Rise To Stardom - Chapter 170

Chapter 170: Live Your Dreams
One step with a shoulder pop.

Two step, side to side.

Electro swing, hands in sync.

Halt.

Side Walk and wave.

Spin.

Synchronized Pop & Lock.

Kyle was practicing part of the choreography for the movie’s last scene alongside Reggie and Maya, the squeak of their shoes, filling up the practice hall.

And just as they did, Tyler and his crew whom were further away from them in the hall, practiced theirs, the leader of the crew frequently glancing in Kyle’s direction.

“Uh, is he okay?” Jonathan, the guy whom had played T-pain a few hours ago, couldn’t help but ask one his fellow dancers in the practice hall.

“Beats me. He suddenly told us after filming today that we were going to rehearse several times over in preparation for The Syndicate’s last dance scene in the movie.”

“Weird…” Jonathan commented with a slight tilt of his head.

‘He looks fired up too… very weird…’ he inwardly added, knowing fully well that Tyler was typically one to never go the extra mile to have their crew practice so hard…

Especially since most of them had already nailed their parts in the choreography in previous practice sessions.

‘Unless…’ Jonathan mused to himself, glanced over to the main cast and then brushed his thoughts aside, not wanting to believe that their proud leader felt threatened by them.

‘He can’t be… right?’ Jonathan shrugged as he and the dancer he had been conversing with, joined in with the rest of the guys whom were rehearsing alongside Tyler.

Tyler on the other hand, as he watched over his crew going through the dance routine, glanced in Kyle’s direction every few minutes.

He had become quite concerned about something he had noticed during the scene they had filmed earlier today.

Kyle’s dancing was captivating.

‘Too captivating…’ Tyler inwardly commented with a deep frown.

Even now, with him practicing alongside Reggie and Maya in the hall, he was the more eye-catching dancer of the three.

The young star’s musicality, grace and technique… everything was on point.

And that, exactly, was one of the reasons Tyler was on the edge.

Because, people whom were capable of merging those three attributes together perfectly while dancing, be they novice or a professional, had a certain quality that drew people’s gazes to them whenever they danced.

And for an artist whom was already great at acting and singing respectively, it was a deadly weapon to have in his arsenal…

A triple threat, in every sense of the word.

Still, what really got Tyler wary of Kyle’s dance prowess, standing out far more than him in the movie, was the conversation he had overheard from Reggie and Shawn earlier today.

‘A week and a half…’

For Tyler whom had always considered himself a dance prodigy, that information, was more or less a wake-up call for him.

‘Still, I’ll outshine him in this movie…” Tyler inwardly spoke, his tone resolute.

That was something he could work with and he was going to ensure he absolutely did.

There was an extent to a person’s growth after all and Tyler believed, that if at all Kyle was going to become even better at dancing, it’d probably be after they were done filming Level Up 2.

Meanwhile, as this was happening, Sharon was busy dancing around her hotel room.

Not for practice but, out of happiness.

‘He called me tantalizing!’ she squealed to herself like a maiden in her youth, her blonde-to-pink ombre hair bouncing in rhythm as she swayed her head back and forth to [Needs To Be Loved].

Outwardly humming as she kept vibing to the song, Sharon soon frowned when a call from someone, all too familiar to her, interrupted her rosy ambience.

Seeing the caller, the lady frowned even deeper.

With a deep breath and a slow exhale, Sharon picked up the call, her expression calm yet slightly wary;

[Why didn’t you inform me that Kyle Kestis was on the same set as you?!] the annoyed voice of her agent, rang from the other end of the phone.

“So you can try and set me up with him like you did with Justin?” Sharon calmly questioned instead, although a slight hint of annoyance seeped into her voice.

[Hoho. Would you look at you? Are you trying to be holier than thou now?] her agent laughed dryly, after which she then stated;

[Sharon. Your entire Hollywood existence has thrived mostly off of one rumored drama, scandal or the other. It’s how you’ve stayed relevant so far in this cut-throat industry.] the agent mockingly spoke, after which she then added;

[Infamy is also a way to be renown and honestly, you should be thanking us for getting you as far as you’ve gotten.]

[Now, if you know what’s good for you, seduce Kyle Kestis. Get him on a date or something. Drug him if need be… though I doubt you’d have the galls for that.] the woman’s voice nonchalantly stated;

[Just do whatever it takes to get him to slip up so we can have you benefit off of his misery.] she definitively concluded, simultaneously cutting off the transmission.

Staring blankly at her phone, her mood soured beyond recovery, Sharon slumped onto her bed backwards.

The lady was tired.

Tired of her agency.

Tired of being unable to escape them.

Tired of feeling like she was someone else’s marionette.

Blinking her eyes a few times, a few beads of tears slowly starting to brim on her eyelids.

Instead, the lady held it in and then, took in another deep breath, slowly exhaling a few seconds after.

Burning resolution in her ocean-blue irises this time, she said to herself with a determined expression;

“I won’t.”

The moment she said those words, the slightly amused expression of Kyle flashed in her mind as he indulged in her nonsensicality without judging her for it earlier today.

And that, was ultimately why Sharon, for the first time in her long, long career, decided that she would not in fact, be following through with the satanic nature of her agency’s practices.

Kyle Kestis was a good soul whose fantastic career didn’t deserve to be dragged through the mud for the sake of hers.

* * *

The next day, some other simple scenes in the movie were filmed.

Now that the two main scenes with the introduction of Lance’s character had been shot, only one main scene involving him remained.

The rest of his scenes however, were a few small scenes here and there with him joining The Deviants and the last dance scene in the finals against The Syndicates.

That said, following up from the script, after Lance had more or less wiped the floor with one of The Syndicate’s best dancers, The Deviants did their best to persuade him to join their team.

However, Lance made it very clear that although he appreciated the offer, he couldn’t, for personal reasons.

A personal reason that weighed heavily on him.

Still, The Deviants gave him their address info, telling him that they’d welcome him with open arms if he ever felt like joining the crew at any point in time, two nights before the finals.

That said, The Deviants themselves had found their motivation to never give up, even after their routine had been leaked.

With their newfound resolve, they ingeniously restructured their previously choreographed dance moves for the semi-finals, winning very narrowly against their opponents, The Titans.

Now the finals had been set in stone; The Syndicates Vs The Deviants.

But, before the scene where the main characters were practicing for the finals was shown, Lance was brought back into the limelight, his personal reasons for rejecting their offer, finally touched upon.

{Level Up 2 | 11th of September 2020 | Act 3 | Scene 7 | Take 3}

Sitting in a corner of the empty restaurant which had been closed for the day, Lance stared at the address of a dance hall, written behind a familiar flyer he held in his hands.

Sighing in resignation, he was about to crumple the Final Jam flyer when Hilda, casually walked in and placed a pristinely, well-kept, white shoe box before him and said;

“Out.”

“Not this dance again you old witch…” Lance tiredly stated, staring at his brute of a foster mum who seemed adamant on chasing him out of the restaurant.

This was where Lance believed he belonged, even if his entire being said otherwise.

Not particularly minding his words, Hilda turned around, her back retreating into her quarters as she spoke, her voice calm;

“If you want to go, go.”

“I don’t need your help around here one bit you little shit.” she added casually, typical of her.

Frowning at her words, especially because he didn’t even know what went on in that head of hers anymore, Lance asked, a layer of hurt to his voice;

“Mum, do you want me to quit?”

Halting in her footsteps, Hilda stood in place for a few moments and then, walked back over, a genuinely annoyed expression on her face as she stated;

“Quitting is staying here Lance!”

To that, the young man frowned, ready to oppose his mum, only for her to continue;

“How long do you want to keep moping over his death, hmmm?! You think he’d be happy, seeing you all chained down by a burden that isn’t yours?!”

“So what?! Am I not allowed to honor his last wishes at the very least?!” Lance fired back, locking gazes with his foster mother who face-palmed and then groaned in deep dissatisfaction, her finger pinching the ridge of her nose;

“You. Honor his wishes? Seriously Lance, when will you understand…” she muttered and then stated;

“He was a great chef Lance. Young as he was, he was a great chef! A fantastic chef! The only chef, worthy of inheriting this restaurant from me!”

“But you, your cooking is for shit in comparison to his!” she berated him and then added;

“Do you know why?!” she rhetorically asked;

“Because you’re a great dancer, Lance! Not a chef!” she stated definitively, sighing as she added, quietly this time;

“You’re a great dancer.”

“You shouldn’t be withering here, in a place, that doesn’t need you. Not when you have so much promise. I’ll be fine, okay. So you don’t need to worry about me.” she gently said, her gaze genuine.

Staring at each other for a few seconds, Lance, still with a hint of hesitation in his eyes, watched as his mother took a seat on the chair opposite him and extended her hands towards his.

Tightly holding onto his hands, her motherly affection on full display, Hilda spoke again;

“So go, Lance. Live your dreams. Make him proud. Make me proud. Your own way, okay?”

Pushing the white box even closer towards him, Hilda then stood up from the chair and once again, began to make her way into her room upstairs.

However, just as she was about to take her first step up the staircase, she heard as Lance spoke, his tone grateful;

“I’ll be back to wait tables, you old witch.”

“Ha! As long as you stay out of my kitchen you little shit.” his mother responded in typical fashion as she made her way up the staircase.

Briefly glancing over to him as he made his way out of the restaurant though, Hilda smiled warmly as she watched a new set of limited edition sneakers on his feet through the wall’s window pane.

And on the table of the restaurant, was the opened white box with his old sneakers placed in, a sticky note on in it that read;

To the coolest big brother I know; Happy 20th Birthday.

The kicks, had been a gift from his now deceased, younger brother.

“CUT!”

–

-Ding!

“Good work everyone. That’s a wrap for today.” Danny stated, to which everyone responded with gratitude and nods of approval.

He had checked the shot and he was extremely satisfied with it.

The scene they had just filmed was one they had to do over three times as Danny felt that Rebecca wasn’t putting in her all.

As for Kyle, the Director didn’t have an issue with him as he walked back into the restaurant, hoping they didn’t need to do another take.

There was also the fact that he hadn’t expected to have leveled up until possibly the movie’s last scenes that they were yet to shoot so, hearing his system notification ringing in his head, had him curious.

Hearing that all was good as he entered the restaurant though, made him sigh in relief, same for Rebecca who walking down the staircases.

However, just as Kyle was about to go meet with the actress, Danny, Sean and the rest to give pleasantries before he headed back to the practice hall for more dancing rehearsals, he received a curious text from Sharon, one that elicited a slightly curious yet concerned expression on his visage.