One Step Closer
Chapter 2
"So where did you say this venue was?"Joanna asked as she and her boyfriend Leo, walked down a brightly lit street somewhere in the centre of the city.
"It's by an old abandoned dance studio, cool huh?" Leo said as the two walked over to the crowd of people. "They usually dance outside it."
"Do they do this every night?" Joanna wondered.
"Not all the crews, usually just two or four of them battle. Only rarely are all six crews here on one night." Leo explained. This wasn't the first time he'd been to one of these battles.
"Six crews? Wow." Joanna said, generally surprised. "I never knew how into this you were."
"Just because I don't dance, doesn't mean I don't like." he replied with a slight laugh.
The sound of music soon reached them and Leo grabbed her hand. They rushed over to the crowd, pushing their way to the front. A crew was already performing and Leo recognised them immediately.
"That's the Lush Crew." he told Joanna.
Joanna looked at the people in front of her to find a red headed woman, dancing with a dark haired Hispanic man. While watching them dance she realised that maybe Leo was right in bringing her here. They were performing moves she hadn't even seen before. Still, this isn't how she imagined her evening going. Lush finished their performance and the crowd around them went wild. Leo joined in until he spotted two other crews standing on the opposite side.
"Looks like Riptide and High-Def are here too." he said, pointing them out to Joanna. Joanna nodded until she saw something or rather someone, that caught her eye.
He was about her age, wearing a neon colour-bar pattern t-shirt with a red bandana around his neck with a black leather glove on his left hand and a black elbow pad on his right arm. The bottom half of his outfit consisted of black jeans with white stitching that were rolled up at his ankles. Green suspenders hung from both sides of his waist and he had yellow socks and purple sneakers.
She unintentionally found herself staring at him for longer than she'd intended. She couldn't help but admire the muscular build he had for his age and as she continued to stare at him she felt a funny warm feeling come over her.
It didn't take long for Leo to discover the object of his girlfriends attention.
"I see Glitch has already got your attention." he said nudging her with his elbow. Joanna snapped out of it instantly. "Do I need to be worried?" he asked, playfully.
"What are you talking about, I was just admiring-" but for some reason Joanna couldn't finish her sentence.
Leo laughed and said "You wouldn't be the first girl to be lost for words when it comes to Glitch. You should wait till you see him dance." Leo told her and Joanna didn't know what to say.
"It's not like that plus I already have a boyfriend, no other guy stands a chance against him." she said, giving Leo a loving look.
"Well he must be irresistible this boyfriend of yours." he grinned, kissing her.
Joanna broke away when it just happened to be Hi-Def's turn to perform. Joanna's eyes immediately fell to Glitch as they started to dance. She had no idea why but when he started to dance she knew why. He was amazing, like nothing she'd ever seen.
"He and his partner Mo are the resident b-boys around here and they always manage to keep the crowd on their feet." Leo explained. "So, you impressed?" he asked, having to raise his tone above the loud music.
"It's nothing I haven't seen before." Joanna lied, unable to take her eyes off Glitch.
She had no intention of admitting how impressed she was. She thought she was good but he's on a whole different level. Maybe Leo was right and Chloe for that matter. Maybe she's just not as good as she thinks she is. When they stopped dancing her eyes followed his every move until she found him and his crew suddenly surrounded by girls. Only then did she manage to tear her gaze away from him.
"I can see he enjoys the attention." she whispered to Leo.
"Maybe, but attention doesn't matter to them. They dance because it's what they love to do. It's not to prove how good they are. Even when they battle the other crews, it's just a bit of friendly competition." he explained, surprising her.
"Wow, no wonder you keep telling me to let the whole lost battle thing go." she said.
"What can I say? They inspire me. They should inspire you too ." he replied, looking down at her sternly.
All of a sudden the crowd cheered and dispersed as Hi-def once again agreed to dance some more. As the crowd dispersed and the crew took their places, someone caught Glitch's eye. He didn't need to single her out from the crowd because for some reason this girl stood out perfectly. She couldn't be much older than him but something about her, caught his attention.
"Glitch, you ready?" Mo asked, noticing his partner seemed a little distracted.
"Yeah I'm ready." he said, focusing his attention away from the girl.
Joanna had noticed the attention she'd received from the skilled dancer, but she tried not to show it. As they started to dance yet again, Joanna noticed him inadvertently, turning his head to look at her. She begun to feel a little uncomfortable but part of her was curious. The crowd around them jumped up and down, clapping and shouting cries of support as they danced.
"Wow, they're really popular aren't they?" Joanna said, unable to ignore it.
"That's one way of putting it." Leo replied, enjoying the performance.
About half way through the song Glitch made a decision he wasn't so sure would pay off, but he couldn't help it. When he broke from the dance and rushed over to the crowd no one expected what he did next, let alone Joanna and Leo.
He held out his hand to her and said "Dance with me."
"Glitch what are you doing?" Mo called, still dancing but Glitch ignored him.
"What, why me?" Joanna asked, momentarily frozen. What on earth was happening right now?
"Please." he said, staring straight at her.
In any normal situation Joanna would have refused such an offer but for some reason she felt compelled to take his hand and dance. Before Leo could even stop her she took his hand and let him pull her into the spotlight. All Leo could do was look on in shock as his girlfriend was whisked away.
At first Joanna let Glitch lead her in the dance, only moving minimally. The crowd seemed to like the new edition to the performance but the rest of Glitch's crew was a bit taken a back. She was still a little shocked that he'd asked her to dance with him but after a while she actually started to get into it and really dance with him. At one point she was feeling the music so much that she couldn't help but dance to it the way she felt.
As she danced she didn't notice that Glitch had stopped to stare at her dance. When he pulled her into the performance he had no idea she could dance like that. The rest of his crew had all but given up, especially since a girl had taken over their stage. After a while Glitch started to dance with her again, completely mesmerized by her, a girl he didn't even know.
As the song came to end Glitch grabbed her hand and spun her towards him. They ended facing each other with his arms around her. For a while Joanna was frozen. All she could do was stare at him, until the cheers of the crowd and Leo's voice pulled her out of her trance.
"Joanna?" Leo called.
Joanna broke away from Glitch to join her stunned boyfriend. Glitch watched her leave, unable to take his eyes off her.
"Snap out of it man." Mo said, coming up behind him and tapping him on the back. "What has that girl done to you?" he questioned giving Glitch mixed look of concern and surprise.
"I don't know, she just caught my eye." he replied.
"Well whoever she is can dance." Mo replied. "I can't believe you let her take over our stage." he complained.
"I had no idea she could dance like that." he said, defending his actions. "I'll be back."
"What? Where are you going?" Mo asked, but Glitch was already walking away. Mo sighed, exasperated.
"What was that?" Leo asked as Joanna figured out how to explain what had just happened. "He holds his out his hand and asks you dance and you just do it?" he questioned.
"What's the big deal, he offered so I took it." she said. "Besides he had no idea I could dance, it felt good to show off a little." she said, smiling with glee.
"Well I'm glad you enjoyed it." he said and Joanna could sense the anger in his tone.
"What's the matter? You're not telling me, me dancing with another guy made you jealous?" she questioned. When he didn't answer she knew she was right. "Oh my god it was just a dance it didn't mean anything." she said, surprised by his behaviour.
"I didn't like the way he was looking at you ok?" he stated and Joanna was speechless.
"It meant nothing." she said, staring straight into his eyes. "I'm with you and only you." she said, trying to calm him down and dispel his jealousy.
"I know I just couldn't help it." he sighed, kissing her. "I'm just going call my parents ok, I'll be back in a minute." he said.
"Ok." she said as he pulled out his phone and walked away to a more quiet area.
As she stood there listening the sound of another crew performing. She felt someone approach her. She turned around to see Glitch standing behind her, looking a bit lost for words.
"Hi." was all he managed to say.
"Hi." she said back, wondering why he'd decided to talk to her.
"You can really dance." he said. "I had no idea."
"Yeah well I'm not that good and I'm definately not up to your level." she scoffed, unable to wipe the smile off her face.
"Maybe, but you are good. You really surprised me." he said, smiling at her.
"Thanks, but why did you want me dance with you in the first place?" she asked, having wondered that for a while now.
"To be honest I don't know. You just seemed to stand out to me." he answered and that warm feeling she'd felt earlier once again came over her.
"Well, thank you again. My names Joanna by the way." she informed him.
"I'm-" he begun to say but she interrupted him.
"I know who you are Glitch." she said, trying to hide her growing smile. He laughed and looked down at the floor.
"I hope to see you around Joanna." he said and he really did hope.
"Maybe." she teased not sure if coming back with Leo would be such a good idea. "I should probably get back to my boyfriend." she said, going to leave.
Once again he watched her leave until someone pulled him out of his trance. Mo stood beside him once again, staring after her too.
"Too bad she's taken man." he tutted, looking down at his protégé. "Now come back to the dance. You'll forget about her by tomorrow." he said, beckoning him back towards the studio.
Glitch doubted that very much.
