"Dad, I want to talk to you about something important," I said and crossed my fingers.

My father lowered the TV's volume and kept the remote on the stool beside his chair.

"I think you want to talk about 'someone' important?" he asked.

I nodded, feeling shier after Dad told me to go ahead and muted the TV. Mom already knew about my feelings for Tejas, so she told me to give no explanation; she had no doubts about Tejas. But for my father, I had to tell him everything because he was unaware of a lot of stuff.

"Dad, I know you already know, but I want to tell you that I like Tejas. He had already proposed to me, but I had refused that time. I confessed to him yesterday, and his parents are already aware about me, so I want to know your thoughts," I said.

Dad took a deep breath. "I have already learnt my lesson after what happened with Dhara. Still, I am a father, and it is my duty to protect my daughters. You are still young, and I want you to focus on your studies and dance training. Those should be your top priorities. But, I have already met Tejas, and he is a really good boy. The way he helped us has already made be indebted to him for life, but keeping that aside, I have seen how much he cares for you. Don't worry, I don't have any issues with you being with him, but don't get married too soon, okay? I am not ready for that yet."

"Really?" I asked in disbelief.

He nodded, and I hugged him. He solved all of my concerns in a snap.

"Thank you, Dad. I promise I won't disregard my studies or give you any reason to complain. I will work really hard and make you proud," I said happily.

He patted my back. "I am always proud of you, beta."

I was really glad that my parents accepted my relationship with Tejas, and as I had promised Tejas, I took a very much needed long leave. I couldn't be absent from college for that long, so I attended lectures in between, and as for the dance training, Sarthak told me to rest at home till I felt better.

Thus, I rested for a whole one month after quitting all of my jobs, and Tejas always came to meet me and my family even in his busy schedule. Thanks to his support and my friends taking care of me, I was back in full health and ready to start a new routine.

It was my first day at Sarthak's studio after the long leave, and everyone was gathered in the biggest dance room. Akshay always gave me a daily update of what was happening at the dance studio, so I knew that the next section of the training had started a few days back.

I joined the crowd, trying to find my friends; all of them were nowhere to be seen. I went to Yukta and asked her where others were. She told me that no one knew exactly what was going on and everyone was told to gather here after Sarthak's announcement.

After some time, our mentors arrived and switched on the projector. The screen lit up, and everyone's eyes widened slowly as we read the stuff about our next evaluation. It wasn't any normal challenge like other times.

The next slide of the presentation had the photos of Tejas, Suhana, Kshitij, Akshay, Danny, and another top performer named Reetu displayed side by side.

"Everyone, for the next mega team evaluations, these will be your team leaders," Suhas Sir announced. "Each one of you can choose your own leader after going through each leader's strengths and track records. But there's a surprise after that. The leaders have already selected a few of you as their team members, so when you guys are done, there will be an interesting game. Are you guys ready for it?"

As much as everyone was thrilled about the announcement, there were some dancers panicking about not getting chosen at all. And even if they picked the team leaders by themselves, they would still be at a disadvantage due to their poor rankings.

I would have been worried about the same if my ranking hadn't improved significantly after the last solo and team evaluations. To say, I was in a safe zone, but I wondered if my friends actually considered me to be on their team or not.

Tejas will have surely picked me up.

Being overconfident, huh, Bhoomi?

What's overconfidence got to do with it? Tejas knows my skills, so what's wrong with him choosing me?

Wouldn't others complain that he chose you only because you are his girlfriend?

Then I will prove that I am worthy of being on his team!

Soon, everyone was given time to brainstorm and choose their leaders by casting a secret vote. While I was totally hellbent on joining Tejas's team, somehow as the time passed slowly, a very weird feeling started clawing my insides.

I went closer to the enlarged photos of the chosen team captains and stared at them intensely.

"It must feel so good to be a top performer," I mumbled.

I started feeling jealous; I also wanted to share the same screen as them. Unfortunately, I never made it to the top ranks, and once, I was on the verge of getting eliminated. My current rank was good but not impressive.

I moved closer to the screen and started reading the details about everyone. There was nothing that I didn't know already, but I kept comparing myself with them. I imagined myself battling each one of them, trying to find out a solution to defeat all of them at once.

I was reading Akshay's strengths, my jealousy increasing because my chuddy-buddy managed to become a top performer, while I was still on the sidelines.

"Jealous much?" Akshay pushed my face away from the screen.

"Why would I be jealous of you, duffer?" I retorted.

"Then why were you glued to my picture? I knew you would want to be on my team, but I am sorry to disappoint you, Boom Boom Boomer. I didn't pick you as my teammate."

I swung my hand to punch him, but he dodged. I kept trying to hit him, and every effort was useless. His reflexes were really fast, and he kept teasing me about me being slower because my legs were short.

"Akshay, stop troubling her now," Suhana scolded her boyfriend after she arrived.

Behind her, KD and Tejas followed, and the moment I saw Tejas, I pouted.

"What's with the sad mood?" Tejas asked and caressed my cheek.

"Nothing," I replied.

"You feeling well?"

I nodded and forgot about everything when he pulled me in a hug. I wrapped my arms around his waist and enjoyed his warmth. As expected, my friends started teasing us, and even if I still felt shy, Tejas was there to hide me in his jacket.

We broke the hug, and when Suhas Sir told me that it was my turn to go and cast my vote, my friends looked at me mischievously.

"We all know who she is going to vote for," KD said in a fake hurt voice.

"Don't choose me, okay, Boomer?" Akki wiggled his eyebrows.

"Me too," Suhana joined him. "I don't want to fight my best friend over you."

Tejas smirked, and I knew I was turning red. I left to cast my vote after hitting KD and Akshay, but the moment I had to pick up the name card of the leader I wanted, I froze up.

Everyone already knows I will choose Tejas only, but even if I select anyone else, I am already friends with all of them. They will cover up for me even if I mess up. Everyone has progressed a lot, while I am still lagging behind. Will I become a burden on Tejas again? How much more time do I need to improve?

Just cast the vote, Bhoomi. Stop overthinking.

Wait. Let me think about why I am feeling like this. This is an easy way out to get in the best team and cover up my flaws, but I want to do something by myself. All these past months, I have been surviving by a sliver, and all of my team leaders have always supported me. I don't want to hide behind them anymore. I want a team of my own - I want to do something different.

Like a spark was ignited inside me, my mind geared up, and my imagination ran like a supercar. Different kinds of team formations and choreographies flashed before my eyes, and all of it looked so realistic that I got goosebumps all over my body.

I fisted my hands in determination and apologized to Tejas's name card. I left the room without casting any vote and came back to the practice room. I didn't say anything about my decision because I was waiting for Sarthak to arrive and throw my request at him.

Soon, the voting was over, and Suhas Sir told everyone to line up according to our ranks. Tejas and Danny fist-bumped as they stood side-by-side in the first row, followed by others. Tejas looked back and smiled at me.

Will he get angry when I announce what's on my mind? I hope he doesn't misunderstand.

I smiled back at my boyfriend, praying for Sarthak Sir to accept my request.

"The voting is done, so let's see the results," Suhas Sir announced and told Fatima Ma'am to display the results.

No one was surprised; Tejas and Danny were almost tied with Tejas getting two votes more than Danny, while KD, Reetu, Suhana, and Akshay had follow-up votes respectively.

"Wait a minute. What is this?" Fatima Ma'am questioned as she rechecked the data. "There is one vote missing."

I pursed my lips when she quickly scanned the votes and caught me with her sharp eyes.

"Bhoomi Devarkar, why didn't you vote?" she asked.

I automatically glanced at Tejas, and by the way he was looking at me after hearing that, I knew he was both curious and surprised.

"Bhoomi, please tell us your reason. Did you not understand the process?" Suhas Sir asked.

I shook my head. "I purposely didn't vote, Sir."

"Why? You not confident of getting the leader you want?"

I again disagreed and took a deep breath.

"I want to have my own team!" I announced.

Silence - complete silence. I felt shivers run down my spine, surprised that everyone quittened just after my declaration. But that lasted for a few seconds only because the next moment, the whole room got filled with laughter.

My fellow dancers teased me about pulling a prank on them and if that's what I had planned after returning from a month-long break. I felt bad that no one was confident in me.

Suhas Sir and Fatima Ma'am confirmed if I was serious, and when I affirmed it, they told me that the formation of a new team was not in the plans. They tried to convince me to change my decision, but I was adamant.

I made them call Sarthak Pawar because he hadn't yet arrived. When he heard my plan, he was irritated at first, but I explained that I was serious and according the ranks, some dancers were getting left behind. I was okay with having any dancer, but I wanted my own team.

Surprising to myself, I was really confident in this decision of mine. Finally, Sarthak accepted my request, and I told my mentors to proceed with the team formations.

Since my team wasn't fixed yet, I didn't join other leaders and stood in my previous position. Slowly, dancers started joining their captains, and Tejas looked at me accusingly as I kept refusing every team. In the end, only three dancers were left plus me.

There were forty dancers in total, so each team had six members each. After that, the interesting game started that Suhas Sir had mentioned. Every dancer could battle other dancers if they wanted to swap teams, and if any team leader wanted another team's dancer, the team leaders could battle.

As I wasn't a part of anything, I joined the three leftover dancers and enjoyed the show. After an hour of gruelling battles, the teams were finalised. Unfortunately, those three dancers, Ravi, Tanu and Zara, were really demoralised and were not at all interested in joining my team.

I told them a few of my plans, but it was not enough to convince them. They said that they were as good as being eliminated, so they were not going to come to the studio from the next day onwards. I was really saddened and anxious that if these three also left, then I would have no one.

I went to my mentors and asked them for a solution. They told me to convince those dancers and told me to wait as more information about next set of rules was going to be announced.

After ten minutes, Suhas Sir laid out the rules for the evaluations, and when he mentioned that each team could invite upto seven dancers from outside, I was excited. The only condition was their age limit and experience level.

I went to Mehul, Tanu, and Zara and stopped them from leaving.

"Guys, please join me. We will get more members and then our team will be formed," I told them.

Mehul waved me off. "I don't understand you, Bhoomi. Why are you taking this risk when you can just simply join your boyfriend's team? And please, forget about us. What's the point of forming a team now when we know we are going to lose?"

Zara agreed. "Our ranks are in the lowest, Bhoomi. No one picked us. I know TJ and others didn't want to leave us behind, and we understand their situation also, but it is what it is. Your case is different. Even if you want to join any team right now, no one will object, but we couldn't survive the voting. Forget about it."

"I understand your concern, but please trust me. Why are you lowering your self-confidence? All of you cleared the auditions, reached this point all on your own, so why not try once more? I know you all are worried about getting eliminated, so why don't we give our best till the end?" I said.

"I am not so sure," Tanu said. "But I want to see what you have in mind since you are taking such a big gamble. You won't change your decision later on?"

I shook my head vigorously. "Definitely not. I really want to be a team leader, and I am not doing it to fulfill my wish but to choreograph something amazing with you guys."

"But you can do that in any other team also," Mehul argued.

I grinned and pointed at other team leaders. "I know, but I want to challenge all of them."

"Even your boyfriend?" Zara joked.

I nodded proudly. "Yup."

Even though all of them looked doubtful, they got ready to join me. I thanked them, and now the next step was to hunt more team members for us.

"Miss Devarkar, are you done with your stunt or not?"

On hearing Tejas's taunting voice, I turned around slowly while my new teammates escaped.

"Hello, Tejas," I greeted.

He flicked me on the chin. "What are you planning this time, Hamster? Do you really wish to get eliminated right after returning?"

"How can you say that?" I replied hurtfully. "At least show some confidence in me, or... are you actually afraid of me?"

Tejas shook his head. "You are not going to tell me, right?"

I nodded.

"Fine then," he said. "I accept your challenge. But, if anything happens to you, I won't be letting you off easily."

I hugged him. "Thank you very much."

"Please spare us single souls, both of you," Danny teased us.

I smiled back at him, and he narrowed his eyes.

"I am not getting good feeling from you, Bhoomi. You are not planning on murdering all of us, are you?" Danny asked suspiciously. "Is this why you have returned?"

Tejas laughed, but Danny was dead serious. I assured him that I wasn't going to do so, but he told me that he would be careful; he was still unsure about my motives. Like him, KD and Akshay interrogated me about the same, and my whole day passed away in explaining them. As for Suhana, she was excited for me.

When I got back home, I was still thinking about my own team and pondered over how to get more dancers. According to the rules, dancers above sixteen years were allowed, but they had to fit into some strict criterias. One of those was not being a part of a professional crew or group for more than six months and they shouldn't be participating in any ongoing competition, and if it was a solo dancer, he/she/they needed to be a non-professional performer. Basically, the new dancers had to match the skill levels of Sarthak's program's dancers.

I had my own crew members in mind, but they were already very experienced and had enrolled in another crew dance battle after finishing third in the national breakdancing competition. I thought of contacting my college's dance club, but suddenly, a very bright lightbulb lit up in my mind.

Four familiar faces flashed in my mind, and I almost woke up my family by squealing in joy.

Why am I worrying when I have Ronit, Varun, Sam and Ijaz to help me? I will go to The Emperors' studio first thing in the morning and recruit the boys.

But, Bhoomi, what if Tejas has already included them in his own team? No team will perform with just six members, considering the scale of this time's evaluations. And why would Tejas search outside when he has his own crew?

That's possible, so I will just do what I can do best in this moment.

And what is that exactly?

What else? I am going to bribe the boys to join me.