Breaking Promises (B-Boy #1) Read online

  As if on cue, a tall frat bro looking guy came up and grabbed Ashley’s hand. “Let’s dance.”

  She shot us all questioning looks that practically screamed, “Please let me!”

  I snorted. “Sure, go ahead. We’re not your keepers.”

  Her answering grin made us all laugh.

  We quickly began to relax so we looked less like a prison line up and more like a bunch of college co-eds having fun. Even Bianca got in the groove of things and offered to buy us a round of shots. Yup, we were all pretty much having fun. Well, everyone except Bamboo, who glanced around nervously.

  I elbowed her in the ribs. “What’s wrong?”

  She shot me a guilty expression. “Nothing.”

  “Bamboo.” There was a reason why she didn’t want to be called Evie, and until the day we parted ways I’d never call her by that name.

  She shut her eyes and sighed. “I saw Winter walk in. It must mean that Anthony isn’t far behind.”

  My blood suddenly ran cold. Wherever Anthony was, then Mitch had to be close by.

  “Is…is Anthony and Winter together or something?” I asked, trying to maintain a cool vibe.

  Bamboo shook her head at first, then nodded.

  “What does that mean?” I snorted.

  “Annihilation doesn’t usually date.”

  “So I’ve heard,” I replied, pursing my lips together.

  “They mess around with girls, yeah, but they don’t do relationships. It’s a weird fraternity type mentality where they need to focus solely on breaking. Of course, that doesn’t stop a few people from bending those unspoken rules, so to speak. Winter and Anthony have been flying under the radar for a while now. Why else do you think she wouldn’t join our crew? She wouldn’t want to do anything to piss Anthony off.”

  I frowned. “You two are friends, right?”

  She nodded. “We’re actually cousins, and she’s not too pleased with me right now. She thinks I’m stepping on toes.”

  “And what do you think?”

  She crossed her arms together and lifted an eyebrow. “That I better buy some cleats.”

  We began to giggle when suddenly Bianca ran up, shoving drinks in our hand.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, frowning as Bamboo downed her drink with no problem.

  “Don’t look now,” Bianca hissed, narrowing her eyes into two menacing looking slits.

  “Look at what?” I was growing a bit tired of the whole cryptic act.

  “Annihilation is standing at the bar,” she whispered.

  It was like telling somebody not to press the red button. My gaze immediately snapped up, catching Mitch’s eyes. He had some comic book cosplay chick hanging on his arm. My blood immediately began to boil.

  I had officially turned into one ofthose girls Clemence had told me about. I was officially one of Annihilation's conquests.

  Mitch’s expression was unreadable, but what was not unmistakable? The way his hand traveled down toward the arch of the grey haired slut’s back. I tried my best to keep my cool, but I couldn’t stop my body from trembling with rage.

  “Stop it,” Bamboo hissed. “Don’t give him the satisfaction.”

  “Satisfaction of what? My undying need to shove my pair of cleats up his ass?”

  Even Bamboo couldn’t stop herself from snickering. “No, what you need to do is play his game. He wants to rub some hussy in your face? Go and rub on some dude.”

  “What dude?” I mumbled incoherently.

  “Excuse me!” Bamboo’s hand shot out and grabbed a ‘bro’ looking dude wearing a button up shirt, black slacks, and stained white sneakers.

  “Yes?” He turned toward us and smiled in appreciation. He was cute, yes. Typical athletic frat boy with muscles to boot, but he was way too pretty for my taste.

  Bamboo shoved me forward. “Dance with my girl.”

  “Bamboo!” I hissed. “You don’t even know if he wants to dance with me.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Do you want to dance with her?”

  He eyed me up and down, pausing at my cleavage. A grin stretched from one ear to the other. “Fuck, yeah!”

  Shit.

  He grabbed my arm and brought me to the floor, where he immediately started to grind up on me. To be honest, he wasn’t a bad dancer and he sure as hell wasn’t horrible to look at, but there was something nasty about the way his body rubbed against mine.

  He wasn’t Mitch.

  Speak of the devil, Mr. Kickwit stepped onto the floor with the white-haired witch in tow. They set up a few feet away from us, grinding and bumping in a disgustingly sexy sort of way.

  Feeling a bit broken, I glanced over at the girls, who were still standing by the wall, motioning me to step my game up.

  I shut my eyes and sighed.

  It was a competition, wasn’t it? This was just another battle.

  Adrenaline. Pounding heart. Cold sweat.

  I wrapped my arm around Frat Boy’s neck and body rolled my way down to his waist. Once I was at eye level with his crotch, I spun around and stuck my ass out, rolling back to a standing position.

  My girls were hilarious and started cheering beside us. For a moment, I forgot where I was and almost began to laugh along with them. That is until I noticed Mitch in the corner of my eye basically bending the girl down so that it looked like they were dry humping on the floor.

  The music blared around us and the crowd began to grow closer. I was quickly feeling nauseated, but not from the sweaty crowd. I hated seeing Mitch touching some other girl when just a week ago his fingers were carefully caressing me.

  I shut my eyes, feeling tears brimming. I needed to get out of there before I made an even bigger fool of myself. I sucked in my breath and looked up at Frat Boy, carefully pushing him away.

  “I’m sorry, I have to go.” I ran away quickly, pushing myself through the crowd. This time Mitch didn’t go after me, but my girls did.

  “Aurora!” Katy was the first to catch up to me.

  As soon as I ran through the club’s doors, I took a deep breath, relishing the way the cold wind hit my lungs. My eyes stung, from a combination of cigarette smoke and tears.

  “Aurora, are you okay?” Katy’s honey colored eyes looked down at me with pity.

  Pity!

  It was the last thing I wanted.

  “I…this was just a bad idea. I need to go.”

  Her lips curled into a kind smile. “If it’s any consolation, you looked great out there.”

  I stifled a laugh. “Yeah, I was almost afraid it’d turn into one of those corny teen movie type dance offs.”

  Katy giggled. “Well, you would have won if it did.”

  The girls came out of the club in a stream, all throwing me careful, but caring expressions. I smiled at all of them and shrugged my shoulders. “Guess I’m not the clubbing type. Sorry for ruining your fun.”

  “Meh, I don’t think any of us are the clubbing type,” Bamboo commented.

  I nodded my head with a sad smile, wiping the snot from my nose.

  Clemence stepped up and placed her arm around my shoulder. “Why don’t we all head back to our dorm room. I think I have a few snacks I’d be willing to share.”

  “Oh, God. If it’s those bird seeds, please no. Let’s stop and get a burger somewhere first!” Bianca pleaded.

  She rolled her eyes, but laughed along. “Okay, let’s get you barbarians some animal meat. Maybe I can convince you to add some veggies on top of it.”

  The girls laughed, tugging at my arms, pulling me toward the row of cabs that were lined up the street. Cracking jokes at each other’s expense, our giggles were enough to drown out the bad energy of the night. My sadness was fully gone at this point and replaced with something that I had missed for a long time.

  I had my team.

  I had my sisters.

  Mitch

  I don’t get jealous.

  I never do.

  I don’t fucking care if Aurora was…I guess dry humpi
ng someone right in front of me.

  I mean, I didn’t want to see that guy’s hips gyrating all the way back to funky town and back, but whatever, man.

  I do not get jealous.

  Aurora

  “And five, six, seven, eight!”

  “Oh, shove it, Ashley! I told you this is not choreography!” Bamboo hissed. The music abruptly shut off. She walked over to Ashley and wagged an accusatory finger in front of her face. “You have to be able to think as quick as possible and just go! None of these pre-planned moves!”

  “But you said there can be routines in the crew battle!” Ashley growled back.

  Bamboo bowed her head and sighed. “It goes like this: one person steps out and dances, she is then joined by another person or the entire crew, then afterwards they all step out and one person remains again. It goes on for round after round. Sure there aresome pre-planned moves, but not the whole run!”

  Ashley bowed her head and rubbed at her eyebrows. “Well, wouldn’t it help if we actually saw a battle in person? That way we know what’s expected of us?”

  Bamboo’s thin lips propped open. “You have to be shitting me. You’ve never seen an actual battle? Then why the hell did you join this crew?”

  “Because I like to dance,” she answered with exaggerated wide eyes.

  “Oh my gosh—”

  “Hey,” I snapped. “Stop it, you two.”

  “Aurora, how the hell am I supposed to teach you guys how to battle if you don’t even know what goes down in one?”

  “Why don’t you shut your mouth, Bamboo?” Ashley hissed.

  “No, Bamboo has a good point,” I interjected, causing Ashley to stare daggers at me. I tapped my chin in thought. “Bamboo, are there any battles coming up? I mean, beside Battle of the Crews?”

  Bamboo shook her head. “No. No, there is no way you can expect us to go to one. We’re not ready.”

  “We’re not battling!” I argued.

  “It doesn’t matter! They’ll expect us to go out in the cyphers and then what?” she gasped.

  I snorted and placed my hands on my hips. “Well, you can’t expect us to go to Battle of the Crews without studying up.”

  “Studying?” She grimaced.

  “Yes! We need to see what we’re up against, while gathering ideas for our own runs. How else do you think athletes figure out what moves to do and what plays to watch out for? They watch their competitors’ games.”

  Bianca came up next to me. “You know, I think that’s a perfect idea. My old dance team used to watch recordings of our old routines and our rivals’ routines to figure out how to plan for the next competitions.”

  “I do not want to show up to a battle with you guys in tow.” Bamboo grimaced.

  Clemence, with her usually level head, walked up to Bamboo and placed a hand on her arm. “That’s a bit insulting.”

  Bamboo growled, pulling her arm away. “I don’t mean to be a bitch about it. I just mean that someone might call us out.”

  “Call us out?” Clemence and Katy exchanged glances.

  Bamboo shook her hands in the air. “To battle! God, why are you all so dense?”

  “Why can’t we just watch it online?” Ashley asked, suddenly looking nervous. “Then we can know what to expect without actually putting ourselves at risk? Why don’t we watch Annihilation's videos, since they’re the team we need to beat?”

  My eyes darkened. “No! I am not watching their fucking videos again.”

  The girls exchanged glances as if communicating telepathically. Finally, after a brief moment of silence, Bamboo nodded her head. “The City Battle is in a week. We can go to that.”

  A wave of relief washed through me. “Really? You’ll let us go?”

  Bamboo lifted her finger and waved it in the air. “If someone wants to battle us, then so be it. Sometimes trial by fire is the best way to go.”

  Mitch

  “Heard the Belladonnas are coming to City.” Anthony bent over and tightened his shoelaces while I practiced some footwork in the space beside him. Our practice space was pretty empty that day since most of the crew were busy studying for mid-terms.

  “Oh, yeah? And how would you know that? You and Winter still messing around?” I grunted.

  His eyes widened as he glanced around. “Be quiet! You know what that’ll do to my reputation if anybody hears you.”

  I wiped the sweat from my forehead and walked over to my iPod, swiping it off. “Seriously, it’s not a big deal if you’re dating her or not. Who cares?”

  He shot me an awkward look and turned away, clearly wanting to drop the subject. I looked after him in disbelief, shaking my head in exasperation.

  I didn’t understand Anthony and Winter. They’d been messing around since freshman year and for some reason both of them felt uncomfortable labeling each other for what they already were. It wasn’t as if either of them were messing around with other people or anything.

  “So back to what I was saying about the Belladonnas—”

  “What about those bitches?” Craig walked in with the rest of the crew in tow.

  I straightened myself, fighting to keep my expression cool. “Tony heard they’re going to City.”

  “They can’t be thinking of battling already, could they? They’ve only been around for two weeks!” Dylan, threw his head back and laughed. “What a bunch of airheads, dude.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what they do. It’s not going to change anything.” Craig walked up to me and grabbed my iPod from my hand, flipping through my playlist and picking his own song. Once the drum beats blasted behind us, he stared at each of us. “We’re still going to win Battle of the Crews. Who cares if those bitches show up next week? We’ll call them out and show them exactly what they’re up against.”

  I had to look away.

  “Mitch—Kickwit—you’re not getting cold feet, are you?” Craig’s voice had a slight edge to it. Sometimes I wondered why he cared so much.

  I pulled my shoulders back and puffed my chest out a bit. “Why would I be?”

  “You sure you still aren’t butt hurt about that Anna chick?” Dylan grunted with a snicker.

  “It’s Aurora, and no. I couldn’t care less.” I rubbed at my nose and looked away, feeling my insides crumble slightly.

  “Good.” Craig walked up to me and tapped against my temple. “Head in the game, people. Heard we have some heads from the East Coast making their way over here. I don’t want to lose to them Yankees on my home turf, got it?”

  Anthony got my attention and whispered, “I thought Yankees were from up North.”

  I shrugged.

  “Got it?” Craig’s voice boomed against the concrete floor and dry walls, interrupting us.

  “Damn, got it.” Anthony’s mouth went slack.

  Craig nodded in satisfaction. “Good. Now let’s go!”

  Aurora

  My hands hit the vault.

  Again and again and again and again.

  My body twisted in the air, but did not seem to move forward nor backwards. I was flying.

  I was stagnant.

  “Aurora! Aurora!” a high pitch shrill screamed into my ear.

  My body jolted and I flew fast, landing hard.

  “Aurora!”

  I sat straight up and felt my blood run cold. I pushed my stringy hair back and opened my eyes to find Clemence sitting at the edge of my bed, looking at me in concern. “Did you have a bad dream again?”

  I nodded my head, placing my hand over my chest and gripping onto the cloth of my pajama top. “Yeah…I haven’t had one in a few weeks. I don’t know why it’s back.”

  Clemence reached out and turned on the light, never once taking her eyes off of me. “You’re probably worried. About the battle.”

  “I guess…” My voice cracked.

  “But you don’t have to worry.” She pulled the corners of her lips up into a slight smile. “Things will work out fine. I promise.”

  I nodded my head and
forced a smile back even though deep down I didn’t feel like things would be fine. In fact, I felt like everything would blow up in my face. As horrible as it was, I felt as if I was going to let my new friends down.

  “What time is it?” My voice cracked.

  “It’s almost eight.”

  “Eight?” I groaned and ran my hand through my hair. “I can’t believe I slept in.”

  “It’s eight o’clock on a Saturday morning.” Clemence chuckled softly. “I think you’re fine.”

  “I wanted to get some practice in before going to the battle.”

  “Why? We aren’t competing.” The blood drained from my roommate’s face. “I mean, I thought we weren’t?”

  “There’ll be cyphers,” I explained. I pushed my legs off the side of the bed, wincing when my knees popped. My nightmare had me really tensed up, that’s for sure.

  “What are cyphers? Are they the same thing as battles?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “Think of cyphers as a conversation. The b-boys and b-girls jump out, say what they need to and another person jumps in and answers.”

  Clemence nodded her head slowly. “Okay.”

  “A battle is an argument, so to speak, of course. It’s people trying to talk above each other.”

  “Gotcha.” She paused and looked at me curiously. “You want to jump out in the cyphers andtalk?”

  “Maybe,” I admitted. “I want to announce to the world that the Belladonnas are here. I’m pretty sure Bamboo will step out too.”

  My roommate’s slim shoulders bounced a bit. It was the first time I saw her look remotely nervous. She shook her head. “No. I think I’ll just watch today.”

  It was my turn to give her a look of pity. “Yeah. Maybe it would be good just to fly under the radar today.”

  She snorted. “Somehow I don’t think you will.”

  ***

  The girls and I stood in front of the venue, glancing at each other nervously. Though I’d already come to two events, somehow today felt really different.

  “Okay, remember what I told you. We’re only here to scope out the competition.” Bamboo shot me a sideways glance. “That goes for you too, Aurora.”