"And you guys read page nine and ten on your own. Have fun." Miss Larissa said as she ended Government class and confidently walked out, her heels clicking on the floor.
"Have fun." Mavis mimicked and rolled her eyes. Davis, her boyfriend, hit her with a textbook playfully.
"Just let her go so we can have five minutes before recess." Grace said and put her legs on her boyfriend's legs.
"Hey hey! No romantic display please." Victoria slapped Grace's legs off and they both laughed.
"I didn't ask that you be single did I? Angelo baby." Grace cooed and sat on his laps before locking his lips between hers in a passionate kiss. Victoria threw a book at both of them.
"Stupid people." She grumbled and leaned against Kadesha.
"Get the hell off me. Did I ask you to be single?" Kadesha teased playfully and shrugged her off.
"Wow! So I'm not even loved?" Victoria feigned hurt, wiping imaginary tears.
"Should I bring a bowl for you to cry in?" Mavis mocked her playfully. Victoria took off her loafers and started chasing Mavis through the entire class as the bell for recess rang.
That's what they were; a class of crazy fellows.
Kadesha kept her books in her bag and strapped it to her chair before heading out with her mates. Victoria swung her hand over her neck from the back and they both walked together.
★
The Basketball Court
The room echoed with the heavy bass of music bouncing off the walls and the soft sounds of foot gliding and tapping on the court. The heavy breathing of dancers filled the room as nine dancers moved across the floor, practicing their routine against their show the next day.
The double door swung open and Amelia ran in.
"I'm so sorry. I forgot--"
"Again?" Victoria crossed her arms with a displeased look. Amelia steadied her breathing. "Choco seriously you can't keep coming late. We agreed on a time. It was decided on by ALL of us. So what the heck?"
"I'm sorry Vic. I really am. I lost track of time with the girls." Amelia apologised. Victoria rubbed her temples and signalled to her to enter the formation.
"One more take. Then we meet again the evening. Remember, don't stomp when dancing. The designer will have our outfits ready by this evening so we will rehearse in them." Victor called out as they all stood in formation.
The music played a quick chant before playing the song. The then of them started moving in perfect synchronization, bending and moving to the music with fluid steps. Their choreography was fire, curated to make even the weakest audience dance.
They all laughed, some improvising as sloppy moves of before became perfected choreography.
The music ended and blended into Flow by KDA. They flawlessly moved into a new formation and as soon as the chorus rang, they were busting new and different moves, get each one matching in its own way. It was like the song controlled their bodies and the bass was thumping in their hearts and flowing through their choreography.
At the end of the song, they all cheered, adrenaline still running through them. They were giving each other high-fives and fist bumps and screaming in excitement.
"Okay, I'm officially a KDA fan. What the actual...what?" Lewis said in pure awe.
"New favourite song: Flow. Ain't nothing nobody telling me." Ava said and everyone laughed. Victoria moved round, giving everyone a high five.
"Killer moves. The diversity yet the similarity. It's giving royalty mehn." She cheered.
"You know what twinnie, I'm suddenly feeling generous. After our show, I'm taking the group out." Victor said and everyone cheered.
★
Block 28 room 16
The room was quiet that evening, save for the sounds of the ceiling fan and the sounds of rushing water from the bathroom. Despite the fact that both Amelia and Kadesha was dressing up for reharsal, they didn't say a word to each other.
Infact, they hadn't said a word to each other since the last Tuesday they had a tiff.
They didn't have to anyways.
They were roommates, not best friends.
Amelia had her clique; Mavis and Grace. They were an Amapiano dance group who were famous on social media.
Kadesha, honestly she just prefers being a lone wolf; asides being with Victor and Victoria.
And chocolate of course.
Skye came out of the bathroom, dabbing the water off her legs exposed by the shorts she was wearing and threw a shrug over her singlet top. She quickly applied moisturizer to her face and removed her shower cap before combing out her hair.
"Alright. Let's go." She announced and turned to the girls who were both on their phones. She crossed her arms.
"Nope. You guys will not leave this room." She locked the door and stood in front of it. Amelia and Kadesha groaned. "There has been this tension between the two of you since Tuesday. I don't even care what happened, but you guys will talk it out before going for that rehearsal." Skye said with a tone of finality.
"Skye Vic's already mad I was late this afternoon. I can't be late again." Amelia groaned. Skye's expression didn't break.
"I'll be outside." She said instead and left the room, locking it on the outside.
Great.
Just wonderful.
"We can't be late, so we'll do this very quickly." Kadesha started. "You spoke about someone you didn't know in such a rude manner. And I'm someone who likes standing up for what's right. No matter how 'stupid' her reason may be, you don't have the right to speak that way of her." She said. Amelia hummed and nodded once. "I mean I don't know her, but I still think it's wrong." Kadesha added.
"Okay." Amelia simply responded.
"Just that it's rude, you understand?"
"I do. Okay."
Kadesha was getting furious.
Okay? That was it? No I'm sorry?
"You know what? Believe whatever you want to believe." She snapped and used her key card to unlock the door before leaving the room.
†
The evening air was cool and refreshing. The sun had just begun to set, colouring the sky in deep purple shades and a bright orange colour, casting long shadows on everything it touched.
The dancers were doing stretches under the shade of a tree. Kadesha sat on the bench, still fuming about her conversation with Amelia. She realised she might have over explained.
But that's what some fans do, right?
She ruffled her hair in frustration.
"Someone's overthinking." Victoria sat beside her. "What's on your mind?"
"It's her; Amelia. Is she always so annoying?" Kadesha huffed in frustration while Victoria laughed.
"She's more calculative. And she rage baits for fun. Trust me." Victoria winked and Kadesha scoffed.
"Your clothes are ready." Victor called out and set a box on the bench beside Victoria. The others gathered around. Victoria tore the box open with her fingernails.
"Eagle." Kadesha teased her.
"Falcon calling me an eagle." Victoria threw a sharp retort back at her.
One by one, Victor gave each person's costume, including bands and sneakers, to them. They all separated into different sections by gender and went somewhere private to change.
Kadesha picked the spot behind the gym. She slipped out of her joggers and tore the package nylon off and pulled out her clothes. The pants had bands at the feet, a deep gray cargo pants, measured and slightly baggy. She slipped them on before taking off her top too. She reached into the torn nylon and brought out a deep red cropped hoodie with the word 'Queen' printed on its back. The words glowed under the shade. Kadesha smiled and wore it. She pulled out the sneakers too: off white. Then her headband and wrist band on one hand with a fingerless glove on the other, both red. She attached a grey bandana to her waist and came out.
The others were just coming out too, each person wearing a different but deep shaded colour.
"Reina did an ace job actually. I love these." Ava thought aloud. Dean nodded in agreement.
"Okay okay. This is our final rehearsal before tomorrow. I called Liv to DJ for us. So, remember, Tattoos first, then the song mix and.."
"Flow at the end." Everyone chorused and Victor nodded before they all got in formation. A girl soon bounced towards them, quickly setting up a stand and her laptop and connecting it to a public address system.
Just like that, they got into formation just as their chant played and the music started.
★
The Glowing Pond
Kadesha sat down with a half drunk cup of slushie, staring at the pond. She loved the sound of the water and the calm breeze the pond brought. She sighed and looked at the sky. The moon dominated the middle of the sky, shining a silver light and illuminating everything it touched. Stars littered the sky, twinkling in the vast space and reflecting on the pond.
"Hey K." Amelia's voice cut through Kadesha's peace and felt nothing more than to stand and leave. But she just sat down.
Because leaving would be irrational, right?
"You sure prefer the quiet. Victoria told me I'd find you here." Amelia said as she sat down beside her. Kadesha let out a small hum of agreement.
Then, silence.
They didn't say anything to each other.
Just stared at the pond.
"Kadesha." Amelia called smoothly. "Why are you defending KDA so much?"
"Because I know her. Not just as a fan. But personally, I know her." Kadesha answered, still watching a little goldfish swim in the pond.
"Explains a lot." Amelia thought aloud.
Silence.
Not choking or uncomfortable this time around.
Just something they both chose.
"You know," Amelia began before standing up, "she doesn't have to hide. I mean, fans loose interest fast. And really, there's nothing new under the sun. As long as she didn't kill or anything." Kadesha's lips finally broke into a smile at Amelia's words. "And who knows, she might just have more fans who would love her more. In my honest opinion though. And I'm sorry for what I said. You're right, it was too much." With that, Amelia turned and left.
Kadesha finally looked up at her retreating form till it disappeared behind the shadow of trees. She sighed and leaned her head back against the bench.
Nothing new under the sun.
Easy for her to say.
★
Block 20, room 10
Unlike Kadesha's room, Victoria's room was for two people: her and Cody. It was smaller, but no less more comfortable. They had a mini fridge installed with a portable A/C unit. Victoria's side of the room was literally like a forest. A fake grass rug lined the floor and fake plants stood on the windowsill. Fake vines and sticker leaves lined the white walls along with paintings of different unique birds and critters. The bedding was white and the duvet was mint green.
Cody's side was white: cream walls, white beddings and duvet, white cabinet. The only thing that wasn't white was probably her reading table and bookshelf. It was even more surprising how the walls weren't even dirty. The floor was lined with off white furry rug. Her windows had some fake plants too, just two, and the painting of flowers around it. Nothing too much.
Kadesha sat with Victoria on her bed, both eating ramen. Cody just stepped out of the room to wash. Kadesha forked the ramen with chopsticks and swirled them into her mouth.
"Aren't you going to wash? You said you would before we leave for the show." Kadesha asked and Victoria rolled her eyes.
"Just a vibe killer aren't you? I will. After eating. What about you?" Victoria pointed the chopsticks at her accusingly.
"Unlike you, I already did mine yesternight." Kadesha swatted the chopsticks away with hers.
"Neat freak." Victoria mumbled just as she finished her food. She dropped the container on her bedside and stretched lazily, intentionally aiming her leg for Kadesha's food.
"Get back you enemy of satisfaction!" Kadesha snapped and poked her leg with the chopsticks.
"Ow! Brat." Victoria sneered and sat up. She brought out her laundry basket from the bathroom and dragged it towards the door.
"Wait!" Kadesha shouted with a mouthful of ramen in her mouth. She quickly swallowed it. "Get me an energy drink from the fridge." She batted her lashes with doll eyes.
"Keep waiting there okay? Nonsense." Victoria said with a playful glare and carried her basket out of the room.
"Meanie." Kadesha called after her and got the energy drink herself. She sat down with the drink and her food and started watching a live wrestling match.
Victoria came in minutes later with Cody. "Skye already promised to come and take the clothes out of the washer. Let's start getting ready." Victoria explained and tossed her food container and Kadesha's in the trash bin.
The three started getting dressed. Cody finished first, grabbed an energy drink and went out.
"Vic." Kadesha called nervously and Victoria looked up at her. "I was thinking--"
"Nope. No. Absolutely not. You will not think about anything for any reason." Victoria quickly shut her off with a firm wave of her hand.
"Vic what if someone recognises me?" Kadesha panicked.
"Then you let them. What's the issue?" Victoria argued.
"Let them? The issue? The issue is that they would know...ME!" Kadesha said, guesturing to herself. Victoria pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.
"Are you ashamed of what he did?" She asked, clearly getting frustrated.
"No. But I mean-"
"Mean what? Why are you so locked up? And you're thinking barely an hour to the show? We have practiced. You can't get cold feet minutes to the show Kadesha." Victoria said in a matter-of-fact way, clearly not ready to listen to Kadesha anymore. She turned her back to Kadesha and put on a black body hug top.
"Are you seriously hung up on this show than your friend?" Victoria's hands stilled on her hoodie as she processed Kadesha's words. She slowly turned back to her.
"Fine. Don't go. You can stay." She turned back to what she was doing and when Kadesha tried to argue more, she slipped on ear muffs and started putting in her contact lens.
"Victoria." Kadesha called and put her hand on Victoria's shoulders. Victoria picked up her hoodie and left the room, slamming the door before Kadesha could follow her.
Kadesha ruffled her hair and crouched on the grass rug. She thought about everything. She ruffled her hair again, disarranging the twists and groaned in anger.
It wasn't that simple. Why couldn't anyone see that?
Everyone only saw a girl who wanted to hide, not what she was hiding from.
Who were they to judge?
Kadesha looked at her hood on the bed. Her initials were printed on it: K.M. She stood up and picked up the hoodie, running her hands over the delicate stitching.
K.M.
Kadesha Morren.
Moren.
She ran her hand over the letter over and over again. With a sigh, she grabbed Cody's needle from her cabinet and began stitching.
†
A black hummer bus rolled to a stop in front of the dance group, all fully dressed in their respective outfits. The bus was leased by Cody. Victor got in front of them and counted them as they got in the bus.
"We're nine." He muttered and turned to his sister. "V--"
"Kadesha's not going." She cut him off and entered the bus.
"Hun?"
"Wait, what?"
"Hey that's not possible?"
"What the heck?"
"She, isn't going. Period." Victoria said, shutting everyone up.
"Sissy she can't NOT be going. Our formation--"
"She said she isn't coming. She had a rethink." Victoria said in frustration. "Can we just go? The show starts in half an hour's time." She added while checking her watch. Victor groaned in frustration and got in the bus.
The bus hummed to life and pulled away from the school gate, heading towards the highway.
"Why would she bail on us halfway? We've done rehearsals and..." Ava grunted in frustration. Victoria's head was against the window, watching as the road blurred past.
"Just leave it. You remember the old formation, right?" She asked everyone and they nodded. She opened her mouth--
Screech!
Everyone stumbled forward as the bus pulled into a sudden halt.
"Kaiser! What the heck dude?!" Cody yelled at the driver. The driver pointed outside. Victoria was the first to get down.
"Kadesha?!" She gasped seeing Kadesha standing in front of the bus with a bike parked diagonally to block the road.
"I couldn't run, so I borrowed Mr Mason's bike." She explained.
"What are you doing here?" Victoria narrowed her eyes.
"Who the heck cares? She's here." Dean said, trying to be optimistic.
"I care. Kadesha why are you here?" Victor countered. His usual sweet and understanding nature was gone. He was dead serious.
"I couldn't. I knew I had to be here. No, that's cheesy. I mean, I just..." Kadesha fidgeted before taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I feel so terrible, but I'd feel even worse if I wasn't in that hall tonight. If not for anything, think of the team. Please." Kadesha pleaded, her hands clasped together and her eyes shinning with guilt.
"Just get in here." Victor shoved her into the bus playfully. "You owe us all for worrying out buts." He teased with a playful grin as the bus got in motion again.
"Hey, what's with the W?" Lewis asked, pointing at the new stitch of the letter W on Kadesha's hoodie.
Kadesha looked over at Victor and Victoria who were busy on their phones.
Tsk!
She turned to the guys. "So it's time I introduced myself properly."
"Kadesha Williams. Morren just one of my names, not my surname."
"Wait Williams? As in the businessman who got arrested for attempted murder?" Reggie gasped and Kadesha felt her carefully constructed confidence crumble as recognition dawned on everyone's faces.
"I heard he got involved in a shady deal." Wester added.
"Shut up dummies." Amelia slapped the two's heads together. "Why did you lie to us Kay?" She asked the only logical and reasonable question on ground.
"Because I thought--"
"We wouldn't like you?" Lewis asked and laughed. Not mocking or bitter, but more amused and light-hearted. "Baby we've had an ex-convict in our school before." He said cooly.
"And Danny? He was in a gang and transferred to our school. He was still in the gang, but he never saw us as a threat." Victor added.
"And I think your dad is actually cool. He wanted to kill the bad guys because they would go after his family. And we all know bad guys have police connections after all. Taking the laws into his hands? That's villain material. Classic." Reggie snapped his fingers around and everyone laughed.
Including Kadesha.
Victoria flashed a "told-you-so" look over her shoulder while Victor grinned.
Two annoying carbon copies.
Kadesha shook her head.
"We would never judge Kay." Amelia assured with a smile. Cody hit her arm playfully.
"So you bailed because you felt you'd get recognised in the crowd? 60% of everyone who heard that case support your dad, 30% are neutral and the remaining 10% are just dummies." Cody joked and everyone laughed.
Kadesha looked over at the twins.
She finally understood.
This wasn't a place she needed to hide to fit in.
It was a place where she was supposed to be herself to be accepted.
"Fine, no more secrets." Kadesha agreed with a nod. "And to compensate you guys, I'll invite KDA to sing while we perform." Kadesha added and brought out her phone while everyone gaped at her. After a few taps on her screen, she smiled. "She said she'd love to."
"Did I ever mention how much I love you baby?" Victor gushed and Kadesha glared playfully at him.
★
Crest Hall
The hall was massive with different cars already occupying the parking lot, leaving almost no space for other cars.
The bus parked in an empty parking space they found after searching for close to a minute. The group got down and headed for the backstage door.
Different groups and crew were there. The place was busy and a bit crowded. As Victor went to talk to the stage director, Victoria huddled the group together.
"Remember, just have fun. No need to be nervous." She encouraged them with a smile. Victor came back.
"We're on in a minute." He said, nervously rolling his beaded bracelet. Victoria nudged him and he smiled.
"Hey! Don't be so controlled out there. A wrong move? Don't worry. It's a way to improvise. Don't freak out. Be like Choco." Dean teased and that lightened the mood.
"Kings and Queens, you're up next." The stage director called and pointed towards the stage. He signalled to the light directors who turned off the lights.
The group rolled on to the stage, standing in formation.
"IT'S THE RISE OF THE KINGS AND QUEENS" The chant echoed through the entire hall and their song immediately started playing as the song began to play.
Not the original version; the modified one by their DJ.
More beats, a bit faster, more danceable to.
They moved, not perfectly, not robotically
Differently
Yet, somehow, they matched.
They were fire!
They improvised.
The crowd that wouldn't clap well before were screaming the lyrics and dancing along.
The crowd was ecstatic.
Then, the lights went out.
"BRING IN THE NEXT GENERATION!"
Everyone erupted into cheers.
That was KDA's chant.
The spotlights fell on a figure, clothed entirely in white: white baggy pants, white baggy clothes, white fox mask and white sneakers. Her hair was long and golden.
KDA in flesh.
The crowd went crazy.
She winked and started singing. The group caught themselves and started dancing into sync with her song.
Her real voice was even better than the one in the song. It carried the dance and was like gasoline to an already raging fire in the audience. People watching live tripled in over a minute.
The most unbelievable part? KDA started doing the group's choreo.
Then, she pulled off her mask and her wig.
And it was Kadesha?!
No time to be surprised.
They continued dancing till the music ended.
Everyone went wild as the group exited the stage.
†
"HOW ARE YOU KDA?!!" Lewis asked as they drove back to the hostel. Noone had been able to utter a word since they came back from the show.
"The street dressing? It wasn't you. Then her accent, the hair, you hate coloured hair..." Dean stuttered.
"Why am I surprised? You were always too intense to be a normal fan." Victor added.
The rest? They forgot how to form words.
"Well, if anyone knew I was KDA, they'd dig, and they would know I'm Kadesha Williams and then, a huge scandal. So, I hid myself, erased traces and left other leads. I'm sorry. But it was fun, right?" Kadesha asked in a shaky voice.
"Can I hug you?" Wester hugged her and everyone laughed.
"Jesus! I thought I was your best friend? No secrets, remember?" Victoria asked.
"If I had told either of you, you would force my identity out and reveal it before I ever did." Kadesha defended herself and crossed her arms.
"True. But aces babe." Victor gave her a fist bump with a smug grin.
"You owe us a tour of KDA studio." Amelia said with narrowed eyes
"Anything for my boos." She grinned and everyone cheered.
"All is forgiven." Ava said with a casual hand wave and everyone laughed