract herself from her downcast thoughts.

"Oh, me and Henry are going to that cute pottery place downtown. We're making vases tonight. Just in time for my mom's birthday too." Summer's smile faded awkwardly when she looked up and made eye contact with Amy. As if afraid she might feel left out, she quickly added, "But you could come with us- if you want."

Amy sighed, shaking her head. "That's okay. I don't want to crash your date."

Summer seemed a little relieved at her answer but gave her a sympathetic smile as she said, "Maybe we can do something this weekend? I think they're showing old RomComs at the old theater downtown. We could see if Piper wants to come too."

The thought of watching old RomComs with Summer and Piper did sound fun, so Amy smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah, sure. Sounds good."

Henry approached the two of them, a relaxed smile on his face as he placed a hand on Summer's back and kissed her on the cheek. "You ready to go?"

She smiled at him and nodded. "Yep. Those vases aren't going to make themselves."

He hummed, smiling softly at her before his gaze met Amy's. His smile faded awkwardly, and he lifted his fingers in a small wave. "See ya, Amy."

She gave them a small wave of the hand, watching as the two of them walked out of Studio A together. She wanted to be happy for them. She really did. Henry and Summer were two of her closest friends. The last thing Amy wanted was to harbor feelings of jealousy and resentment toward them.

Amy had known that she would have to see the two of them together when she came back to the studio, but she had hoped that time over the holidays would help her get over her feelings for Henry so it wouldn't hurt so much. It had killed her inside to see him with Summer at Regionals, and she knew she couldn't hold onto her feelings forever. He was happy with someone else, and she had to respect that. She'd had her chance to be with him, and she had lost it the second she kissed Ty in Studio One.

Her goal for this year was to have no drama, and she most certainly wasn't going to be the cause of any drama either. The last thing she needed was to insert herself into a love triangle with her best friends.

She would just keep telling herself and everyone else that she was over Henry until it was actually true. And until then, she would find a way to distract herself. Surely if she was choosing not to dwell on her feelings for Henry, they would go away on their own.

Wouldn't they?