This Is Bonkers

"OH MY GOD." I screamed, almost throwing the iPhone in my hands. I began to squeal a little and kick my feet the way I did when I was excited. For weeks, I'd been trying to beat a highscore. It wasnt my highscore, but I guess I beat mine when I beat the other one. It was like killing two birds with one stone.
"Everything alright up there?" Called Mary.
"I'm fine Mary!" I called back down. I imagined she nodded and walked back to where she had been quietly sitting with Rick.
Rick and Mary are my "parents". You see, I'm from Canada, but I've come to Essex for year 10 of school. Rick and Mary are the people I'm staying with, they've never had children of their own, and therefore treat me very well. I was afraid I'd be stuck with some incredibly posh family when I came to England, since it wasnt my choice who I stayed with.
"Tweet your score?" I was already trying to click the ok button on the little message that showed up on my screen before it had shown up. I tapped my fingers on the screen excitedly.
"@Sam_Craske I've beaten your temple run score!!!" I typed, trying not to add a million exclamation points. I was sure Sam wouldnt care, if he even saw the tweet, but there was a small chance he would.
Sam Craske is one of the 11 members of a streetdance group called Diversity. They were on Britian's Got Talent a few years ago, and even ended up winning. They also happen to live in the Essex area. Sadly, I had not seen any of them around yet, but there was still the chance.
Despite knowing Sam would probably not reply, if I didnt occupy myself somehow, I would check my Twitter mentions every 5 minutes. So I decided to distract myself by watching the videos in my Diversity playlist on Youtube. It definitely wasnt the most flawless form of distraction, considering Sam was in all the videos, but it kept me busy for about an hour. It was almost dinner, so I thought I'd check my mentions before going down to eat. When I clicked the "Connect" button on Twitter, I was prepared for dissapointment, but was greeted with the opposite.
I was speechless at first, not a sound coming out of my mouth, but then I repeated the excitement from earlier, squealing and kicking. I read the tweet from Sam, and squealed again. It said "@HannahDV What? Nice! How old are you an' where are you from?"
I tried to type a reply coherently, auto-correct luckily knowing what I was trying to say. "I'm 15, and I'm technically from Canada but I'm living in Essex for a year. I'm about 10 minutes from DanceWorks actually!" Sam and I have a 6 year age difference, he's 21. But it's alright, since I'm not really into him that way anyway. It was kinda creepy to see fans say things about marrying Sam or other Diversity members, when they'd never even met them.
I was surprised to see the "1 New Tweet" message show up quickly, but clicked it anyway. "@HannahDV Ah, sweet. Wanna come down to the studio tomorrow? Meet the group?"
This time I was honestly speechless, trying to convince myself I'd read that wrong, or I was dreaming, or anything that made more sense than Sam inviting me to meet Diversity. But no matter how many times I pinched myself, rubbed my eyes, or even slapped myself the tweet said what I thought it did, and it was definitely from Sam.
I couldnt find myself to reply more than "@Sam_Craske What? Really?!"
Once again the reply came quickly. "@HannahDV Ha, yeh. I'll dm ya 'bout it."
"Hannah! Dinner!" Mary called up the stairs.
"Be right down." I said, my head spinning slightly. I put my phone in my pocket, not bothering to reply to Sam at the moment. Standing up, I felt dizzy but I managed my way down the stairs anyway.
Rick and Mary sat at the small dinner table we had. It was probably big enough to fit 6 or so, but we only used it for 3. Each of their plates had some steak and salad on it, and a glass of wine beside it. My plate had only a salad on it, and a glass of coca-cola beside it. I was glad Rick and Mary were understanding of me being vegetarian when I came here. I had no problem with them eating meat, as long as they didnt try to make me eat it. They were also cool with my coca-cola addiction, and always had some in the house.
I sat down in the empty chair quietly, still trying to understand the conversation I'd had with Sam. It was a little uncharacteristic for me to be quiet, and I could see Rick and Mary exchange a glance. It was probably even stranger, since I had obviously been excited about something earlier. But they kept quiet at first, giving the room a comfortable silence as we ate. It wasnt until my phone buzzed, rather loudly, in my pocket and I whipped it out that Mary decided to say something. I didnt catch what she said at first, too busy checking my phone frantically before realizing that my phone didnt buzz when I got a new Twitter message. It had just been some spam number telling me I'd won a cruise.
"Ahem." I raised my face up to Mary while pocketing my phone again. "Why're you so quiet? You were obviously excited only about an hour earlier."
I sat silently for a while, trying to gather the thoughts in my head and explain them coherently.
"Uhm," I started, fairly quietly. "You know how I've been trying to beat Sam's highscore?" Mary and Rick gave small nods in perfect unison. "Well, I did. And I tweeted him that I did. And he's kind of invited me down to the studiooo tomorrow," the words toward the end of the sentence began to slow down. "to uh, meet Diversity. . ." I finished, looking almost guilty and slightly nervous.
"Are you sure it's him?" Rick asked, worrying for my safety.
"I'm sure."
"So, you're going to go?" I nodded. "What time? Where?" Mary asked.
I blinked. "Well obviously at DanceWorks, and we havent talked about time yet. He said he'd DM me. I'm going to walk there, so dont worry about that part."
Mary and Rick once again exchanged a glance, and the dinner finished in silence. I went upstairs while Mary did the dishes. Laying on my bed, I took out my phone and went to the Twitter app. There was a small 1 next to the DM button, and when I clicked it there was a message from Sam. I realized that to DM someone, you must be following eachother, which meant Sam officially followed me. I tried to keep my breathing normal as I clicked to see the message.
"Hey, we'll be doing some training and rehearsel tomorrow after Mitch and Pel are outta school. You can come down then."
I wasnt a completely trusting person, and so typed back "Sorry to be untrusting, but how do I know this is legit?"
"I'll wait outside the studio for you around 4:15, as long as you're not too late."
I smiled to myself. "I'll be there."
The next day was boring and routine. I woke up, showered, blow-dryed and straightened my hair, and sat through classes. I walked home, deciding to take the long route to waste more time and made it home around 4:00. I didnt know whether I should change, or if I even had time, so I switched my school shoes to my colourful Nike trainers and headed out the door.
I knew where the studio was, I'd passed it a few times when I went out walking, or went somewhere with Rick and Mary. I was about to turn the corner to the street DanceWorks was on, when butterflies decided to appear in my stomache. I began to think this was all a joke, and I was stupid to believe it, but I forced myself around the corner anyway. I had squeezed my eyes shut when I turned the corner, once again ready for dissapointment. But opening them, I saw Sam a little ways down the street, standing in front of DanceWorks and checking the time.
My knees almost buckled, and I felt like my ankles couldnt support me. When I finally managed to take a step, my feet felt heavy. When I was about 10 feet from Sam, he looked up. I was about to look down at my feet, suddenly embarrassed, when he smiled. My steps faltered slightly, causing me to almost trip. All I could do was stare at the beautiful smile I'd come to love, but never seen in person.
"Hannah?" He asked, his voice smooth.
"Y-yeah, that's me." I said, before covering my mouth, suddenly aware of the weird accent I'd developed after living in England for a while. My accent didnt faze him, and he beckoned me closer with his hand. I suddenly realized I hadnt moved since he smiled at me and blushed slightly, moving a lot closer to him.
"I'm Sam." Once again he flashed me a dazzling smile, and stuck out his hand to shake mine.
"I'm Hannah." I gave him my hand, trying to keep my whole body from shaking and instead focussing on shaking his hand. After removing my hand from his though, I felt a lot more at ease. I think it was because Sam is so layed back, and being around him calmed me down, despite being what had excited me in the first place.
"Shall we go in? Meet the boys?" he asked, gesturing towards the door to DanceWorks.
"I'd love to." I said, not entirely sure I was prepared to meet the other 10 members of Diversity.
I was fully prepared to open the door myself, and was pleasently surprised when he opened it for me. Walking into the entrance to DanceWorks wasnt entirely exciting, as it was a fairly normal room, and all the exciting stuff happened in the next room. Sam brushed against my shoulder gently when he went to the door that lead into the actual studio. He had almost opened the door when he paused.
"Ready?" he asked, a sparkle in his eyes.
I only nodded, suddenly very nervous again. This day seemed entirely unreal, and I'd only spent about 5 minutes with 1 member of Diversity.
Sam opened the door, cocking his head in a way that said 'go in'. I gave a small, nervous smile and ducked my head a little as I walked into the room, Sam close behind. The room looked like it did in videos, mostly empty, with a wall of mirrors to one side. Stairs led up to where Ashley usually mixed the music, and a mat used for tumbling was against the wall opposite the mirrors. A song I didnt recognize was playing, and a few of the boys were dancing, while most were goofing off and talking. It was obvious not all the boys were there at the moment, and I imagined some were upstairs, and some might not even be here yet.
No one noticed me at first, a small 15 year old girl in her school uniform standing in the corner, almost trying to fade into the walls in nervousness. I was suddenly aware of Sam again when he walked past me, going into the group of boys towards Perri. I stood awkwardly, while Sam talked to Perri, still no one else noticing me. Sam brought Perri to me, who smiled widely, not much taller than me.
"Pel, this is the girl who beat my Temple Run score, Hannah." Sam introduced. "Hannah, this is Perri."
I smiled awkwardly for a moment. "Hi Perri, I'm Hannah." I said even though Sam had introduced me.
"Hi Hannah!" Perri said, obviously excited. "Hmm, you're looking a little nervous. Dont worry, we're friendly. Want to meet everyone else? Ashley's upstairs and Ike and Warren aren't here yet, but everyone else is here! And-"
"Perri," Sam cut him off. "you're rambling. The other boys knew you were coming, so they'd probably like to meet you."
"That's what I was gunna say!" Perri pouted.
Sam ignored him, and I smiled at their relationship. "This is probably overwhelming for you, but I'd like you to meet the boys, and the boys to meet you. Then you can just sit somewhere and let it sink in, you look a little unbelieving right now."
I nodded slightly, not able to find words to say. Sam beckoned me into the groups of boys, Perri staying near my side and giving me a reassuring smile. Sam stopped in the group of boys, and I stopped a few feet away.
"Boys, this is Hannah." He said, grabbing the other guys' attention and directing it at me. I blushed just a little, as Sam continued to speak. "Hannah, this is Ian, Matt and Jamie, Terry, Jordan and my little brother Mitchell." He said, pointing to each person in turn. Most smiled and waved or said hi as their name was said, except Mitchell, who gave a small nod.
"Dont worry about Mitch," Perri whispered to me. "He's usually quiet at first. He'll get to know you." It took me a few seconds to realize this sentence might mean I'd be seeing these boys more than just today.
"Hey," Sam breathed, scaring me slightly. I turned from Perri to Sam, who was literally right beside me. "Wanna meet Ash?" He said, walking towards the stairs with me in tow, Perri off somewhere with Jordan. "You can sit on the couch up there after."
We reached the top of the stairs and Ashley came into view. He was sitting at a table with a Mac computer on it. He was wearing a hat I'd seen him in many times before, although it sat backwards on his head. Unlike all the other boys, Ashley noticed my presence when I stepped a little closer with Sam.
"Hi, Hannah right?" I nodded. "I'm Ashley." he smiled.
"Nice to meet you." I managed, a small smile on my face.
"Yeah, well as you can probably tell, she's feeling a little overwhelmed," Sam said to Ashley, causing another small blush on my cheeks. "So I think I'll leave her here to just sit for a while." He gave me a small nod before heading down the stairs.
I sat on the small, black couch for a little while, but it didnt last long when I heard the boys yelling and laughing. Peeking over the railing, I saw Warren and Ike had arrived. Sam looked up and caught my eye, nodding in the way I recognized to mean "come here". So I turned back around, and began heading down the stairs. Ashley looked up again and flashed me a smile, which I returned. As I reached the bottom step, Sam was already introducing me to Ike and Warren.
"Ike, Warren, this is Hannah. Hannah, this is Ike and Warren." He said, Ike and Warren smiling in turn.
"Nice to meet you." Ike said.
"Nice to meet you too." I smiled, starting to feel a little more comfortable.
"Are you going to do some dancing?" Warren asked.
I flushed slightly, looking at what I was wearing. "I'm not exactly dressed for it." I said, pointing out my school uniform. Suddenly I wished I had taken the extra time to change, no matter if it would've made me a bit late.
"Mm, anyone got any joggers they can lend 'er?" Sam asked. I blinked. Did Sam really just ask if any of the boys in Diversity would lend me a pair of their joggers? "Pel, you're wearing shorts under yours aren't you?"
Perri brightened. "Yeah I am!" he said, stripping off his joggers to reveal blue shorts. "You can wear 'em Hannah!" I blinked again, before starting to laugh.
"Did Perri Kiely really just offer me his joggers?" I asked, still laughing.
"She speaks!" Sam said triumphantly. "Now do you want 'em or not? Youre gunna be mighty bored just sitting and watching."
"Yeah, I'll take 'em." I said, realizing how much I was coming out of my shell. Instead of bothering to find or ask for somewhere to change, I pulled Perri's joggers, which fit me almost perfectly, under my skirt before taking the skirt off. "Dont even try to offer me a shirt, alright? I'll manage." I smiled.
"Alright, moving on." Jordan smiled. "Do you do any dance?"
"Not proffessionally, but I know the basics of tutting and stuff. And I guarentee I can learn anything if you take the time to teach me."
"Thats what we like to hear!" Jordan smiled. "A positive attitude. We dont get that alot, surprisingly."
"Can I see a routine of some sort?" I asked, excited to see Diversity in action. "Maybe without Ashley if he's busy."
"Yo Ash!" Jordan yelled. "You too busy to do a short performance?"
"No, I'll be right down." He called back.
When Ashley reached the stairs, he said a few words I didnt quite catch, and the boys assembled into their starting positions.
"Wanna press play on that stereo over there?" Ashley asked me. I nodded and walked towards the stereo he indicated, pressing play, and resuming my position in front of the group. I made sure to leave room, for any tumbling or something they might do. They did a routine I'd never seen before, which made it even more amazing. Everyone was perfectly on beat, the coreography was wonderfully imagined and created, the tumbling was awesome.
When they finished, they looked up at me expectantly. I sat there dumbfounded for a while, trying to figure out exactly what to say to what I'd just seen. The guys began to laugh a little at the expression on my face as I thought what to say. Even Mitchell was laughing.
After a little more laughter and silence from my part, I decided a simple answer was best. "Amazing!" I said, a wide smile on my face.
"Mm, now we'll teach it to you." Sam smirked as I blinked. "Just kidding, we're gunna start simple. Up." He said, offering me a hand to help me off the floor. I put my hand in his and he helped me up effortlessly. It was a little unexpected, and I almost fell over again when I was fully stood up.
"You're strong." I mumbled.
"You dont weigh much." He said back.
Sam and Perri took me through a few routines, laughing but being nice when I messed up. I was pretty good at some things, like tutting, but I was pretty bad at others, like popping.
After quite a while of dancing, Sam pulled out his phone.
"What time do you need to be home?"
"Uhm, I'm not really sure. I dont think it matters as long as I'm home before like, midnight." I said, standing up from the floor routine Perri had been teaching me.
"Have you eaten?" He asked. "It's actually past dinner time. It's like seven."
Had I eaten? Not since lunch now that I thought about it. "No, I havent eaten since lunch." I said.
"Mitch and I are going to Nandos, wanna come?" Sam invited.
I stared. We'd only met today and these boys were incredibly friendly, especially Sam. "I couldnt." I said modestly. "I should probably just go home and eat."
"Alright, but I'll give you a ride. Where do you live?"
At this moment my brain decided to be stupid and completely forget my address. "I cant remember," I blushed. "How about I just direct you there?" Sam smiled, probably laughing at my stupidity.
"Haha, okay. I'll get Mitch, how about you give Pel his trousers back?" Sam said, walking in Mitchell's direction.
I suddenly remembered I was still wearing Perri's joggers. I found my skirt near the tumbling mat and put it on over the joggers, reversing the method I'd used to put them on in the first place. I found Perri, fairly close by, and gave him back his trousers.
"Thankyou," I smiled. "I'll come prepared next time."
"Alright, see you then." He smiled back, waving as I headed back towards the door to the entrance room.
"Ready?" Sam asked, opening the door to the outside. He took me a little down the street where his car was parked, Mitchell already in the passenger seat.
Sam's car was nice. I'm not really a car person, so I wasnt exactly sure what model and stuff it was, but it was nice.
Sam opened the car door for me, basically telling me to sit behind the driver's seat. I was planning to anyway, so it wasnt a big deal as I sat down and buckled my seatbelt. Soon Sam was sat in front of me, starting the car.
The ride to my house was mostly silent, but very short. As I stepped out of Sam's car, he asked me a question.
"Same time at the studio tomorrow?" He asked. I tried not to scream at the fact that I was just invited to hang out with Diversity again, and replied calmy.
"Love to, see you there."
"Bye." Sam and Mitchell said, their voices incredibly alike. I closed the car door and ran up the path to my house as the boys drove off. I had a lot to tell Mary and Rick over a late dinner.
When I walked into the house, a plate with a slice of cheese pizza was waiting on the table next to a glass of coca-cola. Rick and Mary were sitting in the living room, and looked up as I sat at the table. I could feel expectant stares as I took a big bite of my pizza.
"Well?" Rick asked.
"Gimme a second." I mumbled, swallowing the bite I'd taken. "So I was nervous at first and then Perri gave me his trousers and then we danced and Sam drove me home and invited me to the studio again tomorrow." I said in a rush. As I took another bite of pizza, Rick and Mary looked at me silently. Rick continued to be silent, not sure what to say. But Mary piped up.
"Perri gave you his trousers . . . ?"
"I didnt have any to wear, I went in my uniform."
"And so you're going again tomorrow?"
"Yes, but dont worry. I'll bring my own trousers this time." I smiled before sipping my coke. Rick and Mary were obviously a little weird with this whole situation, and honestly, so was I. But I had always wanted to meet Diversity, I'd finally gotten the chance, we had fun and I'd been invited to hang out with them again. I wasnt going to say no.
Despite it being only about 8 o'clock when I'd finished my food, I decided to head up to bed. I was tired, and a little sore from my day of dancing. I didnt go to sleep right away though, since I'd probably be awake for hours. Most of my time awake was spent tweeting, writing in my journal and day-dreaming. When I layed in bed, trying to fall asleep, I always day-dreamed. I came up with the most unrealistc scenarios, but you know, one of those scenarios had been meeting and dancing with Diversity. So I guess you never really know.