Chapter Twenty-Two: Dance Test

Chapter Twenty-Two: Dance Test

**Lilah's POV**

As if by best friend telepathy, Jared immediately comes to my side as everyone gawks at Danielle and Liam entering the room. The frown on Liam's face draws my attention away from Danielle's pretty face. I can't believe she's here.

"Payzer alert," Jared mutters to me quietly.

"Cover me, have to tweet something real quick. If one of the boys take out their phone, tell me," I say in a quiet mission voice. I grab my phone out of my bag. I glance over at the boys who are talking to Danielle. Good, they're distracted.

I open twitter and type out a quick tweet. "Payzer status? Quick responses needed." I hit send and only have to wait a few seconds for replies to come piling in. The perks of being a well known directioner really pays off.

I read a couple tweets and then delete the tweet, shoving my phone back into my bag as Louis calls for everyone's attention again.

"Payzer's status is a complete mess right now. There's a ton of different answers," I whisper to Jared, keeping my gaze on Louis so it seems like I'm paying attention.

"You check their accounts?" Jared asked.

"Of course, there's nothing confirming anything though. A couple fans said they were spotted with different people and another said they're "as happy as a slice of pumpkin pie." What the hell does that even mean?" I shift sideways as I whisper to Jared. He has to hunch a bit to listen to me since he's so tall.

"It means that their status is private."

"But why is Liam frowning?" I ask and take a peek at Liam. He has his hands behind his back. Danielle and he stand close enough to brush each other but far enough that it's not at all intimate. It's confusing.

"Who knows? Maybe they got in an argument or something."

"Maybe-"

"Lilah! Jared!" Louis suddenly calls us and we both straighten immediately. "Did you get that?" He asks, knowing that we weren't paying attention.

"Ummm...no?" I say with a small smile. I give him a look that says "please don't kill me."

"You'd think you were on twitter or something," Harry says suddenly and I look at him with wide eyes. I notice him slipping his phone back into his pocket.

"Shit," I say under my breath. Harry must have me listed as an automatic update. Shit!

Louis just turns to Harry with a question mark on his face. "First, Harry, there should be no one with their phones out. Do you have yours, Lilah?"

"No," I say immediately. "It's in my bag."

"Good. See Harry? Now can we carry on?" Louis asks and everyone nods. Harry meets my gaze and I know instantly that he read the tweet.

"Harry knows," I say to Jared.

"Positive?"

"Unfortunately."

"Great," Jared mutters back.

I sit in a chair as Louis explains our task and sigh. I've got some explaining to do.

~~~~~~~

"Do it again!" Danielle demands, turning so that she's facing us.

The ten girls, myself included, is on the stage dancing the routine Danielle has thought up. My body is aching from the running, last night with Jared, lack of sleep, and now I can add dancing to that list as well. In other words, I feel like shit.

"FIVE. SIX. SEVEN. EIGHT!" Danielle chants and the music starts.

I hit the first pose, throwing my arm out and standing on one foot. The girls around me dance as well. Everyone has sweat trailing down their bodies. Danielle really works you hard. Hell Week is a good title for this.

I mentally count the beats as I go into the other motions. I jump a bit earlier than everyone else and Danielle's eyes meet mine. I force down my fright and focus on doing everything in sync with the other girls.

The boys are all seated in the front row watching us dance. They all have papers and pens out, taking notes on our performance. They better be including some points for only having an hour to learn this damn dance.

I spin towards Lena who has dedicated herself to being my partner. We grab each other's hand and she spins me into her chest. She dips me backwards and I throw my leg up, making sure to point my toes. I notice a couple girls can't support one another and they crash to the ground. Lena and I pull it off and we grin at each other.

"Back on your feet!" Danielle yells and the fallen girls scramble to find their place again.

Lena dips me back up and I spin her this time under my arm. After the next synchronized moved there's a ten second freestyle and I need to use it to make up for the slip up I did earlier. I jump in a split in the air that I never thought I could do about an hour ago. I mean yeah high school athletics made my body good to adapt, but dancing never crossed my mind.

"Good! Impress me!" Danielle calls out, her hands on her hips. Every girl bends sideway with their arms up.

My body hurts but I push through.

Lena and I grab hands and she turns towards me. I grab her waist and spin her in a half circle as she jumps.

"Lena, freestyle. I'm throwing you," I say quickly.

"What?! Hell no!" Lena's brown eyes widen and I spin her away from me before pulling her back.

"We have to get their attention. I have a feeling people are being cut right now. I messed up earlier. Don't worry, I'm an athlete remember? I can lift you no problem," I whisper rapidly as we perform the couple portion.

"Lilah!" Lena complains.

"I won't let go! I'll carry you, just trust me. You weigh like a hundred pounds," I say and we separate, getting back into our original spots.

"Not true," she snips at me, punching out at the air as I do the same.

I know Lena doesn't want to do it but she won't back out. She and I both know I'm capable of doing it. I just need her to cooperate with me.

We hit the last move before the freestyle and I watch the girls break out of synchronization. Most of them start doing weird stripper moved and a couple backflip.

"Lena, run at me and jump," I say quickly and she sighs. If I drop her, she'll hate me.

We both do a couple fancy moves by ourselves before she runs at me and jumps. I grab under her ribs and throw her upwards. I hope to god she's striking a pose up there. I do a quick spin before throwing her upwards. She squeals when my hands leave her.

I catch her and then set her on the ground. "Spin," I say before grabbing her hand and spinning her away from me. I let go and she throws her arms up.

I hit the same pose right as the music stops. We hold the pose. I watch the other girls find their own pose as well. Lena and I are the only ones with the timing down.

"AND GOOD!" Danielle yells and starts clapping.

I immediately relax and allow my arms to fall back down. I put my hands on my waist and finally take in a deep breath. The fabric of my shirt sticks to skin and I can't take it anymore. I strip off my shirt and wipe the sweat off my face. I have a sports bra on thankfully so I don't feel awkward without my shirt on.

Lena walks over to me, using her shirt to fan herself. "I wish I was smart enough to wear a sports bra," she mutters to me, lifting her shirt off her body to try and fan herself down.

"Just remember for the next week," I mutter breathlessly. I retie my blonde hair in a bun and wipe more sweat off my body. "God, that was hard."

"Thank you for not dropping me," Lena says to me.

"I'd hug you, but we're disgusting right now."

"Right," she giggles.

"Girls! Circle up!" Louis calls out and everyone walks to the edge of the stage. All of the girls are tired and I'm glad they pushed themselves as hard as I did.

"Good job everyone! Enjoy your hour break and we'll meet back here. Don't think your day is over because it's not," Zayn says.

I mentally shoot myself. I just want to sleep. And shower. And sleep some more.

"Okay cool, good job girls," Louis waves us all away and the girls instantly break away.

I throw myself backwards onto the stage. I stare up at the ceiling as I lay there. The cool floor feels good against my heated skin. At this rate I'm going to lose fifty pounds.

Someone grabs my knee. I'm too lazy to sit up and look at them.

"Good job, Lilah." Harry. Shit. Still need to talk to him about twitter.

I groan and sit up, looking back at the heated sweat stain I left that outlines where my body was. Gross.

"Hey Lena, you did amazing," Harry says to her with a cheeky grin. Lena blushes. Hmmm, what do we have here?

"Thank you," Lena says to him before turning to me. "I've gotta shower. See you later," she waves as she leaves the theater, her bag over her shoulder.

"So about earlier," I start.

Harry shakes his head. "Trust me, you aren't the only one wondering," Harry says to me quietly. "Liam doesn't like to talk about it though."

"Oh. Okay, well if you could just keep it between us, I'd appreciate it. I don't want him to think I'm all up in his business," I mutter.

Harry chuckles. "But you're the number one directioner? It's your job to know everything," Harry teases and I can't help but inwardly stab myself. Maybe the title wasn't that great. "But don't worry, I won't say anything," he winks at me before walking off.

I slide off the stage and stagger a bit. My legs are exhausted and my body is on fire. I grab my sweat stained shirt and wad it up. There's no way I'm putting it back on.

"Lilah!" Zayn calls me as I get to my bag. I stuff my shirt inside a pocket and sit in the seat.

"Sup," I say as he comes over.

"You should wear that more often," Zayn says cheekily. I blush. Isn't Harry the cheeky one? He takes a seat beside me. "Are you a dancer?"

I can't help but laugh. "No. Hell no. High school athlete, but no where near dancer material."

"Well, I couldn't tell," Zayn says. "Thomas told me that you don't know how good you are at things you put your mind to."

"Oh," I say shocked. Why was Thomas talking about me? I felt a little honored that he thinks that way about me, but it was still a bit weird.

Zayn's eyes examine mine. I don't know what he's looking for.

"Could you move over a seat or something?" I ask suddenly. "I'm really sweaty." Wow, I didn't just say that to him.

Zayn just laughs and stands up. "Well, we've got some lunch planned. Jared and Thomas are coming. Join us?"

"I-"

"She's coming," Jared cuts in and I notice everyone's around except Liam and Danielle. They must be talking or something.

"Great! We've got to get moving. Reservations are in ten minutes and we still have to drive there," Louis claps his hands together and I stare dumbfounded at them all.

"What?" Harry notices my face.

"But I need a shower!" I protest.

Zayn grabs my hand and yanks me onto my feet. He leans over and sniffs. I move away embarrassed.

"You smell fine," he shrugs.

"Zayn!" I gasp.

"It's settled then! FOOOD!" Niall yells out and runs towards the door.

I grab my phone as I'm pushed out the door. "But I don't even have a shirt!" I wrap my arms around my stomach awkwardly. I'm pushed out the door in the rush to get to the car before being spotted. "Guys!" I groan as I'm pushed into the car. None of my protests are heard.

Gosh dang it. These stubborn boys.

I sit in the car between Zayn and Thomas. Thomas smiles down at me and I cross my arms. He's seen me in less clothes than this since we've done plays together and changing in front of other actors comes naturally, but still, I felt awkward.

Thomas sighs and unzips his hoodie. "Here, put this on," he hands it to me.

"No way. I stink!" I hand it back.

Thomas chuckles. "Lilah, shut up and put it on. I can smell you right now. You don't stink," Thomas says and hands me the hoodie again.

I sigh gratefully. I guess it's better than not wearing a shirt. "Thanks," I say and lean forward to put it on. I roll up the long sleeves. The hoodie is way too big for me but its comfortable. I lean back against the seat. "Where are we going anyways?"

"Amy's Bar and Grill," Louis answers from the front seat. "We found it online."

"Oh good. I could use a shot," I mutter and shut my eyes. I'm so tired.

Someone wraps an arm around me but I'm too exhausted to find out who.

**A/N**

Hope you like this chapter ^.^

Comment what you think?

Vote if you like it :3