Author's Note: I wasn't gonna throw a note in here but this chapter is over 3,000 words long. Just a heads up. I was too far into it when I was typing this out. If you enjoy long chapters, hooray for you!
Sometime in October, the Hi-Def crew was invited to a Halloween Dance Off. The list of crews participating was listed on the orange papered letter. Riptide, Flash4wrd and even Lu$h was included. The letter came with two charter bus tickets and a ticket that was required to get into the Dance Off. Of course the deal with tickets was a little unsettling, but one thing stuck out to them the most:
No extra guests allowed.
Kuchen became depressed about not being able to go with her brothers to the Dance Off. She really wanted to be there to support them and watch them demolish the other crews with little to no mercy. Mo attempted to buy her an extra ticket, but they were sold out. After further investigation, Glitch found out that the Dance Off was only 2 days.
But to Kuchen, that was still far too long.
The night to leave had arrived in no time and Mo had made arrangements for a German-sitter while he was away.
"B-but I don't wanna make anymore new friends... I wanna go with you guys..." Kuchen whined, refusing to let Hi-Def leave her behind.
"We won't be gone that long. It's just 2 days, K." the older African-American told her, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"That's too long... don't leave m-me...", blue eyes pleaded, welling up with tears, a puppy face following them.
"The puppy face ain't gone work this time." Mo smirked, until tears made trails down her cheeks and sobs escaped her lips. "Hold up, hold up! Don't cry on me! C'mon! Please?"
Mo's begging didn't stop her from closing her eyes and letting out wails of emotional pain. Not only was she sad that they were leaving, but she was also afraid that her father would take this chance to come abduct and beat her until she couldn't stand.
"A'ight, I got it. Look, look. Imma make you a deal."
Kuchen looked up at him, biting her lip to stop the sobs.
"If you go to my friends' house and come back with a good relationship with them... I'll buy you your very own box of cereal."
The German's eyes widened in disbelief.
"And orange juice. Extra pulp."
Her eyes opened bigger and her lips parted slightly.
"And if we win the cash and the trophy, I'll take you out for smoothies."
Giving a huge gasp, Kuchen stared up at Mo, expecting him to be joking. When she finally came to the conclusion that he wasn't, she gave him a breath-taking hug.
"Well, what are you standing around for? I wanna make new friends now!" the somewhat skinny girl shouted, grabbing her jacket off the living room couch and heading down to the car.
During the ride to her German-sitter's house, Kuchen laid in the backseat of Mo's car, not even bothering to put on a seat belt. Glitch sat in the passenger's seat with his iPod hooked up and an exhausted look on his face. He knew that the ride to the bus would be long and he decided to sleep on the bus. He didn't wanna fall asleep and miss saying 'good-bye' to his German friend.
Arriving to a tall 2-story house on a corner decorated with a ton of jack-o-lanterns, bright orange lights, creepy bats and hanging ghosts, Kuchen stared out the window, a fearful look planted on her face.
"I-I'm scared..."
"Don't be. Just go out and knock on the door.", Mo said, putting his car into 'park'.
The German slowly got out, closing the door behind her. She held her suitcase with both hands as her palms became sweaty. Taking one unsteady step after another, Kuchen creeped closer to the haunted looking house. The fall breeze blew over her, shaking the trees and wrapping itself around her legs. She quietly scolded herself for wearing leggings on a breezy night like this.
Kuchen reached out a shaky, sweaty, pale hand and knocked on the wooden door. The high-pitched barks of a canine caused Kuchen to back away quickly and hold her hand close to her chest. The barking continued with a couple of growls in between.
The door swung open to reveal a male with blond hair and a pair of orange goggles on his face. He had on a black shirt with the picture of a smiling pumpkin and a pair of black sweatpants.
He stared at Kuchen then looked over at the car which Mo was standing outside of. The Russian waved to the African-American and he waved back. The white Shih Tzu barking next to him attempted to get outside, but the Russian put his foot in front of her.
"Take a chill pill, dawg."
The small pup licked his foot in an attempt to get him to move it, but to no avail. A female bearing pink hair, a short sleeved shirt, shorts and long black, white and orange sleeves on her arms approached the doorway, eying the German outside.
" 'Ello, there. Are you the German were supposed to babysit?", she asked, British lingering on her voice.
Kuchen didn't answer, completely afraid of the people before her. She dropped her suitcase and abruptly ran back down the stone pathway and into Mo's arms.
"I-I'm more scared of them than I am of the house..." Kuchen admitted, tightening her grip around Mo's waist.
"You need to chill. Big time."
"Don't make me go... take me with you..." the azure-eyed teenager begged, hoping that he'd finally crack down.
"Cereal. OJ. Smoothies. Remember those 3 words the entire time you're here." her 'older brother' reminded her, gently pushing her off of him.
Kuchen looked over at Glitch in the passengers seat who was laying his cheek down on the door, sleepily hanging his hand outside of the car. Half-lidded eyes stared at the German, silently saying good-bye. Putting her head down in defeat, Kuchen forced herself to slowly walk back up to the bright and slightly terrifying house.
She picked up her suitcase and stepped inside of the warm and cozy home. She listened to her German-sitters yell 'peace-out' and 'cheers' to her brothers. Although she wanted to cry, Kuchen couldn't bring herself to. It was just 2 days after all, right?
The door closed as the blond and coral-haired duo danced in front of her.
"Yo yo yo, what's yo name, girl?", the Russian asked, still dancing for no apparent reason.
Kuchen didn't reply to them and put her head down.
"Aww, she's a little scared. We're not gonna hurt ya, love!" the dancing pink-haired female grinned, waving her entrancing sleeves in the air.
Playing with her blue bangs, the nearly-not-so-skinny girl looked up at the two she'd be stuck with for the next 3 days and 2 nights. To be honest, she thought that they had some pretty intense dancing skills. Not better than Hi-Def, but insanely close.
"I'm Kuchen.", she finally spoke, tilting her head up to get a clear view of her German-sitters, who were still dancing.
"Aww, yeah, baby! She's willin' to hang with D-Coy, Dare!"
"Now that's what we were hopin' for! Nice to meet you, darling. Name's D.A.R.E. And this Russian bloke here is MacCoy." Dare introduced, twirling her sleeves more.
"You can call me 'Coy. Whatever floats ya boat." MacCoy added, dropping into a split and standing back up to his feet again.
Kuchen rubbed her cheek uncomfortably, as Dare took her suitcase from her.
"H-hey, that's mine."
"Ya want it? Come and get it!" Dare exclaimed, running off with the light yellow suitcase down a hall.
Kuchen followed, as the white puppy chased after it's female master, a smile on it's face.
As the black and orange dressed dancer ran into a guest room and jumped onto the queen-sized bed, the pasty canine ran in circles and licked it's reflection in the body mirror in the corner of the room. The German ran in and looked around at the guest room, scanning the empty shelves, the flat screen TV, the tall fancy dresser and the high white bed. It reminded her of her room that she once slept in back at home. The only things missing were the colors and her stitched up teddy bear that she'd missed so much.
"Here's where you'll sleep. Don't be afraid to unpack your stuff and relax a bit. The bathroom is back down the hall and it's the second door to your right. That's your bathroom cause 'Coy and I have our own in our rooms." Dare told her, placing her suitcase on her bed. "I'll be back to check on you later. Cheers, then."
The Shih Tzu pranced over to Kuchen and began to sniff and lick her leg. She wagged her tail and barked at her. Kuchen whimpered, afraid of the creature with the orange bow on her head. Although it was cute, the German had never seen anything like it. The little pup wore a black and white collar around her neck with little ghosts printed on it.
"Stop scaring the girl, Dutchess." her owner told her, attempting to get her away from the blue-eyed German.
Dutchess jumped up onto Kuchen's leg, wanting to play with her. Kuchen refused by hopping up onto her bed and gripping her bed sheets, looking as fearful as ever.
"Don't be scared. Dutchess is a sweetie. She don't bite. And she loves dancing just like her mommy does. Ain't that right, Dutchess? C'mon, Dutchess! Dance, girl!" Dare said, waving her sleeves around in the air.
The canine stood up on her hind legs, giving a little dance, her tongue hanging out of her mouth happily.
"Good girl! Let's go! C'mon now!" Dare ordered, patting her thigh as the canine ran out of the room with her mother, closing the door behind them.
Sitting alone in her new room was boring. Kuchen wanted to do something exciting, but not with her German-sitters. She truly missed Mo and Glitch, even though she'd only been there for no more than 4 hours or so. Looking up at the clock, Kuchen sighed, realizing that it was only 9:12pm. It was going to be a long, long night.
A knock on her door made her jump and hold her chest.
"Mind if I come in? That is, if you're decent A.T.M."
Kuchen rose up and opened her door, only to spot the goggled Russian from earlier. She gave him an uneasy smile and let him in. He danced his way in and set a bowl of fried rice onto the dresser, along with a bottle of orange juice and two packaged strawberry shortcakes. MacCoy turned to her and gave her a grin.
"It was Dare's turn to cook dinner tonight. This rice ain't as bad as it may look. It's boomin'. That's a promise. Word."
The ribbon-tattooed girl didn't hear a word he'd said. She was too entranced by the freckles on his face. MacCoy's cheekbones and nose were the only things she focused on. She had the urge to poke them and rub them. She wondered if they'd come off his face or if it was just make-up.
Awkwardly extending both hands towards his face, Kuchen oogled at MacCoy's freckles, just as she did Angel's studs. Although he did flinch a little upon contact, 'Coy let her experiment anyway.
Mo had told him not to be alarmed when she does something out of the ordinary. She was new to the world and even though she had been exploring for nearly 8 months, Kuchen still had so much to learn. And judging by the way she'd touched MacCoy's face, she was way behind on schedule.
"Oh, Entschuldigung! Ich miene, sorry..." the German apologized, accidentally using her native language and taking her hands off of his face.
"Don't sweat it. 'Coy don't mind." the style head soothed, making sure not to make her too uncomfortable, just as Mo had told him. "Poppin' tats, by the way!"
Kuchen looked at the tattoos on her arms and attempted to cover them, completely oblivious that they'd been there for 8 months.
"T-thank you, Mr. MacCoy."
'Coy flung his hand over his mouth and gave a muffled chuckle. Kuchen gave him an awkward stare.
"What's so funny?"
"Not a thang. Momo told me you had learned some super fresh moves. True or False?" the Russian asked, dancing a bit as he couldn't resist the urge.
"Y-yeah... just a little." the German admitted, remembering how Mo put her through gentle yet, tiring training. It did begin to get easy at some points as Kuchen began eating healthy and following the rules of the book that Emilia had gave her. She could feel her strength rushing back into her body with every passing second of the day.
The style head picked up the food and orange juice he'd set on the dresser a few minutes ago and headed out the door. Kuchen watched him leave, questioning where he was going with her dinner.
"If you're ready to grub, I'd follow the man!"
Shutting off the light to her room, the blue-haired female followed him down another hall to his room, her stomach growling angrily at her.
Walking into a spacious master bedroom, Kuchen officially wanted to sleep in there. There were posters covering the wall. Mostly of comic book characters and old-school funk groups. Ancient vinyl records littered the walls and there was a huge shelf full of comic books in plastic that Kuchen so desperately wanted to touch and open. Looking up at the ceiling fan, the German became hypnotized by it's slow spinning. Round and round and round and round and rou-
"You cool, K?"
Snapping out of her hypnosis, Kuchen looked at MacCoy, stumbling a little and wobbling, attempting to catch her balance. She fell onto the green rug placed on the floor and laid on her back, watching the room spin.
"I-I'm okay..." she replied. "I'm perfectly fine."
'Coy disappeared as blue-eyes stopped rotating. She didn't really notice, as her stomach scolded her again, forcing her to remember that she's hungry. Getting up and plopping down on the king sized bed with the lime green sheets, Kuchen ate the food that was sitting on a wooden tray. Although the brown rice looked unappealing, MacCoy wasn't lying. The rice was probably the best food she'd ever tasted in her entire life. The rainbow like vegetables appealed to her, making her eat bite after bite.
The Russian emerged from his bathroom and headed over to a corner in his room. Kuchen was too busy enjoying the orange juice she was given, along with the strawberry shortcakes she'd just fell in love with. The sweet, white cream and the fluffy cake on the outside made her melt. She had thoughts of marrying the pastries as she watched a random TV show on 'Coy's flat screen.
Glancing over for a split second at the style head across the room, the German watched him tamper with some awkward looking equipment. Rising to her feet and stalking over, one step after another, Kuchen got closer and closer to see that the equipment had two large discs placed on them. She scanned each and every adjustable thing on the table, eyes wide with desire to touch. Touch. Touch.
"Touch...", she drooled, extending a hand towards the turntables.
Suddenly, the lights were cut out, casting a thick blanket of darkness over the room. Kuchen looked around and couldn't see a thing. She reached out both hands in front of her in order to feel or grab a hold of her Russian counter-part.
"M-Mr. MacCoy? A-are you there?"
Colorful lights flickered on and circled the room in crazy shapes. The German looked up and around the room, noticing rainbow like DJ lights fluttering about. She was surprised that she didn't notice all of them before. There were so many. The speakers behind her began to play a string of funk music loudly and she looked towards the center of the room to spot MacCoy dancing away to the beat.
"Get over here, girl! Get yo groove on!" 'Coy yelled, gesturing for her to come dance with him.
Kuchen stepped over to him and danced. No matter how awkward she shook her hips or swung her arms, MacCoy didn't seem to care. He kept a smile on his face and danced with her. Mo had told the Russian to make her feel at home and that's exactly what he did. Kuchen had forgotten all about her 'brothers' who were probably miles away by now.
She stayed up for hours, grooving and laughing with her new friend. At one point while dancing with him, Kuchen slipped on the hardwood floor. On her way down, the German grabbed the Russian by the arm, pulling him down with her. The impact was gruesomely painful, but hilarious all-in-all. MacCoy had told her to get up and dance it off.
Throughout the long hours of the night, Kuchen had learned how to use the style head's DJ equipment, create a mix which they'd record and call their own, and make up a dance with him to Junior Senior's Move Your Feet.
When the activities and music had died down, and bottles of cool water were rewarded, Kuchen had told 'Coy all about the life she'd lived before she'd met Hi-Def on the terrifying, but lucky, February afternoon. He'd asked so many questions about it and was baffled by the actions her father had took upon her, wondering how anyone could be so cruel.
"Stop playin'. He didn't do that."
"He did. I could remember the anger on his face. He was so red and furious. I still have the scars..."
"Lemme see!" MacCoy urged, eyes wide with amazement.
Pulling the right sleeve of her dress down and exposing her skin, Kuchen let the blond look and lightly touch the red scars on her shoulder and upper chest.
"What'd he cut you with, though?"
"A box cutter." Kuchen told him.
"You're messin'! That ain't fo' real!"
"It's true."
"That's yonkers." MacCoy frowned, as the sapphire-haired other fixed her dress back.
Silence had snaked it's way into the DJ's room. Neither of them spoke. Blue-eyes absently looked at the water bottle that the owner of them had held. Memories of Kuchen's terrifying past had occupied her mind again, drawing her away from the outside world. Her eyes had unsuspectedly welled up with salty tears. The blond DJ noticed this and snapped into action, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her head to his chest.
"Stop thinkin' about yo past, K! Ya homie, MacCoy, is gonna keep you safe, ya heard?" he exclaimed, holding up his bottle of H2o.
Kuchen blinked in wonder, then beamed at him, taking a look around the room afterwards, where large bits of her shell were scattered all over the floor.