"Helloooo! Bitch I know you hear me talking to you!!" Chanel yells, turning the music off. "I don't know what's your problem, but you're not focused on this routine at all! You can't do shit for having that damn phone glued to your hands! Who got yo mind gone!?"

I continue typing away as I reply to Drummer's good morning text.

: Good morning, sexy😍...How you doing?

Good morning, I'm good. What about you?

Better now. What you doing tonight?👀 I wanna take you somewhere.

I got plans with Chanel tonight... tomorrow?🤔

I got plans tomorrow night. Ima make time for you tho, beautiful. Whenever we do link, you mine😏

I belong to nobody😘 and I'll talk to you later. I'm at the studio right now.

Not yet and Bet.

Before I can put my phone away, Chanel snatches it and reads my messages then looks at me with wide eyes. "Bitch, what the hell going on between you and Drummer? When did this even happen!?"

"It's nothing going on between us. He took me to get food last night, we chilled, smoked, and drank at my crib then he left. That's it! What's the big deal!? You're the main one that's always preaching about me actually getting to know a guy. I'm finally trying to do that and you're mad about it!? I don't understand you." I say as I snatch my phone back and put it into my duffle bag.

"Milani, it's not like that. I'm just saying you need to be careful with Drummer. He smooth as hell and talk a good game, but he ain't shit. His ass probably worse than Tariq. I do want you to get to know somebody, just not Drummer. I don't wanna see you end up like his hoes. All he do is sell them a dream until he gets the pussy then he dips, leaving them heartbroken."

"Well good thing I don't dream, need some dick, and got ice burn where my heart at. I'll be fine, Chanel. You're acting like we're dating or something. We're just flirting and having a little fun. The only dipping that's gone happen between us is me dipping after I get that dick. He talk too much shit for me not to try it out. You know hitting and quitting is my specialty."

"Keep thinking that, Milani. I've heard stories about sex with him and I know how you are. Once you get a taste of that dick, you gone keep running back for more like you did with Tony until he started talking bout a relationship." Chanel tells me as she starts choreographing the ballet dance for our students which is out of the norm for us since we usually focus on hip hop. She's always wanted the girls to enter a ballet competition so I finally agreed.

"Chanel, don't start being all protective. I'm a big girl and I'm sure I can handle Drummer. It's all fun and games, nothing more, nothing less. He doesn't even seem like the type of nigga that would want a relationship. He may just be the consistent fuck buddy that I've always wanted." I tell her, mimicking her choreo so I can learn it.

"Alright Lani, suit yourself, but don't come running to me when he hurts your feelings. I mean I am gonna be there for you, but still. Don't say I didn't warn you." Chanel says and I nod.

Once I fully learn the choreography, I help Chanel teach it to our older dancers which doesn't take long because they learn fast. Fixing their simple mistakes are what takes the longest. "Point your feet, Jas!!" I yell out, clapping my hands.

We go over the routine multiple times before allowing the students to leave, making sure to let them know that they must continue to practice while they're at home so that we can be competition ready.

"Uhh, Ms. Lani, can I talk to you?" Ryleigh asks softly, making me focus my attention on her. "privately please" she whispers and I nod, motioning for her to follow me into my office.

"Wassup up, babygirl?" I smile as tears fall from her eyes. "Ryleigh, what's wrong? Talk to me."

"I-I'm quitting the team. My mama wanted me to go ahead and tell you so that you can find my replacement for the competition."

"Tell your mama that she doesn't have to pay your balance for you to stay on the team. I'll cover it because I know times are hard and ..." I trail until she cuts me off.

"It's not that, Ms. Lani. I-I'm pregnant." She says before getting up and walking out of my office and leaving the studio.

My mouth drops and no words are formulated when I think about sweet, innocent, thirteen year old Ryleigh being pregnant. There's no way in hell that she's been out here having sex. I mean obviously she has because she's pregnant, but I just can't imagine it.

Once the studio clears out, Chanel and I lock up and leave; heading to our cars, "what was up with Ryleigh today?" She asks me.

"She told me she was quitting the team because she's pregnant." I sigh as I crank up and get into my car, dialing Chanel's phone number so we can continue our conversation.

"Wow, so I guess those rumors were true. I had been hearing some of the girls say that Ryleigh was raped, but I didn't believe it. Hopefully whoever did it is arrested. If I was her mama, I would've made her get an abortion. Just think about it, Ryleigh's gonna have to explain to her baby how his/her daddy raped her and thats how he/she was conceived. Everyday of her life she'll have to live with the reminder of being raped every time she looks at her kid. That's some tough shit. She'll probably need counseling."

Nodding my head as if she can see me, I keep quiet because I had no idea about the rape. Deciding that I don't want to talk about it anymore, I change the subject, "Chanel, did you get questioned by Detective Holloway? He was asking me about Drummer. You know anything about that?"

"Yeah, he tried to talk to me, but Jarell wouldn't let him. Jarell told me that there was a shooting down at Ray's that left some people injured. It was on the news and everything. Holloway is sure that Drummer and Brandon had something to do with it and they probably told him they were with us so Holloway was just checking out their alibis."

"Speaking of Brandon, how the hell did you end up on my couch with him?" I ask as I unlock my front door, walking inside and dropping my shoes off at the door.

"I was drunk as fuck so I texted him asking for dick. I sent him your address and once he came we were talking then things started to get heated. I almost fucked him, but I started crying because I started thinking about me and Jarell's relationship. It's just so bad and I want to leave him, I really do, but he'll never let me go." She sighs loudly into the phone.

"Chanel, you can't live in fear your whole life. If you wanna leave Jarell, you know you can crash at my house until you get on your feet."

"I appreciate it Lani, but I have money. The money you pay me from the studio and from the competitions goes into a private account. Jarell's dumb ass knows nothing about it. He doesn't even know that you pay me. He thinks I just dance for fun instead of it actually being my career."

"As my grandma always said, when you're truly tired of putting up with Jarell's shit, you'll leave him and won't look back. A woman knows her breaking point and I don't think you've reached it yet. In the back of your mind, you still think he'll change.. don't you?"

Chanel remains quiet for a minute before finally speaking "yeah, a small part of me believes he'll change, but enough about him..." she trails before being cut off by Jarell's loud ass voice. "Bitch get yo ugly ass outta that car and come cook me something to eat before I beat the shit outta you again, dirty ass hoe."

"Bye, Lani. I know we had plans tonight, but nevermind. Jarell needs me." She says quickly and hangs up the phone.

I feel myself getting angry at Chanel for letting Jarell talk to her that way, but I know there's nothing I can do to help her because unless she's ready to leave, she'll keep going back to him. I don't want to push her away by constantly sticking my head where it doesn't belong. So much for having a BFF date tonight.

Walking into my bathroom, I strip out of my clothes and let them fall to the floor so that I can take a shower. By the time I finish, my stomach rumbles loudly so I walk into the kitchen and turn on my speaker then cook myself a small steak, cinnamon sugar sweet potatoes, and Brussels sprouts; finishing it with a glass of red wine.

After an hour of watching romance movies, I'm bored out of my mind and feel like getting high as a kite so I decide to text Drummer.

You know a plug?👀

About 5 minutes pass by before he replies, "Yeah, Brandon gotcha. Don't worry it's on the house this time😘, but next time yo funky ass gotta pay😂"

Nigga fuck you, but thanks tho😂

Getting up to answer my door 20 minutes later, I'm faced with Brandon who smiles widely as he holds up weed, backwoods, and a bag full of snacks. "I'm boutta have you high as fuck." He tells me, inviting himself inside.

"How you know I wanted you in here? What if I had a nigga in here and he saw you then got the wrong idea?" I ask as we both sit down on the couch. Brandon rolling up as I turn the music on.

"Milani, I don't give a fuck bout what you saying....Here." He laughs, handing me the lit blunt. "What happened with you and my boy when me and Chanel went to the car?"

I inhale the smoke multiple times before blowing it into the air, "Nothing. He danced with me and was all up on me with his hard ass dick. What happened with you and Chanel?"

"Damn, you really could've left the hard dick part out. Ian needa know allat" He scoffs, taking the blunt back. "We just talked. I let her know that she need to stop putting up with Jarell's shit and that she should let a real nigga take care of her."

"You wasting your time, Brandon. If she don't even listen to her best friend, she damn sure ain't gone listen to a stranger."

"Mhm, I hear ya. Milani, you and Drummer both been living in Chicago all your lives. How the hell ya'll just now meeting? I'm sure y'all went to the same school." Brandon asks as he lights the next blunt and starts smoking it.

"I was homeschooled for a really long time and didn't go to public school until I was in high school. Chanel had me into so much shit at school that I had no time to focus on who went there. So even if I did see him, I wouldn't have known who the hell he was." I tell him as I open up some chips from his bag of snacks.

"Well shit, I didn't even know black kids got homeschooled. Me and my brothers was so bad, my mama made sure we got outta her house for those eight hours. When I was younger, my moms moved us to Atlanta to be closer to my pops. I wish we never moved, maybe my life would be much different than it is now."

Deciding not to pry in Brandon's business, I just nod my head as he talks because I'm too high to have an intellectual conversation. Moments pass of me and Brandon smoking, neither one of us saying anything. Hell, I don't even know if I'm blinking.

"Lani." Brandon says, passing me the blunt.

"What?" I ask, ashing the blunt.

"Yo ass stuck." He laughs loudly. "I been watching yo ass not blink for like 5 minutes."

I start laughing at his dumbness and pass the blunt back to him, watching him inhale like a pro and blowing it back out; making "O's" in the air. "I got a question, Milani..Is the S or the C silent in scent?"

Thinking for a minute, I respond, "I think it's the S.. Nah, it's the C... wait a minute, what the fuck we talking bout?" I laugh as I turn the blunt down, not wanting another hit.

"Okay, Okay. One last question then..If babies in the womb for 9 months, why they ain't 9 months old when they come out?" Brandon asks seriously, his eyes red as fuck.

Me and Brandon spend the rest of the night getting to know more about each other, asking/answering dumb ass questions, talking about Drummer and Chanel, laughing like two fools, and eating up everything in sight.

In just such short time, he already feels like the brother I never had.