Breaking Promises (B-Boy #1) Page 15

  Katy nodded. “I took ballet when I was younger.”

  “I have great control over my body,” Clemence added.

  Okay, maybe it could be possible.

  My eyes bounced between both of them. “We need more than just the three of us.”

  “How many more do we need?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe at least four more.”

  Clemence’s white teeth flashed proudly. “Consider it done. We’ll recruit some people who’d want to partake in our cause.”

  “And what cause is this, exactly?” I asked doubtfully.

  Her eyes twinkled. “To finally put that asshole, Craig, in his place.”

  Mitch

  “Take that shit down!” I shoved Anthony toward the wall of our apartment. A mirror rattled above us before crashing down by our feet, sprinkling broken glass across our wooden floors.

  “What the fuck, man? What you have to go and do that for? My dad’s going to kill me!”

  “Not if I kill you first! Now take the fucking video down. How many times do I have to tell you?”

  Anthony shoved me back, twisting his face angrily. “I didn’t put it up there. How many times do I have to tellyou?”

  I took a step back, fighting the urge to rip his head off. “If you didn’t post it, then who did?”

  My roommate fixed his wrinkled shirt and grunted. “Who wasn’t at our last practice?”

  Leo. Of course!

  I threw my head back and growled. “Do you know why he did it?”

  “Beats me. Craig’s probably got something on him.”

  Craig.

  Why did every fucked up thing have to do with Craig?

  I shook my head in exasperation and walked over to the coffee table, grabbing my keys.

  “Where are you going?” Anthony demanded.

  “To Craig’s to put an end to all this bullshit,” I replied calmly.

  As expected, Anthony did not make any moves to stop me. Instead, in a quiet tone, he said, “Good luck.”

  ***

  I pounded my fist against the door. “Open up.”

  I pounded even harder.

  “Now!”

  The door opened, revealing a bored looking Craig, gripping a game controller in one hand and a sky blue lollipop in the other. From behind him I could hear Leo yelling at the T.V. Figured those two would be together right now.

  “What the fuck was up with that video, man?” I stepped inside, pushing past him and moving swiftly toward Leo. “And you! I know you posted it!”

  Leo slowly put his controller down, staring up at me fearfully. His jaw dropped, allowing his gum to fall onto the floor. It almost seemed too comical.

  Craig came up from beside me and kicked Leo in the leg. “Dude, man. Pick that shit up. I’m not going to lose my security deposit because of your pussy ass.”

  “What the fuck is your problem?” I glared at both of them. “As if my life wasn’t fucked up enough, you go ahead and do shit like this?”

  Craig shrugged. “We needed some notoriety before the battle.”

  “At Aurora’s expense?” I growled.

  Craig wagged his lollipop in my face. “See? Your reaction right there is why I did this. You were getting too caught up messing around with that chick. It was affecting your breaking.”

  “I wasn’t messing with her!” I yelled back. “I was—”

  I paused and abruptly shut my mouth. How could I admit something to these guys that I hadn’t really even admitted to myself? It didn’t matter, however, because Craig soon called me out on it.

  “In love?” He grunted and laughed. “Love doesn’t exist, mate. The only thing that should matter to you is beating Nocturnal and his crew. The way you’ve been dancing at our practices was a clear indication that you were going to blow it…for all of us!”

  Of course Craig couldn’t have known that I was practicing hardcore with Aurora. He probably thought I was putting all my attention on teaching her moves, when in reality she only needed a little bit of fine-tuning and in the end taught me something new. During our three weeks of training together, I was even able to come up with a few new moves of my own.

  “Weren’t you the same one who told me that girls were a waste of time?” Craig muttered.

  “That was before Aurora.”

  “Oh my God!” He rubbed his hands over this face. “When did you turn into some chick flick?”

  “You’re just an ass.” I turned to Leo and wagged my finger. “Take the video off.”

  “Fine. Fine.” Leo avoided Craig’s eyes.

  Good. He still knew were his real loyalties lay.

  As if reading my mind, Craig growled, “Word on the street is that Knight Crawlerz is still trying to recruit you.” He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “You going?”

  “Of course not.” I cracked my neck. “You know wheremy loyalty lies and that’s the precise reason you need to step off!”

  “Your girl was never going to cut it.”

  I lifted my chin. “And you’re a fucking asshole who’s too scared to open your mind to new things.”

  He chuckled, clearly unaffected by my rant. “I find it all embarrassing, honestly.”

  “What? That you can wear your ass on your head like that?” I grumbled.

  “That Aurora thinks she can make up her own crew and beat Annihilation.” He shook his head and let out a throaty laugh. “I mean, how stupid can you be? She’s fucking delusional. I don’t care if you trained her. You’re not a miracle worker. It was the only reason why I agreed to this dumb audition. I knew you two wouldn’t shut up about it until I saw her dance, even if I was going to let her in anyway.”

  My jaw dropped open. “What do you mean she’s making her own crew? How do you know?”

  He sat down on the couch and bit into his candy. “I heard it from Winter. A bunch of girls, spearheaded by that Aurora chick, were going around trying to recruit.”

  “Who did they try to get?” I asked in bewilderment. Had Aurora gone off the deep end?

  He shrugged. “A bunch of nobodies. Literal nobodies. I don’t think they danced any time in their life.”

  “How did Winter know?”

  He shrugged. “Guess they asked some of the b-girls too. You know the free agents like—”

  “Bamboo?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Knowing that desperada, she probably agreed to it.” Craig paused and eyed me, crunching on his suspicious looking candy. “What are you going to do about it?”

  “Why do you care?”

  “I don’t,” he replied nonchalantly. “Besides, there’s nothing to do. They’ll all end up embarrassing themselves badly enough that they’ll be run out of San Diego.”

  Looking bored with the conversation, he picked up his controller and restarted the game. I stared at him incredulously and then glanced out the door.

  What the hell was Aurora thinking?

  Aurora

  I walked down the line of girls, eyeing each carefully. I felt like a drill sergeant and I’d be lying if I said the ‘power’ didn’t excite me.

  Somehow Clemence, Katy, and I were able to get three other girls to join our crew. There’d be six of us altogether; just shy of lucky number seven. There was Bianca and Ashley, though I wasn’t sure which was which. One was a dance major and the other—ugh—was a cheerleader.

  “Keep an open mind, Aurora. This isn’t Ohio anymore,” I murmured, eyeing the two girls.

  And then there was B-girl Bamboo.

  I remembered her from the battle I attended with Mitch, which seemed like a lifetime ago. She was one of the brave souls that not only gave Craig a piece of her mouth, but also faced off with him as well. I could not even begin to describe how ecstatic I was to get another b-girl on our team. She was definitely more of a veteran than I was and much, much more knowledgeable.

  She was the last in line and when I reached her, I tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey.”

  Her dark brown eyes were almost black. To be ho
nest, she looked a bit intimidating. She was about three inches taller than I was with black hair that sat right at her shoulders. She had a little button nose that had one of those nose rings that looked like one a bull would wear hanging from her nostrils.

  “Yes?” she asked, lifting an eyebrow.

  I took a deep breath and reminded myself that out of all the girls standing in the room—well, besides Clemence and Katy—she was the easiest to recruit. All I had to do was practically chase her out of the student center and say the words, “I want to start a crew to battle Annihilation” and she was ready and raring to go. Of course her friend Winter, who we tried as hard as hell to come with us, flatly refused. A part of me wondered if she had a connection with one of the boys.

  I hoped to God it wasn’t Mitch.

  Not that I should care or anything…

  I pulled my lips in, biting the bottom one. “I was wondering if you can help me train them. I mean, you’re more of a veteran than me. I think we’d do better under your direction.”

  She narrowed her eyes a bit, but shrugged, walking toward the center of Katy’s off-campus yoga studio. I found it ironic that I was still training in a Mind-Spirit-Body type space, but felt relieved beyond belief that we’d have somewhere away from campus to practice. She spun on her heel, causing her high tops to squeak.

  “Okay, ladies.” She eyed the girls and smiled as she rubbed her palms together. “What should we do first?”

  One of the tall dancers stepped forward. She wore a pair of tight leggings, some leg warmers, and a pair of those nude socks.

  “Yes, Bianca?”

  Bianca! I was right.

  The Latina beauty cleared her throat and asked, “Should we do some choreography or something? I can help with that.”

  I glanced over at Bamboo and shrugged.

  She sighed. “There isn’t really choreography in breaking. It’s mostly freestyling.”

  “But I see some crew routines at different battles,” the other dancer, who had to be Ashley, piped up.

  “And exactly how do these crew battles work?” Bamboo glanced at me. “Anybody else know?”

  I pasted a sheepish grin on my face. “Um, what if you explain it to us?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh my God, what the heck did I just sign up for?”

  I exchanged glances with Clemence, who nodded her head reassuringly. My lips curled into a grateful smile. I took a step forward and looked around. “How many of you are here because you’re sick of being told you are inferior to others?”

  Every girl raised her hand.

  “How many of you are here because you know you’re talented and can be great at this?”

  Once again everyone raised their hand.

  I turned and looked Bamboo in the eyes. “We all have different skill sets, but we all kill it respectively. We may not know the exact technicalities, but you know what? You can teach us those unspoken rules and technicalities. The rest, we already know, deep down."

  There was a short pause. Then Katy had to go and make the moment more awkward with her own version of a slow clap.

  I cringed. "Thanks for that, Katy."

  She shot me a wink.

  Bamboo shook her head and slowly circled me. "Okay, fine. You girls know how to do things. When you get out there in the battle, with all those people staring at you, the music blaring, and your competitor staring you down, will you be able to pull those ‘things’ out of your arsenal, or are you going to just stand there frozen?"

  “I’ve been in competition before,” I snapped. I eyed the Bianca and Ashley. “I’m sure being on stage under those lights can get pretty daunting too. I'm sure they can handle the pressure.”

  Bamboo laughed. “I’m talking about Peace and Love over there.” She peered curiously at Clemence and Katy. “You two prepared to battle to the death?”

  “You have no idea just how much positive energy can help you out in those cases,” Katy mused.

  Clemence piped up. “Don't worry. My chakras are open.”

  I couldn't help but smile. The thing about those two was that the glass was always half-full for them. Their confidence didn’t come off as arrogant, but relaxed. It was very inspiring.

  Bamboo nodded her head. “Okay. Then I guess it’s settled.”

  “What?”

  “We're going to kick some ass.”

  ***

  Movie montages had nothing on us.

  Bamboo put us through what could only be described as breakdancing boot camp. She taught us the basics, and to my surprise, all the girls took to it really well.

  “It’s a six step! Not a quadruple, quintuplet—what the hell was that?” she yelled.

  Okay, so maybe they were a bit rusty, but Bamboo was a freaking drill sergeant. By the end of our two hour practice, we were able to figure out each person’s strengths and play up to them.

  Bianca killed footwork. Having done everything from merengue to hip hop, she brought the dance back into breakdance.

  Ashley was an innovator. As much as it pained me to admit, I was pretty happy we had a cheerleader in our crew. She totally knew how to weave in stunts and dance to make a killer routine.

  Clemence—my pixie type roommate was as delicate as I assumed. Her flexibility brought her threading and body contortions to another level. She was definitely a secret weapon.

  Katy had a fierceness that was undeniable. She was strong and capable of finding ways to incorporate her different yoga poses into new freezes. I could definitely see her and Ashley collaborating to bring a certain spice to our routines.

  Bamboo was, well, Bamboo. Experienced, no-nonsense, and a go-getter. She’d definitely help us get to the top.

  Then there was me. The power moves that Mitch had helped me perfect even had Bamboo impressed. According to her, I was definitely up there with Craig and Mr. Mitchell himself.

  Good.

  Once one o’clock hit that afternoon we were all pretty much exhausted and hungry. High fiving ourselves, we proceeded to pack our things, ready to get the hell of there. As most of the girls laughed and joked around, Bamboo came up beside me, staring at me intently. “Hey.”

  I still couldn’t get over how deep her voice sounded for somebody who looked as delicate as she did.

  “Hey.” I nodded, shoving a towel into my gym bag. “Thanks again for taking the reins today. You’re a really good leader.”

  “Me?” She shook her head. “Nah, I wouldn’t have been able to round up all these girls, which I admit, I had some doubts about.”

  “So why did you agree to join us to begin with?”

  “Honestly?” She winced a bit, totally throwing off her whole “tough as shit” bravado.

  “Didn’t know our relationship was built on lies,” I replied, only half-kidding.

  Her lips tightened.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled sheepishly.

  She rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell anybody, but I really just wanted to join a crew that saw me as an equal. Not as somebody they could walk all over.”

  “That’s admirable. Why is that such a secret?”

  She grimaced. “That’s not the secret part.”

  “Okay?”

  She sucked in her breath. Whatever she was hiding seemed like a pretty big deal. “Craig and I hooked up once back in sophomore year.”

  Oh, shit. It was.

  She shut her eyes, allowing her words to spill freely from her mouth. “I knew what I was going in for, but I still let hormones and stupidity take over. Now every time I see him and hear the stupid shit he spews, I just really want to beat him where it hurts, you know?”

  “Oh, I know,” I murmured.

  She nodded. “There’s nothing that would get to him more than being beaten at the one thing he thinks he rules at. Especially by the underdog.”

  “That should be our crew name!” My eyes widened in excitement. “Then he would really be feel the burn!”

  Bamboo shot me a bewildered look. “You do realize tha
t they have a movie called that already, right?”

  I scratched my head. “They do?”

  “Uh, yeah. It came out in like the early 2000’s or something.”

  My face flushed. “I was always too busy to get to the theater.”

  I didn’t need to say more. Bamboo knew exactly what I meant. She nodded and scrunched up her face in thought. “Why did we make this crew? Honestly.”

  “To beat down stupid boys?”

  Her normally stern face relaxed into a smile. “That, yes. But I assume we all joined together as a promise to ourselves that we are more than what people think of us. We are more thanwe think we are.”

  I nodded my head thoughtfully. “Yeah, you can say that.” I broke out into a smile. “You know, you’re pretty insightful.”

  She snorted. “Whatever.”

  “No, I’m serious.”

  She shifted uncomfortably. “Anyway, do you wanna know what else I think?”

  “What?”

  “We should call our crew…” she took a dramatic pause and then announced, “Breaking Promises.”

  “Ermmm.” I closed one eye and brought up the left side of my mouth. “Wouldn’t that mean we’re breaking our own promises? Isn’t that bad?”

  “It’s a play on words! A pun!”

  “Eh.” I shrugged my shoulders in doubt.

  She shut her eyes. “Okay, what should we call our crew, then?”

  I narrowed my eyes and tapped my chin. “What about the Belladonnas?”

  “Like a ballerina?” she grimaced. “I mean no offense, but I want a name to portray how lethal we are and not some prissy shit.”

  “But that’s the exact point of this name!”

  She looked at me doubtfully.

  I couldn’t help but giggle. “A Belladonna does mean a beautiful woman in Italian, but it’s also a nightshade.”

  “Nightshade?” Of course that would catch her attention.

  I nodded slowly, feeling like an evil genius. “Poison. Beauty at first and thenBAM, we kill.”

  The answering grin on Bamboo’s face was almost scary. “I love it.”

  “Good.”

  Smiling, she prepared to turn away, but I tapped her on the shoulder before she could leave. “What?”