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ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : Always on Time by Jay Rule, Ashanti
I REMEMBER the first time i witnessed someone dance with their crew in the middle of maryland. the way they glided on the floor and how quickly they moved to the music. i was in awe as the moves got more complex. how can a person be so comfortable and so confident. not only that but the family oriented crew that was performing. the trust they had with eachother to do such complex and incredible moves. growing up, i was always told that confidence is the main attribute you obtain as you dance and i can support that. after i learned how to dance, i was never that shy girl from elementary school or that lonely girl from middle school.
dance turned into an escape for me. escape from all the societies pressures and it allowed me to express myself and feel free. i dance because dance can change everything and it will change my entire path.
_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐_________
my small ipod begins on shuffling my playlist. i have an audition today at msa and my hype playlist is setting up the mood. i put my a change of clothes in my duffle bags and look at the mirror. pictures of my friends are stuck to corners of the mirrors. photos from the last time we hung out at the mall and cute little stickers that i bought from the store. i smile softly as i look at it one last time.
i quickly spray some fantasy perfume by britney spears and place it back on my counter. i add some spray to my hair and fix it a bit. i quickly walk out of my room and head to the kitchen. i pick out a granola bar from the cabinet. its currently 6:30am in the morning, the earliest i have ever woken up. there is a soft shuffle that quickly makes me turn. i see dad sleeping on the couch with a much of papers surrounding him. i take one of the letters and my heart instantly drops.
complaint for absolute divorce.
"papa? come let's go to bed. were you awake all night?" he quickly opened his eyes and stood up. the creaks of the wooden floor and smoke detectors annoyed me and he slowly heads over to his room. i let out a sigh and storm out of the house, slamming it behind me. the abandonment of my mother has hard for both of us. i felt the lump in my throat grow bigger as i continue to walk down the dark streets towards the train station. the abandonment of a mother is difficult, but the absence of a father who is here feels heavy.
the weather is humid and super hot today. the sun begins to rise as i quickly walk down the crosswalk. apparently it's going to rain later at night which i'm not prepared for. i walk down to the subway and wait for my train. i'm the only one waiting for the train and i put on my hoodie to prevent from anyone to see me. people like to start conversation and i like to mind my own business. i put on my earbuds and click down on my iPod playlist.
auditions are today and i need to do my absolute best.
ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : 369 by Cupid & B.o.B
MOOSE'S POV
i enter the auditorium and look over at andie talking with director collins in front of the audition table. the auditorium is dimmed and i see my ex classmates working the lights with the stage crew. i look at andie she looks pretty heated and upset. i quickly walk inside and walk towards the table. msa auditions are today and director collins is always stressed during this time. you can't even smile at him or he'll get pissed. actually, no one ever smiles at him, but i do. he's a legend. any interaction i can get with him... i'll take it.
"please blake- sorry mr. blake ahh director collins... just LET me sit in this for this audition.... please. i want to see who would be a good member for the crew." andie crosses her arms. the raspy voice of hers is now stern and harsh. director collins sternly nods his head no. andie stands no chance with director collins. director collins does not budge with it comes to coming in between school things.
"ms. west, there is more than just seeing who dances well. we need to see them as an overall dancer. we look for potential. it will be extremely unprofessional to let students inside a closed audition."director collins continues as he rubs his forehead with this thumb and index finger.
"but, chase-"
"ms. west, my final answer is no. now get to class before you get detention." collins says as he takes a seat on the chair.
"moose, please take andie outside and get back to class." he looks over at me as he fixes his papers. i was shocked he got my name right and i quickly agreed.
"yes sir mr president sir." i stand up straight and interlock arms with andie. andie let's out a groan and walks out with me. i giggle and rub her shoulder with my hand as we both walk out together.
"god! he remembered my name!!! can you believe it." i say excitedly as we walk out of the auditorium. the sun beams in my face and i adjust my hat. andie rolls her eyes and walks away. i quickly catch up to her and wrap my arm around her shoulders.
"andieeee, don't worry, plus i think we are a fine crew don't you think? why do you want more members?" i ask as we walked over to the hallway. the rest of the students walk past us, doing double looks. ever since the streets, our crew has gotten very popular. many people wanting to be our friends or a simple hi back gets them excited. andie and i know that it's all fake though, they weren't like that with us before.
"i think we have so much potential moose...we can actually make a living out of dancing. we have the talent to make it big and i want to make our crew even bigger." andie says as we approach her locker. she begins to struggle with her locker and i take over for her.
"thanks." she adds. i let out a toothy smile. i get her point, we are pretty talented. she's my best friend and i will follow whatever or wherever she wants to go. i'm worried that she will take this way too seriously and forget the true passion of dancing. after the streets, we have a new set of expectations set in us and andie is worried that if we don't fulfill them... then life would go back to the way it was.
"you're the boss" i smile and she hugs me before she walks off. she values my approval and my comments and i appreciate it so much. that's how it's been for us, she won't ever do anything without talking to me first.
andie and i have gotten closer and i'm very grateful for that. i see her like an older sister and she will always be my best friend.
_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐_________
I STAND in the lobby of the auditorium and see the rest of the people coming behind me. they look extremely professional and they look classically trained. i look down at my clothes and cringe. would they accept this? what if they don't like my style of dancing. whatever, it's dance. i walk up to the table and see 5 people sitting in the table.
"music please." the person next to me says. he is wearing a cap and i hand him my iPod. he thanks me and looks up at me. i noticed the difference in attire from him and the rest of the people. they are wearing suits and business like outfits while he is wearing some pants, a cap and a hoodie.
"do you have your paperwork?" the younger one of the judges asks. he must be director collins. he looks far to young to be director. maybe he understand students and goes easy with them. oh how i wish. my previous principle was an old lady and was very difficult to talk to.
"yeah" i say shyly as i hand him my paper and look down at the younger judge looking at me. he looks around my age, but i'm not sure. i say hi, to break the silence and he says hi back. i walk up in front of the stage and he plugs in my ipod to the speaker.
i couldn't look at the faces of the judges but the music was cut off, not even halfway through the dance. i think it's one of the older judges who shut it down. i'm sure of it, based on her expression. i was taken of guard and saw the younger one mouth wow and smile. is that a good sign? i stand awkwardly with the lights beaming on my face. director collins looked over at the judge who shut the music down and stammered as he fixed his papers.
"uh thank you ms. morales." director collins said and i got my duffle bag and walked down towards them.
the younger boy gave me my ipod and i embarrassingly took it from his hands. i couldn't believe that my routine got cut off. i rolled my eyes and walked the hell out of that auditorium. that's the most disrespectful thing you can do to a dancer.
CHASE'S POV
i looked at her song choice and i quickly smiled excitedly. i felt blake look towards me as he noticed that i was now interested. i had to watch hours of ballet auditions and it was driving me nuts. the music so mellow and it honestly made me feel so tired.
she took in the middle of the stage and began to relax. the way i are by timbaland began to play. excellent choice.
"moose is going to love her." i chuckle and blake rolls his eyes. i look at her dancing and she is amazing. her technical skills and she hits every single beat. i could tell she has a lot of dancing experience. her technicality is amazing and her flow is so nice. suddenly the song got cut off. i quickly look over at mrs. roberts and i let out a groan. of course that old lady will stop this. she has giving my brother a difficult time and hates the changes that msa is going through.
"what will the sponsors think of this?" is what i hear from her everyday. i feel extremely terrible for my brother, but i thank him for allowing msa to expand instead of being focusing only on one style of dance.
as kalani leaves, i look over a mrs. roberts, ready to say something, but she beats me to it.
"director collins, i understand that you let msa crew start a program here, but what happened to your goal of this school becoming the next julliard?" she began to ramble. i roll my eyes and intervene.
"are you kidding me, that's the best dancing we have seen all day. blake, i want her in." i say as i run out of the auditorium from the side door to find andie and moose.
ANDIE'S POV:
i hold onto moose's lunches tray as as i see him hugging sophie. i stand awkwardly in the middle of the cafeteria and smile at the people who are staring me wondering why i'm just standing there. he plants a kiss on her cheek and i hear her giggle as she fixes his beanie. as moose comes back towards me, she walks back over to her lunch table with the rest of her friends. sophie and i aren't friends but i respect her since she's moose's girlfriend.
"i didn't know you have that in you moosky." i added, rolling my eyes as he walks over to me. i hand him over his lunch tray as we walk over to the patio where the rest of the msa crew was waiting.
"girl, you should know that robert alexander the third has a lot of love to give. don't worry andie, you're my number one girl." he jokes as she slightly pushes me with his shoulder. i push him away and make a gag sound followed by a giggle. i was really suprised when moose told me that sophie kissed him after the streets. he was in shock as well, he couldn't even speak. i had to push him to speak. moose really likes sophie and even pushed his feelings away because he felt that he was going to be betraying chase. chase was the one that told him that it's okay and he shouldn't push his feelings away. moose is so respectful and i couldn't ask for a better best friend. i see chase coming towards us and i begin to blush. he comes over at me and plants a kiss on my lips.
"can i have one too chasey?" moose puckers his lips and leans in. chase pulls moose's beanie down his face and i let out a chuckle. moose groans and fixes his beanie.
"how are you babe? how were the auditions?" i ask and he lets out sigh. he hates being a part of the auditions just because it's the same routines every single time and it gets pretty boring.
"same old routines but..." he said and i get excited. my eyebrows raise and grab his hands.
"but?" moose and i say in unison. chase smiles to himself and continues.
"there was this one person...her name is kalani morales and she did amazing. i think you'll really like her babe, especially you moose." i look over at moose and he stops chewing his tofu dog. he looks super confused and i get the napkin from his tray and clean his cheek that is covered with mustard.
"me? why me?" he swallows and he chews the rest of the tofu dog.
"because she danced to your favorite song." chase said as he got closer to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. we all walked towards the patio and see the crew sitting down and waving over at us.
"timbaland?!!!" he said finally swallowing. chase nodded and moose looked impressed. moose left and went over to the crew. i turned towards chase and asked when we can meet her. if this kalani girl as good as chase says, then we definitely have a chance to dance for artists and make a name for ourselves...outside msa.
_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐_________
KALANI'S POV
it's been a couple hours since my audition and i have been stalling going home. i walk over to tito's cafe and sit in the stole in front of the laura, my mother's best friend and godmother. the smell of coffee and pancakes enters my nostrils and my stomach instantly growls. having only a granola for breakfast isn't the ideal breakfast.
"mija, how was it?" laura finally speaks as she cleans the counter with a white cloth. i hear the sound of dishes and food sizzling behind her.
"i'm not sure, i think i did good but it was hard to tell from their expression" i didn't want to say they cut my music short.
"eres muy talentosa mija! you're dad must be so proud of you. animo" she says and i smile. it's hard to feel disappointed with laura's constant encouragement. i hope my dad is proud, but honestly i feel like he sees right through me.
"i'll bring you some food." laura smiles and turns over to the cook. i wait patiently and look down at my blackberry. no text message from msa admissions.
laura places the plate in front of me and thank her. i begin to eat and enjoy the soft pancakes and hash browns.
my phone suddenly rings. i felt counter vibrate and my heart begins to beat fast. the same feeling you get once you are about to go on a roller coaster. it could either be a good experience or bad experience. the same feeling you feel once you take your seat.
i turn over my blackberry and quickly answer the call.
hello, this is maryland school of arts admission. may i please speak to kalani j morales?
┌── •✧• ──┐
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