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.