Chapter 3: A Sudden Change of Heart

Nicki

I walked into the gym and sat by my friends as I always do. This past week has been the same basic pattern. We stretched, ran, worked out, and then if we had time we danced. I felt like I was on the football team for all of this but at least we’re practicing in the summer. We used to practice in the summer for about three weeks and then be done. Now Coach Graham had us practicing the week after school let out for summer vacation. Hopefully this will all be worth it. I looked over and saw Cassie staring at me and her friends started laughing.

“You got a problem with me bitch!?” I was quick to my feet and my friends followed suit.

“Just trying to figure out why your bitch ass is still here. Give it up Onika, you ain’t shit.” She smirked as she rose to her feet. Her friends stood also as we stared each other down. This bitch got on my last nerves.

“We got a problem here?” Coach Graham asked as he looked in between us.

“Nah no problem.” I broke the stare to glance at him. He looked at me differently as if to ask if I was okay. I nodded and he walked away.

“Deal with your bullshit outside of practice,” Coach Chimere snapped at us. I rolled my eyes as I went back to my conversation. Her ass annoyed me. All she did was yell at us and act like a stuck up prissy bitch.

“Nic.” Nae nudged me while everyone else was talking.

“Huh?” I looked at her.

“Why is he so mean to you sometimes but can be so caring at other times?” She asked.

“Hell if I know. I swear he’s bipolar.” I crossed my arms as I looked at my crew. “You okay Blake?” I asked her. I knew she was shy but I kinda got her to break her wall down a notch.

“Yeah I’m just nervous. He’s making the first cuts today,” she told me.

“You know you’re gonna make it. If anyone should be nervous it should be me,” I informed them. 

“What? Nicki you’re the best dancer here.” Nia looked at me like I was crazy.

“I know but he doesn’t seem to like me as a person. I mean he tells everyone that their doing a good job except for me. He always has something to fix about what I’m doing. It’s like nothing I ever do is good enough for him and I’m getting sick of this.” I rolled my eyes as he blew his new whistle that he recently bought.

“Okay ladies! Today we’re making the first cut so four of you are getting cut. If I call your name then you’re staying. Parlan, Da-Xia, Christina, Bethonia, Kayanna, Maxine, Casandra, Chaslynn, Meyshia, Blakelynn, Leslie, Natania, Jaznae, Carmelina, Blythe, Carrington, Shreya, Tasmine, Brooklyn, Cenedra, Jaycee, Carlynda, Zhaleh, Galaxy, Alani, and Onika. Everyone else, I’m sorry but you are dismissed,” he sat his clipboard down and walked away. That means Alezae, Benoite, Noxolo, and Yetty were cut from the team. Everyone said bye to them as we all were relieved that we made it.

“Okay ladies huddle around. First off, congratulations for making the top 26. Don’t get too big of a head because tomorrow one of you will be cut. One by one you will watch this team get better and become into one. My mission for when I’m through with you is for you all to be one big family. I might not be your friend but at the end of this season, you all should be there for each other. You have to come together to build a team so we can compete against everyone else. If you can’t even trust each other then what’s your point in being here?” He asked while looking between Cassie and I. I sighed because he had a point.  “I’ll see you all tomorrow.” He smiled slightly and turned to walk away but turned back around to look for someone. “Blakelynn, a word in my office please,” he said and then walked towards his office.

“Yo B, what did you do?” Xia asked. She shrugged and followed behind him. The doors closed and my crew and I just stayed sitting. We were gonna wait for her.

 

Blake

I sat down in the seat that was in front of Coach Graham’s desk. He took his seat at his desk and looked at me. I looked at him wondering why I was here.

“Hi Blakelynn,” he said simply.

“Hi Coach Graham,” I said in the same tone of voice that he did.

“Something just doesn’t add up about you.” He scratched his light beard.

“And that would be?” I was beyond confused by this point.

“You moved here this year because you were bullied at all of your other schools. Is that correct?” He looked over at me. I shifted my eyes to avoid eye contact.

“Yeah.” I looked down at the ground. I really didn’t like talking about this.

“Why were you bullied?” He asked.

“Why does it matter?” I was done with this conversation.

“I don’t want it to happen again because you’re a really good dancer. I think you could make it all the way to the end and stay on the team,” he shrugged. My heart just sped up. I could make the dance team? I tried out with no intentions of making it. I moved in with my cousin, Nicki, and she has been showing me around. Somehow she convinced me to try out and now here I am.

“They didn’t like my views on certain topics.” I shifted uncomfortably.

“Okay well if you need to ever talk, my door is always opened.” He gave me a light smile.

“Thanks.” I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and walked out. I looked up to see Nicki and her friends waiting for me.

“What did he want?” She asked me.

“He just wanted some basic information about me since I just moved here,” I lied successfully.

 “Okay.” She shrugged and we started walking towards the exit. I walked behind Nicki and her friends but Jaznae walked next to me.

“Can I ask you something?” She stared straight ahead as we headed to the car.

“Sure.” I didn’t know why she would have a question for me. I’ve barely said two words to her.

“Do I know you? You look really familiar. Did you use to live in California?” She looked over at me. I guess without the brown hair, glasses, and braces, that I’m unrecognizable. I knew she was thinking about this since I moved in with Nicki.

“Um I don’t think so. I guess I just have a common face.” I quickly ended that conversation. The less they know the better. I didn’t want to have to deal with this again. I just need to leave everything in Cali.

Shad

“So what do you think of Nicki?” I looked over at Drake and Mere. I was still grateful that they agreed to do this. Not only could this help the team but this could help Drake to get back into what he loved.

“She’s good but has a bad attitude. Shit half the girls here have a bad attitude,” Mere said.

“She’s amazing, one of the best dancers I’ve ever seen,” he stated simply. There was this look in his eye when he talked about her. I knew that look. He only did that when he thought that they were even better than him.

“You think she’s better than you huh?” I questioned.

“Now let’s not get carried away,” he laughed.

“She’s only been dancing a year and I’ve never seen a girl who could dance the way she does. I made Cassie captain last year but this year I might want Nicki to be captain.” I thought about it for a while. Nicki has a way of making everyone want to watch her; want to listen to her; want to be her. There are few people out there who are like that and I just see so much potential in her. She could go far, maybe even further than Drake.

“You’re right though, she’s better than me. She dances so carefree and I rarely ever did that. She makes all the complicated techniques look easy. It’s like she erased the world around her but at the same time you can see her pain and all of the struggle she’s been through,” he nodded while thinking about her.

“She’s special, people like her only come once in a lifetime,” I told him.

“So what’s her story? I mean she’s an amazing dancer, she’s beautiful, but she has the ugliest attitude.” He looked at me.

“Her name is Onika Maraj. She’s lived in Trinidad but moved to New York a couple years after she was born. Her mom had twins, Micaiah and Mylan. A few months later when Nicki was about fourteen, her mom and brother got in a horrible accident and died immediately on impact. All that was left was Nicki and Mylan.  Her dad walked out on her family after that accident and she hasn’t seen him since. Her aunt moved up to lived with them so she could finish school. Blake is Nicki’s cousin and she lived with her grandmother until this year when she moved up here with Nicki. Nicki’s been through a lot so she has this wall up. Last year she missed two months of school because she was in and out of the hospital for her sister. Even though she was barely at school, she managed to get straight A’s and pass her junior year. She’s smart but she’s guarded,” I explained.

“Wow she’s been through a lot.” He shook his head in disbelief. Mere looked at him curiously. He’s thinking about something that I couldn’t put my finger on. It seems like her just saw a completely different side of her and fell in love but that’s ridiculous.

Chapter 2: Troubled Meetings

Chimere

I rolled my eyes at the sound of my phone going off. Who’s calling me this early? I checked and saw Aubrey was calling. “Hello?” I yawned into the phone.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” He asked. I looked at the time and rolled my eyes. He knows that I don’t get up this early.

“Yeah you did but you already know that Aubrey.” I sat up and waited for him to talk.

“So how’s it going Mere?” He questioned. I know he didn’t call me at no seven in the morning just to ask how it’s going.

“What do you want Aubrey? We both know that I’m not a morning person so make this quick,” I spoke.

“Look Shad came over two days ago and we got to talking,” he started but I cut him off.

“You talked to Shad?” I haven’t talked to Shad in years but after Aubrey’s mother died, we all had a fallout.

“Yeah and he wants me to help him coach the girl’s dance team at Lenore,” he finished.

“And you’re telling me this why?”

“I need your help Mere.”

“No,” I automatically said.

“You won’t even think about it?” I sighed and contemplated for a minute.

“Alright I thought about it and the answer is still no. Girls are too much drama to coach and I didn’t dance in high school for a reason Aubrey,” I reminded him.

“Come on Mere. It’ll be the three of us again. I know we all don’t keep in touch as much as we used to and I want to change that. I think this could help get me out of this mood I’ve been in for the past couple of years. Do it for me please,” he pleaded. I let out another sigh and felt bad. I knew how bad it got after his mom died so if he’s willing to do something like this then I might as well support him.

“Alright Aubrey,” I agreed. He always knew how to pull me in.

“Thank you so much! We have practice today at eight,” he said.

“Aubrey! It’s seven o’clock right now! You know I live half an hour away and it takes me more than thirty minutes to get ready,” I snapped at him.

“Love you too Mere.” He hung up as I rushed out of bed and into the bathroom.

~~~

I walked into the gym and everyone went silent. I observed the pack and they didn’t look so bad but even the nicest looking girls knew how to start drama.

“Oh don’t let me interrupt,” I smirked slightly and hugged Aubrey. I went over to Shad and hugged him.

“Thank you,” Aubrey mouthed to me and I nodded. They let me have the floor to talk to the girls.

“My name is Coach Chimere. You will not address me without the word coach in front of my name. I am not your friend, I am your coach. Coach Graham, Shad, and I will be transforming this dance team into a winning one. I do not lose and I don’t plan to. Whatever problems you have with each other, you deal with them outside of practice. Bring that in here and I will personally have a word with you. I don’t deal with bullshit so don’t bring any. Do you have any questions?” I looked around as they all quickly shook their heads no. “Perfect,” I smiled as we sat down to get started with auditions.

 

Drake

“Alright,” I sighed as Shad and I sat down in chairs. The girls stayed by the bleachers while we sat on the other side of the gym.

“Let the auditions begin.” He rubbed the back of his neck while he pulled out some pictures. We want them to tell us some things about themselves and then we’ll have them all dance and see who we like best.

“Carrington,” I called out. A girl walked from the bleachers and stood in front of us.

“Hi I’m Carrington but everyone calls me Carr. I’ve danced since I was about four. I’m a sophomore in high school and yeah,” she shrugged.

“Thank you,” Shad smiled. She skipped away as I looked at some more names.

“She’s too bouncy,” Mere scrunched up her face.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. By some of the attitudes from some of these girls, it would be nice to have someone who is nice and happy,” I laughed slightly as I looked at the next name on the list. “Jaznae.” The girl who was speaking earlier walked over.

“I’m Jaznae but I go by Nae. I don’t remember when I first started dancing but I’m obviously good at it. I’m a senior and I guess that’s it,” she shrugged. Mere looked over at me and I recognized that look. I automatically knew that she didn’t like her.

“Thanks Nae,” Shad smiled at her and she walked away.

“What the hell is up with her attitude?” Mere asked Shad.

“That’s just how she is. She’s a really good dancer and despite what you might think, she doesn’t cause drama. She only sticks up for Nicki but other than that she looked like she’s unbothered by everything that’s happening around her,” he said in her defense.

“I don’t like her.” Mere shook her head.

“You’ll get used to her.”

“Blakelynn,” I called out. She walked over to us and had her hair in a high ponytail.

“I’m Blakelynn but everyone calls me Blake. I’m a senior but I skipped a grade when I was younger. I’ve been dancing since I was ten.” Her voice was soft. It was almost as if she was afraid to speak.

“Thank you Blakelynn.” I gave her a slight smile in hopes that she would actually make eye contact but she just stared at the ground and walked away.

“What’s her deal?” I looked over at Shad.

“She’s a great dancer but she has a low self-confidence. She was bullied throughout ever since she skipped a grade. Her mom moved her here this year in hopes that she wouldn’t get bullied,” he explained.

“That doesn’t make since. Why was she bullied? She’s pretty and seems like a smart girl.” I was beyond confused.

“Never made sense to me. I just never pushed it,” he shrugged.

“She seems different to me. Like she has different views on things and maybe that’s why,” Mere suggested as we all shrugged.

“Cenedra,” I called out. She walked over to us and smirked at Shad.

“Hi Shad, Coach Chimere, and Coach Graham.” She looked us over. “I’m Cenedra but everyone calls me CeeJay. I’m a senior and I’ve been dancing since I was seven,” she said but my eyes were focused on her lips.

“Is that a tattoo on your bottom lip?” I asked her.

“Yeah you like it?” She flirted.

“How did you get a tattoo on your bottom lip? You know what, never mind.” I shook my head not wanting to know.

“I got a tattoo on my other set of lips too.” She winked as she walked away. I looked at the two and we all fell out laughing.

“Hoe,” Mere faked coughed.

“What the hell was that?” I was horrified.

“She flirts a lot but she’s good,” he said.

“Onika.” I looked at her as she walked towards us. There was something different about her but I couldn’t put my finger on.

“Hi my name’s Onika but I go by Nicki. I’m a senior and I’ve been dancing since last year,” she smiled lightly. It brought a slight smile to my lips. Her voice was soft but sexy.

“How are you the best if you’ve only been dancing for a year?” I asked her.

“I pick up things fast. I used to do gymnastics so I have a flexibility edge but dancing is just a different form of art. It’s a moving form and I do everything you could imagine with performing arts so I thought I would try dance when Nae suggested it.” Her eyes went into a daze as she talked about her passion. It made me interested to find out more information about her. She seemed guarded but for a reason.

“Thank you.” I gave her an actual smile. She smiled back and turned to walk away. I looked to call the next girl but the sight of her backside had me stuck.

“Yo what you looking at?” Shad asked as he looked at my facial expression.

“How does she have a waist like that but an ass like that?” I asked him. He chuckled a little bit and shook his head.

“Why you looking?” Mere hit the side of my head as we fell out laughing again.

“Sounds like she got you stuck,” he smiled.

“Nah I just never saw someone like her.” I brushed it off and looked at the list of girls.

“Casandra.” I looked and saw her walking over to us.

“Hey I’m Casandra but I like to be called Cassie. I’m a senior and I’ve been dancing since I was two.” She locked eyes with Shad and then looked away. I scrunched up my eyebrows.

“Thank you.” Shad cleared his throat. When she walked away, I looked at him.

“What was that?” I asked him.

“She’s always had a little crush on me but I found out last year so it’s been awkward every since,” he said.

“Oh.” I nodded but it seemed like he was hiding something.

“There’s got to be more to that story.” Mere looked over at Shad but he shook his head. We decided not to push the subject and we proceeded on with auditions. We finished talking to them and then had them dance for us. We showed them a simple choreography and had the girls all do it at the same time. I noticed all of them struggling, some more than others. Then my eyes landed on Onika. She nailed it perfectly and we only went over it once. I felt like all the wind was knocked out of me as I watched her. She had only danced for a year but she nailed it better than anyone in the gym. She even did it better than what we taught her. Casandra didn’t even nail it close to her. She was great but Onika was incredible.

“Keep up ladies!” I yelled. I walked over to Onika and her crew while they did the dance.

“Good job Bethonia and Jaznae,” I told them but completely ignore Onika. She might be one of the best dancers but she has one of the worst attitudes. I don’t need her ego going up. I heard her huff and mumble something under her breath.

“What did you say?” I walked right in front of her, towering over her small figure. She looked up at me and I swear I saw slight fear in her eyes but she pushed that back and stood her ground.

“I said you need to get your damn eyes checked.” She smacked her lips.

“Did I just hear you say damn? You know what that means girls. A hundred pushups now!” I saw all of them go to the ground while complaining.

“You can all thank Onika.” I smiled at her and walked away.

If you haven't noticed, I post on Tuesdays so I can update weekly. I'll try to stay as consistent as possible. Anyway, that's all . I'm working on most of my stories right now so I'll have those updated as soon as possible.

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

Drake

The sound of heavy knocking on my door woke me up. I looked at the time and rolled my eyes. Who the fuck is knocking at my door at eight in the morning? I pulled myself out of bed and threw on a shirt before getting the door. I opened it and was shocked to see my old best friend from high school standing there.

“Shad?” I asked surprised.  I haven’t seen him in a couple of years. We were close but lost contact after a tragic accident of mine.

“Wassup Drake!” He exclaimed as we dapped each other up. I opened the door and let him in.

“What are you doing here?” I questioned as we made our way to our way to my living room.

“Look I need your help. You remember how I coach the dance team at Lenore High School?” He looked around my living room.

“Yeah how’s that going?” I asked.

“Not good. Our boy’s team has won state champions ten years in a row,” he told me.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” I was confused.

“It isn’t when the girl’s team hasn’t won in twenty years,” he explained.

“The girls were never good when we were in high school,” I shrugged.

“I’m trying to turn them around but I need your help,” he pleaded.

“I don’t coach, especially girls.” I turned the offer down. Working with girls would be too much drama.

“Look Drake if we win state champions, we could get a lot of money to help out the school. They’re thinking about tearing Lenore down. It’s becoming more of a problem every day,” he sighed. I was shocked. It would kill me to see Lenore High School torn down. Generations of my family went to that school.

“Why do you think I can even help you? I haven’t even coached a day in my life,” I brushed it off.

“But you’ve gone to the All-Star World Championships and won. If you can do that, teaching girls how to dance shouldn’t be a problem.” He had a point but I stopped dancing for a reason and I don’t feel like doing it again.

“What’s in it for me?” I was weighing out my options.

“You have a lot of money and you’re doing well for yourself but you’re lonely. You’ll get to do something that you love again. You haven’t danced since that accident and it’s about time you start. You could have been a legend.” He looked at me.

About six years ago, I was graduating from high school and I had gotten into the biggest dance college in Paris, France. I was going to go but I was worried about my mom’s health. We were driving her to the doctor and this car slammed into us. She died immediately on impact while I had suffered with a horrible knee injury. My doctor said I shouldn’t dance for about two years and after that, I lost the passion. I still felt like if I would have driven a little slower, would that car miss us? A stupid drunk driver and my stupidity killed my mom. I refused to ever dance again so I went and became the owner of one of the biggest dance studios in the country. I made millions but I never would step foot in there. I did that for kids who were like me so they wouldn’t lose their passion.

“I don’t think so. Maybe you can find someone else.” I walked to my fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

“Just come to the auditions tomorrow and see if there is anyone who inspires you,” he pleaded one last time.

“Alright but I’m not making any promises,” I agreed. No one has inspired me in a while. I might sound a little cocky but I haven’t seen a better dancer than myself in years. I walked into the gym the next day and saw about thirty girls sitting on the bleachers. “You made it!” Shad exclaimed while we shared a brief hug.

“Yeah,” I said as I looked around the room.

“So are you going to do this?” He asked as I thought about it for a minute. A slight smile  made it’s way onto my face when the idea popped into my head.

“One condition,” I smirked at the thought.

“Anything.”

“I want to bring in someone else to help us,” I explained to Shad.

“Who?”

“Chimere,” I smiled while thinking about her.

“Whoa, I haven’t seen her in years,” he laughed. We all were cool with each other back in high school and they were honestly my family so it’ll be nice to have the three of us back together again. I observed the girls as they waited for practice to start. No one caught my eye but the door opened and a girl came rushing in.

“I’m sorry I’m late my-,” she started but I cut her off.

“I don’t care why you’re late. I don’t like excuses, life happens. From now on you have to be in this gym ten minutes before practice starts. If you show up nine minutes before then you’re gone. I don’t care what the excuse is. If you have a problem with my rules then you’re gone. What is your name?” I asked while I stared at her. Her hair was in a ponytail and she had on a white shirt that gripped her body and sweats. She looked like she stayed up the entire night.

“My name’s Nicki.” She shifted all of her weight onto one side and her dance bag still hung on her shoulder.

“I just added a new rule. When I ask you your name, I want your birth name. I don’t care what your friends call you. I am not your friend. So once again, what is your name?” I looked down at her.

“Onika.” She rolled her eyes.

“Well Onika, go take a seat and lose the attitude before you’re gone,” I taunted. She sucked her teeth while she walked away and sat by her friends. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy.

“Any questions?” I asked. A girl raised her hand with a weird expression on her face. I nodded towards her.

“You do know that Nicki is basically the team right?” She smacked her lips while everyone agreed.

“What’s your name?” I looked at her.

“Nae,” she said simply.

“Birth name.” I was getting sick of repeating myself.

“Jaznae,” she snapped.

“Well Jaznae, I don’t care if Onika is the best dancer on this team. I do not tolerate tardiness,” I said sternly.

“As if, that wanna be Barbie bitch ain’t got shit on me,” I heard a girl comment. I looked over at her with her friends. This is exactly what I’m talking about. There’s already drama between these girls.

“What’s your name?” I asked her.

“Cassie,” she laid back on the bleachers.

“If I have to repeat myself one more time.” I controlled my frustration but they were pushing it. If there was one thing I hated the most, it was tardiness.

“Casandra.” She looked me over with a stank expression on her face.

“Well Casandra, let me inform you of something. I don’t care who you are but there will be no bringing each other down on this team. Any problem you have with anyone, I suggest you squash that because if you let that get in the way then you will be gone. Another thing, I am the only one who can curse around here. Anytime I hear a curse word, you all will be doing one hundred pushups,” I informed them. I heard smacking of teeth and saw a bunch of them roll their eyes.

“Coach ain’t you gonna do something about this?” Jaznae asked Shad.

“Coach Graham over there is your new coach. We will be team coaching you guys this year,” he looked over at me and I nodded. I think I can do this. It’ll take a while but I was about to turn this team around.

 

I got this idea from the movie Battle of the Year but it's nothing like the movie. I just got some basic information from it. If you haven't seen that movie then you should :)

Prologue: Worth The Wait

Drake Graham thought he could go the rest of his life living in regret. That’s all he wanted to do but his old high school friend, Shad, needed his help. Drake didn’t know a thing about coaching but somehow ended up being the coach to the girl’s dance team at Lenore High School. He teamed up with Shad and his best friend, Chimere. Together they were going to try and transform that dance team into a winning one.

Nicki knew that she was the best on the team and didn’t care if others didn’t want to accept it. She wasn’t cocky, just confident. She didn’t have problems with any of the girls on the team except for one, Cassie. They have a past that the two can’t seem to push behind them. Nicki didn’t know how much her life would change when she met Coach Graham.

Cassie wasn’t a mean person. She had her reasons when it came to Nicki but she didn’t have a problem with anyone else. She just wanted to fly through her senior year but Shad seemed to have other plans with her.

Shad is excited to work with Drake and Chimere. He wanted to help the team the best he could. He hated drama but he always seemed to start it when it came to Cassie. He had known her for years but had been oblivious for years. He knew that Cassie had a crush on him but he thought that it would wear off. Boy was he wrong.

Blakelynn just moved from California to live with her cousin, Nicki. She wanted a fresh start and to forget everything that happened in Cali but she couldn’t escape her past. Running into Jaznae definitely took her by surprise and it didn’t help that she was best friends with Nicki. She knew that she would have to face her problems with her eventually.

Jaznae lived by simple rules and she just wanted to have a relaxing year. She thought nothing would be surprising but she would’ve never thought that she would’ve run into Blakelynn. Nicki didn’t know the past between those two but Jaznae was determined for answers. She’s waited years to see her again and wouldn’t give up until she knew the truth.

Chimere couldn’t stand being around teenage girls for too long but she was doing this for Drake. She’ll call out bullshit in a heartbeat and it seemed to rub Nicki and Jaznae the wrong way. She knew that someone would have to be tough on this team. She just didn’t expect someone to break her walls down.

Join these coaches and dancers as they go on a long and emotional journey. It may take a while but it’ll be worth the wait.

Worth The Wait Secondary Cast

Part 1: Building A Team

Alezae

Benoite

Bethonia {Nia}

Carlynda

Carmelina

Carrington

Dhyana {Yana}

Galaxy

Meyshia

Noxolo

Shreya

Tasmine

Yetty

Zhaleh