“You know I finally came up with a name for my composition, right?” Mallory called out over a loud E flat.
“Oh? What’s it called?”
“The Jinx.”
I snorted. “Nice.”
As I lost myself to her music, I began thinking of the b-boy battle being held that weekend. Having basically fallen off that grid, I almost didn’t hear about the competition until I saw it fly through my newsfeed online. It wasn’t as if I’d spoken to Gerald since our falling out, and though I’d more than likely enter the battle as a free agent, I couldn’t help but feel the familiar pangs of anxiety rush through me again.
Was I really back? Or was my success with Mallory just a fluke?
I lowered onto the ground for some hand hops and pushed myself back up on my feet before asking, “Mallory?”
“Yeah?”
Like a scared little boy I squeaked, “Can you come with me to the battle this weekend? Maybe have a repeat of that first one you watched me fail at?”
I’d never asked Roxie to go before, worried that she’d feel out of place and neglected as that was her usual M.O. With Mallory, I felt as if she somehow belonged right there with me.
“Duh.” She grinned. “I thought that was a given. We’re a team now, right?”
Team.
When had I ever really been part of a team? Sure, I’d danced with Grom Attack, but in reality I’d almost always think of number one.
It was probably why the guys had no qualms kicking me out.
“Good.” I nodded. “Very good.”
And so the next two days were a mixture of work and fun, but mostly just fun. When Mallory and I weren’t busy tickling the ivories or breaking down into top rocks, we were basically joined at the lips and hips and everywhere in between.
Everything felt great again, but sometimes it’s when everything is perfect that life decides to kick you where it hurts the most.
Chapter 33
One day after practice, Mallory and I walked toward the student parking lot admiring the pink hues of the setting sun. We’d been practicing since early afternoon and by dusk we were both exhausted, but not too exhausted for some other illicit activity which we’d be partaking in right when we got home. Grinning, I gently tugged at Mallory’s long ponytail, happy that she was finally showing off her beautiful face. “I think we’re ready, don’t you?”
“I don’t know how Damien’s going to feel having you dance beside me while I play. You ever wonder why the dance department hates him?”
I snorted, picturing the capris wearing, no socks donning pretty boy. “Never really thought about it really. Just figured it was because he was a dick.”
She snickered, flashing me her bright smile. “That too. But seriously, I found out from one of the dance students that Damien thinks all forms of dance is inferior to the music.”
I skidded to a stop. “Are you serious?”
“Sadly, yes.”
“So the fact that dance and music have basically gone hand in hand for millennia doesn’t appease him?”
She shrugged. “He’s a snob, what can I say?”
I pulled my lips apart, grimacing as I scratched at my newly shaved chin. I was planning to bury my face in between Mallory’s legs later that afternoon and I didn’t really want a repeat of our first—er, second time together.
“Are you sure you want me performing with you during your audition, then?” I frowned, staring at her intently, looking for any sign of anxiety or lying. “It won’t hurt my feelings if you tell me no.”
“Of course I want you to perform.” Her lips pointed downward and for a brief moment, I thought she was about to cry. It took me a second to realize she was holding back a laugh. “Why do you look so scared? It’s usually you telling me to relax.”
“You know, I always hated those kind of smiles,” I mumbled as she linked her arm through mine.
“What smile?”
“The one where it looks like you’re pouting. Who smiles like that anyway?” I shook my head and smacked my tongue in disapproval. “You know smiling uses less muscles than frowning does.”
“So, I’ve heard,” she interjected with a giggle.
“So what’s the point of pseudo-smiling with a frown? It doesn’t do anything to relax you.”
“Well, I’m sorry,” she said with a nod. “I had no idea you were such an advocate for genuine smiles and protesting the existence of frowns. Really, I just find it funny that you’re even worried about Damien when all this time you tell me not to mind him”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m trying to get a good read on you.”
“Why is that?”
I shrugged, suddenly feeling insecure. “I just want to make sure that I won’t mess you up or anything. I don’t want to ruin your chances since Damien obviously hates everything about me. I don’t have to be up there with you, Mallory. Remember, all of this is for you.”
Her lips puckered, which in my opinion was better than the weird pout she had given me. “I want you up there with me, Asher. You’re the one who snapped me out of my robot mode. I can’t do any of this without you.”
And bust her out of robot mode I did. Now every time Mallory played her body would sway with the music, giving the impression that they were one and the same; unending extensions of energy and beauty. I almost wanted her to say she didn’t want me to dance alongside her so I could watch the new way she commanded the stage.
It was mesmerizing.
As if reading my mind, she asked, “Asher, tell me the truth. Why don’t you want to dance with me?”
Caught off guard, I replied, “I don’t know…I guess I just want to make sure I don’t ruin anything…I don’t want to mess you up.”
Her eyes widened and she let out an amused snort. “Oh my gosh! You are totally afraid you’re going to jinx me, aren’t you?”
“What? No! Of course not.” I shook my head profusely. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind though now that she mentioned it, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was an inkling of truth behind it.
Did I really feel as if the shoe was on the other foot?
I continued to shake my head. “No, no, no.”
A cold breeze suddenly hit me square in the neck. It didn’t feel like normal wind but something entirely different…like an energy. Frowning, I turned around and spotted a girl running toward us.
I nudged Mallory. “Hey, do you know that girl?”
“What girl?” She turned around and broke into an astonished, but confused smile. “Um, that’s Ellie.”
“Ellie?” I repeated, watching the buxom blonde jog up to us.
“Yeah, the one who talked about projecting bad energy, remember?”
“Oh yeah, that psychologist or whatever that talked about confidence. I remember now.” Despite not personally knowing her, I lifted my hand to wave. “I guess we should thank her for the advice.”
Mallory didn’t seem to share my amusement. Her face was scrunched up with worry, both eyebrows furrowed together.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, confused out of my mind. “Do you not like her or something?”
“Is it me or does she look…” Her voice trailed off, leaving me to come to my own conclusions.
I turned back toward the strange girl and shrugged. “She looks pretty normal to me.”
“Hey,” Ellie greeted breathlessly as she made it to us with eyes blaring.
“Hey,” Mallory repeated with a frown. “What are you doing here?”
“I go to college here.”
“Oh.”
I waited to be introduced, but after an awkward second of silence I rolled my eyes and extended my hands. “I’m Asher. I’m Mallory’s…” My voice trailed off. We hadn’t really discussed any labels yet, but in my mind I was definitely more than a friend and a jinx by now.
I felt Mallory stiffen beside me and knew the same question was on her mind.
“I’m Ellie,” the girl replied. This time I couldn’t m
iss the nervous twitch in her bottom lip. Maybe Mallory was onto something after all.
I nodded my head, shooting her a kind smile though my gut was squirming. “Nice to meet you. Um, we were just leaving campus, but is there anything I can help you with? Oh, and thanks by the way for your advice on confidence. It really helped us out a lot.”
“Yeah, about that…” She cringed, twisting her fingers together.
I may not be a psychologist like her, but I definitely knew something was wrong. “Penny for your thoughts?”
Ellie glanced back at me and flinched. “Okay, I know this might sound crazy…”
Mallory and I exchanged glances. I scratched the back of my head and let out a strained laugh. “Uh, oh. Is this another Bria situation?
“No, of course not. I’m not a supernatural consultant or whatever,” she responded in a peeved tone.
“Thank God,” I joked, shooting her a wink.
She wasn’t having it. With a serious expression, she drawled out slowly, “That being said, I do sense when things are in a bit of disarray.”
I found myself gulping. “Disarray? We’re actually pretty fine right now.”
“That’s just it.” She closed her eyes and fiddled with a row of colorful bracelets lining her wrist. When she opened her eyelids again, I could have sworn her eyes looked like they were glowing.
“Ahh!” I jumped back, only to realize that the light came from a passing car’s headlights.
Mallory rolled her eyes and pressed her lips together in a curt smile. Though she tried her best to sound calm, I knew her well enough by now to pick out the slight tremor in her tone. “We’ve been doing fine, Ellie. Actually, we even wanted to thank you.”
She frowned. “About what?”
“If you didn’t tell me about being more positive, well…” Mallory beamed and grabbed onto my hand, squeezing it tightly. “You know.”
Ellie looked as if she were fighting back the words dancing on the tip of her tongue, but was sorely losing the battle. “Look, I don’t want to scare you guys or anything.”
“Then don’t,” Mallory snapped in annoyance, which truly surprised me.
I lifted my eyebrows and turned back toward Ellie, who shook her hands in the air. “No, you have to listen to me. I can sense bad energy—your energy, for example.”
“Crap, are you sure you aren’t Bria’s associate?” I muttered.
Ellie must have heard me because she stuck out her tongue and gagged. “Definitely not!”
“Then stop with the theatrics and tell us what’s really bothering you,” I snapped, feeling at my wit’s end for all things supernatural. Granted, it was my fault for diving headfirst into it all, but enough was definitely enough!
Ellie took a deep breath and bowed her head apologetically. “It’s a bit hard to explain how I know things, but I just do. So please, listen to me when I give you one final piece of advice.”
“It depends what that advice is.” Mallory shot me a grim look. “We’re both a bit over the whole paranormal bullshit thing—no offense.”
She took a sharp intake of breath. “I get that, but what I have to say is important. I feel that something is going to happen to both of you. Something…not nice.”
“Huh?” Mallory and I said in unison, heads snapping toward one another.
“What are you talking about?” I asked frantically. “Are you sure you’re not a psychic or something? Where’s your crystal ball?”
“No, and psychics definitely don’t need crystal balls,” she shot back, sounding perturbed. Where did she get off being annoyed when she had basically just scared the living daylights out of me?
“Um, so how do you…” Mallory’s voice trailed off.
“I can’t tell your future in the way you’re used to thinking,” Ellie clarified. “I can just sense when things are off and whatever will happen to you soon can really hurt you…both.”
At this point I was freaked out beyond belief, but of course my skeptic girl…friend…um, whatever she was, wasn’t about to go down without a fight.
“Look, Ellie. I appreciate everything you’ve done for us, but we’ve already fallen victim to psychological warfare what with Bria and everything.”
She was talking about the jinx. She was so talking about the jinx.
Ellie looked so torn. “Can you please just listen to me? Maybe?”
Mallory and her newfound confidence was blooming. She waved her hand in the air. “Once again we appreciate everything, but we will not be scared by some superstition shit.”
Ellie pulled her lips inward and nodded her head. “Fine. Just…be careful, okay? Really think about your actions before you do them.”
She shot us one last look before spinning on her heel and walking away. Mallory shook her head in disbelief and shot me a wary look. “Can you believe that? She’s just as bad as Bria.”
“Yeah…” I frowned, forcing out a laugh. “Just like Bria.”
Deep down I had a feeling Ellie wasn’t some supernatural consultant…she was something much, much, more…
Chapter 34
Mallory
“Can you believe her?” I snorted, twirling the red and white colored paper straw around my fingers. I placed my lips around the pinstriped straw, slurping my strawberry milkshake.
“Yeah…weird.” Asher kept his eyes down, flicking at his basket of fries, which sat uneaten. Flakes of salt fell on the table and he absently circled around them with his finger.
Uh, oh. I knew that look pretty well.
“Wait, you can’t be seriously considering…” My eyes widened as I took in his stiff shoulders, drooped eyes, and strained lips. “Oh my gosh, you are! You’re scared of some bullshit that obviously isn’t true.”
“Mal, I just don’t want to risk you losing that solo. Isn’t it weird that Ellie ran up, just when we were talking about it?” He shifted in his seat and sighed. “Maybe it’s an omen.”
“I can’t believe—” I did a double take. “Wait, you’re afraid of me losing?”
He frowned, leaning further back. “Yeah. Did you think I cared about me or something?”
“I…I mean, you were so worried about the jinx…I just thought…”
He shook his head and snorted. “Figured you’d think that about me.”
“What was I supposed to think?” I blurted out in frustration. “Half the time we knew each other we were running around practically drowning in potions and magic and…” I bowed my head and sighed. “Don’t go down that path again. Please, Asher. We know it more than ever before, but it’s really unhealthy.”
Asher’s jaw clenched. He slammed his hand on the table, causing me to jump in surprise. “I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Asher. I’m not trying to discredit you or anything, it’s just—”
He pushed his hand through his messy hair and sighed. “Never mind. I don’t need to piss, but I do need some air.”
I watched, awestruck, as he stood from our table and took quick strides toward the front of the diner. Was he really just going to ditch me like that?
“Dine and dash much?” I caught sight of his phone, which sat by his full basket of fries and sighed with relief as I picked it up. “Nah, he wouldn’t leave this here.”
Bzzz. Bzzz.
“Ah!” I yelped, surprised by the sudden vibration. I sensed a few restaurant patrons glance over at me in annoyance, but unlike before, I was able to tune them out.
“Crap, do I answer?” I shook my head with a laugh. “You’re not his girlfriend. Just tell him someone called once he gets back.”
But by habit, I checked the screen before I placed it back onto the table and felt my blood immediately run cold.
Roxie: When can we meet to talk?
It felt as if my vibrant heart had just split into two. Gasping for breath, I placed the phone screen side down and swallowed back a sob.
“Maybe we are still jinxed,” I whispered to myself. “Maybe Ellie was right.”
/> ***
The rest of night was strained with neither of us speaking to one another. It was as if a blanket was suddenly laid on top of us, suffocating the life force out of our blooming relationship. When we pulled up to my apartment, I didn’t know whether to send him packing or beg him to stay. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, he made the decision for me.
“Hey, since tomorrow is your big day, maybe I should sleep somewhere else tonight. You know, so you can get a good night’s sleep.”
My eyes darkened. He was probably going to meet Roxie.
Though I felt a sudden urge to break down into tears I kept my cool, his lessons on staying strong and confident finally working their magic on me. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”
The look of pain that flashed over his face came as a shock to me. What right did he have to look hurt? He was the one talking to Roxie behind my back…then again it wasn’t as if I were his girlfriend. He had the right to talk to whomever he wanted.
The thought sickened me.
Fueled by my growing anger I heard myself say, “So are you going to that infamous hotel of yours? Quite fitting, if I do say so myself.”
He blinked. “Where did that come from?”
I shook my head and forced a smile. “Never mind. You know, I was thinking that maybe you were right.”
“About what?” he asked cautiously.
“Maybe you and Ellie had something going…maybe you shouldn’t come to my audition tomorrow.”
He froze on the spot. “Wait, what? What are you saying?”
“That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it? You didn’t want to perform with me?” You want to perform with someone else.
“Mallory, where is this coming from? What the fuck are you talking about?” He had the audacity to get angry at me? Really?
“Hey, it was your idea!” My vision became tinged with red. I was so mad. “I’m just finally going along with it, like I’ve been doing since I went viral.”
Breaking Hearts (B-boy #3) Page 20
