"God, mom, why do I have to be here?" CeCe whined, throwing herself on the couch in the bridal shop.
"Because, CeCe." Rocky slapped her arm. "This is your mom's wedding and she needs help trying on dresses."
"Yeah, well, I didn't even want her to marry Jeremy in the first place." She mumbled.
"Okay, CeCe." Rocky sighed. "I know that your mom marrying Jeremy means moving out of our building and into a house with Logan, but look on the bright side-."
"There is no bright side, Rocky!" CeCe huffed. "I hate Logan-."
"Hate is a strong word."
"I don't care!" CeCe stood up abruptly. "I can't stand him and I-."
"How does this look, girls?" CeCe's mom emerged from behind the curtain and stood in front of the mirrors.
"Wow." Rocky let out a huge breath. "Mrs. Jones, you look amazing!"
"Thank you, Rocky! CeCe, what do you think?"
"You look great, mom." CeCe nodded. "Listen, I um, I'd love to stick around and help, but I need to…study."
"You?" Rocky snorted. "Study?"
"Oh, it's okay, honey." Georgia nodded. "I'll see you at dinner tonight. Jeremy's taking us to that new fancy restaurant in town."
"Okay." CeCe picked up her purse and left the bridal shop.
Ever since her mother got engaged to Jeremy and Flynn's been spending all his time with their soon to be new stepbrother, she's been feeling a little left out. More like miserable; she didn't get along with Jeremy or Logan and she didn't want to share a house with them.
She eventually found herself in front of an old dance studio. This is what she needed, to dance her heart out and let herself go.
Once inside, she had changed into a black tank top and black sweats. The easiest thing she could stuff into her purse without making her mom or Rocky suspicious. They didn't know she snuck out half the time to dance in an old, abandoned dance studio.
Logan sighed as he fidgeted with his phone; he was with his dad at them mall, picking out tuxedos. He didn't want to be there; sure, his dad getting married to a wonderful woman with a cool son sounded pretty great, but there's one problem…her daughter.
CeCe Jones was naïve, gullible, ignorant, and just plain oblivious. And Logan. Couldn't. Stand. Her. Just as much as she couldn't stand him.
Now, Rocky on the other hand, she was smart, talented, funny, and pays way more attention than CeCe ever did.
"Dad, can I go now?" He asked Jeremy.
"Um, not yet, Scooter-."
"Would you please stop calling me that?" He groaned.
"Listen, we need to talk." Jeremy sighed.
"About what?"
"About this whole marriage. I-I know you've been having a hard time since your mom and I split up and now I've thrown you into this whole new family. I just wanted to make sure you're okay with it all."
"Yeah, I'm fine." Logan lied; no, he wasn't fine. He liked Georgia, and he liked hanging out with Flynn, but he and CeCe were always at each other's throats. And he couldn't live that way. He wanted his dad to be happy, but he knew the constant fighting between him and CeCe would just make everyone miserable.
"Look, I have to meet some friends, can I please go now?" He begged.
"Sure, kiddo." Jeremy smiled and patted his shoulder. "Just don't be late for dinner, remember?"
"Got it." Logan walked away from his dad and left the mall, getting on his skateboard and cruising down to their new house; Jeremy had bought it a few weeks after asking Georgia to marry him. He already had it furnished and ready to move in to, so they'd been staying there.
He rode past and old dance studio, one he thought no one ever used, so you could imagine his confusion when he heard music blaring from inside.
CeCe never really told anyone she loved ballet more than hip-hop. She loved the gracefulness of it. She had been working on a big project, mixing hip-hop and ballet moves together. Sure, she'd seen movies, but she wanted to try it on her own.
She had been so busy turning and moving her body in ways she knew would impress her new Shake It Up, Chicago! producer, that she didn't notice Logan standing at the door, watching her.
Once she saw him, she didn't stop. She worked hard on the routine and there was no way she was giving up almost finishing it.
Logan gulped as he watched his almost stepsister dance; maybe it was the way she moved, or what she was wearing, but she looked amazing on the dance floor. He had seen her and Rocky dance and always thought that Rocky was better. Clearly, he had been wrong.
CeCe slid across the floor on her knees and threw her upper body back so it hit the floor as the song ended. She was breathing heavily and smiling; she had felt accomplished, something she hadn't felt since her dad left. He always encouraged her, no matter what she did.
"Wow, CeCe." Logan finally spoke, watching her get off the floor. "That was…really good."
"Thanks." She heaved, putting her a hand on her hip and using the other to brush her hair out of her face. "What are…what are you doing here?"
"I was just on my way to Cassidy's, a friend of mine and I heard music coming from this old place."
For some reason, CeCe felt angry. She didn't know why and she sure as hell knew she shouldn't have acted on it, but she did. "And you just walked in here? What if it wasn't me, huh?! What if it was some psycho, deranged dude was in here-."
"Blasting music?" Logan questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Stop it!" She snapped.
"Stop what?"
"You know what!"
"No, CeCe, I don't." Logan felt a smirk tug at the corner of his lips. He actually liked pushing her buttons and getting her all flared up.
"Stop talking to me like I'm an idiot!" She shouted, taking him by surprise. "I don't like you, Logan, I don't like your dad, and I don't like that we're going to be a family, but I have to deal with it! What I don't have to deal with is you talking down to me like I'm four years old!"
"Geeze, CeCe, what's your deal?!" He yelled back. "I only treat you that way because you're so full of yourself all the time!"
"You don't know me! You don't know anything about me!"
"I know you're hard headed and stubborn! I know you don't get the best grades, and the entire time our parents have been engaged, you've thought of nobody but yourself! Face it, CeCe, you only care about you!"
"That's not true! I care about my mom, I care about Flynn, I don't care about you or Jeremy, so why don't you two just walk out of our lives like the rest of the guys my mom dated?!"
Logan opened his mouth to shout back, but once he saw the tears she was holding back, he sighed. "CeCe…"
"Don't." She snapped. "I don't care about what you have to say. In fact, I don't care about anything but myself, right?"
"CeCe, I didn't mean it like that. I know…I know things kind of suck right now, trust me, no one knows that better than me. But I just…I knew you didn't like me the second you found out Jeremy was my dad. And you're right, I don't know you, so why don't you let me know you?"
"Because…" She sighed, sitting on the floor in the middle of the studio. "Because, besides Rocky and Deuce, everyone who's ever gotten to know me…leaves."
"Like who?" Logan sat across from her.
"Like my dad. He's the whole reason I started dancing in the first place. After he left, I was just so angry and Rocky helped me channel it all into something…productive."
He suddenly knew why she blew up and he felt like a huge jerk about it. "So, when I said you didn't care about anything but yourself…"
"I love dancing." She nodded. "It's my everything. Rocky has her brains to fall back on, she could be anything she wanted. Me…not so much. I'm not smart, I don't get the best grades, and we both know I could never hold down a job, but when I dance…none of that matters. It's just me, the music, and someday…maybe a huge crowd of people."
"You're smart, CeCe." Logan whispered. "I do talk down to you…but only because, I know you could really put me in my place if you wanted to."
"…I don't want to fight anymore." She said. "I just want to get through this marriage and go…wherever I can and we can be done with each other." She stood up from the floor and walked away from him.
I know this isn't the traditional Shake It Up! story. But I really like this chapter. Tell me what you think (: