Remember When

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR- WIN OR LOSE

"Hey James..." I greeted a bit nervously. I'm not sure if he really wanted to talk to me.

"Is something the matter?" he said instantly, concern wavering his voice and I smiled. It's been almost a week since James left and went to their vacation house in Hawaii.

"No, no. I just haven't heard from you for awhile. How are you?" I asked.

"I'm good. Hawaii is just really great." His voice relaxed. I could feel the sun and beaches from the other line. Then he asked, "How about you?"

"Well... I... you see, um..." I stuttered.

"Jane." James said sharply and I let out a sigh.

"I'm nervous." I almost croaked the words out; it took much ego to admit that.

He gave out a chuckle at that, "You, Jane Carreline Hayes, nervous?" I groaned at the amusement in his tone. "What would be the extraordinary reason for you to feel that, huh?"

I sighed again yet answered anyways, "There's this showdown later. And the winner gets to do the solo number for the competition that's within a month."

"Wow, that's pretty huge. But what seems to be the problem?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm gonna have to compete with Kim." I admitted.

"Is she even a threat to you?" he scoffed.

"No." I blurted, really, she's not. "It's just... you know how she can be at times."

"But you're so much better than her. Just do your thing in that dance hall or whatever and do it the way a good dancer like you should." He said softly.

"Thanks James." I saw my boss glaring at me, his hand on his hips. "Oops, I've got to go."

"Sure, good luck okay? Not like you need it." He laughed.

"Thanks James, take care."

"You too. Tell me how it goes alright?"

"Yeah." And with that, I hang up. I don't even know why I called him, but I'm practically sure that I don't even regret it one bit. Talking to him made me relax and I know I'll do my best and win this showdown.

~''~

I made my way to the studio as soon as I finished my shift at the coffee shop. I'm really running late.

Honk. Honk.

I turned around and saw Quinn in the driver seat of her Mercedes-Benz and Carly waving at me by the passenger seat like crazy. Quinn drove the car and stopped in front of me, rolling her window down.

"Running late, sweetheart?" Quinn teased and I rolled my eyes at her.

"Will you give me a lift or what?"

"Of course." She laughed at me and I climbed in the back seat.

"So? Ready for tonight?" Carly turned around a little bit to beam at me while Quinn looked at me through the rear view mirror before focusing back on the road.

"Hell yeah." I said with confidence as I gather my hair and pulled it into a bun. Talking to James did boost my confidence.

"Damn girl, if you're nervous even for a little bit, I'll knock you senseless." Quinn said in a dead serious tone and Carly and I laughed at her silliness. The studio wasn't really far from the coffee shop, and we arrived at the dance studio in only a few minutes.

"Let's get this show on the road." Quinn said as she pulled her car in a stop, we all hopped out of the car and slammed our door shut. I took deep breaths as I stopped just by the entrance, I heard Quinn and Carly's footsteps making their way to me, stopping just by my side.

I smirked at nothing in particular and I glanced at both Quinn and Carly, same smirks were plastered on their beautiful faces. We all took a step inside the studio, and I don't need any oral communication to know that we were all thinking of what Quinn just said...

Let's get this show on the road.

I was off in my locker, stripping off my brown shorts and plain white t-shirt. I took my dark greenish Capri and loose white top, tying my shoes properly and making sure I was comfortable, I suddenly had a company.

Kim stood there, a satisfied smirk on her idiotic face.

"Hey pet... Shit face. " She said, her arms over her chest as she eyed at me. I took in her appearance, her long blonde hair tied up, she wore a black Capri and gray off-shoulder.

I stood up, eyeing her down, thank goodness I'm taller than her.

"Hey ho... Dancing slut. Ready to lose?" I saw a hint of a murderous glare, I thought I had affected or scared her, but it quickly turn into a mischievous glint. She smiled sweetly back at me, too sweetly.

"I don't care if I lose..." she said, taking a step forward. "Because seeing your priceless face when you see that person with that person will surely make me so overwhelm that I don't even mind if you win."

I rolled my eyes at her, "You do realize I don't understand what you just said?"

"You'll see it for yourself later." She shrugged at me then left.

God, she's really a lunatic, a dancing lunatic slut.

Shaking my head, I will not let Kim win this thing. I have no idea what she was saying but I was sure as hell that I won't let that get in the way of this showdown. Yet when I came out to the dance hall, I began to doubt if I will even win this.

Because what I saw was something I didn't even expect to see.