Chapter 1 #2
I swiped to the next picture, which was another selfie where she was smirking, her deep, dark brown eyes peering at me over a pair of shades.
They felt almost hypnotic, and I had to shake my head to snap out of whatever trance they tried to pull me into.
I sighed, finally handing Ginger back her phone.
“You done drooling?” She smirks, and I playfully roll my eyes.
“I wasn’t drooling,” I defended. “Just…observing.”
“Mmhm, and I invented the sun,” she replies, sarcastically. “It’s okay to admit that you have a crush. Not everyone is like Tre-”
She caught herself and apologized, and I winced at the mention of the woman who stole my heart, then stomped on it in more ways than one.
I’d never known heartbreak until I went through what I went through with her.
Before her, I was naive enough to think that the world and the people in it couldn’t be as bad as my sister was at times, but she proved me wrong.
So wrong that I still had trouble breathing when I thought about her.
But I didn’t want to make Ginger worry, so I did what I always did. I played it off even though it was eating me up inside.
“It’s cool. I’m fine,” I reply, wanting so bad to change the subject. She nods understandingly. “Anyway, back to this Dawn woman, I have no idea why you’re getting so worked up. All I did was dance to one of her songs.”
“And it got you hundreds of thousands of views,” she points out. “That didn’t make you even a little bit curious about her?”
“Why should it?” I chuckled, trying to play off the fact that I was curious. I wanted to know everything about her, but I didn’t say that out loud. “She and I are never going to cross paths. We don’t know each other. I wouldn’t even classify myself as one of her fans.”
“Yet.”
“Whatever. That fact won’t change anything.”
“Okay, but just think about how amazing it would be if she saw your video and wanted you to be a background dancer on her next tour or at one of those big award shows! Wouldn’t that be so fuckin’ amazing?”
I wanted to argue with her that that was far-fetched, but something inside of me said that I shouldn’t keep selling myself short. I knew that I was a talented dancer, and I would love nothing more than to dance professionally. Maybe I should do some more research on Dawn Anderson, just in case.
“I can see those wheels in your head spinning,” Ginger giggled, and I glanced back over at her. “You know I’m right, huh? Never say never because you never know.”
“Wise words from my favorite optimist.”
She nodded, no doubt feeling accomplished, especially after I told her that I would spend some time catching up on all the pop culture things that have been happening lately. She squealed and agreed to help me, as long as we started with Dawn’s music first.
Tonight was going to be a long night...
August 9th, 2025
“Raine, I truly don’t get how you live in chaos like this,” Myra said as she took in the pile of unfolded clothes sitting on one side of my bed and the messy desk, which had my makeup and other essentials scattered about. “I’m getting a headache just looking at it.”
I rolled my eyes at myself because she was always so dramatic.
The house could be spotless, but let there be one thing she thought was out of place, and here she came, nagging and nitpicking.
I did try to keep things organized, but my ADHD and OCD are always fighting.
One second, I need organization and routine, but the next, it’s as if my creativity thrives in chaos and clutter.
It was a daily battle that drained my energy, so the last thing I needed was Myra constantly getting on my case.
I wanted to scream, but I refused to give her the satisfaction of knowing that I cared about what she had to say.
“It’s not that deep, My,” I sighed. “I’ll clean up after I find what I’m looking for.”
“And what exactly is it that you’re looking for?”
I didn't answer her as I continued to search for the pair of leggings that I’d deemed my lucky pair.
Today, the new session of dance classes began that I teach every Saturday at the local community center.
Usually, those classes were geared towards teens and kids, but this time, I’d be teaching adults.
It would be a first for me, so I wanted to make a good impression. I needed all the luck I could get.
“Haha! Found them!” I say, pulling them from where they sat in the bottom of my dresser drawer. I turned to show them to her, and she frowned. My smile faltered. “What now?”
“That’s what you’ve been looking for?” She asked, her nose scrunched up. “I thought you’d thrown those old things away.”
“Why would I do that?” I asked, genuinely offended. “They’re still good as new, and you know I like wearing them on the first day of a new class.”
“Ugh, here we go again,” she groans, throwing her hands up.
“You’re still on that? Raine, when are you going to stop chasing that impossible dream of yours?
You’re 29 now. You should be settling down, finding a man, and having kids.
You're not getting any younger, sis. You need to focus on what will make you money. I can’t believe you’re still so irresponsible. ”
I wanted to punch her. I wanted to scream.
I was so tired of being judged for wanting to follow my heart.
I was so tired of her thinking that my worth was only measured by my ability to be a good wife to a man or a good mother to children.
Hell, I didn’t even like men like that, and I only wanted one child whenever I got to that point in my life, which, mind you, wasn’t right now.
But she didn’t care.
She had this vision in her mind of who she wanted to be, of who I should want to be. But I wanted to dance. I wanted to travel the world. I wanted to fall in love with someone who loved me unconditionally and didn’t look down on me because I didn’t have it all figured out.
Was that too much to ask for?
“Hello? Earth to Raine?” Myra calls, snapping her fingers in my face.
I glared at her. “First of all, fix your face.” I rolled my eyes.
“Secondly, I don’t know why you’re getting so upset.
You know I’m only looking out for you, sis.
You can’t live with Ginger forever. Honestly, I don’t see why you’d want to. ”
“Right, cool,” I say through clenched teeth. “Can we please talk about this tomorrow? I’m already behind schedule.”
She sighs. “Whatever, Riane,” she replies, tightening the grip of her purse on her shoulder.
“Just make sure you’re at church tomorrow.
I’m going to bring Mama, and then we can go out to eat afterwards.
Please wear something other than that tight dress like last time.
Nobody wants to see all your goodies in the house of the Lord. ”
“Yeah, I can’t help that I’m thick,” I mumble as she exits the room.
I walk her to the door, and we do that same awkward hug we always do before she turns and struts down the stairs and to her car. I close the door and lean against it, pressing my forehead to it. I was always so exhausted whenever she stopped by.
I take a moment to collect myself before shaking off my annoyance and going to hop in the shower.
Thirty minutes later, I’m clean, refreshed, and heading towards the community center.
I felt a wave of peace wash over me as soon as I stepped into the building.
It had been like a second home to me ever since I moved here a few months ago.
There was just something about the people who worked there and the people who stopped by every day.
You could really feel the community in the building.
“Good afternoon, Miss Cathy,” I spoke to the receptionist as I walked by. She smiled a warm smile.
“How are you today, Raine, sweetheart? Looking gorgeous as ever,” she complimented, and I giggled, thanking her. “Ready for your first adult class?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied. “I’m a little nervous, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. If I can teach a bunch of kids and teens, then I should be able to teach ten adults, right?”
“If anyone can, it’d be you,” she nods. “You’re very talented, my love. You light up the room and command attention. Oh, if these old bones weren’t acting up, I would’ve been in there too.”
“I could always make you a simplified version, Miss Cathy. I don’t mind.”
“And I might just take you up on that, Sugar,” she smiled. I nodded. “Well, let me let you get on down there. I know they’re probably already waiting.”
I waved bye and headed down the hall to the room I’d be using.
As I approached, I could see the small group of people standing around through the long floor-to-ceiling windows.
They were all dressed in workout gear, chatting among themselves.
As soon as I walked through the door, they all turned to look at me.
“Hi! My name is Raine,” I introduced myself as I set my bag down on a bench by the door.
“Thank you for coming to my Adult Beginners Class. We’ll be meeting every Saturday at this time for the next four weeks.
I know some of you may be nervous, but remember that the main objective is to have fun, okay? ”
“Sounds good,” one of the women smiled, and the others agreed.
We spent a couple of minutes getting to know one another before starting with the stretches.
Most of them admitted that they were taking this class to become a bit more active since their jobs were pretty stationary.
I could relate to that. Sitting at a desk for seven hours a day made me restless. That’s another reason why I danced.
It made me feel free. Like I was flowing in the wind or dancing with the leaves as they fell. It felt like therapy to me. It was comforting in a way that felt like forehead kisses and warm drinks. It was a part of me, and I felt it in my soul.
I felt it in my bloodstream.
I felt it in my heart.
As much as my sister wanted me to give up on it, I could never bring myself to do so, and I knew I never would.
I believed that the universe had a way of showing you the path you were meant to take, and even if you lost the map, you’d always find your way back on the road to where you were destined to be.
That’s dancing for me.
“Okay, now that we’ve stretched, how about I teach y’all something simple first. Are any of y’all familiar with the singer Dawn?”
They nodded, some saying that their children liked her music.
I smiled as they continued to chat about their different opinions of the singer.
Even though I still didn’t know much about her aside from how she looked and a few of her songs, thanks to the music Ginger had played, she was very talented. I could see why she was so popular.
I mean, she could very well still have a terrible personality, but for right now, the music was all I had to go off of, and she had a gift for it.
Ginger told me all about how she wrote her own lyrics and even helped produce most of the tracks.
It was admirable, and I had nothing but respect for how much she loved her craft.
“Okay, so, this is just a simplified version of choreo to one of her songs,” I said after hooking my phone up to the Bluetooth speaker. “I modified it so that it’s easy to follow. Should we try it?”
They agreed, and I began teaching them the steps. Even though most of them struggled, I could see that they were having fun, and that’s all that mattered. It filled me with so much joy to share what I loved with others who were interested in learning. Maybe being a dance teacher was my calling.
As they went through the whole routine one more time, I noticed a few people watching outside the classroom.
I was used to a few onlookers now and then, but they didn’t look like the usual curious community center patrons.
Two of them were burly men dressed in all black, and the other was a woman with gorgeous curly hair wearing a sage tracksuit.
I couldn’t see her face because she was wearing a mask, but her eyes kept my attention.
They were a deep shade of brown and reminded me of rich dark chocolate, almost hypnotizing.
I couldn’t help but stare back because I was mesmerized by the twinkle in her eyes.
She didn’t make any effort to stop staring, and neither did I.
Something felt familiar about her gaze, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
But right as I decided to head over and introduce myself, the music cut off, and my head snapped back to see my students taking a moment to catch their breath. I let them know they’d done a good job before turning my attention back to the window.
To my surprise, the woman and the men were gone. Had I been imagining things? No, definitely not. There was no way in hell I’d imagined her.
All I knew for sure was that I had to see her again. How? I wasn’t sure, but if I knew one thing, it’s that the universe loved a good joke.
Just watch…
I was going to see her when I least expected it.