Dance With Me (Norminah & Camren)

Chapter 5: She's a Bad Influence On Me

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Normani's POV

Usually, Dinah and I never hung out in class. She'd always goof around with the other rowdy people, while I'd remain with the people who took dance seriously and stretched before class. So, I was surprised when Dinah came and sat beside me the day after our second rehearsal.

"Sup ManManz! How's your day going?" Dinah asked with a hint of mischief in her eyes.

"Good," I replied, continuing to stretch. I didn't ask how her day was going because she'd told me that she wasn't going to answer unless I cared. And honestly, I didn't care.

Dinah looked at me with a mischievous smirk, but didn't say anything. She stretched next to me quietly and kept stealing smug glances at me, which made me feel uncomfortable and like an asshole for not asking her about her day. After a few minutes I couldn't take her smug silence any longer and caved.

"So...how's your day?" I asked casually.

"Jee, I'd really like to answer you, Mani, but I've just never understood why people ask about things they don't care about. I think small talk is a waste of-"

"Okay, okay! You've made your point. I apologize for being rude yesterday. Just tell me about your day," I said irritably.

"You really wanna know?"

"Yes."

"You really, really wanna know?"

"You know what, forget it. I really don't care," I said grumpily, even though I might've cared a little bit.

Dinah laughed and said, "Okay, since you suddenly care so much and asked so nicely, I'll tell you. I'm having one of the best days ever!"

"And why's that?"

"I just booked tickets to go back home during Christmas! In a month, I'll get to see my new baby brother and my boyfriend and everyone else! I'm so excited!"

"Your boyfriend and family don't live locally?"

"Nope. They live in Santa Ana, California. My home town."

"Wow...that's quite a long distance for a relationship."

"Yeah, but distance doesn't matter when you're with your soulmate."

"That's so cheesy. Anyway, how did you meet this 'soulmate' of yours?"

"He was a football player at my high school and I was in the cheer squad."

"Wow, that's not cliché at all."

"Cliché, but cute. We fell in love on the football field and have been together for 7 years. We're gonna get married after I graduate next year! He should be proposing to me soon. We were planning on being engaged for about a year."

"Looks like you like planning ahead too. Why were you making fun of me yesterday then?"

"Mani, you literally have your divorce and death planned out," Dinah said with a giggle, "I may've made some vague plans, but there's no way I'm as talented as you in the planning department. I've never met anyone as crazy as you."

"I could say the same about you," I said defensively.

"What!? How am I crazy?"

"You've been together with your boyfriend for 7 years, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, you've been in a long-distance relationship with him since you moved to NYU, which is almost 3 years. I think that's pretty crazy."

"Not gonna lie, it is tough at times, but like I told you, distance doesn't matter with your soulmate. You'll understand when you fall in love."

"Well, if I was truly in love with someone, then I'd wanna be near them all the time."

"I don't doubt that," Dinah scoffed.

Someone yelled something in the class and there was movement, but I was too engrossed in this argument to pay attention. I glared at Dinah and asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Only that you're an extreme micromanager, Mani. You'd probably wanna be near him to control and plan every aspect of his life. You'd probably tell him what to eat, what to wear, what to say, go through his phone and laptop every night to make sure he's not watching porn, and when you turn 35, you'd probably be like 'Kay, I gotta divorce you now or my life plan will be thrown off balance',"

I wanted to argue with Dinah, but well...her words did seem accurate, so I just continued stretching quietly.

"Wow, I was just kidding, but you'd really do that, wouldn't you?" Dinah said with a laugh.

I rolled my eyes and said, "What's wrong with making sure he's a gentleman and making sure he isn't cheating on me?"

"Micromanaging someone's life is suffocating, Mani. That's probably why he's gonna happily divorce you at 35."

"Ugh, you're so annoying," I said defensively, "The only thing suffocating is this partnership between us."

"That's cuz I wasn't a part of your plan," Dinah said with a wink.

"Nope, you definitely weren't," I sighed.

"But you can't deny that I'm growing on you," Dinah said with a cheeky grin.

"What makes you think that?"

"You asked me how my day was and actually cared about my response."

"That's cuz you were making me feel like an asshole!" I said defensively, "I didn't actually care."

"If you didn't actually care, then you wouldn't have asked me follow up questions about my life," Dinah said with her annoying little smirk, "Just admit it, ManManz. I'm growing on you like an annoying pimple that you've gotten used to touching as a source of comfort."

I couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter at Dinah's analogy. "Did you just compare yourself to acne?"

"Life's way more fun if you know how to make fun of yourself. I may be annoying, but I'm cute, so it's okay."

"You're crazy," I giggled, shaking my head in disbelief.

Dinah smiled and said, "You should laugh more often, you know? You have a beautiful laugh."

I felt my cheeks heating up at her words. No one had ever told me that. Something strange was happening in my heart and stomach. Why're my insides all squirmy all of a sudden?

"Ms. Hansen! Ms. Kordei!" Sean yelled, startling me, "If you're finally done messing around, would you care to join us?"

Panicking, I looked around to find the entire class, which was circled up in the front, staring at us.

"Our bad, Bankie. We didn't hear you," Dinah said, making her way up to the circle.

As I quickly followed suit, Sean said, "Nice to see your annoying ass rubbing off on my top student already."

"Hey that's what you wanted when you put us together, right?" Dinah clapped back without a shred of hesitation.

"At least it's a two-way street. I've never seen your lazy ass stretch before class," Sean said.

"What can I say, she's a bad influence on me," Dinah joked, making everyone laugh.

Including me. 

A/N: How many people trynna change their bets?