"Hi, Myles,"
Lifting my head from my phone, I found Cindy Hampton standing in front of me.
I was currently waiting for Jesse to exit from the girl's locker room as dance rehearsals just finished.
Unfortunately, I now had my space invaded by Cindy.
I held back an eye-roll as she twirled a strand of her golden hair between her fingers her light blue eyes staring into me as she flashed me a flirtatious smile.
Cindy is what some would say every guy's wet dream.
She was beautiful with her model-like figure and dainty yet sharp features.
She was also loaded with her father being some hotshot billionaire lawyer.
Despite stereotypes of blondes being dumb, Cindy was extremely smart, which made sense since she was also conniving and manipulative.
Her looks meant nothing to me as her personality was horrible and she always went out of her way to tear others down.
My dislike for her grew when I discovered she was one of the girls who bullied Malia.
That dislike soon became hate when I caught her bad-mouthing Jesse.
Even a blind person could see that Cindy was jealous of Jesse, especially since Jesse is the dance captain and 10 times a better dancer than Cindy would ever be.
I quickly shut her down when I heard the disgusting statements she was making about how Jesse is a scholarship student and racial comments.
I would never hit a girl as my mother raised me better than that, but I made sure to let Cindy know that if she ever talked about Jesse like that again I would ruin her.
Despite me making my hatred towards her known she continued to make several advances towards me.
"How are you? It's been so long since we last talked," She said sweetly as I stared at her boredly, wondering when she'll get the hint to walk away.
"So, what are you doing here?" She asked trying to have a conservation with me, despite the fact I was ignoring her.
"Well if you're not busy, maybe you can come over. My parents aren't home," She said biting her lip as I stared at her in disgust.
I watched as her hand went to caress my arm, but I quickly snatched her wrist before she could make contact.
I made sure my hold was gentle as I didn't want to harm her, just made sure she got the message that I didn't want her anywhere near me.
"No," I stated coldly before dropping her wrist.
Spotting Jesse, I quickly maneuvered my way around Cindy, having enough of her.
"Ugh," I heard Cindy let out in agitation at my clear dismissal of her before storming off in the other direction.
"Hey," Jesse said with a smile.
"Is everything okay?" She asked looking at Cindy who was stomping down the halls.
"Now that you're here, it's better than okay," I said with a smile as she ducked her head in embarrassment flustered by my words.
"You're so corny," She said with a small eye roll, though I can see the smile she was so desperately trying to hide.
"But, you love it," I said with a wink before intertwining our fingers together.
Jesse had a soft smile on her face as she watched our hands swing back and forth as we walked to the parking lot.
"So what are the plans for today?" Jesse asked once we made it to my car.
"Well, I was thinking we could just hang out in the treehouse and chill. We haven't got much time to relax with your recital coming up and the golden gloves finals for me." I suggested as I clipped her seatbelt.
Jesse rolled her eyes at my actions, though she mumbled a gentle thank you as I smiled in return.
"I would love that," Jesse said smiling softly.
Throughout the ride, I would peek over at Jesse who sang softly to songs on the radio making me smile, my smile widening whenever I looked down at our interlocked hands that laid on her lap.
"MYLES,"
The first thing I heard as Jesse opened the front door letting me into her house before I had the breath knocked out of my lungs.
Noah had me wrapped in a chokehold as he gave me a noogie on my head.
"Alright! Alright! Let go," I yelled
Once he let me go I adjusted my clothes, as Jesse fixed my hair scolding Noah in the process.
"Sorry, I couldn't conceal my excitement," Noah said cheekily a smirk dancing on his face.
"It's great to see you too," I replied rolling my eyes before a large grin appeared on my face that mirrored his own.
It truly was great seeing Noah.
Growing up I would always look up to him.
He knew my dad wasn't very present in my life, so he would always set aside guy time for us when Jesse would hang out with Nevah. We would play ball together, hang out and play video games, and prank the girls.
Noah was like the older brother that I didn't know I needed until I met him.
"I'm going to take a quick shower and quickly change. While I'm gone please try not to kill one another," Jesse said giving Noah a pointed look before climbing up the stairs.
"So how have you been, future brother in law," Noah said slinging an arm around my shoulders before leading me away from the foyer.
I scoffed at his words before telling him about everything that's been going in my life, from boxing to even giving him a brief rundown on the situation with my father.
"I'm proud of you Myles, I'm happy to see you're standing up against your father and creating a better life for Kyle," Noah said with a proud grin as I nodded, his words meaning a lot.
"Oh, and sorry I couldn't make it to the semi-finalist as I got held up at work," Noah said sympathetically, a frown forming on his face.
"It's okay, I understand," I said brushing it off as he apologized a million times beforehand on the phone.
Noah still went onto apologize one more time despite my words.
"Hey, Nevah!" I said once we entered the kitchen.
"Myles!" She replied enthusiastically before pulling me in a hug.
"What you got there?" I questioned as I spotted a bowl on the counter as we pulled away.
"We're baking chocolate chip cookies," Noah answered as he made his way around the counter to stand beside Nevah.
"More like I'm making the cookies, and you're eating all the dough," Nevah retorted as she went back to mixing the wet ingredients.
"You're the professional here babe, I would only get in your way," Noah justified as Nevah rolled her eyes.
I soft smile appeared on my face as Noah planted a kiss on Nevah's forehand.
However, my smile soon left as a soft chuckle left my lips as I watched Noah try to reach for some dough, but before he could Nevah already swatted his hand away.
"Instead of eating, get me some more flour," Nevah stated as Noah whined.
Noah grabbed the flour, though I didn't miss the mischievous glint in his eyes.
"NOAH!" Nevah yelled who was now cover in flour.
"Oh, you think that's funny," Nevah said glaring at Noah, who was currently dying of laughter.
"Yes, yes I do," Noah replied a smirk on his face as I shook my head in amusement.
"Yeah, maybe you'll find this funny too," Nevah said with a grin before cracking three eggs on top of Noah's head.
I tried to hold back a laugh as I took in the shocked look on Noah's face as Nevah held a smug grin.
"Oh, it's on!" Noah said
And with those words, a war broke out in the kitchen.
I instantly moved to the entrance of the kitchen to avoid the crossfire.
"Hey, you ready to head out ba-" Jesse said coming up beside me before taking in the sight before her in shock before amusement covered her features.
Looking down at Jesse, I noticed she had her hair out, her coils sprawling around her. She also had on a light green sundress that brought her brown eyes.
"You look beautiful," I complimented a smile coming onto her face at my words.
"Thank you," She replied, before grabbing my hand to pull away from the entrance.
"Shouldn't we stop them?" I asked the sound of bowls falling and laughter ringing from the kitchen behind us.
"I rather not have my dress ruined," Jesse said with a shrug of her shoulders as I laughed at her response.
Soon we found ourselves, sprawled out on the floor of the treehouse.
My head laid on Jesse's lap, the caress of her hands through my hair bring me peace.
"Are you scared?" Jesse said breaking the silence.
Shifting in her lap, I turned so my face was facing upwards, so I had a better view of her face.
My gaze was stuck on the beauty of the girl in front of me as she stared at the clouds before us.
"About what," I replied, realizing I didn't answer her question yet.
"About the match," She said her words striking a chord.
"No," I said without hesitation.
"I mean this fight is huge for my career. It can propel me into the big scene, opening more doors for me and help me gain national recognition. Losing isn't an option for me, especially when I'm one step closer to reaching my dreams." I explained as Jesse hummed in understanding.
"So, no I'm not scared. Nervous? Like Hell! But, I can't let that get in my head, though what I feel is very real, doesn't mean it's reality. I have to trust in my abilities and put in everything I can to win," I finished off as Jesse smiled down at me.
"And you will win," Jesse said softly as my breath got caught in my throat.
The urge to lean up and kiss her overwhelming my very being.
"What about you? Are you scared about your recital this Saturday," I said pushing away my thoughts.
"Yes," She answered as I raised a brow at her.
"Why?" I said not understanding when she's the best dancer in the world.
"Before I just felt pressure to do well, it's my last year as dance captain, and this is our very last recital and I just want everything to go well. Not, just for me but my whole team, we worked so hard for this. Despite that, I didn't let my emotions overwhelm me, though it became very hard when I discovered some representatives from Julliard will be there. What if they see my performance and realize I'm not good enough." She said distressed, her eyes frantic.
Rising from my spot on her lap, I gently cupped her face in my hands directing her attention to my own.
"Hey, you'll do amazing, more than amazing," I whispered gently as I softly caressed her face.
She leaned into my touch as a soft sigh escaped her lips.
"But, what if I don't," She said softly, her eyes swimming with doubt.
"I've told you before and I'll tell you for the rest of my life, you're an incredible dancer. You encapture every person with your movements, and tell such a captivating story every time you dance, without a doubt, you'll blow them away, and they'll see you're exactly what they need." I encouraged, the doubt in her eyes being replaced with hope.
"You think so?" She asked gently.
"I know so," I reassured as she nodded her head in agreement.
The urge to kiss her was stronger once I realized our close proximity.
My eyes shot down to her plump lips before looking back up at her eyes, that was peering at my lips.
Does she want to kiss me as much as I want to kiss her
I slowly leaned forward the distance between us becoming shorter.
I felt her breath slightly fan against my lips, my eyes peering into her own to see if this was okay.
With a nod of her head, I saw that as my okay.
Just as my lips brushed against her,
"I brought cookies!" Nevah sang making Jesse and I pull away instantly.
"Was I interrupting something?" Nevah asked with a knowing smirk as she placed a plate of chocolate chip cookies in front of us.
Jesse and I shot each other a quick glance before looking away.
"Nope," We replied at the same time as Nevah shook her head in amusement.
"Alright then, enjoy!" She said before climbing down.
After Nevah left a tense silence fell upon us, neither one of us making an effort to look the other.
Reaching for a cookie, I quickly retracted my hand as our hands brushed against each other.
This is awkward
With a small smile, I urged Jesse to grab a cookie as she smiled in return.
I watched as her hand reached out to the plate once more grabbing a cookie before her hand moved in my direction.
"Cookie,"