Breaking Promises (B-Boy #1) Read online

  My eyes darkened. “Now we’ll ignore Craig. We’ll ignore the part that he tried to sabotage us—”

  “Wait, what?” The look of alarm on her face reminded me why I was going to wait to tell her what I had just blurted out. I didn’t want her to confront Craig without me there as a buffer. Not that Craig would hurt her physically or anything, but I still wanted to be there to shield her from the barrage of bullshit he’d most likely spill out.

  Oh, well. No turning back now. I cringed. “He planted that girl in the cafeteria and made sure you were there to see when she kissed me. You have to believe me, I didn’t know she was going to! I swear I was going to stop her, but I was just so confused, and then you appeared and…”

  Aurora’s chair began to rattle as her body trembled viciously.

  “Aurora?” I gulped.

  She closed her eyes and took deep breaths. In a determined tone she ground out, “We’ll deal with Craig when you get out, okay?”

  “Oh, thank God!” I exclaimed, relieved she wouldn’t face him alone.

  She shot me a strange look, but chose not to comment on my outburst. “I think I need you there to make sure I don’t physically maim him or something.”

  “We really are on the same wavelength, aren’t we?” I couldn’t help but grin when suddenly a horrible thought entered my mind.

  She smiled back, but her smile quickly faded when she noticed the pensive look on my face. “What are you thinking about it?”

  “Just that I now understand why you could never compete again,” I mumbled.

  Her eyes widened. “Oh, no. You can’t be thinking what I think you’re thinking.”

  I shrugged. “I could have been paralyzed, Aurora. How do you expect me to compete knowing that?”

  “But you didn’t,” she pointed out. “There’s no reason to be scared of something you love.”

  “Really? You can sit there and say that to me? “Her face dropped and I couldn’t help but feel a pinch of guilt for hurting her again. I quickly explained, “I’m just saying that you, out of all people, should know how I feel about this. Have you even tried a vault again? Do you even want to?”

  Her face fell. “No. I can’t say that I do.”

  “Precisely. You finally realized what was most important.”

  “But you are in love with breaking! How can you give it up so easily?”

  “How did you give gymnastics up?” I pointed out.

  She shut her eyes and sighed. I watched her take a few breaths and open her eyes thoughtfully. She stood up and walked toward my bedside, placing a gentle arm on my shoulder. “You know what? Let’s not talk about this right now. We’ll just worry about it later.”

  “No, there is no later—”

  Before I could finish, she pressed a careful kiss on my lips. Of course it felt odd, as I had a neck brace on, but after weeks of worrying we’d never get back to normal it was one of the greatest feelings in the world. When she pulled away I felt the same ache as I did the day she left me. It was then I knew I could never risk her leaving me again.

  “Wow, that was some make-up kiss,” she quipped, rubbing her finger gently on my cheek. “I woulda gone for make-up sex, but considering the state you’re in…”

  “What about a make-up blow job instead?”

  Aurora’s eyes widened before she broke out into a laugh. “I don’t think these machines will take well to accelerated heart rates.”

  “The nurses won’t mind.”

  “Your parents are probably waiting outside the door,” she reminded me.

  I winced. “Yeah, that would be gross.”

  Aurora shifted uncomfortably and looked at me sadly. “We’ll talk about you b-boying later on, okay?”

  “I told you, I’m not—”

  She waved her hand and cut me off. “No stress. Didn’t the doctor tell you that? Now just lay there and relax and let’s enjoy not hating on each other.”

  “I can never hate you. I don’t think I ever did,” I whispered.

  Her answering kiss, though just a peck, made my heart leap clear out of my chest.

  “I could never hate you either,” she told me.

  Aurora

  The next few weeks were the most insane I’d ever experienced. Classes were unbearable, practices were becoming more intense,and visiting Mitch was both enthralling and depressing. To make matters worse, the notoriety of landingthe Kickwitwas getting to me.

  “She’s looking at you again.” Ashley peered at one of Mitch’s many bed post notches and sneered on my behalf. “Just because she was willing to jump his pants right away, doesn’t mean she should be all pissed that you played it the right way to get him.”

  I refrained from letting the girls know that I had in fact already jumped Mitch’s pants, but still I appreciated the sentiment.

  Bamboo rolled her eyes and placed her elbows on the table. Clearly not one for gossip, she shot us each annoyed stares. “Let’s talk more about our plan, then who rubbed whose genitalia, shall we?”

  “Ew.” I grimaced, really not wanting to go there.

  “God, again? We just got out of practice. Can’t I enjoy my sandwich in peace?” Bianca muttered, biting into an enormous pastrami sandwich.

  “You mean eat your animal carcass?” Katy grunted with a shake of her head.

  “It’s fucking pastrami!”

  “Which is an animal!”

  “Guys.” Clemence pushed out her bottom teeth, raking her top lip. “We’re in public, remember? Can you please stop and act like normal adults for once?”

  As annoying and humiliating as the girls could be, I didn’t care. I looked around the table—my table—and could hardly believe it was filled with a group of my friends. Though I started the semester out not really knowing where I’d belong, here I was. I guess all it takes is a common purpose to unite a group of people.

  I snorted and patted Bamboo on the shoulder. “What exactly about the battle do you want to cover?”

  “Well, for starters, what are we wearing?” Bamboo sighed, leaning back into her seat.

  Ashley perked up. “Ooh, I’m down for talking about clothes.”

  “We can’t roll out there wearing stuff likethat.” Bamboo pointed toward Bianca’s top, which gave a really good view of her cleavage. “I want to win because we danced well, not because we’re distracting the judges with our tits.”

  “Well, I don’t want to wear what you’re wearing.” Bianca eyed Bamboo’s get up and grimaced.

  “What’s wrong with it?” Bamboo demanded, glancing down at herself.

  “Bandana, cap, baggy sweats? Are you robbing a bank or did you shop in the boys’ section of Target?”

  “Quiet! Guys!” I raised my voice, sensing that Bamboo was about to blow a gasket. “Can we not do this right now?”

  “Well, do you have a better idea, Aurora?” Bianca snapped.

  I rubbed at my eyes and sighed. “Annihilation has their own shirts, right? Why don’t we get our own?”

  Clemence tapped a pencil against the surface of the table softly at first and then louder as her excitement grew. “You know what? I do have a friend of a friend whose cousin owns a local screen printing place. I bet I can get us a good discount on shirts.”

  “Can this brother of a friend of his cat’s dog’s aunt’s sister’s mom guarantee that it’ll look good?” Bamboo asked with a smirk.

  Clemence’s mouth dropped open. “Why so mean? I’m just trying to help.”

  I pursed my lips and eyed Bamboo suspiciously. “Yeah, why are you being mean?”

  She leaned back, noticing that we were all staring at her. Looking exasperated, she lifted her hands in the air and shook them rapidly. “I just hate that you all are worried about whose going out with whom and how we look—”

  “You brought up the outfits!” Katy squealed.

  Bamboo ignored her. “We need to make sure our moves are tight. Do you think the guys really care about how they look when they attend these things?�
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  “Well, they do coordinate their fashion pretty well,” Ashley muttered.

  I sighed. “Bamboo’s right. We need to focus on what’s important. Our moves.” As busy as I was and as sore as my aching muscles were, I found it in myself to suggest, “Why don’t you say we add another practice tonight?”

  “Tonight?” a majority of the girls repeated in shock.

  “Unless you’re busy,” I added quickly.

  “I’ll be there,” Bamboo raised one hand.

  Clemence glanced around the group, shrugged, and lifted hers as well. “Me too.”

  We eyed Ashley, Bianca, and Katy expectantly. Together they groaned and raised their own hands.

  I nodded my head in appreciation. “Good. Remember, ladies, this is for all the monkeys in the barrel. We need to go out there and sweep this thing.”

  Reluctantly, everyone nodded.

  Bamboo grinned. “Let’s do this.”

  Mitch

  I watched Aurora studying silently, taking in the way her long hair hung around her face and the way her thick-rimmed reading glasses kept sliding down the bridge of her nose.

  “Stop looking at me,” she called out, never once taking her gaze off her book.

  “I can’t help it. You can’t tell somebody to stop starting at the Mona Lisa or a sunset. It’s too beautiful.”

  I noticed the corner of her mouth twitch slightly before she closed her book. Propping one elbow on the top cover, she placed her hand on her chin and looked at me pointedly.

  “You know it’s really not fair when you give me that look.” I narrowed my eyes and motioned toward my body. “I can’t turn away and look the other direction.”

  “Well, that’s what you get for insisting I put my chair directly across from your bed,” she replied pointedly.

  “If you put it beside me I wouldn’t be able to see you. Remember, I can’t move my neck.”

  She bit her lip, which was also unfair, given the effect it had on me, and frowned slightly.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked hesitantly.

  “I’ve been visiting you here now for how long?”

  “Couple weeks.”

  She nodded. “And all I ever do is study for finals…”

  I frowned. “Okay? What are you getting at?”

  “I’ve been too scared to bring up a subject that needs to be discussed.”

  Uh, oh. I knew exactly where this was going. I rolled my eyes and grimaced. “Aurora, please do not start.”

  “Mitch, you can’t give up breaking. It’s your life.”

  “A little bit hypocritical of you to say, don’t you think? I thought that you of all people would be the one to understand me.”

  She pulled her lips inside and released them with a pop. “That’s exactly why I’m telling you this.”

  I frowned. “What do mean?”

  “Don’t you think I spend every day wondering ‘what if’? Don’t you think I wish I could get back out on that floor and compete again?”

  “Then why don’t you?” I asked quietly.

  She shook her head. “The moment you give up, you give up. As days go by it becomes harder and harder to get back out there than if you just never left to begin with.”

  I was flabbergasted. How could she not know the crippling fear I have even remembering what went on during the battle? Sure, I only remember bits and pieces, but what I do remember—pain, fear, and the knowledge that I could have died—overshadowed that love I once felt.

  Breaking is a dangerous pastime. We all knew it. The thing is that when you’re on top, you forget there is a bottom—arock bottom. You assume you’re invincible and that things will always stay the same. The reality is that it is not always that way. Things could change at the drop of a hat.

  “You know not one member of Annihilation visited me here in the hospital?” I said quietly.

  Aurora dropped her gaze. “Uh, yeah. I always wanted to ask, but since you never mentioned them, I assumed…”

  “You know why they didn’t visit?”

  “Because they’re all a bunch of jerks?” Despite her nonchalance, I could sense the pure hatred in her words.

  “Because they don’t want to see this,” I explained. “It’s a reality check for them and I just happened to be the victim.”

  She stood up and placed her book on the chair, pausing a bit before coming up to me. She reached the foot of my bed and tapped on the edge. “You know, I always wondered why it had to be me. I’d done that vault hundreds of times before and I couldn’t understand why I messed it up so badly. I worked hard. I didn’t take anything for granted. So why me?”

  I shut my eyes, unable to look at her. It was the same question I asked myself every day.

  “You know what, though? I think I figured it out. Mitch, look at me.”

  I opened my eyes and found her peering at me intensely.

  “Mitch, we’re two strong people. We have the ability to bounce back from this. That’s the reason why it happened to us.” She squeezed my calf. “Mitch, don’t you see? It’s because we can persevere.”

  I paused for a moment, taking her in, and began to clap my hands slowly.

  She rolled her eyes. “Mitch! I’m being serious.”

  I lowered my hands and sighed. “Aurora, I know you mean well and I really do appreciate it.”

  “But?”

  I looked up at her. “How can I take you seriously when you haven’t overcome the fear yourself?”

  Aurora

  “Don’t do it!” the voice shouted loudly, almost sounding like an echo. “Please, stop.”

  I ignored the warning and ran.

  One step over the other, my feet hit the runway going for that vault that seemed to be miles away.

  “Faster, faster,” I told myself. I gritted my teeth and continued to run.

  The vault seemed closer this time, but something was blocking it.

  “Mitch! Get out of the way,” I screamed.

  To my relief, he moved away from the runway and stepped behind the vault.

  “I’ll catch you,” he said. “Don’t worry.”

  RING. RING. RING.

  I sat straight up, panting profusely. Clemence, who was fully dressed, held out a tumbler of green juice for me and lifted an eyebrow. “Having a sex dream?”

  I rubbed at my eyes and groaned. “Just the opposite, actually.”

  “Well, hope it’s not going to distract you this morning.”

  I pressed my lips together and jumped out of bed, grabbing the container from her. I took one sip and shook my head, cringing as the bitter liquid traveled down my throat. “It won’t.”

  When I first moved to Cal State, I thought it was to start over. I hadn’t realized until recently that it was actually so I could run away from everything. Sure, I wanted to fix things, but being reminded of my accident every single day by my family and friends wasn’t workingfor me. It wasn’t until I spoke to Mitch did I figure out that I was their reality check and I honestly resented it. They wanted me to face things and tofix things, they even told me to see counselors. As horrible as it sounds, I had hated them for it. So, I did my best to make them believe I didn’t need any help just so they’d leave me alone.

  This time around I wouldn’t make Mitch hate me and I wouldn’t leave him alone. I owed it to him and I owed it to myself.

  The sun had just begun to rise as Clemence and I began our trek to the campus gym. The marine layer hadn’t lifted yet, causing the pale yellows and oranges of the sunlight to come out hazy with mist. It looked like a scene ripped right out of those zombie movies I loved.

  I really hoped it wasn’t a bad omen.

  The chilly air blew against my face, like a bucket of cold water jarring me back to reality. I shivered and pulled at the neck strings of my hoodie, tightening it for warmth.

  Clemence glanced up at me nervously. “Are you sure you don’t want to wait until you see your new therapist to do this? You know I’m all mind, body, and spi
rit. You need the whole trifecta to be aligned to be whole. If your mind is not into it…”

  “I’m fine,” I said, though gritted teeth. “I’m not doing this just for me anymore. I’m doing it for Mitch.”

  She nodded slowly. “Just be careful and don’t overdo yourself. I’m here to support you, I’m just worried. No pressure, okay?”

  I felt warmth spread across my body. Clemence, for as odd as she could be, was really a loving soul. I was lucky to have her as a roommate. I was even luckier to be able to call her my friend.

  I squeezed her arm. “I know, and thanks. It means a lot that you’ll be there with me today.”

  She smiled kindly. “Don’t mention it.”

  By the time we entered the west wing of the gym, the rest of the Belladonnas were already sitting around the mats waiting for us. As if I were some regal queen or a captain of some sort, they snapped up to their feet the moment I walked into the room.

  “Hey.” Bamboo walked over to me and immediately threw her arms around me. Needless to say, she wasn’t the emotional type, so it really caught me off guard.

  “Hi, thanks for coming. All of you.” I threw a smile over her shoulder at the rest of my crew, who all wore similar masks of fear and empathy.

  Katy was the second to step forward. “Aurora, if you’re not feeling up to this—”

  I smiled. “I know. Clemence basically covered it.”

  The two friends shared a conspiratorial nod, but didn’t say anything more.

  “So how are we going to do this?” Bamboo looked over at the vault—my nemesis to the extreme, and cringed. “You know, it looks a lot more intimidating up close than it does watching it on T.V.”

  “You can say that again.” I dropped my gym bag to the floor and fished around for my phone. Once my fingers grazed the cracked plastic case, I grabbed for it and thrust it into Clemence’s hand before I lost my nerve. “If you guys can sit toward the side over there, that would be great. Clemence, can you record me? I don’t care how many times I fall, just keep recording.” I pulled off my hoodie and rolled my neck. “It’ll add to the dramatic effect.”

  “You do know this isn’t some sports movie, right? You can get really hurt,” she reminded me, hesitantly taking the phone from my hand.