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Chapter 1

I closed my suitcase and looked around my room. This was it. I was finally leaving this place. I've been dreaming of this day for as long as I could remember and it was finally here.

"Your still here."

I turned and saw my mom's boyfriend, Dave, standing in the doorway. He looked like he always did. White shirt with stains on it, dark jeans, and socks with holes in them. I glared at him and turned back to my suitcase.

"I'm leaving now." I double checked to make sure I had everything and zipped it up. " I would have left this hell hole years ago if it wasn't for my mom." I mumbled under my breathe

"What did you say?" Dave growled

He walked up to me and stared me down

"Nothing Dave. Just leave me the hell alone!"

Dave's eyes grew with anger and he pushed me onto my bed. This didn't scare me anymore. He had been abusing me since I was eleven. He was about to hit me, when we heard my mom walk down the hall. She peaked her head around the corner and smiled.

"What's going on in here?"

"Nothing. I was just helping Destiny with her bags. Isn't that right?"

I looked at him then back to my mom

"Yeah he was going to help me carry them to my car."

My mom didn't know what Dave was really like. I would have said something years ago but she needed him in her life. My mom has been sick since I was born. She had a ruff pregnancy with me and it cause her to have problems with her lungs. When she met Dave he started paying for her medical bills and without him she would probably die. She had her own flower shop but it didn't cover all of her expenses. So I dealt with the abuse. The only other person who knew was my brother, Brandon, and he moved out two years ago.

"Aw that's so sweet." My mom said giving Dave a kiss. I almost gagged. My mom gave me a hug and left the room. Dave immediately turned back to me and slapped me across the face. I fell back against my bed and held my cheek.

"Get your own damn bags!" He turned and stormed out of my room. I looked in the mirror and saw my cheek was already turning red. This is the last time he hits me. I grabbed my bags, said bye to my mom, and left the house without turning back.

5 hours later....

I finally pulled up to my brother's apartment in California. Before I could even get out of my car he was already coming to give me a hug.

"I can't believe your finally here!" He pulled back and gave my a big smile

"I missed you. You didn't come home during your break."

He bent down and grabbed my bags

"Yeah sorry about that. I had some things to take care of."

I followed him upstairs to his apartment and into the guest room.

"Thanks for letting me move in. I couldn't stand it at home anymore." I looked up at him and he had his famous "I feel guilty" look. I walked over and gave him a hug.

"It isn't your fault Brandon. I told you not to tell anyone. You shouldn't feel responsible."

"I just wish I had done something. All those years I just sat and-"

"Brandon stop beating yourself up about this. I chose to be quiet about it. I made you not tell anyone. Just drop it. It's over."

I hated talking about this with him. He always ended up feeling like it was his fault. No matter how many times I told him it wasn't he never listened. Finally he changed the subject before it got akward.

"So are you ready for college?"

"I'm kind of nervous about it all but I think I'm ready. I even found a job at the local dance studio."

I've been dancing since I was twelve. Mostly hip-hop and I loved it.

"That's awesome. So what time is your first class?"

"It starts at 8:30. It's the only class I have on Mondays."

"Well you better get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning." He walked over and gave me another hug then left my room. I got a shower, put on my pj's, and crawled into bed. As soon as I layed down I knocked out.

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I woke up early the next morning and got dressed. I went to the kitchen and poured myself a huge mug of coffee. I couldn't function without at least one cup. Brandon came running into the room and took out his ear buds.

"I thought you would still be asleep. I cut my workout short so I had an hour to wake you." He said teasing me

"Hey, I've changed these last two years. I can get up early on my own."

"Sure you can. I give this a week before I have to start dragging you out of bed."

I threw the dish towel at him and he caught it

"Whatever. So how was your workout?"

"It was good. I just played basketball with the guys. By the way they're all coming over later so you can meet them."

"OK. Well I should be heading out. Class starts soon."

"K. See you later."

I grabbed my coffee and headed for my car. Hopefully everything will go by smoothly.

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Class was pretty good. It didn't seem like it would be too hard and the professor was nice enough. After class I went down to the dance studio to meet my new boss. When I got there I was in awe. The rooms were amazing. Each one had floor to ceiling mirrors, ballet bars, and hardwood floors. I wish my dance studio in Arizona was like this. I walked around and found the owner, Ms. Tara, in her office. I knocked on her door and she looked up at me.

"Hi. I'm Destiny, your new dance teacher."

"Oh come in. I've been expecting you."

I walked in and sat in front of her desk. We talked for an hour about my schedule, the students, my salary, etc.

"So you can start on Thursday. You'll be a co-teacher along with another one of our instructors. Feel free to look around today." She gave me a friendly smile and stuck out her hand. I shook it and stood up

"Thank you so much."

I left her office and headed straight for the dance room I would be using. I looked around and found the stereo system in the corner. I went and turned it on. Birthday cake by Rihanna came on and I started dancing. When I did a turn the music stopped playing. I looked over by the stereo and a guy was standing there with his arms folded.

"Um hi?" It sounded more like a question than a greeting

"Who are you?"

"I'm Destiny. I'm one of the new hip-hop teachers."

"What!"

"I said I'm-"

"I heard you the first time. What do you mean your the new hip-hop teacher?'

"Tara hired me today."

As if on cue, Tara walked into the room. She looked at us both and smiled

"Oh good Chres. You've met Destiny."

"Tara, What is going on? What is that doing here?" Chres turned and pointed at me

That? Did he really just call me a that?

"Excuse me. I have a name."

He glared at me and turned back to Tara

"Look Chres. I wanted to get a female instructor to help you. I need to get more girls in your class and she will help with that."

"I don't need help. I can do it on my own."

Tara dropped her smile and got serious

"Either you work with her or you're fired. Take your pick."

He glared at me again, mumbled a fine, and stormed out of the room. I turned back to Tara and grabbed my bag.

"Look Tara. I don't want to cause any trouble."

"It's fine. He'll get over it. Just come back on Thursday."

"OK." I fished my keys out of my purse and headed home.

When I got inside I threw my keys on the counter and grabbed a water from the fridge.

"Hey how was class." I turned and Brandon was standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"It was great but you'll never guess what happened"

"What?"

"I went to the studio to get my schedule, when some asshole walks in and yells at me and Tara. He claims he doesn't need my help and refuses to work with me. Can you believe that?"

"Just forget him. He's a dick. The guys are here. Just come and relax. It will take your mind off of it."

"Fine" I followed him into the living room and stopped dead in my tracks. I looked and saw four guys sitting in the room and one of them was Chres. Oh....Shit!