Melodies of Motion

Chapter 2

7:00 PM

After eating a chicken Caesar salad, I grab a couple of waters out of the fridge and throw them in my bag. Screw Derek I am getting that move down. I have changed into shorts, a crop top, and sneakers. My hair is pulled into a bun. I will be damned if I don't adjust my weight right for those damn spins.

I open the door to peek out into the hallway. Blondie is nowhere to be found. What did you expect Sylinda? For him to be camped out at your door. I turn to the right and head down to the end of the hall. The penthouse level has its own gym for privacy. I open the door and notice no one is inside. Success. To the left is the gym with ellipticals, free weights, and weight balls. The ellipticals face large windows that have a great view of the current setting sun. I grab the remote on the table next to the door to close the shades to this part of the gym.

To the right is a floor-to-ceiling glass view of the pilates room. The room is huge and has hardwood floors which are perfect for my needs. Except for one glass wall, the rest of the walls are covered in mirrors. One end is set up to play music with an adapter for my phone. I drop my bag down and plug my phone into the system. I put my music on shuffle and turn up the volume. I sit on the floor and take my sneakers off. I get my ballroom shoes out and put them on. My shoes are open-toed so I can feel the floor for more control. After stretching to normal music I go back to my phone and put on Stop by Stray Kids. Making sure to put it on repeat.

I can't practice my whole routine without Derek but I am determined to have the muscle memory down for all of it. We picked Samba to match Stop's tempo. I have heard of the group before and like the group's music. I wouldn't say I am invested like others probably are though. I don't even know the artists' names. The song came on during a ride back home from competition months ago and we have been working on a routine ever since. With finals on Sunday, I have got to get the spins down or we are in trouble. It was my idea to make it more difficult at the last minute. This was for an exhibition competition which meant we can be more liberal with our choreography.

I get to one of the fast parts and try my spin. Okay, Sylinda bend like a leaf in the wind. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, spins in and I start to bend. I nearly twist my ankle as I fall over. Luckily I catch myself, preventing me from face-planting on the floor. Shit. This crop top isn't working. I look around to check that the gym is still empty and take my top off, revealing my sports bra. The great thing about dancing is that my legs are fit as well as my abs. Not bad for 27, not bad at all.

Okay, let's try this again. I wait for one of the fast parts again and spin. Then bend. Then raise my arm. It works! I complete the required spins and stop. I jump up and down laughin when I feel like I am being watched. In the mirror, I see the 8 guys from earlier staring at me, 7 with their mouths open. Of course, damn blondie is still smiling. WTF dude? Take a picture. It was at this thought that I remembered I don't have my top on. So I walk to my bag and put it back on. As I am downing some water and stopping my music, the group comes in like a comedy show. I have no idea what they are saying because they are talking so fast and at once.

"Damn girl, that was amazing"

"How did you do that?"

"How long have you been dancing like THAT!"

"Cute shoes."

Mr. 2x4 yells, "Hey Hyunjin, what did you think?"

That's when blondie BLUSHES. Hyunjin huh. I like it. Unique like mine. "Oh Changbin, I would say it was.....juicy," he says with a proud look on his face.

Fucker.

"So you like Stray Kids?," Hyunjin asks. The rest of the comedy show stops dead in their tracks looking at me, waiting.