"they say music is art in motion. I say... she is"
Venue: still in Auditorium
Time: 2:47 pm
Scene: after the first break in the dance competition
{Music suggestions: you guys can opt for any fast paced song
(Not today by bts
Rover by Kai
or
extra L by Kim Jennie ft deochii
for the first part
and
Gabriella by Katseye for the second part)}
After the break was over,
The emcee's voice boomed again, announcing a surprise..." duel round" for the top performers. The hall buzzed with excitement as names were called. Priya's was among them.
But there was a twist — every contestant needed a partner for the duel. And they were supposed to pick them onspot from the crowd with 10 mins and report backstage.
Before Priya could even think of anyone, her eyes darted to her bestie, aradhya.
"nah no way," aradhya mouthed, shaking her head furiously.
"Oh yes way," Priya mouthed back with a wicked grin, grabbing her hand.
The next moment, Priya was tugging her toward the stage.
"ARE YOU MAD?!" aradhya squealed, digging her heels into the floor. She crouched halfway to the ground, clutching the edge of a chair like her life depended on it. "I don't dance! I trip over my own shoelaces!"
"Yes, you do," Priya shot back, tugging harder. "But you're still coming!"
"No! No! This is illegal! Somebody call the UN! I'm being kidnapped!" aradhya yelped, making the people around them burst out laughing.
"Yasha, get up!" Priya hissed, half-dragging, half-hauling her best friend up by sheer will.
"I'm not moving! You'll have to carry me—actually no, leave me here to die in peace!" she flopped dramatically toward the floor, hugging her knees as if she could melt into it.
The audience was eating it up, chuckles rippling through the rows.
From his seat in the corner, Aarav watched the spectacle unfold, expression carefully unreadable. But his eyes gave him away — steady, unwavering, locked on her.
She wasn't polished like the others being pulled onto stage, all confident and camera-ready. She was panicked, ridiculous, trying to bargain her way out with over-the-top antics. And yet… there was something oddly magnetic about her honesty in it. No pretenses. Just raw, clumsy resistance.
Finally, Priya managed to yank her upright. Aradhya wobbled, still protesting. "I swear, Priya, if I fall on my face, I'm haunting you as a ghost forever!"
The crowd roared with laughter.
And Aarav, silent as ever, felt something stir in his chest he hadn't allowed in a long time.
Amusement.
Dragged onto the stage, aradhya stumbled beside Priya, her braid now loose from the tugging. She shot her best friend a death glare, mouthing, "You're dead to me," while hastily tying her hair into a messy knot.
The audience was already laughing, some expecting the bubbly science girl to freeze, maybe flail around awkwardly. prepared for the disaster she'd been threatening.
But the music started.
And disaster never came.
The beat dropped heavy, fast, reckless — and so did they.
Aradhya and Priya moved as if the floor had been waiting for them all along. No sultry, rehearsed choreography. No borrowed moves. Just raw, unfiltered freestyle — bouncing, spinning, stomping, flipping into steps that looked wild but fell perfectly into rhythm.
Aradhya, who five seconds ago had tried to melt into the floor, was now owning it. Her hair flew loose with every jump, her oversized hoodie swaying with each beat. She didn't bother with grace — instead, she matched Priya's sass step for step, throwing expressions so sharp and funny that the audience howled.
"OH-HO!" the crowd shouted when Priya spun, and aradhya mirrored her with a mocking smirk that somehow looked cooler than half the polished dancers before them.
Their chemistry was undeniable — a perfect match of chaos and control. Priya hit the sharp edges; aradhya brought the unexpected flips and footwork. Neither touched a single sensual step, and yet their raw energy sent the auditorium into a frenzy.
"I thought those were science student aren't they supposed to be...nerdy" one from the audience whispered captivated in awe.
"Bloody hell.... that's lit man" another remarked elbowing his friends.
By the time the beat ended with a sharp cut, aradhya landed in a crouch, panting, grinning despite herself. Priya threw her an arm-around hug, both of them flushed and laughing.
The crowd erupted — cheers, whistles, even a standing ovation from a few juniors.
And in the midst of it all, Aarav sat completely still, eyes fixed on her.
The girl who hummed under her breath.
The girl who wore oversized hoodies and laughed without shame.
The girl who had just turned a panicked refusal into a stage-dominating performance without a trace of rehearsed seduction.
She had eaten the stage alive.
And for the first time in years, Aarav felt his carefully built composure slip. Not outwardly — his face was still calm, unreadable — but deep inside, something shifted.
Because somehow, in that chaos of lights and beats, she'd managed to pull even him into her rhythm.
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"We...hmm....nanana...mm..never" she was trying to sing some new released song which he didn't understand one bit apart for few words, because one it wasn't some foreign language. And apparently his little love was singing the wrong lyrics with full confident and he did had much heart to interrupt her.
He saw how she twirled around the house on random Sundays in his shirts singing songs with wrong lyrics and yet he had never heard more meaningful symphonies than these.
He chuckled to himself rubbing a hand down his face "foolish I am utterly gone and foolish for this....women no more than 5 feet"
"I am 5'2, you bastard!!!"
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The emcee wasn't done.
"Final round!" he announced, grinning at the charged-up audience. "Last duel — let's see who takes the crown tonight!"
The reigning champion, a tall, confident dancer known for sleek, sensual routines, stepped up with his partner. Whispers spread across the auditorium: It's over, Priya won't be able to top that.
Samar malhotra and Raina shakhawat strutted up to the stage with the arrogant flare giving a mocking once over to the duo.
Raina took a step forward brushing an imaginary lint of aradhya's shoulder and spoke in a tone making sure it was heard only by four of them, " your work here is done sweetie. you can do better than that."
Raina smirked looking into priya's eyes whispering "free advice, step back now and it would do less harm then embarrassing yourself " and with that the wrong nerve was ticked off.
Never forget one thing do whatever you do but never challenge a science nerd, that too a passionate one. Because you never know where their equilibrium point lies.
Samar chuckled unknown to the switch they flipped taking raina by waist taking there place.
Priya, however, only smirked, glancing sideways at Aradhya.
"this corroded peice of cop-.. I don't give a damn about music, but we are doing this Ri" Aradhya hissed, still panting. "Our way"
"that's more like, tripathi" Priya whispered back as the music began.
The beat rolled in — slow, husky, sensual. Exactly the champion's turf. The other pair slipped into fluid, intimate moves, drawing cheers from half the hall.
But when Priya and Aradhya stepped forward, they didn't follow the tone. They flipped it on its head.
Instead of sultry waves, they hit sharp angles. Instead of suggestive gestures, they played with exaggerated sass — mocking glances, witty expressions, snapping their heads with too much attitude to ignore. Aradhya exaggerated the beat drops with dramatic stomps, bouncing footwork, even a playful shoulder shove to Priya that made the crowd explode in laughter.
Then came the shocker: Priya flipped over aradhya's back mid-beat, landing clean. Aradhya, flushed and wild-haired, threw her arms open as if presenting her bestie to the crowd. The auditorium roared.
The sensual track kept crawling in the background, but they overpowered it — bending it to their energy. Every move screamed confidence without a trace of seduction, yet their chemistry was hotter than anyone else's on stage.
By the final beat, Priya leaned forward with a fierce glare, aradhya beside her with a matching expression, both daring the audience to deny them.
No one did.
The hall erupted — louder than before, louder than for the so-called champion. The crowd was on their feet, clapping, screaming, stamping their approval. They weren't just fans of Priya anymore. They were blown by the duo.
Even the regular winner gave a small, begrudging salute before stepping back, acknowledging what everyone already knew.
Aradhya and priya winked at them with overly sweet smile. As if saying "there you go eat your words up"
From his seat in the shadows, Aarav didn't clap, didn't cheer. He only leaned forward slightly, his gaze locked on Aradhya.
She hadn't moved with a trace of seduction, hadn't tried to charm anyone. And yet she'd out-burned the champions with nothing but raw energy, wit, and fire in her expressions. And that slight exchange between the two teams that left sparkles in her brown eye.
For the first time, Aarav wondered if Aradhya even realized the kind of power she carried when she wasn't trying at all.
And something about that realization unsettled him more than he cared to admit.
"I am hungry riri!!!"