THE BAD BOY AND THE CHEERLEADER

THE BAD BOY AND THE CHEERLEADER - CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 4:

MUSIC PLAYSLIST FOR THIS CHAPTER:

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/18716515083

CALEB'S POV:

"Caleb! Caleb! Come play with me!" Ugh! What time is it? And why is this midget bugging me so early on a Saturday morning?

I lift my head from the pillow and say, "Go bug your sister runt. It's too early to play."

"I can't. She already left. And it's not early. It's late. I already ate breakfast and lunch." Chance says.

I look at my alarm clock, it's past noon. That's not early for a Saturday. I guess I should get up. I'm supposed to hang out with my friend Dante today. Dante is my brother from another mother. An African-American mother. We have been best friends since the third grade. We both liked the same girl and used to get into fights over her all the time. It used to drive the teacher crazy. Halfway through the year, the girl moved away and we called a truce. We've been best friends ever since.

I get up, take a shower, dress and head downstairs. My dad is on the couch watching ESPN. Julie is over by the 'shrine' to Gianna, dusting the pictures and trophies.

I get and my dad's attention and tell him, "Hey dad, I'm heading down to Denver to hang out with Dante. I might be home tonight, or I might spend the night at mom's."

"Oh, Dante, haven't seen him in awhile. Tell him I said 'hi' and remember, it's a fresh start son." My dad says.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be a good little boy. Scout's honor." That's funny. They kicked me out of the boy scouts. Damn my parents were pissed, more embarrassed, though, than anything else.

I head out of the house, get in my car and take off. I put on "Reptilia" by The Strokes. Twenty minutes later, I'm on I-25, heading south towards downtown. I have "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes playing on my stereo now. I can see the skyscrapers down in the valley from this part of the freeway. I think to myself 'now there's my city'. I can't imagine having to live up north in the suburbs for the next two years. But, if I do, the moment I get my diploma, I am moving back to the city.

As the freeway starts bending around Coors Field, I start thinking about last night. I'd really like to kick Josh's ass all over again. I don't really know what to make of Gianna. That girl confuses the shit out of me. She dresses in Abercrombie, but listens to rap music. She's a popular cheerleader, but seems anti-social at school. She has a boyfriend, but doesn't really seem to want much to do with him

And who the hell is Jared? I haven't met any Jared at school. And why does she call him in a crisis? Whatever, that girl isn't my problem. Let her momma worry about her.

When I pull in front of Dante's house, I see him sitting out front. He sees me, opens the screen door and yells, "Mom! Caleb's here! I'm taking off!"

When he gets into my car he says, "What's up man? Aw man, turn this shit off." He hooks up his mp3 and puts on "Forever" by Drake. Dante doesn't like any of the music he likes to call "white boy music" that I like, but he knows that I like all music, so I won't mind anything he puts on. I don't discriminate, if music is good, it's good. End of story.

"I don't know what's up. I don't live down here anymore, remember? So, what do you have in mind for today?" I ask him.

"Well, you remember those chicks we met playing basketball at the park on Monday? We could call them up and see if they want to hang out tonight." he says.

"Sounds good. There was this chick at my new school that I was feeling, but she was too damn clingy, so I had to ditch her ass last night." I tell him.

"Cool, I'll call them and see what's up." Dante says while pulling out his cell. Then he says, "Aw man, I just got a text from my cuz. I forgot I promised him I would come check out his crew tonight."

"That's okay. We can just take the girls with us." I say.

LATER THAT NIGHT . . .

We have to park kind of far away and walk to the club. We picked up Nina and Kara at Nina's house and I'm pumped to be out in the city on a Saturday night. These ladies are hot and I can tell they got all done up for us. The effort is much appreciated. It seems as though we've already paired off. Dante is walking up ahead with Nina and I'm walking with my arm around Kara.

Finally we reach the club. Dante's cousin is performing with his crew tonight and Dante promised him that he would come watch. I haven't seen his cousin Taye for awhile, but he is pretty cool, so I don't mind coming along.

We get our drink on and dance with the girls. After being there for an hour, the lights turn off and spotlights come on in the far corner of the club where there is a raised area of the floor, the crowd cheers. Standing under the spotlights is a group of about 10 people that are all dressed in gray hoodies, with the hoods up, black basketball pants and white sneakers. They all have their heads down and then the music starts. It is "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force. They lift their heads and start break dancing. I have to admit it's pretty tight.

After a few minutes, the music changes to Aaliyah's "Try Again". Eight guys rip off their hoodies and two girls take off their hoodies and rip off their basketball pants (I guess they had snaps along the sides). The guys are just wearing their basketball pants and white tank tops. The guys split up in groups of four and each group surrounds one of the girls. Each of the girls are wearing pink tank tops with black short shorts.

The guys are all taking turns popping and breaking around the girls, pretending they are competing for the girls' attention. Before one can finish dancing, another one is pushing him out of the way and standing in front of the girl he is trying to get the attention of. While all this is going on, the girls rotate between standing there with one hand on their hip, looking up in the air in a stuck-up manner and popping back at the guy in front of them at the moment.

I find this performance fascinating. Definitely the best I've ever seen. Why is it interesting me so much, you ask? Because one of those girls up there is my new stepsister.