Beats (Discontinued for now)

Chap 02 The Dancer

(Phoenix)

“Who’s the new kid?” Grey questions as Ashley looms by the door towards the end of class. I glance at my best friend as he hops off the stage and stands beside me, tipping back a water bottle.

“Just a stray.”

“You two seemed to be getting pretty cozy when I was practicing,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows at me. I roll my eyes and look away from him, reaching up to rub my temples as a slight headache lingers there.

“Are you crazy? Ashley?”

“Yeah, him, you have a crush,” he concludes with a nod of his head.

“Oh, yeah? How do you figure?”

“You would pick the shadiest dude on campus to crush on.” He laughs, poking me in the side and grinning as I jump away, holding my arms out as I try to keep my balance and stop the room from spinning. I shake my head, lean on the stage and glance back over to Ashley as the newer girl in Advanced Dance bounds over to him. She shouts his name before leaping onto his back, clinging to him like she’s a spider monkey. I quirk an eyebrow and elbow Grey to get his attention. He shifts his glance to them and pauses, tilting his head. “What exactly would you call that?” he asks as Cassidy, the new girl, wraps both of her arms tightly around Ashley’s neck. He looks like he should be suffocating, but he just idly stands there looking mildly ticked off.

“Assault?” I guess, watching as Ashley ignores Cassidy. She soon spots Grey and me and points at us, shouting for Ashley to move in our direction. He gruffly complies.

As they near us, Cassidy leaps from Ashley’s back and strides toward Grey and me, linking arms with us.

“Ash, this is Grey and Phoenix. Cute, huh?” she says, beaming. Ashley gives a slight nod before letting his eyes settle on my face. “Now, Ashley, it’s rude to stare. Didn’t Daddy teach you anything, stupid boy?” Cassidy scolds. Ashley’s eyes flicker to her before settling on the argyle carpeting beneath our feet. “He’s a social-idiot, don’t mind him,” Cassidy pulls my attention back to her and the way Grey is shamelessly checking her out.

“How do you know each other anyway?” I ask, clearing my throat when I see that Ashley is still observing me discreetly. Cassidy smirks at me.

“Jealous? He’s my twin brother. Shame, really,” she says, earning herself a less-than-uncommon glare from Ashley.

“Shame? How so?” I inquire, trying to ignore Ashley’s eyes on my face as well as my increasing headache and sudden hunger.

“Because a social butterfly, like me, having to drag around this bundle of hate wrapped up in a pretty face is just so tiring,” she explains. I glance at Ashley again before looking into Cassidy’s eyes.

“He doesn’t seem that hateful to me,” I catch a slight smirk on Ashley’s face with that. Weirdo. He certainly wins the ‘Creep’ award for the day.

“Yeah, well you don’t have to live with him.”

“You guys don’t live on campus?” I ask, knowing that there aren’t any co-ed rooms or apartments on campus.

“Nah, Dad makes us live with him at the house. Says it’s best to keep the family together, or something,” Cassidy says, inspecting her chipping nail-polish. “I really need to redo those,” she says to herself.

I’m about to respond when I suddenly lose my balance, jerking away from Cassidy and stumbling backward from the group. My butt smacks the floor as I look around in delirium. My hands are shaking in my lap.

Grey’s face appears in front of me, his eyes calculating.

“P? Can you hear me?”

“Of course I can hear you, I’m not deaf,” I snap, my violently shaking hand moving to hold my forehead as it throbs.