Fate

Seven: Warning

"Alright Lani, suit yourself, but don't come running to me when he hurts your feelings. I mean I am gonna be there for you, but still. Don't say I didn't warn you." Chanel says and I nod.

Once I fully learn the choreography, I help Chanel teach it to our older dancers which doesn't take long because they learn fast. Fixing their simple mistakes are what takes the longest. "Point your feet, Jas!!" I yell out, clapping my hands.

We go over the routine multiple times before allowing the students to leave, making sure to let them know that they must continue to practice while they're at home so that we can be competition ready.

"Uhh, Ms. Lani, can I talk to you?" Ryleigh asks softly, making me focus my attention on her. "privately please" she whispers and I nod, motioning for her to follow me into my office.

"Wassup up, babygirl?" I smile as tears fall from her eyes. "Ryleigh, what's wrong? Talk to me."

"I-I'm quitting the team. My mama wanted me to go ahead and tell you so that you can find my replacement for the competition."

"Tell your mama that she doesn't have to pay your balance for you to stay on the team. I'll cover it because I know times are hard and ..." I trail until she cuts me off.

"It's not that, Ms. Lani. I-I'm pregnant." She says before getting up and walking out of my office and leaving the studio.

My mouth drops and no words are formulated when I think about sweet, innocent, thirteen year old Ryleigh being pregnant. There's no way in hell that she's been out here having sex. I mean obviously she has because she's pregnant, but I just can't imagine it.

Once the studio clears out, Chanel and I lock up and leave; heading to our cars, "what was up with Ryleigh today?" She asks me.

"She told me she was quitting the team because she's pregnant." I sigh as I crank up and get into my car, dialing Chanel's phone number so we can continue our conversation.

"Wow, so I guess those rumors were true. I had been hearing some of the girls say that Ryleigh was raped, but I didn't believe it. Hopefully whoever did it is arrested. If I was her mama, I would've made her get an abortion. Just think about it, Ryleigh's gonna have to explain to her baby how his/her daddy raped her and thats how he/she was conceived. Everyday of her life she'll have to live with the reminder of being raped every time she looks at her kid. That's some tough shit. She'll probably need counseling."

Nodding my head as if she can see me, I keep quiet because I had no idea about the rape. Deciding that I don't want to talk about it anymore, I change the subject, "Chanel, did you get questioned by Detective Holloway? He was asking me about Drummer. You know anything about that?"

"Yeah, he tried to talk to me, but Jarell wouldn't let him. Jarell told me that there was a shooting down at Ray's that left some people injured. It was on the news and everything. Holloway is sure that Drummer and Brandon had something to do with it and they probably told him they were with us so Holloway was just checking out their alibis."

"Speaking of Brandon, how the hell did you end up on my couch with him?" I ask as I unlock my front door, walking inside and dropping my shoes off at the door.

"I was drunk as fuck so I texted him asking for dick. I sent him your address and once he came we were talking then things started to get heated. I almost fucked him, but I started crying because I started thinking about me and Jarell's relationship. It's just so bad and I want to leave him, I really do, but he'll never let me go." She sighs loudly into the phone.