Dance Central: The Beginning

Taye- Musical Meltdown/A Star Is Born

The school's cafeteria was flooded with colorful lights, which was convenient for Taye. Out of all of the places she'd danced at, this was her favorite. Not just because there was a stage to perform on, but because she had a lot of memories associated with the school. Chatting, laughter, friends, food fights, regular fights- everything. More or less. Taye lugged the huge speakers she had always stored in back of her parent's car onto the stage.

"You about to be amazed by your girl Taye," she hollered at her audience, struggling to lift up the system. A couple of the teenagers smirked, rolled their eyes, and shrugged. The high schoolers were a tough crowd, no doubt about it. Taye had only recognized a few of her regulars, adults,  to watch her tonight.

"Oh, yes, you too. Just 'cause you go here now, don't mean I can't come here, too. I got special permission from the principal; you got any problems, go talk to her. She need to make a little more money for you troublemakers, so she opened up your cafeteria to us dancers for a price. Not too expensive, mind you. I don't got that much money to spend." Taye grunted and finally shoved the stereo system onto the stage.

There, she figured in her mind. I gotta connect the wires now. The tangle of wires were scrambled in a bunch. Taye fingered the wires, loosely pulling them apart. She then connected the strings into the audio system. The very outdated audio system. After ten minutes of confusion, she was finally ready.

"See?" Taye chuckled at the high schoolers below. "That ain't so hard." The teenagers giggled in response.

"What you laughin' at?!" she demanded. A CD that was supposedly in the tray played. Taye recoiled in terror once she realized what it was. Hannah Montana blared throughout the auditorium.

🎶...Pop it, lock it, polka dot it, country fivin', hip hop hip/Put your hawk in the sky, move side to side, jump to the left, stick it, glide/Zig zag 'cross the floor, shuffle in diagonal, when the drum hits, hands on your hips, one-footed 180 twist/ And then a zig zig, step'n, slide, lean in left to clap three times, shake it out, head to toe/Throw it all together, that's how we roll. 🎶 The CD had rewound to where Tia had last listened to it, obviously when she had taken the out the system of her parent's car to dust it 

The teens bawled in laughter.

"Ooh, look, she's gonna do the Hoedown Throwdown for us," they teased. The adults  respectfully remained silent. "That's what my little sister listens to, I bet she has a little sister," the high schoolers continued. "No, she is the little sister," one of the more muscular boys howled, slapping his knee. Taye growled, her blood boiling by the minute.

"OH, HELL NO! " she screamed, kicking the stereo. The speakers skipped through the now distorted audio as it shut off in response to the heavy kicks. "IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY, DON'T SAY IT! YES, I HAVE A LITTLE SISTER WHO LIKES HANNAH MONTANA, SNUCK USING MY SPEAKERS, AND APPARENTLY LEFT THE CD IN! WHO CARES!? I didn't know!" Taye snorted out of rage and unplugged everything. She pulled the broken speakers off the stage and clunked it around as Taye stepped off the stage. The teenagers didn't say anything. She was about to exit the school when a lady tapped her on the shoulder. Taye turned around to meet her face to face. The lady was tall, with a semi-neat bun pulling back her dark, brownish-black hair. She had cinnamon eyes, which sparkled of curiosity. Her silver bracelets jingled as she had tapped Taye.

"Excuse me for interrupting, but I thought it was quite rude what those teenagers said. Your stereo system looks broken, but I have something you could use if you were interested to continue dancing..." The lady's professional voice trailed. She lifted up probably the most expensive and magnificent object Taye had ever set her eyes on. A crisp, silver boombox with speakers, a handle, and five weird slots on the front reflected the school's lights. "It will track how well you have done on your current routine, as well as the crowd's focus and engagement. I invented it myself," the lady proudly boasted. Taye was in complete disbelief and awe. No model she had ever seen at the electronics store had looked like that, but for a throwback boombox to do what the lady had suggested? She had also met a weirdo earlier who had named his motorcycle, and for this lady to suggest she had created a stereo with almost magical properties? Get real. But there would be no harm in trying, and she would most likely never have this opportunity again. 

"Thanks," Taye said to the woman. "You a real lifesaver." Taye took the boombox from the lady's fair hands. 

"I'll be watching," the woman called out to Taye. "To turn on the boombox, you'll need to push the button on the right side of its screen."

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Back on the stage, Taye's hands trembled as she pushed the mentioned button. Was this a trick, she wondered. And should I trust that lady? To her surprise, the boombox dinged to life. Five teal stars flashed across the slots on the bottom of the radio's face, one star in each slot. They soon faded, and a  white multiplied number appeared in the top, tiny, pink rectangular screen. Zero. Taye jumped back. She spotted a little CD tray below the screen and above the five, dark spots. She slowly reached into her pocket and pulled a CD where she had burned all of the songs to her routine. "Dip It Low" casually began to play. She started the routine, nonchalantly pretending she was  dancing her usual routine. Ding! The sound interrupted the song. She turned her head for a moment, seeing a teal star in the first slot throbbing. The environment around her changed, dimming to very little light and introducing neon colors around her. Taye peered forwards and saw the lady smile. She continued to focus on the routine until she was finished. Six times the boombox dinged, and five gold stars pulsed on the golden radio. The score multiplier changed to the number four. Puzzled, she fast-forwarded the CD to the desired track and repeated the same process with "Drop It Like It's Hot".  She  achieved the same results. The teenagers were floored. They quickly apologized and told Taye she could come back any time, welcome at their school. Taye gathered her CD, placed it into its jacket, and placed it into her pocket. She picked up the boombox to give the woman once everyone had left.

"Impressive," the woman told her. "Five gold stars. Very talented, indeed. Perhaps you would consider meeting with other dancers who share the same skill?" she inquired. The lady handed her a card with a black card with a pink 'R' logo. "Everything you need to know is on the back of the card," she explained. Taye handed her back the boombox and took the extended card. The woman left the school and climbed into the passenger seat of a limo that was waiting. Taye gazed at the card with excitement. Now she didn't have worry about mischievous Tia and what she could do. She now had her own group where Tia wouldn't bother her and steal attention.