---Liz---

I’m late.  Of course I’d be late on the day of my interview!  How stupid could I be to let myself get distracted by something as silly as a bedroom?!  Liz was furious with herself as she speed-walked toward the dance building.  As she did so, she tugged off her loose one-shoulder maroon sweater, leaving her in a white lacy tank top, over which she pulled on a long petal style tank top. 

Practically running now, she dove into the building, kicking her shoes off at the doors.  Pausing to take a deep breath to compose herself, she sat down on a plush bench and slid her hip hop shoes onto her feet.  Thanking her lucky stars that she wore leggings onto the plane, she pulled out her application and resume from her backpack, and then stuffed the bag into a locker nearby. 

With slow measured steps she followed the labeled signs to the dance studio, then breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw a line of people waiting for their appointments.  “Are they running late?”  She murmured to the lanky man in front of her, who turned and looked down his nose at her.

“Obviously .  Otherwise I wouldn’t be waiting now would I?”  He spat, looking away from her as if she wasn’t worth his time.

Rolling her eyes, she sat down on the floor, ignoring the looks of disgust the other dancers as she began to stretch.  Relishing in the feeling of her muscles relax and warm with the movement, she sat her legs out in a split, then leaned forward, resting flat on her stomach.  After a moment the line moved and she stood in a fluid movement, very aware now of the impressed looks of those around her. 

It suddenly became very apparent to her just how longer her limbs were than the rest of the dancers there.  While the majority of them were taller than her, they definitely were mostly torso; and that gave her an edge.  Hope burned brightly in her mind as she thought of the possibility she’d look more fluid while she danced, but it could also backfire on her and make her look disproportionate. 

The longer she waited, the more nervous she became.  Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides, and sporadically she’d stretch out, worried her muscles would get cold.  After a while she was finally close to the door, the snotty boy in front of her the only one left. 

“Bennings, Elizabeth and Byeon, Kwan!  You’re up!”  A voice called from the dance studio, and the boy in front of her, apparently Kwan, grimaced as he learned they’d be auditioning at the same time.  Liz kept her face impassive, determined to make the most of this unpleasant situation.  As they walked into the room together, she carefully walked into the studio, marveling at the floor to ceiling mirrors, wall bar, and the bright purple mats stacked carefully in the corner.  The previous interviewee’s were in the far corner, the girl sobbing and the boy maintaining a smug appearance, but obviously upset as well.

Terror flooded through her as she approached the front of the room, standing next to Kwan.  Both bowed deeply to the judges, and Liz was surprised to see the judges standing and bowing as well.  They soon explained the rules of the competition; it would be a few moments of individual work, then at the end it would be a copy-cat system.  One dancer would perform a move then the other would do their best to mimic, enhance and repeat.  Swallowing hard, Liz nodded, then bowed again, stepping back to look at her “partner.”

Kwan stepped back, his head held haughtily as he surveyed Liz’s form, obviously thinking he could easily out dance a girl that was a head shorter than him.  He gestured to the person controlling the sound system, and took his first pose.  A beautifully haunting melody floated forth, and he proceeded to perform a beautiful ballet piece, his face, for once, beautiful and relaxed as he spun around en point.  Liz’s eyebrow rose and she bit back a giggle; him?  The super snot that looked down his crooked nose at her?  HE was a ballerina!? 

For the next couple minutes Kwan twirled, skipped and leaped around the floor, narrowly missing her face with his outstretched arms a couple times.  When he came to rest and did a sweeping bow in front of the judges, they clapped politely but otherwise their faces remained impassive.  They held their hand up for Liz to wait for a moment as they murmured to each other over paperwork, then finally gestured for her to come forth.  Nodding, she came forward and lay down on the “x” on the floor, nodding to the sound system controller.

SHINee’s ‘Everybody’ came over the air, and she leapt into the dance moves, managing to blend in all four idol’s dance moves, as well as her own into the mix.  She twisted and kicked, blended in some hip hop as well as enough ballet that Kwan’s face turned pink with anger, and writhed around on the floor that one of the judges blushed faintly and hid behind her paper.  The dance became her own as she spun around on the floor, using her limbs and height to her advantage as she pulled the intense dance moves into a beautiful example of what she can do.  As the song came to an end, she slid into a split and looked through her now tangled hair at the judges, breathing heavily.

They paused for a minute, and the judge that had blushed cleared and thanked her,  asking her quietly to step aside once more.  Quietly and briefly they murmured over a piece of paper, not writing much down at all.  Liz’s breath caught as she wondered if that was a good or bad thing, but when the judges heads raised and announced it was time for them to do their copy-catting, her fears vanished, replaced by a cool sense of calm and anticipation.

Kwan was obviously peeved that her dance had shown more styles than he had, and was now glaring at her through narrowed eyes.  A malicious smile slid onto his face as the music started, a rather tricky tune coming through the speakers.  He immediately went to his toe and spun around, dipping down close to the floor with his hand as he came to a rest.  Liz swallowed and nodded, but instead of hopping to his toe as he had, she went to her heel.  Spinning around on her heel in a similar fashion, arms around herself, she managed to push herself forward into a breakdance move, catching herself cross-legged on the floor.

The judges murmured their approval, and nodded, asking them politely to stand up again.  “This time, Ms. Bennings, it is your turn.”  The blushing woman chirped, smiling at Liz. 

Liz took a second to pause, looking at Kwan calmly.  His face was now registering fear, his eyes a bit too wide for the smug look he had on his face.  Swallowing hard, she began a belly dance, her hips popping and twisting in a sensual manner while her arms writhed around themselves above her.  After a moment she spun around quickly, her hand held up as if victorious, but the other wrapped around her waist protectively. 

Resuming her stance, she grinned at Kwan who now had the look of a defeated man.  Kwan cleared his throat nervously, attempting to mimic and do the same, but his hips were jerky and movements weren’t defined.  He tried to incorporate ballet in as well, but unfortunately failed to impress the judges, who began to frown almost immediately.  A feeling of victory swelled in her chest and she felt herself began to shake with excitement, even though she knew there was a chance they wouldn’t take either of them and just move on. 

Once Kwan was done, tears were filling his eyes and his whole stature spoke of defeat but he stood tall, determined. He turned and stared at the judges, nervous. Liz came and stood next to him, feeling him shaking too... but for an entirely different reason. The judges fiddled with their papers for a moment, then cleared their throats

"After some deliberating, we've decided that we have a placement for only one of you right now. Elizabeth, Kwan, thank you for coming and auditioning. We'd like to offer Ms. Bennings a position immediately, being an assistant choreographer for an up and coming boyband with SM entertainment." The original woman chirped, smiling at Liz pleasantly.

Liz's mouth dropped open, and she gasped, covering with her hands. Trembling, she swallowed hard. "A-Are you serious? Oh my god... Thank you! Thank you so much!" Her voice shook and she bowed deeply, tears filling her eyes.

Kwan immediately began protesting, saying how it wasn't fair that she did such a typical female dance to trick him, that he deserved another shot and would do so much better at the choreography than her.

"Mister Byeon! That is enough! Miss Bennings won this job because she did better in this audition than you did. You failed to express any other dance talent than your ballet which, while impressive, was not enough to make us believe you could actually succeed at training anyone other than four year old girls in tutus who can't lace their own slippers. Now please do us and yourself a favor and leave our studio, and find another career." The woman snapped, glaring at Kwan who was now crying openly.  "And Miss Bennings, please feel free to continue your classes; we'll get in touch with you when you're to report to work." Liz nodded, trembling with excitement. "Thank you very much, and you're excused."

Liz grinned as she left the studio, sliding on her actual shoes and putting on her jacket, running back to their new apartment. Throwing open the door, she cried out. "Cat!! Cat come here!!!"

Cat came back from the rear hallway, rubbing her hands on her jeans. "What's going on?"

"I got the position! I'm going to become the assistant choreographer for a new boy group with SM Entertainment!" Liz cried, tears flowing down her face.

Cat cried out happily and ran to hug her sister, her own tears streaming down her cheeks. "That's amazing!! I'm so proud of you! I got an email saying that I was also accepted to my makeup classes! I'm going to be learning new techniques for keeping makeup still during strenuous situations!"

Liz laughed and hugged her again. "That's wonderful! Everything is falling into place! I can't wait to start our classes, my job, and begin our lives." She sighed suddenly, feeling exhausted and sore. "But for now... Can I go to bed?"

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Hey guys!  Sarah here. :]   Thank you so much for reading!  I'm going to keep posting chapters and I definitely have some really cool things in the works! :D

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