CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Days turned into weeks, and Nelly's mother was already on her feet, she visited her mother very often with the aid of Ray's car and soon exams were written after which the students went home for holidays before proceeding to the next semester.
During the holidays, Ray visited her and requested that she attended practice with them during the period as they were still on rehearsal. Nelly who was feeling indebted to him agreed.
On the first day of the rehearsal, Nelly was quite insecure, she was just putting on a singlet and shorts under the track she was putting on and it made her uncomfortable.
Her father was angry that she was going out and sat down in the living room, monitoring her movement with a frown, but her mom after hearing of the kind gestures Ray had offered was smiling in earnest, she had grown fond of him, owing to his constant visits.
Nelly quickly grabbed her bag when she heard the hoot of the horn; she knew it was from Ray's car.
She got outside and opened the door to the passenger's seat and entered.
"Good morning princess" Ray said with a broad smile on his face.
"Good morning" Nelly replied with a blush
"So where are we headed" Nelly added.
"To the gymnasium, the other guys are waiting" he said.
"Ok" Nelly said
They drove for close to an hour before they got to the gymnasium. When Ray pulled the car to a stop, they both highlighted from the car. They began to march towards the entrance of the gymnasium Nelly who was tensed up, stopped abruptly.
"Nervous?" Ray asked as he stared deeply into her face.
"I am very nervous" Nelly said
Then Ray grabbed her hand tightly and pushed open, the entrance of the gymnasium and they both found themselves in a very massive building which looked quite little exteriorly. A lot of people waved at Ray because he was an old member. They entered the elevator and they both walked through the corridor, and then she opened the first door out of curiosity.
"Wooow" was all she could here "slimfit", "how are you" "I'm fine thank you" Nelly said as she dragged her gym bag off her shoulders.
"Come on let's go and meet the coach" Ray said, and they both left.
"So she is the girl?" The coach said, as he looked at her
"Yes she is the girl" Ray said
"Alright we've all been warming up, waiting for you two, she should get dressed" the coach said and moved towards the inner court of the gym.
Nelly was very reluctant about putting on a short and singlet in front of a crowd of boys. But when Ray knelt to plead with her, she was moved to remove her track, but what she wondered was why the dance was so important to Ray.
They got to the gym hall and Ray went and stood at the front. She shyly found her way to the front as she was called up.
"Alright everybody listen up, we've got to choose a music, whether it's going to be jazz, ballet, hip up, anyone, I need your suggestions" he said, and suggestions were thrown, the dancers kept on suggesting while the coach continued declining, everyone was already aggressive and tired, until they heard a little soft voice say.
"Alright Thumbelina, let's hear your suggestion" the coach said amused.
"My name is not Thumbelina", Nelly fired.
"Ok ok ok miss, I've heard you, now, the suggestions" he said
"Umm okay, since everybody is going to be dancing either blues or jazz or ballet, why don't we do something that seems more cultural"
Nelly said, the whole gymnasium was in a total chill, because they've never heard of an idea so unique.
"Do you know any song that sounds cultural" he asked.
"Yes" Nelly said "I was the one who showed you the way" she said again.
"Ray go and search for the song on the system" the coach said.
"On it coach" Ray said.
Nelly just sat there watching as the other boys were warming up and Ray was busy on the system. The coach was shouting at same trainees. Nelly new within her that he also wanted to shout at her to train too but he dared not, her first encounter with him should have showed him the kind of person she was.
As she watched the guys train her mind went back to her childhood days when she would always hangout with two of her childhood friends Phoebe and Rose. They were so close and each of them had their own skill to show off.
Phoebe was the singer, she had the most amazing and angelic voice
Rose was the instrumentalist, she could play almost different types of instruments but she specialized in the band.
While Nelly was the dancer, she specialized on the acrobatic dance and ballet but the Nigeria kind of dance wasn't her thing.
She remembered the days when they still dreamt about making their own music and being renowned dancers. Nelly equally dreamt of having her own dance studio.
At the age of fourteen she was already teaching children around six and seven years old. Nelly smiled as she remembered those days when she would dance and people gathered to watch her. But all those moments slipped away when her father banned her from dancing and made her put more focus in her studies. Now at the gymnasium, she felt whole and olive again, seeing all those guys warming up made her smile she felt at home. Just then the whistle of the coach interrupted her thoughts and she jerked back to reality.
"Ray has found the music, now he'll play it and well all listen" they all gathered together as each of them tried to bring out a dance step.