Chapter 4 Your First Love… Really?

The next day after I finished my teaching job at the dance studio and practice for the last time with Kasey and my other partner Mark, I called Dylan.

“Yes Kalie?”

“Can you come over today?”

“Will Nick be there?”

“I don’t know. He said he would be after he’s done with the recording studio. He said he would call me to tell me when he’s coming over and he hasn’t called me yet.”

“I’m not coming over if he is.”

“Dylan we really need to talk.”

There was silence on the other line for a while until he muttered, “Fine. I’ll be over in half an hour. “

“Thanks.”

“I have to go they are calling me for scene two. Bye.”

“Bye.”

I pulled into the drive way to find Nick’s car parked in front of my parking space. He hopped out of the car as I got out of mine.

“What are you doing here so early?!”

“Lou let us out and we started earlier this morning.”

“Well come on in and make yourself at home. We can get some peace and quiet before Dylan comes over.”

“Oh?”

“I need to talk to him but don’t worry about it. I need to relax for a little bit before he comes anyway.”

It was nice to be with Nick alone for the half hour before Dylan came over. We just sat on the couch together and watched MTV.

“Can I stay over tonight? I have the weekend off and I also have no idea where I’m going for the competition tonight so I figured I would follow you.”

“Sure you can stay tonight. And I’ll be taking a bus but we can drive to the dance studio together. The bus is picking the team up there.”

The doorbell rang and I got up to answer it knowing it was Dylan. He did have keys but he left them when he stormed out the night before.

“You wanted to talk?”

“Yeah I do. Follow me.” I took his hand and dragged him into the house.

He stopped like a stubborn mule when he saw Nick sitting on the couch.

“What is he doing here?!” Dylan practically yelled.

“He’s over here because he is coming to the competition with me tonight. But don’t worry about him because we need to talk up stairs.”

I dragged him up to my room and closed the door behind me.

****Nick’s Point Of View******

I know it wasn’t my business but I had to sit on the stair so I could listen to what they were saying. I was having this bad feeling something was going to happen and Kalie was going to get hurt in some way. I had to know what they were going to talk about I just had to.

*****Kalie’s Point Of View*****

Dylan sat down on my bed and I went to close my door. Just before my door closed I heard Quit Playing Games play on MTV. I smirked slightly because it fit the mood I was in.

“So talk,” Dylan commanded.

“What is wrong with you? Why have you been so commanding lately?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m stressed over this part. It’s very important you know.”

“I know. It’s your first college role. You’ve been bragging about it ever since you got it.” I stood in front of him and took a deep breath in, “I think it’s time to decide where this relationship is going.”

“What?”

“Dylan… it’s like you have been Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde lately. When it’s just you and me alone you’re normal Dylan but when Nick comes into the picture you turn into this short tempered, asshole. I’m really tired of it. I hate that you have become like this. Now I’m going to tell you that you have two options: one you change and realize that Nick is just my best friend and there is nothing between us, or two we break up and you won’t have to worry about him at all anymore.”

He shot up from the bed and stared down at me. “How dare you tell me what to do!” he said through gritted teeth.

The next thing I felt was his hand hit my face and I heard a loud, painful slap.

“How dare you! You don’t tell me what to do I tell you what to do! It’s either me or him Kalie! Which one is it gunna be and you better be wise about your decision!”

I clutched my face with my hand and I could feel it burning.

I stood up to him and said strongly looking right into his eyes, “I choose Nick!”

He pulled back his arm and his hand formed into a fist. He swung for me but I grabbed his hand with my left and gave him a nasty right hook. The ring Nick gave me cut open Dylan’s bottom lip and made him bleed.

He touched his cut lip and looked down at the blood on his fingers, “You made me bleed! I can’t believe you made me fucking bleed!”

His eyes seemed to turn red with anger as he forcefully pushed me to the floor. A sharp pain shot through my left ankle as I was knocked off balance. My left hip banged against my book shelf and I winced in pain.

Dylan crouched down next to me. He got in my face and hissed, “We’re over bitch!”

I ripped off the scratched and dull promise ring and yelled back, “Have a nice life son of a bitch!” I threw the ring in his face and it hit his eye. He clutched his eye and before he stormed out of my room, he kicked my stomach knocking the breath out of me.

****Nick’s Point Of View******

I quickly jumped back to the couch when I heard Kalie’s bedroom door fly open. Dylan came stomping past me and as he did I saw blood coming from his lower lip. Before he opened the door he gave me one last glance and I noticed his eye ball was red and the lid was starting to turn black and blue.

“What happened to you?” I knew Kalie was the reason for it. She was tough and knew how to defend herself.

“You’re fucking girlfriend that’s what!” He flew out the door and slammed it behind him.

I shook my head and turned down the TV listening for Kalie’s footsteps but they didn’t come.

I moved closer to the stairs and heard something that sounded like sobs.

I bounded up the stairs taking them two at a time and gently pushed open Kalie’s door.

I was shocked when I found her curled in a fetal position on the floor. I lowered myself down to her and pulled her into my arms.

“What did he do to you?”

“He… he… hit me! I… h…hit him back then… he pushed me… into the… book shelf… and… and… then he… he kicked me!” she said between her sobs. “He spat in my face, ‘We’re done bitch!’ and I threw the ring in his face! Nick, he kicked my stomach and left! And I think I sprained my ankle! What am I going to do for the competition tonight?!”

“I’ll go get you an ice pack and you’ll be fine for the competition. But first let me get you up on the bed.” I picked her up and placed her gently on her queen sized bed. “I’ll be right back with the ice pack.” I delicately brushed my thumb under her right eye to dry away her tears. Her face was red and felt hot. I tried my best to wipe away the tears as gently as possible but she still winced as I did so. “I’ll get you an ice pack for your face too.”

I raced down the stairs to get the ice packs. I dug into the freezer and found them quickly. I could still hear her sobs while I was in the kitchen. My heart strings were being tugged at and I could feel my blood boiling. Dylan was going to pay for this if I ever saw him again. If I had known Kalie was lying on the floor in pain when he left I would have given him more than just a cut lip and a black eye. If I knew what he did to my best friend I would have beat the shit out of him and he would have been limping out of the house and speaking in a falsetto voice if it was up to me.

I returned to Kalie who was still crying and handed her one of the ice packs. She placed it on her face and I gently touched the other one to her ankle which she propped up on a pillow.

I sat down next to her and held the ice pack in place. I looked up to her and saw her tears were staring to slow down.

“I’ve never seen you like this before Kalie. You were never this upset about a boyfriend,” I said quietly. I shouldn’t have asked this but I just had to know why, “What made him so different?”

“I thought he would be different! He was my first love Nick! I loved him and I thought he loved me too! I thought he loved me enough to trust me when I said you were only my friend! I can’t believe he did this! I thought he loved me!” The tears poured from her eyes again.

I quickly sat next to her and brought her into my arms. Her face dug into the crook of my neck and her tears leaked into my shirt and onto my skin. I rubbed my hands up and down her back trying to comfort her.

I didn’t know what to say. Stupidly I said this, “You’re first love… really?”

“Yes Nick he was. He was my first lover too.”

Did I just hear her right? I thought to myself as I processed the muffled words she spoke into my shoulder.

I slowly pushed her off my shoulder so I could look at her face and asked, “What did you just say?”

“I said he was my first lover. I loved him so much that I let him take my virginity Nick. It was the night he gave me that damn promise ring. He knew I didn’t want to get married right after high school so he gave me that ring and promised me he would wait for me to finish college and get my carrier started. He was the one I thought I was going to marry Nick but…”

“Ssh, ssh,” I interrupted her. “Come here Kalie.” I brought her back into my arms again and she rested her head on my chest as she cried. “He shouldn’t have done this to you. I should have beat the shit out of him before he left. And I should’ve been up here faster if I had only known what he had done to you.”

“And I should have listened to you,” she whispered.

“What do you mean?”

“You said you had a feeling something bad was going to happen between Dylan and me. And you said he wasn’t right for me. I should have listened to you but I guess I was just deaf and blinded by him. So go ahead and say it.”

“Say what?”

“Go ahead and say you told me so,” she sniffled and more tears started to roll down her cheeks. “Just go ahead and say it Nick. Get it over with now.”

I cupped her face in my hands and spoke softly to her looking into her eyes, “I can’t say that to you. I don’t want to hurt you more than you already are. It was something you had to figure out for yourself and I’m so sorry it had to come down to this.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s mine.”

“It’s not your fault either. You can’t blame this on any one except Dylan. He was the jerk through all of this.”  

“I feel so stupid! I should have just listened to you and everyone else who told me the truth about him!”

She buried her face into my shoulder again and I did the only thing I could think of that could possibly comfort her.

*****Kalie’s Point Of View*****

I sobbed into Nick’s shoulder. The tears were a mixture of the pain from losing my first love and the pain coming from my ankle and hip. I was also scared about the competition that was in mere hours. I had trained so hard for it and I didn’t want to let my coach and team mates down, especially my brother.

As I continued to cry Nick started to sing one of my favorite Backstreet Boys songs and my sobs started to cease.

“I don’t know

What he does to make you cry”

He lifted my chin and looked into my eyes before he continued.

“But I’ll be there to make you smile”

He grinned like he did in the video and I gave a small giggle.

“I don’t have a fancy car to get to you

I’d walk a thousand miles

I don’t care if he buys you nice things

Does his gifts come from the heart?

I don’t know but because you are my best friend

I’d make it so you’d never be hurt again”

I smiled at Nick’s quick change of lyrics and his smooth voice. I’ve always loved his voice and it kept getting better and better over time.

“For my love is all I have to give

Without you I don’t think I can live

I wish I could give the world to you

But love is all I have to give”

“Did that make you feel any better?”

“It made me feel a lot better. Thank you Nick. You always do know how to make me feel better.”

About twenty minutes later my family and best friends came over to eat a quick dinner of Grandma’s mac and cheese before the competition. My siblings too came home from their classes.

Nick helped me get down the stairs. I could walk but it hurt like hell. Nick sat me down in my chair at the dining room table and I stayed there.

My mother and grandmother took a look at my ankle and doubted that I sprained it and commented that I would be able to dance that night. Sprained ankle or not I was going to dance through the pain. My team was counting on me and I wasn’t going to let them down.

“Ok you guys figure out what cars you are taking while Kasey and I go get changed,” I said as I started to get up from my chair.

“Oh no you don’t,” Kasey jumped for me and pushed me back down on the chair. “You are not walking until you absolutely have to so we can save that ankle of yours. Mom and Grandma said you can walk and dance but I’ll carry you around tonight if it means saving that ankle. You’re one of the best on this team and we can’t afford to lose you now.”   

“Kase I’m fine,” I tried to get up again and walk away but Kasey scooped me up and carried me up the stairs in the firefighter hold.

I crossed my arms as Casey climbed the stairs. Kim followed so she could help me get my outfit on.

“Ouch!” she exclaimed when she saw the bruises on my stomach and hip. “I think we should put a little bit of cover up on that. Don’t you have the cha-cha today? And aren’t you wearing the two piece with the slit hip?”

“Yeah the peach colored one. But the split hip is the other side and,” I looked down at the bruise on my stomach and exclaimed, “Oh god, I need a lot of cover up for this monster!”

Kim laughed and I chuckled too. I pulled the top piece of my outfit over my head and Kim helped me with the shirt. Then she covered my bruise and worked on my facial make up and did my hair.

“Where is the ace bandage Kayl?”

“In my bathroom under the sink and on the hanger that I had the outfit on there is an extra strip of fabric that you can tie around the bandage.”

“Good idea.”

“The boys are tying theirs around their arms and us girls were going to do the same but I’ll just ask them to tie it around their ankles so we’re all uniform. I have a feeling they’ll do that for me. I’m like their captain anyway.”

Kim found the wrap and the strip of fabric easily. She slowly wrapped my ankle and tied the fabric into a perfect bow. I slipped my heels on and Kyle carried me down stairs.

Once my teammates found out what happened they all doted over me and the guys took turns carrying me around wherever I needed to go.

My coach flipped out when she found out, “Oh my god Kalie are you ok?!”

“Yes Dia I’m fine.”

“No you’re not you were just beaten up and why the hell are you here?! You can’t walk! What makes you think you can dance?!”

“Dia… I can walk my teammates, especially my brother, are just freaking out and are trying to save my ankle. To tell you the truth it’s working. I snuck a quick walk to the bathroom with Angela and it didn’t hurt when I did walk on my own. I’ll be fine out there. The team is counting on me and I’m not going to let them down.”

“There’s my star pupil! I should have known you would say that. You guys are up in five minutes and then the first day of competition is over. I’ll go get one of the boys to bring you to the dance floor. Break a leg out there Kalie.”

“Thanks Dia.”

Mark walked into the waiting room right after Dia walked out. He smiled at me and I smiled back.

“You ready to dance gimpy?”

“Yes I am Mark and look,” I got up and walked toward him, “I’m not limping at all.”

“That’s because you’re not really using it. I have a feeling you’ll be hurting after the cha-cha.”

“It’s not the cha-cha I’m worried about its tomorrow’s fox trot and jive I’m worried about. Then on Sunday we have the rumba and the free style.”

“Well I know you Kay, you’re tougher then nails. Knowing you… you’ll dance through the pain huh?”

“Yup! You got that right.”

“Good because this team would fall apart without you Kayl.”

“Oh stop. I’m not that good.”

“Yes you are! You’re the best girl out there! Why do you think we all call you captain?”

“Alright, alright enough with the flattery we have to get to the dance floor before we’re yelled at.”

“Ok Kayl,” he picked me up and gave me a piggy back ride to the dance floor.

Mark was another good friend of mine. He started dancing with me when he moved to Florida about six years ago. He was really talented and he and I became good friends as we were constantly being paired up. A lot of people said we would start dating at one point of our lives but it never happened. We tried but it was too awkward. He was like another brother to me, except that I thought his black hair, brown eyes, and well-formed muscles were cute.

We got to the dance floor and lined up with our partners, mine being Kasey. He leaned toward me and asked, “How is your ankle?”

“It’s fine stop worrying about it and get into dance mode.” He did as I told and when we were all ready Dia started our music.