house of cards: chapter two | daniela avanzini
pairing: daniela avanzini x masc!choreographer reader
content: just a lil suggestive but v tame for now
song: fire in my heart - escape from new york
after a six hour flight from JFK to LAX, you were happy to be back in LA. no matter how much you loved new york loft parties, the hum of taxi cabs and smell of greasy dollar pizza slices, los angeles was your home. but you also liked staying away. all the better to avoid… certain people. the air in the parking garage held a sharp winter chill which travelled up your rolled hoodie sleeves as you hauled your leather suitcase out of the trunk of the uber and rolled it towards the front door of your west hollywood condo.
inside was exactly the same as it was a couple months back, when you had left it for the east coast when you got the opportunity to be a backup dancer on bad bunny’s tour.
your busy schedule meant that you had only seen it about twice all year.
the foyer smelled like honeydew melon and cigarette ash, and the quiet was unsettling. eager to fill up the empty space with music, you turned on your speakers to full volume and clambered up onto the window ledge to smoke. a couple cars raced by outside your window, the streets illuminated by neon signs and bulbed lights that wrapped around the swaying palm trees. as your eyes dragged across the horizon, they landed on a billboard hanging above the overpass. the faces of six beautiful girls stared back at you. ‘glossier x katseye’ read the bold text above them. you scoffed and put out her cigarette, slamming the window shut.
when katseye’s team revealed who exactly was going to be their new choreographer, the girls were thrilled. lara, megan and manon ended up almost sending eachother colliding onto the floor as they jumped up in delight, sophia clapped excitedly, and yoonchae let out an ever-pleased gasp.
daniela, however, hadn’t spoken in the last 5 minutes.
manon, who had finally finished her giggling, noticed how uncharacteristically quiet dani was, and nudged her side. “you okay?” she mouthed to the latina, whose leg was bouncing up and down.
dani nodded, but her expression said otherwise. manon didn’t question her further. she knew better than to push when dani was in one of these moods.
lost in thought, everything the other girls and their managers were saying seemed to become tuned out, until she felt as if she was alone at the board room table.
daniela swallowed the lump in her throat. it’s not like anyone knew, anyway. there was no way management would’ve risked putting y/n and dani in the same room again if they knew. she was fairly certain the other girls didn’t know either - if they did she would never hear the end of it. maybe she could ignore it? it had been almost two years. y/n could hold a grudge, but..
with her busy katseye schedule, she never had much time to dwell on the past, which was probably a good thing. dream academy felt like such a distant memory, but at the same time it’s where everything all began.
she was going to see y/n again, work with her again. a year ago, this would’ve been her dream - but now? she didn’t know. she didn’t know how she felt. and that had always seemed to be the problem.
daniela hated y/n. but there was a small part, deep buried underneath that she would never face, that missed her like crazy.
there was that one time when the kats went to nyc for a photoshoot. every time they’d leave the hotel, all daniela could think about were the chances that she could run into y/n. she never did. she knew knew massive the city was, she knew how unlikely it was - but there was a part of her that couldn’t help hoping.
even just a glimpse of her would be enough. daniela just wanted to see what she looked like now, what she had grown into. it was torturous, the idea of knowing so little about someone you had once known so well. dani sure knows that she had changed, and she wondered if y/n had too. but she didn’t dare search for her online. the desire was a double-edged sword. she remembered the week y/n had blown up on social media for a dancing video or something - she had heard lara and sophia talking about it. after that, she didn’t dare use tiktok for a week.
“—when is she coming?” daniela burst out suddenly, causing all the girls to look to her in surprise. “i mean- you know, so when are we starting the new choreo?” she swallows uncomfortably at the feeling of all the confused eyes staring at her.
“y/n will be flying into los angeles tonight, so you girls have the weekend to rest-“ missy pauses, sending a pointed look to lara and megan. “and that means rest. no partying. it’ll be a busy week. you’ll start with choreo for gnarly first as that’s the first single we’re aiming to get out to debut your comeback. we’ll film the music video at the end of the month.”
as soon as missy and the rest of the management team left the room, the girls all erupted into another fit of excited squeals.
“this is going to be so fun!”
“seriously, y/n is so talented, it’s gonna be so cool to be a team with her again—“
daniela got up and left the room, slamming the door behind her.
“uh, what’s wrong with dani?” yoonchae asked, tilting her head to the side.
“must be something to do with this,” manon said, holding up her phone to show the rest of the girls. on the screen were tweets from eyekons talking about how y/n unfollowed dani: ‘rip my dany/n heart’ “yikes.”
“this happened months ago, apparently,” manon explained, still reading and scrolling. “i mean, i know their friendship during dream academy was intense, but-“
“friendship, right.” lara snorted.
“what?” lara shrugged. “i mean, you can’t say we weren’t all thinking that at the time too, right? i know it was never spoken about, but surely everyone thought the same thing?”
there was a brief second pause, before all the girls shared a glance. “..yeah.”
“now it makes sense why she never talks about her anymore.” megan added.
“we all have such busy schedules, i don’t know, i just assumed they fell out of touch.”
“whatever you do, we don’t bring this up to dani, got it?” sophia spoke next. “if there really is something going on, we can’t afford for any drama. it’s been a year, i’m sure they’re both over it.”
“personally, if i had a thing with the hottest masc lesbian on earth, i don’t think i’d be over it in a year.” manon shrugged.
“like i said, not a word.”
“i think we’ve seen the super feminine, but we haven’t seen masculine powerful females.” missy’s words echoed in your head as you stood outside of the t&d building for the first time. that’s what she had told you when you got the news that you had been invited to join the program.
you adjusted her bag on your shoulder and took your first step inside — and to the rest of your life.
your grey sweats hung low on your waist as you walked, and the band of your boxers peeked out at the top. a black wife beater covered your upper body, and was fitting in all the ways that made your biceps pop under the bright lights.
immediately the smell of hairspray and vanilla and floral perfumes clashed with the intoxicating bubble of rugged cologne that followed you wherever you went. you peeked through the glass wall of the main dance studio, where pop music drifted through the speakers. the other girls, who had already been training together for about five months, were already in the studio, taking a water break. you noticed the stark contrasts between your identity and that of the other girls immediately - where they were soft and sweet, you were firm and alluring, but you assured yourself it was fine - echoing missy’s words in your head again. if they didn’t think you would fit, they wouldn’t have chosen you, right?
the girls sat leaned against the mirror, talking animatedly and giggling. they looked like they were waiting for something, for someone, and you realised that it was you.
one girl however, wasn’t sat waiting with the rest. she was still dancing, mumbling under her breath as she practiced some steps in the mirror. her brows were furrowed in concentration as she raised her arm and spun quickly, her curls bouncing in the air as she did so. each move was sharp and practiced, but she still seemed unsatisfied. when she was finished, she unintentionally locked eyes with you through the mirror. her lips parted as she took in your unreadable gaze and athletic frame. she was already a little out of breath, and something about you seemed to make it worse. she pushed her curls back out of her face and swallowed.
“it’s y/n, right?” nikky, one of the t&d dance teachers greeted you, and you finally broke eye contact with the curly haired girl, turning around.
“yeah,” you nodded, holding out your hand to shake.
“strong grip, that’s good.” nikky nodded, before considering something. “i’m guessing you don’t already have a pair of heels?”
you chuckled and shook you head. “um, no.”
“that’s okay, missy said we’ll probably start you in level B, so we’ll need to get you a pair.”
you neglected to bring up the fact that this was never mentioned, and hid your grimace. somehow, nikky seemed to pick up on it.
“don’t worry, heels is only for selected choreography and part of our end of month evals. you’ll pick it up in no time. or, you won’t. and then we’ll just have to drop you a level.” nikky said bluntly.
“i hear you’re quite the dancer, though. let’s get you in there to meet the other girls.”
you entered the room with an unhurried, quiet confidence, and something else that was completely captivating. though your movements were simple, you had the air of a dancer. a good one at that.
the girls immediately stopped their conversations, eager to greet the newest face of the group.
“girls!” nikky called, and you realised her tone seemed to be permanently sharp. “this is y/n, our newest girl, i want you all to be very welcoming.”
the girls immediately approached you with delighted faces, each introducing themselves and complimenting all aspects about you: your clothes, your hair, even your duffel bag.
you chuckled, a little overwhelmed as you tried to take in all the names being thrown at you. your uneasiness at being the odd one out quickly started to dissipate at their inviting attitudes, and you relaxed into your usual calm demeanour.
when the curly haired girl from earlier introduced herself, your attention zoned in on her completely, eyes sweeping slowly over her face. she had blonde highlights in her dark curls and the most perfectly full lips you had ever seen. her eyes though, were what captivated you the most. green? hazel? you wished you could get closer to know for sure. they passed through you like electric, the same feeling you had gotten when you locked eyes with her through the mirror. “i’m daniela.” she smiled warmly. her voice felt melodic to your ears.
daniela. daniela. daniela.
your mouth goes a little dry. she’s still watching you, sizing you up, analysing you.
you realise you haven’t said much at all, lost in whatever siren trance daniela had put you under. you tore your eyes away from her and licked your lips, addressing the rest of the group.
“can i just say this is the best smelling dance studio i’ve ever walked into?” you grinned playfully. “seriously, do you guys just sweat out coco chanel or something?”
the girls erupted into laughter, and even nikky cracked a smile.
“you’ve been learning the choreo for ‘fire in my heart’ with sohey online, right? why don’t you run through it for us - really introduce yourself.”
though you weren’t expecting being put on the spot so soon, you tried to get over it quickly, knowing this was only one instance in what was going to be a long line of pressure from here.
as the bass boosted throughout studio A, you fell into a well-practiced routine.
daniela felt a buzz as she watched you move with such ease. she thought that you made every step look smooth, easy, effortless, and well— sexy. she could tell instantly that you came from a hiphop background, your movements were fluid and laced with confidence. when a step required for you to move your hips, daniela found that now she was the one who couldn’t take her eyes off of you. something hot burnt up inside her, getting higher and higher until it reached her throat. the room felt hot, and she wasn’t even the one dancing.
when the song ended, the girls all broke into impressed applause, some in loud admiration, others in quiet worry. daniela fidgeted with the thin strap of her yellow tank top.
“i wanted you all to see that to give you a kick into what you should be striving to achieve.” nikky began. “some of you have been treating the program like it’s summer camp, and we have more girls like y/n coming who are hungry for this opportunity. if you don’t step up to the plate, you will be going home.” she clasped her hands together. “y/n will be our first girl to dance in level A. if you want to join her, i suggest you work.”
despite the harsh words directed to the rest of the group, you tried to revel in the praise, letting it fill you up and settle properly in your brain. maybe you did deserve to be here.
“looks like you’ve got some competition, dani.” ezrela nudged her friend playfully, her words intending to be joking. “she’s got main dancer written all over her.”
daniela forced out a laugh, but her face failed to conceal a scowl. that was not how that was supposed to go.
you stood in the corner, taking a thirsty sip of water from her bottle. dani watched as a rogue droplet of water dribbled down your chin, and your arm flexed as you used the back of your hand to wipe it away. you catch her eye again. dani swallowed and fixed her gaze down at the floor.
the corners of your mouth curled up, and you kept your eyes on daniela for a moment longer before looking away aswell, swapping your attention to nikky who had begun to explain some more things to you.
the feeling of your gaze lingered a little longer in daniela’s mind. she frowned and crossed her legs, trying to quieten the pounding.
when you checked your phone after your shower, you had a text from lara waiting on your screen.
Y/N: got in a couple hours ago
LARA: what about christening your return to la the right way??
your words interest me raj
some influencer megan’s friends w/ is having a party in the hills
you thought for a moment.
Y/N: are all the girls coming?
by that, you meant was daniela coming.
sophia doing movie night with yoonchae
manon’s hanging with sophie
and not sure ab dani i could ask?
Y/N: it’s fine she’s probably busy
LARA: okkkk well i’ll send u the address
can’t wait to see u babe!!!! ♡
that night, as soon as dani heard manon’s soft snores and saw the soft glow of a tiktok playing on loop on her abandoned phone, she settled under the covers and typed your name into instagram. yes, it was technically against the rules she had set for herself, but she figured it couldn’t hurt. she was going to see you in a couple days anyway, she might as well finally see what she was getting herself into. she hit the search button and waited with bated breath for your face to pop up in a profile picture bubble.
instead, all she was greeted with was an ‘account not found’ error message. blocked. like she’s nothing, like she’s some old friendship from the seventh grade that turned sour. like she isn’t the girl that—
she scoffs and clicks off her phone, tossing it under her pillow.
if that’s the way y/n wanted to be, then so be it. she didn’t even care. not a bit.
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