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 :)