Dance With Me (Kian Lawley & Ricky Dillon / O2L) * ON HOLD *

Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.  Evan and Trey had heard about me and Kian by third period Monday morning.  Which was not pleasant for me, as they spent the rest of the week making fun of me for having my “first ever guy issues” as Trey put it.

“You’ve never even had a boyfriend, Brooke, and now you’ve got two!” was Evan’s favorite line to say whenever he saw me.  Thankfully though, that stopped Wednesday morning when I ripped Yasmin’s water bottle out of her hand and chucked it at Evan, pegging him in the throat.  (For the record, I was aiming for his head.)

By Friday afternoon, I was ready to not only rip my own hair out, but I had also started planning Evan and Trey’s funeral.  I walked around school with a constant scowl on my face, fueled by their childish antics and remarks.  Courtney and Yasmin tried to make me feel better, but it didn’t help much.  They even brought Hailey up to speed with everything that had happened over the weekend in the hopes that she could lighten my mood, but that failed too.

And on top of all that, I had to worry about college applications, the large amount of work in my AP classes, and my responsibilities as varsity dance team captain.  Thankfully dance team practices are only Tuesdays and Thursdays, so it wasn’t like I had to deal with that stress every single day of the week.  But it was still taxing.

Funny enough, the only time during the week I had a smile on my face was when I was talking to either Ricky or Kian.  They were two of the funniest people I had ever known and never failed to cheer me up in ways that my friends couldn’t.  I didn’t know what was different about them—I guessed I just liked the new energy they brought into my life.

When the final bell rang on Friday, I hustled out to my locker, chucking my books inside.  I grabbed my keys and sunglasses, rushing out to the parking lot before the main flow of traffic began.  I didn’t want to run into Evan or Trey, knowing full well that they could spoil my weekend.  I just needed to a few days to myself to cool off and all this hubbub would dissipate by Monday morning.

I hurried out to my car to see Riley and Quinten already waiting there for me.  They knew the drill on Fridays: get out of the school and into the car before three, or walk home.  It was that simple.

“Let’s go,” I said as I unlocked the car.

“Shotgun!” Riley shouted as he leapt into the front seat.  Quinten rolled his eyes and climbed into the back, not even bothering to argue with his younger brother.  He knew that was probably best.  I got in the driver’s side and started up the car.  We backed up and flew out of the parking lot, headed for home.

Normally I wouldn’t be so concerned about getting home early, but on Fridays I had to drop my brothers at home and be at the dance studio by three-thirty.  I didn’t have classes, but I worked at the front desk.  It was a pretty uneventful job, but it was a job, and I managed to get a good amount of homework done during my shifts.

I dropped the boys at the house and spun the car around with fifteen minutes left to get to the studio.  It was plenty of time, so I swung through Dunkin Donuts on the way and got a Coolatta.  I arrived at the studio with two minutes to spare and casually made my way inside.  Miss Laura, the owner, honestly didn’t care if I was a few minutes late.  She had known me since I was three, so she knew she could count on me to do what was expected.

“Hey, Devin,” I said to the girl at the front desk when I entered.

“Hey, Brooke,” Devin replied.  She leaned back in her chair, stretching her legs out.  “Are you taking over for me?”

“Looks like it,” I said, dropping my school bag in the corner.  Devin was Miss Laura’s eldest daughter and she attended a local community college.  On days she didn’t have class, she came back to the studio to work for her mom.  “Anything you need to fill me in on before you head out?”