Dance With Me (Norminah & Camren)

Chapter 4: How's Your Day Going?

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Normani's POV

The next rehearsal was better. Dinah was only 5 minutes late.

"Sup ManManz!" she said, sidling into the studio, glued to her phone, "How's your day going?"

"Why do people always ask that if they don't really care about the answer?" I asked, holding the leg stretch that I'd been working on.

"What do you mean?" Dinah asked, putting her stuff away.

"I mean, aren't you always supposed to reply with 'Good. How about you?' even if your day is crap and you don't really care about the other person's day? I personally think small talk is a waste of time."

Dinah sat down beside me to stretch and said, "In that case, I'm one of the rare ones that does care about the type of day you're having."

"How come?"

"Cuz I wanna know that you're doing well. And if you're having a bad day, I want you to know that I'm here to make your day better," Dinah said, stretching her legs, "Jesus Manz, do you always question traditional greeting etiquette? What do you say when your mom and dad ask you about your day?"

"Nothing, cuz I don't have parents."

Dinah froze mid-stretch and quietly said, "I'm so sorry, Normani. I really didn't know..."

"Why're you sorry? It's not your fault I don't have parents," I said conversationally.

"Do you mind if I ask what happened?" Dinah asked cautiously.

I let out an involuntary snort of laughter at Dinah's sudden solemnness and said, "You don't have to take that dramatically pitiful tone with me, you know. It's not a touchy topic."

"It's not?"

"No. Maybe it would've been a touchy topic if I knew my parents, but I never did. They're either dead or didn't want me. I grew up in an orphanage and was surrounded by kids like me, so I always thought it was normal not having parents. And that's it. Nothing dramatically tragic happened."

"And...you never wanted to find out who your parents were?"

"Not really. I'm used to having control over all aspects of my life. And I feel like if I were to suddenly find out about them, then my life would be thrown off balance. And I don't have time for all that nonsense, I have a dance career to start."

"Okay..." Dinah said, resuming her stretches, "So, how'd you end up here, majoring in dance?"

"Well...I've been dancing since I was a kid. It started as an extracurricular activity at the orphanage, and the people who were teaching us ballet and contemporary thought that I was good and trained me as a part of their troupe. They were a volunteer group, so we never got paid for anything. I wanted to do dance at a professional level, so I quit the troupe after high school and applied to dance schools. NYU was the only school that gave me a full ride scholarship, so I ended up here. And I haven't gotten any offers from professional companies yet, so this is my last chance to get recruited. If I don't get recruited, I'll have to join the grueling audition scene, which I really can't do with two part-time jobs."

"Two part-time jobs? But I thought you had a full ride."

"Yeah, but even with room and board, New York is expensive. Plus, I gotta save up for emergency out-of-pocket expenses, a house, a car, my kids' futures, my retirement, my funeral-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. You never told me you had kids."

"I don't, but someday I will. And when I do, I have to be prepared to take care of them. I like to plan ahead."

"I've noticed," Dinah said with a small laugh, "Saving up for your funeral already, huh? You planning on clocking outta this world soon or something?"

"No, I do not plan on dying soon. But I've planned out my entire life and I plan on sticking to the plan."

"And what's the life plan, if you don't mind me asking."

"It's simple really. I'll put on the best dance at the showcase. Then, I'll get recruited by a professional dance company. Then, I'll fall in love with someone and be married by 27. Then, I'll have a kid by 30 and a second one by 33. By 35, my husband and I will have fallen out of love with each other, so I'll get a divorce. At which point, I'll be too emotionally drained for another marriage, so I'll just focus on building up my own dance company. At 65, I'll retire and spend the rest of my time traveling or with my grandkids. Then at 78, I'll pass away peacefully in my sleep."

"Holy crap...you know when you're gonna fall in love, get a divorce, and die too? You psychic or something?"

"Of course I'm not psychic. I based my life plan on statistical research of the average American. The years are probably going to vary a little, but I expect my life to turn out this way."

"God, you're really something else," Dinah giggled, shaking her head in apparent disbelief.

"You don't believe in my plan?" I asked, glaring at her.

"Does it really matter what I think?"

"If you see a flaw in my plan, I'd like to know."

"I think your entire plan is whack, especially that part about falling in love."

"Oh really?" I scoffed, crossing my arms defensively.

"You don't plan to fall in love, Normani. It just kinda happens. And I'm willing to bet you anything that you'll fall in love when you're least expecting it, and it's gonna throw your entire life plan off balance."

"I disagree. When it's the right time, I'll fall in love with the man that I have sketched out in my mind."

"And when that doesn't happen, I expect you to find me and buy me an extra-large trente caramel frap. Deal?" Dinah asked, holding up her pinky.

"I accept your bet," I replied, tangling my pinky with hers to seal the deal, "Now, can we get on with the choreo?"

"Answer my question first."

"What question?"

"How's your day going?" Dinah asked with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and said, "Good. How about you?"

"Nope. I'm only gonna tell you when you genuinely care. Otherwise, I don't believe in wasting time with small talk when we have a dance to choreograph," Dinah said smugly, before standing up and walking to the middle of the dance floor.

I rolled my eyes again, praying to God for patience, and then got up to join my annoying dance partner.

A/N: This is Norminah endgame, so place your bets now: who's gonna fall first Normani or Dinah?