Beyond the Beats

Chapter 1. Wish

Doing a double flip in the end would have added more dynamic, but it might have also ended up ruining the whole sequence. I wasn't okay with the guys planning on increasing the stunts, reducing the amount of floorwork I had suggested yesterday.

"Bhoomi, can you please show the steps again? I am not able to catch the part where you cross the right leg over the left," Akshay said, hopping on his heels impatiently.

I shook my head and planted my butt on the cool floor of the dance station we had built behind our crew captain, Vibhan's garage. If Vibhan hadn't managed to convince his father to lend him the extra space instead of selling it out, we would still be either practicing on our terraces or the streets.

"Bhoomi, please!" Akshay pleaded.

"Nope. You guys don't even listen to me, so why should I waste my energy on you?" I retorted.

No matter how much my best friend gave me his puppy eyes, I wasn't going to budge. He and the rest of the guys had managed to get into the quarter-finals of the underground dance battle and were serious about winning it.

"If you are not going to help, then move your butt," Rehman, one of our crewmates, commented to me.

"First learn how to do the choreography properly, moron," I snapped.

Rehman glared at me. "Don't you dare challenge me, girl. Even if you are currently better than me, I will practice so hard that one day you will yourself ask for my autograph."

I rolled my eyes. "Sure, sure."

Akshay grabbed my wrists and pulled me off from the floor. "Please, Boom Boom Boomer, we promise we will do as you say."

I nodded, and told Jiya, our DJ, to give me the beat. I told the guys to focus because it was the last time I was going to show them the moves I had choreographed. The six guys paid full attention as Jiya played the song "16 shots" by Stefflon Don.

(👆Bhoomi's routine)

I touched the floor with my fingertips and prayed to the Lord Shiva. Then, I began. The vibrations traveled from the speakers to my soles, moving my body to the rhythm. After dancing for two minutes, I stopped and raised my eyebrows at my audience.

"See? Avoiding unnecessary stunts would be much better," I said.

"You killed it, Bhoomi," Jiya yelled and clapped loudly.

Akshay sported a huge grin, and I walked sassily before Rehman and flipped my hair behind my shoulder. He shook his head, and I pinched his arm before grabbing my bag and zooming out of the garage.

"Do your best!" I shouted.

Unfortunately, I couldn't spend more time with my friends. Under the blazing sun of the May month, I maneuvered through the small streets of our slums and reached Chawl no. 6. Without wasting any more time, I entered the fourth house and started with my work.

"Oh, Bhoomi, it's you today? Did your mother fall sick again?" the owner of the house, Sharda Aunty, asked worriedly.

I gave her a short nod as I picked up the piles of dishes and put them in the sink. Rolling my sleeves up, I tied my hair in a bun and began scrubbing the dirty dishes with a motive to get over the task as soon as possible.