Chapter 26 - Its On. Dance Off

                                    

                                          
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It was now lunch break. I caught Luke in the hall and went to the cafeteria with him. We made our way to Cortney and her friends table.
                          
"Yo, what's up!" Remira shouted.
                          
"Hey guys." I greet shyly.
                          
"What's for lunch?" Cortney demands. Plopping her hands on the table.
                          
"Its just some extras I had for dinner last night." I reply. I open my backpack and pull out the container of fried rice and place it on the table.
                          
"Mmmm" Was the sound that echoed from the table. I guess they could smell it.
                          
"Sheesh, even your leftovers are more amazing than most dishes served at five star restaurants" Becka compliments. I chuckle while rubbing the back of my head. They started scooping from the container and placing portions onto their trays.
                          
"Wow, this is really good." Lillian says holding her face and dropping her mouth.
                          
"Yeah!" The others agree in a shocked tone.
                          
"The way you cooked these vegetables are brilliant dude." Luke compliments. "I'm not much of a veggie guy but I'd go for this any day."
                          
"I-I'm glad you guys like it." I respond, flattered. I leaned my elbows on the table and placed my hands to my face, while I watched them chat and eat.
                          
"Omigosh you, are so cute!" Emily says pinching my cheeks. Lillian, Cortney and Luke grinned while Becka and Remira laughed. Their eyes on me made me beyond flustered.
                          
"Yes!" Remira screamed. Suddenly there was a voice coming from the school's announcement speakers. It was Zeal.
                          
"Hello, Winterlake, Today I, Zeal Auffry will be having a friendly dance off with Harvey Harris after school in the cafeteria. Come and support us!" When he finished speaking cheers began to erupt from the cafeteria. Everyone loved Zeal so there was no possible way I'd be able to win, and Zeal knows this.
                          
"We'll be cheering for you Harv!" Becka says giving a thumbs up. The others nod and smile, after looking at me awhile in confusion. The bells rang once again and we all headed to class. I sat through it nervous of what will take place once it ends.
                          
Awhile later the dreaded bell rang. That was one of the few times I was disappointed hearing the bell go off. It was now time to head to the cafeteria for the first match in the competition.
                          
All eyes were on me when I entered the cafeteria. This made my heart feel like it was going to beat right out of my chest. I heard some laughs and jeers, the usual. I felt my breath growing small, I was so nervous it stated getting hard to breathe. The middle of the room was clear, with the tables all pushed to the side. There was a large radio sitting atop on of the tables. I spotted Zeal in the crowd. He approached me.
                          
"Hey Harvey, glad you could make it!" He says sounding genuine but clearly isn't. "Choose a song to play on the radio. Its hooked up to an iPhone so you can search the internet for any song." I simply nod and head over to the radio. I chose a song with a deep beat, that also contained orchestrated string samples. It would work well with the flow of my body.
                          
Zeal was getting ready to dance. The song stared and he began moving his arms. He's actually pretty good! He was able to lock pretty well, and his leg movements were quite smooth. The song he chose wasn't my type of music. It was casual rap with a simple beat played throughout the whole song. Though i can see how some people might like that.
                          
When he finished all the students went crazy, probably cause their idol knew how to dance. He brushed the hair from his face and earned a couple of squeals from his fangirls. The guys chanted his name for awhile until he left the stage. He came up to me again.
                          
"Good luck, Harv. You're gonna need it." Zeal whispers into my ear smirking.
                          
"We both know I'm far beyond that point. You already had a fanbase before starting this contest. The students here detest me." I say sharply. He seemed a bit surprised by my response.
                          
"And its not like you can dance either." He said, sure of himself. This made it blatantly obvious that he was trying to make a fool of me. I don't pay much attention to his last comment and make my way onto the dance floor. The room finally went silent after a stream of insults were thrown my way. I shut my eyes, trying to calm myself and the song starts.
                          
I start off with the move 'old man'. I shoot out some quick movements to the beats. I drop down to a crouch and throw in a quick windmill, followed up by some air flares. After a lot of popping and twisting the song finally came to an end. I worked up a sweat dancing the way I did. The room echoed in silence. I look around to see all of the faces of pure shock and disbelief, and Zeal was no exception. He stood there staring, almost like an alien ship was abducting a cow in plain sight. Even Cortney and her friends seemed shocked. I have to admit, my dance was obviously better than his, but that wasn't enough to win.
                          
I head over to one of the tables and retrieve a towel to wipe away the sweat draining from my forehead. As I made my way through the crowd the path opened up like a was the president or something. It kinda creeped me out.
                          

                          
"Holy s***" Was the first word spoken after the long silence. Soon after the crowd broke into a loud roar of applause. I wasn't expecting anyone to cheer for me so it took me by surprise.
                          
"I-Its time to vote!" Zeal shouted over all the cheering. Everyone calmed down and averted their eyes to Zeal.
                          
"I've set up a poll online, so anyone with a phone or computer can vote." He says showing them the link. They began voting. A moment passed and the results were in. I loaded the page on my phone and looked at the list. The winner was Zeal of course, but I actually had a lot more votes than I had anticipated. Some people gave me a look of pity. The room soon emptied with the students chatting about the competition. When most people had gone Zeal came up to me once more.
                          
"The principal and I agreed that you would clean up after we were done here. See ya." he says turning his back to me and throwing out a wave before walking off. I knew he'd do something like this. I spotted Cortney, Luke, and her friends heading my way moments later.
                          

                          
"Yo man, that was some insane dancing you pulled!" Luke says while placing his hand on my shoulder.
                          
"Yeah, I guess you weren't lying when you said you could dance." Cortney says putting her fist to my chest. Emily, Becka, and Remira wrapped their arms around me, hugging me. Lillian just stood back and watched, with a smile face.
                          
"U-Uh, guys? I'm still pretty sweaty..." I warn, feeling flustered from all the affection they were showing me. They all broke out laughing. 
                          
"You ready to head home?" Cortney asks.
                          
"No, I have to clean the cafeteria. You can head home, I'm going to ride my skateboard home." I answer. She looked at me worried.
                          
"We can help you clean." She gestures to everyone. They look at Cortney then nod.
                          
"I'd probably get detention if I did that. I don't wanna take my chances." I sulk. "You guys can head home, its totally fine, its not like this is anything new for me."
                          
"O-okay... See you Harvey." She says sadly before turning to the door.