CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 2

I arrived London in the evening, or so I thought. I took a cab from the airport and went straight to the academy. During the ride, I stuck my head at glass window and looked around the busy streets. Who would have thought this place could me so amazing?

Finally, the dorm. I grabbed my bags from the back compartment and paid the driver. This place is huge. Way huge. I took a deep breath and knocked at the door. I waited. Uhm… er… Okay, maybe I should just go in. And I did. And found out it was not necessary to knock cause people just come right in. Stupid.

"Hi." I said to the receptionist. Who would have thought that a dorm would have a reception area? Cool.

"Hi. How may I help you?" The lady said. I'm guessing she was in her 30's.

"Uhm, I was wondering if what floor is room 321?"

"It's in the 3rd floor. Go straight and turn left." She smiled and went back straight to whatever she was doing in the computer.

"Thank you." I say and looked around to see if there was an elevator or something. Uhm… I don't see any. God, no!

"One… more… step…" I said, gasping for air. Whew. I set my bags down and plopped on the floor. I was exhausted. "Oooh. Carpeted.. WHOA!" I said when I felt the floor and as I looked up, there were 2 floors more! Good thing I wasn't at the top, or I will die if I ever have to live there. I started to get up and find my room. I went straight, and turned left as the lady instructed me.

318…319…320… "321." Finally. I got the keys from my pocket and opened the door. Cool room. There were 2 beds, a bathroom, 2 huge closets and a mirror. Whoa, this one's bigger that my room. It looked cozy too. The floors were carpeted, and the walls were wooden. But one thing I noticed was there were things on the other bed.

"Hi." A girl with blond hair with black streaks on it emerged from the bathroom.

"Hey. You must be my roommate." I said as I set down my bags and extended my hand. "Angel Johnson. But you can call me AJ."

"Jazzie Poynter. Call me Jaz." She said and took my hand to shake it. She went to her bed and fixed her stuff.

"So, what's you're course?" She asked.

"I'm a Dance major. You?"

"Music. I'm pretty nervous. Teachers here are pretty up tight." Jazzie said as she sat down in her bed as well.

"I've heard about that. We gotta work our asses off." I say. And she laughed. "What?"

"Nothing. You're from LA, aren't you?" how did she know that?

"Uhm, yeah. How did you know?" I smiled.

She just shrugged.

"You're not gonna tell me, are you?"

"It's your accent. And the way you say 'ass'." she answered. I laughed and threw her a pillow.

"Hey!" she chuckled and threw it back to me. "So do you have siblings? or nightmares?"

I laughed, "I have an older brother who's in his last year in college. But I wouldn't consider him a nightmare. He's pretty cool to hang around with. How about you?"

She looked at me with amazed expression in her face. I don't know why she looked at me like that. "Seriously?" she asked. Uhm.. I'm getting kinda confused here.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, nothing. Uhm, I do have one brother. He's… let's say... He's pretty special." And she got up and got her laptop from her bag.

"Retarded?" I asked suspiciously and opened the closet for me to put my stuff in.

She laughed, "You can say that. You should come with me sometime to meet him."

"Uhm, that'd be—OW!" I was cut off when I tripped in one of my bags.

"Are you okay?" Jazzie asked.

"Yup, I'm fine." I breathed. "I'm fine."

"Whoa, what do you have in there?" She asked, referring to my duffel bag where I put my ballet stuff.

"Nothing, just…stuff."

A week has passed and Jazzie and I quickly became best friends. We had all the time to talk about things. Today was Monday and it was time to face the challenge. I have to meet my mentors and critics in my class. I was really getting nervous every minute. What if they don't like me? What if I am the worst in class? What if… Gaaah! You're over thinking things too much Aej. Stop it. I went in the shower and let the warm water run through me. Now that felt better. I heard someone talking outside in our room. Must be Jaz on the phone. I got out the bathroom and went pass Jazzie. "Hey Jaz." I greeted not even looking at her. But I stopped dead in my tracks. I looked at the person. This ain't Jazzie. It's… a guy!

"You're not Jazzie." I managed to say. He looked at me and had a smile on his face. He had sandy blond hair and greenish/grayish eyes. He was a little bit taller than me. He's cute. And he looked at me from head to toe. Only to realize that I was only wearing a towel!

"Aaaaaaah!" I screamed and I saw him jump backward before I head back to the bathroom. "You're not Jazzie!" I yelled.

"Uhm, yeah. I'm her brother." He replied.

"Where is she?"

"She went out to buy us breakfast." He called back. "I'm gonna go out, okay?" and I heard the door shut. As soon as it did, I popped my head out of the bathroom door to see if the coast is clear. Okay good. I changed into my tights and leotards and covered it up with my gray sweat pants and I wore the black razor back my mom bought me. I checked the clock. 6:30. Classes start at 8. I open the door to see the guy earlier standing with one foot and the other against the wall, with his hand in his pockets.

"You can come in now." I said and stepped aside so could get in. He plopped down at Jazzie's bed, as if it was his own.

"So, you're her roommate huh." He said and looked at me with yet another smile. Ugh, those eyes.

"Last time I checked." I said as a strand of my black hair fell of my face and I tried to blow it away. But it didn't work. The second time I did it, he laughed. "What?" I looked at him, the strand still in my face.

"You're retarded." He said jokingly and shook his said. I brushed the strand off and looked at him amusingly, did he just call me retarded?

"I am not! … But Jazzie says you are." He looked surprised at my comment. "Actually, I pointed it out. She just agreed." He even looked more surprised. Ha! Take that.

Before he could say anything, Jazzie came in with bags of food in her hand and three cups of coffee on the other. "Hey, Dougs, could you help me out here?" she said as she struggled to balance the coffee. Her brother who seem to be 'Dougs' and I stood up the same time and grabbed the coffee from Jaz. And as we did, his hand was over mine, and I tensed a bit. Maybe he's a mind reader or sensor or something cause he noticed this and let go of the coffee and my hand.

"Hey Jaz." I said when I got my voice back. But it took a little while for her to answer. She had this look that says 'I could sense something going on between you two and I'm liking it'. For Christ's sake, I just met the guy!

"Heeey Aej. This is my brother Dougie. Dougs, AJ." She introduced.

"Nice to meet you."

I plastered a fake smile and sat on my bed and ate my breakfast.

By the time we finished, it was 7:30.

"Hey Jaz, I have to go. Fletch called earlier. He's gonna be pissed if I don't show up. I'll see yah Saturday, alright? And nice to meet you again, retard." He said and messed up my hair.

"Sure, bye Dougs." Jazzie said.

"Hey!" I yelled at his action. "It's AJ, freak."

"And by the way… nice curves." And he was gone. I glared at the spot where he was standing before. "Your brother is so dead." I said through gritted teeth.

Jazzie's jaw was dropped open, "What was that about?" she teased.

"I'll tell you later. I got to go. Don't wanna be late." And with that, I grabbed my bag and ran off.