Chapter 16: Easily Seen

Nicki’s P.O.V.

“Give me five more laps!” Coach Chimere yelled at us. I looked at Nae briefly as we shared a look. Ever since we refused to perform at the competition, Coach Chimere has been extremely hard on us. Finally Aubrey blew the whistle which signaled the end of practice.

“Alright girls so we have to learn a new dance tomorrow and we will be having cuts on Friday,” he explained.

“This time we will be judging you as a person and not just based on your dancing ability. We don’t wanna have another conflict right?” Coach Chimere smirked at me. I fought the urge to roll my eyes as we went into the locker rooms.

“So Nic, you ready for school to start?” Yana asked me as I switched my shirt.

“Am I ever? I hate school and I feel like this year is gonna be ten times worse than usual,” I huffed. I use to love school but now it just became a bother. Nae and I left the locker room and waited by my car. I raised an eyebrow when I saw Blake talking to Coach Chimere. Nae glanced at me and rolled her eyes. “Don’t be like that,” I warned as Blake walked over to us.

“Hey guys, you can leave without me. Chimere’s offering me a ride to the gym,” she smiled.

“We just got done with practice. Aren’t you tired?” I scrunched up my eyebrows.

“I could go another hour or two,” she shrugged and walked away. The rest of the girls loaded the car and we left.

Cassie’s P.O.V.

I was just about to walk out the door until I felt a tug at my elbow. “Lemme holla at you for a second,” Shad said in my ear. I gave CeeJay a look and passed her my car keys.

“I’ll be out in a minute,” I told her as I followed Shad to his office. He closed the door and turned to me.

“You wanna break up?” He asked me. I was caught off guard by the question.

“I wasn’t aware that we were actually together in the first place,” I crossed my arms.

“Don’t do this Cassie, why won’t you just tell me why you wouldn’t perform?” He tried to pull me to him but I pushed him away.

“I can’t do that Shad! I just can’t,” I tried to walk away from him but he grabbed me again.

“I’m not letting you walk away from me again,” he spun me around and made me lock eyes with him. “I love you Cassie and you know I would never judge you. You can tell me anything,” he assured me.

“You won’t look at me the same,” I contained my tears.

“Don’t you ever think that. No matter how bad it is, I’ll never look at you differently,” he pecked my lips.

“I’ll tell you but I can’t do it here. Can we go to our secret place?” I played with his fingers. He nodded as we headed to his car. I texted CeeJay that I was going with Shad.

Drake’s P.O.V.

“Aubrey I can’t find the,” Nicki stopped in the middle of her sentence when she reached my bedroom. I smirked as she eyed my body. I just got out of the shower and didn’t have on a shirt.

“See something you like?” I wiggled my eyebrows as she laughed.

“Nope, I’d like to find the popcorn though,” she smiled.

“Top right cabinet,” I explained as I pulled on my shirt. We went to the living room and sat on the couch. “So do you know what you’re doing for your birthday?” I was excited that she was finally turning eighteen in a few months.

“No, I think I’ll just stay home,” she shrugged.

“What? It’s your eighteenth birthday!” I was shocked that she didn’t wanna do anything.

“I know but I would rather just spend time with you and My,” she pecked my lips. I kissed her back and then pulled her close.

“You know I’m still gonna plan something right?” I looked at her.

“I know but your birthday is coming up first,” she looked at me.

“Yep, I’m turning twenty two,” I couldn’t believe I was turning twenty two.

“At least you’re still sexy,” she licked her lips.

“So you did see something you liked?” I smirked at her as she giggled. We watched the movie on the screen but about an hour into the movie Nicki received a call. She jumped up nervously as she spoke on the phone.

“Oh my god! I’ll be there as soon as possible!” She ended the call and started pulling on her shoes.

“What’s wrong?” I jumped up worried.

“Mylan had an asthma attack,” she had tears in her eyes as I pulled on my shoes.

“Which hospital?” I already had my keys in my hand and was halfway out the door.

Chimere’s P.O.V.

“So what do you wanna do after high school?” I asked Blake as we took a break. We were running for about an hour until we took a break.

“I don’t really know. I might do something dealing with art or music,” she shrugged.

“You can sing?” I was shocked to say the least.

“Everyone says I can sing but I think there’s still so much room for improvement,” she was so hard on herself.

“You’re tough on yourself,” I commented.

“If I’m not then who will be?” She let out a bitter laugh. I could tell she was feeling a bit down so I decided to change the subject.

“Come on, I know somewhere that you’ll love,” I jumped to my feet and dragged her with me.

“Okay,” she smiled as we went walking down a path.

~

“Here we are,” I said as we finally climbed up a hill.

“Whoa,” she looked at the view. It was a cliff with a beautiful view of the city. “How did you find this place?” She turned to me.

“I went for a long run and I ended up here,” I shrugged as we sat down. A comfortable silence took over as we took in the view.

“Thank you,” she told me.

“Don’t worry about it,” I shrugged it off. I like seeing her happy. She reminds me so much of myself when I was a kid so anything I can do to help is worth it.

Cassie’s P.O.V.

Shad grabbed my hand as we sat down. We went to my favorite beach. It was beautiful and not crowded so I instantly fell in love with it as a kid. “That guy that was at the competition was my ex,” I said quietly.

“I thought that was Nicki’s ex?” He scrunched up his eyebrows.

“Shhh, let me explain. He dated Nicki and I at the same time. I was trying to get over you so I thought getting a boyfriend was a perfect distraction. I was so wrong. He treated me like a queen and I fell for him. When I found out that he was dating Nicki, I was hurt. I wasn’t in my right mind so I went to a party I knew they both would be at. I wanted to confront Nicki for being a backstabber but when I went to find them, I only found him. I yelled at him and I kept pushing him off of me. I hit him really hard and it was like it triggered something in him. His eyes darkened and I couldn’t even tell who he was. He went haywire on me after that. He almost killed me,” I couldn’t even finish the story. Shad pulled me to him.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he kissed my hair as I cried into his chest. He knew I was in an abusive relationship but he didn’t know the full story. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to finish that story.

Nicki’s P.O.V.

I rushed into the hospital and went up to the desk. “I’m here for Mylan Maraj,” I quickly said. The lady looked at me and nodded.

“She’s in surgery right now but Doctor Quinn can tell you what happened,” she directed me to the doctor.

“Hi are you Onika Maraj?” He asked as Drake and I walked over to him.

“Yes,” I looked at him as he flipped through some papers.

“It says here that her mom died but her father is alive. Where is her father?” He raised an eyebrow at me.

“Can’t you just release the information to me?” I didn’t want them calling him.

“It says here we have to have the father’s consent,” he explained.

“I’m her father,” I turned around shocked.

“You’re Robert Maraj?” He questioned him. I shot Drake a look but he stepped up to the doctor.

“Yes sir, is that a problem?” He looked at the doctor as he shook his head. It seemed like he was intimidated.

“No problem at all. Mylan was playing on the playground at school when she tripped. She landed on some dirt that triggered her asthma. No one could find her inhaler and she started to freak out. From her medical history it shows that she has panic attacks frequently. She was screaming out for her mom and she couldn’t breathe. She became unconscious and now we’re trying to stabilize her,” he told us. My eyes watered as I became nervous.

“But she’s okay right?” I asked him.

“She’s fine and should be stabilized by now. You guys can go into her room,” he moved out the way as we made our way to her room. As soon as I got in there, I started crying harder. She had an oxygen mask over her and she was asleep. She looked peaceful but I knew when she awoke she would be in pain. I sat by her side and rubbed her hair.

“Thank you for what you did out there,” I glanced at Drake.

“I’d do anything for her,” he shot me a smile and walked over to her. My stirred and opened her eyes.

“Mommy,” she mumbled.

“I’m right here baby,” I pulled her close and kissed her hair. “I’m right here.”