Chapter Four: The Next Day

Disclaimer: I do not own of Degrassi or RFR's characters. I hope you enjoy the story.

Spoiler: Here you will learn about Alayna's past.

It was Saturday morning and at Spirit Squad practice and I couldn't stop smiling. While we were going over a new routine to the song, "Tempted to Touch" by a new Soca/ Reggae artist named Rupee, Hazel kept glancing over at me. As we went over the routine, Hazel and I finally made eye contact and she mouthed to me,

"What are you so happy about?"

I kept smiling and then I mouthed back,

"I've got a secret".

A secret I would only tell my closest friends at school who were Hazel, Manny, and Liberty. After I finally admitted to Robbie how I felt about him, we went on our first date. I must say that it was really nice and relaxing. At first, we were going to go to Scarborough Towne Center, but after I finished walking Shelly, taking her back in the house, reappling my lip gloss and put on a dash of Beautiful perfume, it was 7:30 and by the time Robbie drove up there, we would only have an hour to chill up there before it closed. So instead, we just decided to hang out in Downtown Toronto. It turned out to be a nice evening, because we didn't even need to wear jackets. As we walked and talked, I began to feel really comfortable with Robbie. He was unlike any other guy I had known, so I felt as though I could confide in him about my past.

Originally, I used to live in Southside Bronx with my mother four years ago. My parents met when they were in their senior year of college at the University of Miami. My father had a football scholarship, yet he was really intelligent and my mother had an academic scholarship, yet she was a cheerleader for the school. They met at a football game and it was love at first sight. Right after graduation, my father was drafted into the NFL and a year later, my parents were married. I was born a year into their marriage and at first everything was fine, but then, my mother used to get angry at my father for staying out so late and always being on the road. When I was about six years old, my parents divorced. I was really young, but I remembered that my mother used to cry a lot. My mother got sole custody of me and we moved back up to her hometown of Southside Bronx. Since my mother had a degree in business, she decided to open up a day spa in the Bronx. It was very successful and with the alimony and child support my mother was getting from my father, along with the profit from her business, my mother and I lived quite comfortably. However, you one thing she always made me remember is that even though we lived well, it was always good to give back to your community and to remember that whatever the Lord blessed you with, He could certainly it take away. So at the age of six, I learned the importance of charity and being humble. Another thing my mother told me was that even though many people would tell me that I was physically pretty, she told me to tell them that it wasn't my outside that was pretty, but that my heart was pretty, because it's what's on the inside that counts.

Living in the Bronx, I got to experience all different aspects of my heritage. My mother is Puerto-Rican and Irish, and my father is African-American. So I'm what you would call a mutt. I really enjoyed living in New York, but on July 8th 1999, my mother took me up to Toronto to live my dreaded uncle Xavier and his wife Angelique. The reason for this was that my mother was really stressed out and was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, by then, she was running four more day spas throughout New York, one in Brooklyn, one in Spanish Harlem, and two in Staten Island. Since my father was in Honduras at the time, recuperating from a knee injury he received on the field, my mother thought it was best that I stay with her brother and his wife.

At first, Uncle Xavier and Angelique were all nice to me in front of my mother, but then when my mother left, it was a whole different story. Basically, I was the live-in babysitter for their two children and I couldn't stand it. When I talked to my mother on the phone, I would beg her to let me come back home, but she would always tell me that she needed more time to get herself together. I was heart-broken. I missed my friends and my family in the Bronx. I missed being able to go on the subways with my friends, the dance classes I took, helping my mother out in the day spas, and various other things. However, I thing I did find peace in was Toronto itself. To me, Toronto is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and I loved going on walks by myself. I loved breathing the clean air of Canada and the culture of the city itself. Then in September, I attended school up there and I truly enjoyed it. It there that I could be around kids my own age, learn new things, and get involved in activities.

Finally, a couple of months later, my father found out that I was in Toronto and he came up to visit me. Even though I didn't see my father that much in the past four years at the time, he still was a big part of my life. I would go trips with him during the winter and summer breaks from school and occasionally he would come to visit my mother and I in the Bronx. When he came to visit me, I was completely happy. While he was up there, I told him about how unhappy I was living with Uncle Xavier, his wife, and his two kids. After I told my father this, he then called my mother and discussed with her that he would like to have joint custody of me. But she wouldn't give in and claimed that he was unfit to raise me. He then told her of his knee injury and that he wouldn't be going back into the NFL and he was going to open up a clinic and health club for athletes. She then said she would think about it. Originally, my father was going to open up the clinic and health spa in Florida, but when he visited Toronto, he fell in love with it and decided to open it up there, after all, Toronto does have quite a few athletes. A year later, my father opened up his clinic, I moved in with him, and then he got sole custody of me. It was also the year I met Robbie and now when I think about it, I had a crush on him then too. He was so cute with his curly Afro and the way he always questioned everything was really neat. Now it's four years later and I was out on a date, with Robbie McGrath.

After I told Robbie about my past over dinner at Pizza Pizza in which we shared a small pizza (which had mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, bacon, and mushrooms), chicken wings, and a Garden Salad only to be guzzled down by some root beer, we continued to walk in Downtown Toronto. The whole night was a complete surprise; especially knowing that Robbie felt the same way about me that I did about him. A lot of guys that have approached me usually are players, some of the dancers that I work with when I'm dancing for Keshia Chante, or sports players at the various schools we cheer for, seem to be alike. They all dress the same, act the same, and even try to talk to the same kind of girls. To me, they could be boring. Robbie was different from them, yet one thing he had in common was the same kind of girls he's hooked up with. Hopefully, all of this is about to change. The best part of the night is when we went to Harbor and walked around. It was while we were sitting on a by the waterfront, that Robbie took my hand into his and held it. I felt more at peace with him than I did with anyone else in a long time.

I got home about 10:30 and as Robbie and I stood out on the front step of my house, I smiled at him and said,

"Thanks for the date. I had a great time".

Then he took my hand into his again and said,

"No, Alayna, thank you for your company, I really had a good time with you. So, what are your plans for tomorrow".

"Well, in the morning I have Spirit Squad practice, then after that, I have choir rehearsal at my church. Later on, my friend Hazel and I and her boyfriend Jimmy were going to go to the drive-in movie theater", I told him.

"So, you're going to be a third wheel then", Robbie asked me.

"Nah, my friend Marco is going too. But don't worry, he's not interested in girls at all", I told him.

"Oh, okay. I was going to ask you if you wanted to hang out with Travis, Lily, Ray, and I, but I see you're busy tomorrow", Robbie said.

Then I got an idea!

"Robbie, why don't the four of y'all join us, I'm sure that my friends won't mind", I told him.

"That sounds like a plan. I'll run it by Travis, Ray, and Lily and see what they say. I wouldn't mind going to a drive-in movie theater, especially if you're going to be there", Robbie said while smiling.

"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow", I said to him.

"Yeah, I guess so. You get some rest okay", he said to me.

"I will and you too", I replied back, "Well goodnight".

"Goodnight to you too Alayna", Robbie said.

Then the unexpected happened, he took me in his arms and just as we were about to kiss, my dad opened the door, wearing nothing but his robe and said,

"Alayna, it's now time to come in the house".

He then closed the door, and Robbie gave me a quick peck on the cheek and said,

"I'll see you tomorrow".

So much for my goodnight kiss, I thought to myself while closing the door of my house. But the biggest secret I have is that I now have a boyfriend! This morning, while my dad was driving me to Spirit Squad practice, I got a text message on my cell phone, which read,

"Will U b mine" from Robbie. I wrote back "Yes".

Now, I'm happy, but I can't help but wonder if Robbie and I are taking things too fast or is he just on the rebound from Kim.