The day after 6x11

Piper sighed, rereading the text that Amy had sent her last night, her fingers tapping anxiously against her phone case. There were only twenty minutes before rehearsal was supposed to start, and she hoped that Amy would arrive at Shakes and Ladders soon. The time they had agreed upon last night had come and gone five minutes ago, and there was yet to be any sign of her best friend.

Despite her irritation at Amy's tardiness, Piper had to admit that she was curious to know what was so important that Amy couldn't tell her over the phone. It must have been serious because Amy hadn't used any of her usual texting abbreviations, which was an immediate sign to Piper that something was going on.

Amy rushed into Shakes and Ladders breathlessly, and Piper sat up straighter, smiling in spite of herself. However much their recent communication with each other was evidently lacking, she was still happy to see her best friend. Hopefully after Amy spilled whatever her news was, they would have some time to catch up a bit before A-Troupe rehearsal.

"Sorry I'm late," Amy apologized, sliding into the seat across from Piper and pushing her bangs out of her face. She was breathing hard, trying to catch her breath. Had she run all the way to get here? "My rehearsal ran late."

This caught Piper off guard. "Rehearsal? For what?" Amy wasn't the soloist or in the group routine for the upcoming Wild Stylz Dance Convention that The Next Step was hosting that weekend, and none of the small groups for Regionals had been assigned yet. What was she rehearsing for?

Slowly letting out another breath, Amy met Piper's gaze reluctantly, clasping her hands together on the table as if they were sitting in a formal business meeting instead of the juice bar. She looked almost guilty, and Piper got an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She didn't like that look.

"Amy, what did you want to tell me?" she asked slowly. Whatever it was, she didn't think she was going to like it.

There was a moment of silence as Amy hesitated. Finally, she said, "Piper, I'm leaving The Next Step."

The news hit Piper like a punch in the gut. It felt like all of the air had been knocked out of her as she gaped at her best friend in shock, trying to find the words to say but failing. Amy was leaving? She couldn't do that. Why was she doing that?

"I just feel like I don't belong here anymore. Michelle and Emily don't recognize my talent, and AcroNation is –"

"You're going to AcroNation?"

Amy paused at Piper's interjection and slowly nodded, gauging her friend's reaction warily. "Yeah, I am... I just came from rehearsal for the convention actually. I only have a few minutes before I have to get back."

Piper averted her gaze, chewing on her bottom lip as she processed this information. How could this be happening? Amy had said just a few weeks ago that she would never leave the studio after her mother tried to send her to Gemini. What was Piper supposed to do without her? This season had been hard enough already, and even if she and Amy hadn't had much time for each other recently, just knowing that her best friend would be at rehearsal was often a small source of comfort for her. They had vowed to always stick together after Sloane and Cassie left the studio.

Amy was breaking their promise.

But looking at Amy now, seeing a glimpse of hope in her eyes... How could Piper possibly tell her that this upset her? That she didn't want her to switch studios? Amy wasn't wrong. She was an incredible dancer, and Emily and Michelle weren't taking advantage of that. Maybe this was what was best for her, painful as it may be for Piper.

So taking a deep breath, Piper forced a smile that felt so wrong and told her, "That's great."

"You're not mad?" Amy asked doubtfully.

"No," Piper said with an adamant shake of the head. "You have to do what's best for you. AcroNation's lucky to have you."

The corners of her lips twitching into a reluctant smile, Amy said, "Thank you for understanding. I haven't felt this excited about dance in a long time."

Well, how was Piper supposed to argue with that? "Then you're definitely making the right decision."

"I'll miss you though," Amy said, her smile fading. "But we'll still find time to hang out - even if it's ten o'clock on a Friday night at that weird sushi place down the street."

Piper wanted desperately to believe her, but she doubted that would be the case. Fighting back tears and the lump growing in her throat, she forced a short laugh and shook her head. "That place isn't worth the food poisoning we'd get the next day."

Amy laughed as well though her eyes appeared a little misty. "Yeah, I guess not."

Their forced laughter dissipated nearly as soon as it had started, and Amy checked the time on her phone. Sighing, she stood from her seat and told her, "I have to get back."

Nodding, Piper quietly murmured, "Okay," and Amy gave a small wave before turning on her heel and hurrying back out of Shakes and Ladders, leaving Piper alone and feeling lonelier than ever. The tears she had been fighting to hold back finally sprang to her eyes, and she quickly wiped them away, glancing around the juice bar where she and Amy had spent countless hours talking and laughing together. It wasn't too busy at this time of day, but regardless, she didn't want to cry in public.

Not that that stopped her tears anyway.

Feeling like the eyes of the three other patrons were all on her even though they weren't, Piper slid off of her stool and hurried out of the juice bar, not even bothering to take her juice with her. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she hurried down the hall, and she hastily wiped them away.

Was she being selfish, getting so upset about Amy leaving? Amy was arguably the best acro dancer on A-Troupe, and she would shine on a team like AcroNation. Amy had always dreamed of being a featured dancer, and even more so after all of the pressure that her mother had been putting on her this year. This could be her big break – if AcroNation qualified for Regionals, which wasn't guaranteed considering how new the studio was.

If they did qualify for Regionals, however, then Piper would be competing against her best friend for the chance to go to Nationals. The thought made her sick to her stomach.

The pressure for Regionals was gradually building. If Piper's team lost for the second year in a row, she would be devastated. James and his team had set the standards for the studio impossibly high. It killed her inside, knowing that she had been part of the team that had lost Regionals just a year after the studio had made itself known for being the underdog that won Nationals for the first time in a decade and Internationals for the first time ever.

Somehow, even after James had left the studio, Piper was still in his shadow.

And that wasn't to even mention the fact that she felt sick every time she tried to do an aerial and was losing hours of sleep at night from the recurring nightmare where her team loses Regionals again and James boos them off the stage while Miss Angela laughs.

This was too much pressure. She needed her best friend at Regionals with her. Not competing against her.

When Piper reached the locker room, she was relieved to find it empty. She flopped onto the couch, pulling her legs up onto the cushion and hugging the throw pillow to her chest. Her chin rested dejectedly against the pillow as she told herself she had ten minutes to pull it together before she had to get to Studio A for rehearsal. There's no point in crying now. Anyone could walk in at any time and catch you, and that would be embarrassing.

Sure enough, Summer and Henry entered the locker room, and Piper immediately tried to look like she wasn't sulking by kicking her legs out and trying to appear as if she was just waking up from a nap instead.

"Hey Piper," Summer greeted cheerfully as she moved to put her dance bag in her locker. Henry gave her a smile and held up two fingers in a peace sign as he did the same.

"Hey," Piper muttered, giving them a smile that her heart wasn't in.

"Are you coming to rehearsal?" Summer asked after she and Henry had put their bags away and turned to leave as quickly as they had come in.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a second. Just, uh, texting my Nonna. She gets worried when I don't respond," Piper said, coming up with a lie on the spot and immediately feeling guilty for it. She didn't even have her phone in her hand.

Summer didn't seem to question it, however, still smiling as she said, "Okay, see you in there."

As Summer left for rehearsal, Henry hung back, giving Piper a questioning look. He clearly hadn't bought her lie. "You good, Pipes?"

She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should tell him about Amy or if he already knew. Considering how close he and Amy were, however, this seemed like something he should hear from Amy herself, so she simply told him, "Yeah, I'm good."

Henry nodded slowly, reluctantly accepting her answer. He glanced back at her one last time, frowning, as he followed after Summer. When he was gone, Piper slumped back against the couch again and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. Seven more minutes until she had to get to rehearsal. Her first rehearsal without Amy.

It shouldn't feel like Amy was stabbing her in the back. Piper knew that Amy's decision had nothing to do with her, but it still hurt regardless. Amy was abandoning the team, and that included Piper.

All three of her friends who she had started at the studio with were now gone. Piper was the last member of the Zero Percent Club remaining. She couldn't have made it through her first year at the studio without them, but they had all left her behind. Tears sprang to her eyes again, and she rested her head against the couch, trying hard to blink them back. Who was she supposed to turn to when she needed someone to talk to now?

"Hey Pipes."

Sniffling, Piper quickly wiped her tears away again before faking another smile for Finn as he stuffed his dance bag in his locker. Of course he arrived early for rehearsal the one day she was on the verge of tears in the locker room.

Finn leaned against the door of his locker as he turned to study her, his brows knitting together and a frown pulling at his lips. "Hey, are you okay?"

Her first instinct was to tell him that she was fine, but what was the point? Her vision was still blurry with unshed tears, and if even Henry had noticed that she was upset, there was probably no point in hiding it from Finn. He seemed to be unusually good at noticing when she was feeling upset about something.

"Not really," she sighed, sitting up and pulling one of her legs underneath her as the other dangled off the side of the couch. She still clutched the throw pillow in her arms like it was her life support.

"What's wrong?" Finn asked. He shut his locker and moved to sit next to her, his eyes filled with concern.

"Amy left the studio," Piper told him, staring down at the pillow as she spoke. Saying it out loud somehow made it feel more real but still just as painful.

"What? Why would she do that?"

"AcroNation's giving her better opportunities."

"But they're not even going to Regionals." Finn sounded indignant, like he couldn't believe anyone would leave the studio in the middle of preparation for Regionals.

Piper shrugged weakly, glancing up at him with a grimace. "Their chances of qualifying with Amy are a lot higher than they were before."

Finn scoffed, shaking his head. His jaw clenched until he glanced back to Piper, and his expression softened. "That's tough about her leaving. She's really important to you, huh?"

"She's my best friend, so, yeah," Piper said with another sigh. From the recesses of her memory, the time that the Zero Percent Club had made friendship bracelets on their very first day at the studio hit her out of nowhere and sent a fresh wave of longing through her.

Nostalgia and hurt coursing through her at once, she told Finn, "We started at the studio together. She's always been there for me, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do without her."

He was nodding in that same attentive way he had when she'd confided in him about the pressure she'd been feeling lately, in that way that made her feel heard. "She'll still be right down the hall though. You'll see her around."

"It won't be the same."

"Probably not." Finn agreed quietly. He looked down for a moment then practically leapt off the couch as a thought seemed to strike him. "We should probably get to rehearsal."

Momentarily caught off guard by his abrupt movement, Piper glanced at the clock again to find that they had one minute to get to Studio A. Sighing and setting the throw pillow aside, she nodded and stood as well. "Yeah, probably," she agreed, following his lead out of the locker room.

As they walked down the hallway to Studio A, he turned to her, walking backwards as he said, "I know I'm no Amy, but what do you say we go get pizza after rehearsal's done tonight?" Piper started to respond, but Finn held up his hands as if already anticipating her answer. "Not as a date, I promise. Just two friends getting pizza. We could even see if some of the others want to come with us."

Relief surged through Piper at his assurance that he wasn't asking her on a date but instead as a friend. Finn was walking directly towards a bench that he didn't see since he was walking backwards, so she reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him a few steps to the left as she said, "Yeah. That'd be nice."

Completely oblivious to his near collision that would have sent him toppling, he grinned at her. "Cool. My mom can give you a ride home after if you want."

Piper agreed as the two of them walked into Studio A just as Noah was getting ready to begin the warm-up for rehearsal. They immediately fell into their usual spots on the ballet bars with the rest of the team, and Piper pointedly avoided looking at the empty spot next to her that used to be filled by Amy. Instead, she glanced over to where Finn was doing a discreet handshake with Ozzy in greeting.

Amy may have left her, but maybe she wouldn't be completely alone after all.