Chapter 51
The girls stepped into the training room in a single file. Zelda was first, closely followed by Ashley, while Brandy and Hadley trotted behind them. Their moods were grave, Neil’s announcement had somehow managed to shake and rile them all up. This was not just about Zita Lowe, it was about their friend. Zita could have been suspended, worse still, fired. And it would all be because of the new girl, Jojo Wyatt. The Alpha’s Red.
Zelda settled into a plastic chair with a loud sigh. She placed her forehead in her palms and buried her face into it. Ashley sat close to her, she knew what was to come, and just what to say when it arrived.
“I really cannot believe Jojo would do that! Rat out Zita like that, and to who? The Alpha? What is she now? Some kind of mole? Snitch? I always thought that girl had this weird ring to her. Now, I know what my issues were. She could have spoken to us, we would have handled it as girls, as friends!” Zelda complained, as usual. Ashley had always known her to be passionate about her friends. She also knew that if Jojo were as close to them as Zita was, Zelda would have been speaking a different language.
“Knew she couldn’t be trusted.” Hadley chipped in, stepping into the room. Brandy followed her behind, seemingly nonchalant.
Ashley sighed as her eyes traveled from one girl to the other. Zita, Jojo, and Bentley were yet to arrive, so she was free to talk.
“Alright guys, we’ve said our minds. But, can we be honest to ourselves, at least this once? We were all witnesses to the fair number of times Zita harrassed Jojo for no reason at all. How many of those times did any of us do anything reasonable to help?” As she spoke, she searched the faces of her friends.
Zelda and Hadley avoided her face. Brandy did not seem to give two crawling shits. Ashley nodded in satisfaction. She had thought as much. She placed her hands on her waist and scoffed.
“You see? So, we cannot blame her for what she did.” The sound of the door creaking open caused her to turn toward the entrance. Zita stepped in. Whatever she was feeling deep down must have been carefully masked, because Ashley could not pick up a scent of any emotion from her. But, it did not stop her from voicing her thoughts, nothing ever did.
“Zita had it coming for her anyway.” Ashley spat out. She felt Zelda nudge her right arm, but she ignored it. Next, Jojo stepped into the hall, followed by Bentley.
Zita stood beside Brandly, her face voids of any emotion or expression. She spoke calmly, too calmly for Ashley’s liking.
“You should watch the words that come out of your mouth, Ash.”
“Oh, I will. As soon as you start watching the dicks you allow into your pussy ho…”
“Girls!” Bentley’s scream echoed from the walls of the hall. Ashley allowed Jojo to sit next to her.
“Are we here to make trouble or make some cool money?! Huh?!” Bentley was visibly annoyed. Ashley could not remember the last time she had seen Bentley in such a foul mood.
“None of this would have happened if the Alpha’s pet kept her mouth shut,” Zita muttered under her breath, but Ashley was quick to hear her.
“Jojo did the right thing! You could have killed her if I didn’t come that day.” Ashley snapped and Bentley’s scowl deepened.
“One more word from any of you and you’ll walk out of this door fucking unemployed!” Bentley screamed once more, silencing the room.
“Now, I’m here because I want to make money. But, if you’re here for trouble, walk out that door and never return because Rush Empire is not the place for you. You are entertainers, not cannibals. I would leave now, but none of you must step out of this room until all your grievances are resolved. Am I clear?”
The replies were inaudible.
“I said, am I clear?” She repeated the statement in a louder and fiercer tone. The girls responded immediately.
“Yes Bentley!”
Ashley watched Bentley eye every one of them before she walked out of the door, leaving the sound of her heels against the wooden floor behind. The door closed and Ashley heaved a loud sigh.
Bentley was right, they had to talk.
“Bentley was right guys. Why are we here? I mean, don’t we have dreams? Things we wanted to do before we got here? What things did we plan to do after we leave? We can’t tangle ourselves on poles forever.” She called out. She was met by thoughtful faces, all in silent agreement with her.
Ashley’s eyes rested on Zelda. Her eyes lit up with a small smile.
“Come on Hadley there is something you want to say.”
Hadley shrugged as she sat up.
“What’s there to say? I mean, my dad was deadbeat, he got crazy one night and beat my mom to death…”
Ashley saw Jojo stiffen from the corner of her left eye.
“I guess since then, I haven’t cared about anything. I mean, I’m too lazy to have big dreams. I just want to be left alone.”
“Fair enough.” Zelda cut in. A short round of laughter echoed in the room.
Ashley smiled to herself.
“Well, I never really knew my family. The only people I’ve known are foster brothers and sisters from over the years. My dream is to have a family of my own. To belong to something. I want to have so many kids in a big house, with my husband’s big family! We could be like thirty, forty, I don’t care! Just so large. I know that other women normally have big dreams to do great things, but none of that matters to me… I just…” She trailed off, tears gathering in her eyes as she sniffed. Jojo stretched her hand and squeezed her right palm gently.
“Woah! Slow down, tiger.” Zelda cut in, and everyone chuckled.
“My father was a drunk and used to hit my mom all the time. He couldn’t do jack-shit to save his life so I’ve been the breadwinner of my family for years. My dream? I just want to be able to cater to them and be on my own. By the way, Ash, before you begin your baby industry, be sure to have a shit load of money.”
The laughter filled the room once more. Ashley felt her tears dry up in her eyes.
She looked over to Brandy, who chewed away on her gum.
“Brandy?” She called out. The girl looked up at her.
Brandy cleared her throat and spoke.
“My parents died when I was little, I was raised in an orphanage. My dream is to travel the world, meet new people and learn new cultures… alone.”Text content © NôvelDrama.Org.
Everyone looked at her, as though they were expecting something else. When Ashley saw nothing was forthcoming, she turned to Zita, and she was not the only one.
Zita arched her right brow.
“What?”
“Come on, Zee. You know why we’re looking at you.” Ashley spoke up, this time, with a friendlier aura. Zita frowned and shook her head.
“Hell no.”
Zelda and Hadley pouted.
“Come on, Zee. You heard our secrets.”
“Please Zee, tell us.”
Zita raised her hands in mock surrender as she chuckled.
“Okay, okay, I will!” When she spoke, everyone, including Ashley, paid rapt attention.
“My parents did not have the best of relationships. It was… crazy, to say the least. But, my dream? It has always been and would always be to grow closer to the alpha. I know that I cannot ask to be his Luna, but it doesn’t matter to me. To be frank, I wouldn’t even mind being his mistress.” She stopped when she saw the eyes of her friends leering at her, as though she were coming down with a fever.
Zita shook her head and covered her face in embarrassment.
“Fuck. This is crazy. I need to go.” She turned on her heels and headed towards the exit, her eyes on the ground.
“Zee!” Ashley called out, but Zita was out of the hall before she could hear anything else.
She took an elevator back to the dancers’ chambers, ready to fling herself on her bed and scream her stupidity out of her head. However, a strange sight caused her to pause at the entrance of the corridor.
Neil stepped out of Jojo’s room, looked around, and disappeared into the other end of the corridor. Zita’s gaze continued to move from Jojo’s door to Neil’s shadow and Jojo’s door again.
Curiosity and anger sprang up in her stomach at once. Something wasn’t adding up.
Neil could not have been in Jojo’s room in her absence for no reason. Something was going on, and she needed to know what it was.
Zita began determined steps towards Jojo’s door.