Vinny P.O.V.
“Vincent, come on, we’re gonna go greet the new neighbors!” yells my Mom from down the stairs. I turn off the music I was listening to and look out the window and over to the neighbor’s yard where movers were still moving boxes in to the large house.
“Coming, Mom.” I yell, pulling my Urban Empire dance pants further up as I run down the stairs. I run to the large hallway to meet my parents and sisters and wait patiently as we line up in that perfect- family image, finally walking over to the large house.
“Hi, we’re the Castronovos from next door, we just wanted to say hi and welcome to Englishtown, New Jersey.” My mom says after knocking, talking to a tall women, obviously the new neighbors.
“Hi, we’re the Goodman’s from Australia. Oh, hold on. KAHTEA, COME DOWN HERE!” She yells up the large stairs as me and my sisters still stand there awkwardly, smiling up a storm.
“So, we own the restaurant Albivi down the street, and we just wanted to invite you guys down at around seven- thirty for a little neighbor get- together dinner. Or is it too early since you JUST moved in?” my mom asks, being as friendly as humanly possible.
“Oh my, that sounds great! I saw Albivi driving down here; it looked AMAZING. We would love to come.” The Australian mom responds as we all hear footsteps running down the stairs towards us. As we all look over, I see the most gorgeous girl I have seen in my life. Skinny, nice cheekbones with a hint of dimples to perfectly even it out, perfectly tan skin, nice blonde/ brown hair that fall in long loose curls all around her gorgeous face, and the most gorgeous blue- green- turquoise eyes I have ever seen in my life.
“Kahtea, this is the Castronovo family from next door. They wanted us to invite us to their restaurant for dinner tonight, okay?” the mom asks the gorgeous daughter. The daughter just nods and looks at all of us, making eye contact with me as I smile bigger.
“Yeah, that sounds great. Hey mom, have you seen my ankle brace? It’s hurting again” she says in her adorable Australian accent, just like her mom’s, only it sounds so much better.
“Yeah, it’s in the box labeled ‘Kahtea.’” The mom replies absent- mindedly. The gorgeous ‘Kahtea’ stares back at her mom before saying in a very serious tone “Mom, they’re all labeled ‘Kahtea,’” making me laugh to myself.
“Right, sorry. It’s in the box with your dance stuff.” The mom says back to her, making me snap my head up from where they were staring at my shoes. I feel somebody nudge me from behind, probably me sister, Bianca. I just watch as Kahtea walks back upstairs, smiling back down to us as she gives a small wave good- bye.
“So, do you guys need any help with anything, moving, decorating, although it looks like you have the decorating part under control: the place looks fabulous!” my mom asks, making the Australian jump as if she remembered something.
“Oh, yes, I just need your opinion on one quick thing, if it’s alright with you.” The mom says looking hopeful, and, of course, my mom being the pushover she is, accepts and drags us all into the large living room where the mother of the goddess is having a dilemma whether to put the T.V. over the fireplace or on the other wall. I personally don’t get how they stress over such small stuff like this, but whatever.
As I am standing there in my own thoughts, I suddenly feel something smack into me and I spin around and see Kahtea falling. I quickly reach out to catch her and stand her back up onto her feet. She looks at me apologetically and pulls her gorgeous hair up into a bun.
“Um, thanks, I kinda like to run down stairs and I couldn’t really see you there. Sorry.” She tells me with a small apologetic smile.
“It’s fine. I’m Vincent by the way, but you can call me Vinny.” I respond, outstretching my hand for her to shake. As she shakes my hand, she smiles and then comes the awkward silence. I clear my throat and smile in the ‘well, this is awkward’ way.
“So, you dance?” I ask her, remembering when her mom told her where her ankle brace was.
“Yeah, but I had to take time from it for this damn torn ligament from soccer.” She says back, lifting her ankle and showing me the lace- up ankle brace.
“Ah. So, what styles did you do?” I ask, interested.
“I do every style, but mostly Hip Hop, even though I was named top dancer in every style of dancing at my old dance studio.” She says, smiling. Wow, she must be good!
“No way! Yeah, I dance too, down at ICON Dance Complex down the street. We are actually going to try for America’s Best Dance Crew at the end of the month; you should come check it out!” I say, excited. Maybe if she comes and takes a class, I’ll see her more often.
“Yeah, I will.” She responds smiling.
“Vincent, come on, time to go to the restaurant. We’ll see them later. Bye guys!” Dad says and I smile and wave goodbye. She smiles too and waves as I exit through the door, so I smile and wave back just as my mom closes the door.
“So, who’s the dancing hottie?” Bianca says quietly, but, of course, Alessandra heard too and nudges me in the arm.
“Her name’s Kahtea, she dances all types if dance, but mostly hip- hop, was named top of her class for each style of dance at her old studio, just moved here from Australia, plays soccer, has a torn ligament, and likes to run down stairs.” I say, remembering all of the things she told me in that small conversation.
“Ooh, get some Vin!” Alessandra whisper- talks to me, making me shoot her a stern look, since I can’t hit girls. “Shut. Up.” I whisper to her, making her hold up her hands defensively and walk up the stairs of our house and over to her room. I walk into my room and start to get ready for dinner, which is in two hours, when I get a text from the rest of the ICONic Boyz.
‘Hey Vin, Nick needs advice from you, can we meet you at Albivi’s?’ they texted me, since it was Saturday and my family always went to the restaurant on Saturday.
‘Sure. What’s up with him?’ I texted back, curious.
‘He’s having some woman trouble and you, being the gentleman you are, are the only one who can help him.’ They text back, making me laugh. I was the one to come to if you had woman trouble, even though I’ve never really had a girlfriend. I just knew how to treat a girl when I meet one.
‘Ah. Yeah, tell him to stop by at around 7:50 ‘cause the new neighbors moved in and we’re having dinner with them.’ I text back to Madison’s number, though he’s with all of them. Every weekend, we have a hangout- thing, but this weekend I couldn’t make it, so they all decided upon tonight to go out to see a movie.
‘Cool, see you then.’ Madison texts back and I put my phone down and practice the routine for the ABDC tryouts for an hour, then get ready for dinner tonight. I throw on some blue skinny jeans, a white shirt with a slight v-neck, and my gray and dark gray Suede Era Vans.
“Vinny, time to go to dinner! Don’t forget a jacket!” my mom yells from down the stairs, reminding me to get my dark blue jacket. I grab it and run down the stairs to the car, excited for the dinner with the goddess and her family.
