"Mierda. I hope the rest of the meals aren't like this. It's disgusting. Even my little sister can cook better meals in her easy bake oven."
Ari glanced from Carlos's grimacing face to his plate of food, which he had collected in the cafeteria.
For dinner, they had been served grilled chicken breast, grilled pork chops, or grilled fish fillets with a side of a vegetable medley, roasted potatoes, and corn on the cob.
For dessert, there were either brownies or sugar cookies, and the only drinks available were mini cartons of milk or water fountain water.
After everybody had been released from dancing practice and their interviews, they had all swarmed to the cafeteria to load up and refill the calories that they had just burned.
Thankfully, the servings were unlimited, and even more thankfully, the line to get food moved quite quickly.
Not being a particularly picky eater, Ari had just loaded a little bit of everything onto his plate.
The food was a bit bland, but it wasn't the worst thing he had ever eaten so he just ate without chewing so that his stomach would stop growling.
Jamie had done the same, loading his plate with strictly meat and vegetables while talking about hitting his macros, but Carlos moved the food around his plate with a slight face of disgust.
"These people. There's no seasoning, no hot sauce, no salsa, no nothing. just dry meat and vegetables. Mierda are we going to eat like this everyday?" Carlos spoke out in a tone of complete despair.
It was a bit funny to see, but Ari felt that if he laughed, Carlos might actually be offended.
Instead, he slid over some ketchup and A1 sauce that was on the table, and if looks could kill, the bottles of both seasonings would have turned to ashes on the spot.
"If you don't eat, you won't have any energy to dance again. I don't know about you, but that long warmup alone almost took me out. Not to mention that choreography. If you're not careful, you'll pass out." Jamie mumbled in between large bites of food.
"Ugh, don't remind me. I'm glad Selena said we don't have to do it if we don't want to. I'd rather warm up with something simpler." Carlos groaned before taking a reluctant bite of the sauceless chicken on his plate.
Hearing their words, Ari scrunched his face up momentarily.
"You guys had a hard warm-up, too?"
"Yeah, she played some high-energy girly pop songs and had us moving. Slide, slide, pivot, look back. I felt completely dizzy when I tried to do it." Jamie muttered as he started stuffing the brownies into his mouth.
"Huh. Weird. My group was the same. Well, I guess since they keep screaming about the basics, it's a basic dance warmup?"
Since the other two weren't professional dancers, they both shrugged in response.
Although both of them had taken dance classes, it was in a more casual setting so they didn't really have a lot of knowledge as to what professional classes looked like.
Just as Ari was prepared to skip past the issue and ask about their interviews with PD Emily, NOVA popped up.
[Ding!]
[Surprise Mission: Instead Of Being As Blind As A Bat, Become A Detective Like Sherlock Holmes!]
[Learn the hidden dance and dance it perfectly from beginning to end.]
[Time Limit: 6 days]
[Reward: +2 Dance Stats]
[Failure: You admit that you're as blind as a bat.]
"Hidden dance? What does that even mean? And where am I supposed to find it?" Ari muttered quietly to himself.
Of course, NOVA, as rude as it always was, gave him a sassy response.
[If I told you the answer, it wouldn't be much of a surprise mission now, would it?]
[Find it by yourself.]
]Do you accept the surprise mission?]
"I guess since there's no penalty," Ari mumbled once more while covering his mouth and thinking.
A surprise mission?
He was completely confused.
Were the instructors going to teach them some secret choreography?
Or was it something else, like a treasure hunt in the building?
He thought that the surprise missions were triggered by his actions, but he hadn't done anything to trigger this one, had he?
He wanted to dig into the details and ask the system, but unfortunately, he was interrupted.
"What are you muttering about over there. Are you ready to go? I want to go get my car, and you need to buy shoes, right?" Jamie glanced at him while getting up to go dump his tray.
"Yeah, let's go. Carlos, see you later. Good luck with your meal."
"Ugh thanks."
He waved at Carlos, who was still picking at his food with a bitter face, before following Jamie to find a staff member who was carpooling contestants to get their vehicles.
He and Jamie ended up in a car with contestants they rarely spoke to and after a brief wave, they sat silently until they arrived at the company building they were at earlier that day.
"You guys can take your cars to this address and park them there for a fee of 1o dollars a day, or drop your cars off somewhere and take a ride share back. Make sure you're back before 9 pm, and when you get back, turn your phones in again. Understood?"
"Yess!"
"Yep!"
Ari, Jamie, and the other people nodded in agreement with the staff member before dispersing.
"Where to?"
"5 below," Ari replied while staring out the window.
"For sneakers????????"
"Yep!"
Jamie gave him a skeptical look but started his car and drove away.
Personally, Ari didn't care.
Since these were only meant to be used inside for dancing, he wanted the cheapest shoes possible. If they broke, they would be cheap to replace.
Jamie drove them through the city's constant traffic to the closest store, and Ari grabbed two black sneakers in his size for 10 dollars before paying.
When they got back, the dining area was empty, but some contestants were lounging around in the central areas and the break areas.