Chapter 4

Whoever came up with the saying fifth teen minutes of fame never wore a watch because I swear it’s been way past fifth teen minutes since the robbery and recognition. No, it was still talked about on the news, the radio, at school from all my classmates, Felicia, and everyone else. It was pretty much the same the entire week as it was on Monday. Emmalin was still ignoring me and I really wanted to talk to her but it was to no avail. She was capable of doing that pretty well.

It was finally Friday and I couldn’t wait for the weekend so I could escape the insanity of constant fascination and recognition at school. Sitting in Physics I constantly stared at Emmalin in an effort to grab her attention. It’s been four days and it was getting to the point of okay I think you ignored me enough stage. I wanted to talk to her, I needed to. It wasn’t easily keeping all this bottled inside of me with everything that’s happen the past couple of days. I wanted to hear her opinion because she didn’t look at me as everyone else did at the moment; she looked at me as Gabriel the friend that she was still angry at and not as the great. Sure I could talk to Felicia, Donovan, even Craig but they were still in that amazement stage and I don’t think I would get anywhere. Besides Emmalin there was Jace and Leon but I already expressed my issue with them and plus Emmalin was sort of an outsider to my Martial Arts world and it would be nice to hear her thoughts.

She almost slipped once during class when she almost accidently asked me a question before realizing she was talking to me. She didn’t turn my way the rest of class but I had a feeling her grudge was loosening and my opportunity was coming closer….somewhat. I attempted to catch her after class let out but she was already out the door but I did catch her giving me a quick glance. Okay that was my cue; I wasn’t going to let this drag any longer than it needed to be, at lunch time I was going to talk to her.

I knew where she would be during lunch. With Prom fast approaching and her involvement with the Prom committee, they like to hold promotions to get people involved and excited about upcoming events and dances. She was there with other members of the committee in the middle of pavilion of the school, shouting into a microphone about Prom. There were some people giving their attention but most were just walking by.

“There you are, I was wondering where you were going.” Felicia commented as her and Kyra came up. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to Emmalin.”

“She still ignoring you?”

“Yes”

“Told you she would be upset”

I gave her a grave look but her and Kyra couldn’t suppress the laugh long.

“Well go talk to her; we’ll be here, watching”

“Thanks, that’s assuring.”

“No prob, that’s what sisters are for.” She smiled.

I made my way through the oncoming crowd; I didn’t hear Emmalin anymore as music kicked up from where they were standing. I did see her and she must have seen me which made me double my step to catch her before she moved.

“Seriously can you stop doing that and talk?” I said as I caught her.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” It was nice to actually hear her say a full sentence. She avoided eye contact with me but I wasn’t going to stop from trying to gain eye contact with her.

“No I’m sure there’s not, being that’s the first thing you said to me since Monday.”  I tried capturing her gaze again. I could see she wanted to smile but was trying real hard to keep a stern face.

“Stop that” again the smile being harder to control.

“Then talk to me”

“Fine I will” the smile was seen as she turned away real quick. “But later, as you can see were trying to do this promotion and it actually stinks.”

“Oh it’s not that bad.” As I said that I see a few of the committee members trying to dance in an effort to gain everybody’s attention. It wasn’t bad dancing but it wasn’t prettiest either. “Okay maybe a little.”

She gave a deep sigh frustrated at the turn of events. She wanted to take over the committee during our senior year and this was kind of like a test for her and right now it wasn’t going good. I wanted to offer my help, but I couldn’t think of anything to do to help her.

“If it isn’t the fearless leader of Team Velocity.”

Team Aka, we shared the school with one of our main competitors, they also carried a tournament team led by the one who made the comment, Adam Linds. They were good, but we have a better track record on them then they do of us.

“What do you want, Adam?”

Adam was senior at our school, blond hair, pretty well built. I turned around to see him surrounded by his team, like us they liked to hang out together.

“Just seeing how you were doing and if you’re ready to lose this weekend?”

“I was doing pretty well up until now and as far as losing, I’ve been ready, I just haven’t met someone who can deliver.” He didn’t like that comment. His jaw clenched and his fist balled. His teammates were pushing him to say something.

“You know you talk a big game but I still haven’t seen you do anything special in awhile. Sure you took down some robbers or so you say, but what have you done, better yet your team done lately. We’re going to take over and believe me everyone will see it.” He said pretty confident about it.

I was going to say something until someone else beat me to it

“Why don’t you take your foot out of your mouth and prove it right here right now.” Alec said followed by the others.

“Is that a challenge?” Adam responded back

“Do you need me to answer that?”

“What are you doing?” I asked not excited where he was going with this.

“We accept.”

The team was excited at the idea but I was not. “Come on Gabriel lets show these guys up.” Alec pushed forward while wilding up the others.

“No”

“Aw come on bro, you know we can beat them”

“I’m not concerned with that.”

Then Emmalin tugged me on the arm. “Would you please?” her voice pleading as I was surprised by her request.

“Why would you encourage this?”

She looked around “Gabriel, I need something to get the crowd into this,” pointing around the promotion which lacked any interest from the school. “And right now you’re the hottest thing at this school, you know what kind of crowd it would attract?” unfortunately I did. I usually strayed away from showcasing any Martial Arts activity from the school but considering Emmalin was asking and the fact I could use this as a way to help her and have her forgive me for what happened, I didn’t really see another alternative.

“Fine…” The team jumped in excitement as they began to take of their bags and loosen up. “But were good after this?”

 “No, but it helps.” She said as she gave me hug “Thank you.”

I turned to the team and they could tell I was not pleased with the situation but they were ready to go. Adam’s team was prep and ready to go also. This was actually happening.

I started to take off my bag when Emmalin was on the microphone “Ladies and Gentlemen of Durango High, we have a treat for you all today. We have a Martial Arts demonstration for you today featuring Jace Monke and Gabriel Luis. That’s right Jace Monke and Gabriel Luis accompany with others.”

“I get accompany with others title? That sucks” Felicia was heard.

“Come watch as they perform for your entertainment. This is something you don’t want to miss.”

“No pressure.” Donovan said with a smirk on his face.

I always did wonder what kind of response people in high school would think of a martial art demonstration. It was never a key audience we would try to attract; usually we performed for younger kids. High school kids were always thought to be tough to attract because of the various activities that were supplied at schools with sports. It was hard for us to join sports at school and I imagine it being the same with them but countless students made their way to the pavilion; they covered the grounds, the second and third story levels that were viewable. I looked over at Emmalin, she couldn’t contain her excitement. Donovan hit it right on the head. No pressure.

“Okay, thanks for that I think the whole school is here.”

“I know it’s amazing.” Emmalin clearly excited.

“It’s something” I laughed

“So how does it work? You know…do you just go and do stuff.”

“You really need to come and actually see some of the events we do. Where is the DJ?”

“The DJ? He’s right over here.” Pointing at a younger boy with a set of headphones over his neck, he stood in the crowd trying to get a good position to see what was going to happen. I felt a little bad for making him miss it, but his position was crucial to the success of this.

“Hey….DJ?”

“His name is Frank.”

“Hey Frank.”

Frank’s head turned and ran over to where we stood. I put my arm around him as we walked to his DJ booth. “Frank I need your help. You see we need some motivation and we need something to not only pump us up but pump up the crowd. Do you have anything you can put together?”

He went into think mode and gave a nervous smile. “I think I do.”

“I see all this equipment and I’m guessing it’s not all the schools, that some of it is your own personal stuff. Do us a favor and mix something together to get us and this place rocking. Can you do that?”

“I can.”

“Alright show me what you got.”

At that he went straight at it putting whatever it was he was putting together. I went back to the team turning my attention to Adam who was also taking everything in.

“You good?”

“Don’t worry about us…rules?”

“The same…two rounds with a solo.”

He nodded and turned back to his team. At that the music came on and Frank came with it. It was a blend of techno, hard beats, DJ scratches, and hip hop. Once it came across, the crowd was bumping to the music showing their appreciation. It was nice just what I was hoping.

I saw the campus monitor walk up to the front of the crowd, was it going to end before it started? It was just getting good. The monitor was Jeffrey, an older man. He’s been at this school close to as I been alive. I somewhat knew him, he used to wait with us outside the school while we waited for my dad to pick my sister and I up. We had small chit chats but nothing more. So I was worried on what he was planning.

“Don’t worry sir; we’re just having a little safe competition between our friends here.”

He nodded,” I’m here for the show and to make sure it’s safe.”

I smiled turning my attention. “Alright guys, you heard two rounds and I will take care of the solo.” The team was getting pumped with the music, nervous and excited to get going. “We’re doing this so let’s put it all out there.”

“What are we going with?” Jace asked.

“Halloween and the set from February.” They all grinned in agreement. “Fits well with the music so timing shouldn’t be a problem. Donovan and Alec why don’t you get us started.”

They peeled off from the huddle to the opposite sides, ran towards each other, while rounding off to a back handspring up to a flash kick in the air crossing each other. The response from the crowd was deafening. If you never seen what we Martial Artist call a team trick off, think of it as a dance off but with Martial Arts. A blend of cheerleading formations, break dancing, gymnastics, and of course Martial Arts techniques combined with the music. The sets I informed the team were from previous shows we’ve done. We went into formation; hand combos in synchronization following with jump spin kicks that defied the laws of gravity. There were so many different reactions from the crowd I couldn’t keep up.

Once we finished our first set Team aka went and did there thing. Even though it was a competition and for the most part they were holding their own, it was still good to be doing this in front of everyone. Our next set came up and we were paired off. Kyra and Craig started, at the end Felicia and I, followed with Alec and Jace, ending with Donovan completing the set with a barrel roll into a spin kick. Team aka went again but I was busy looking out at everyone, holding up cell phones and dancing to the music. I caught Emmalin with the biggest smile at the turnout.

Kyra motioned their set was finish meaning I was up with Adam on solos. We walked to the middle and the crowd went louder. I motioned for him to go first and he did not hesitate. He started with hand combos, following with an ax kick that went straight up and when it came down he linked it into a back flip. I had to give him credit for pulling it off. It was my turn; I started off with hand combos too, into wheel kicks, dropping myself to the floor, switching to the other side as I slid. As I planted my hand onto the ground I shot the rest of body up. If you’re familiar with the K kick, I have a variation of my own. Instead of kicking and sticking it, I shoot three kicks and on the third I stick it. Just to make it nastier I switch hands and stick it with the other leg, finishing with a jump spin combo as I come out of it.

The crowd went wild. Even Team aka was showing their appreciation. What started out as a battle turned into something more. Maybe I was caught up into the moment; it was hard not to be with the atmosphere. I went over to shake Adam’s hand congratulating him and his team to help not only show off Martial Arts but at the end it really helped with Emmalin’s cause and that to me was the most important thing.

“Way to bring it.”

“You too. See you tomorrow.”

I went to Emmalin who had the biggest smile on her face as she talked into the microphone “There you have it, wasn’t that great or what?” The crowd cheered. “Let’s give a round of applause to everyone, you guys were great.” I pointed to Frank “Oh and to our DJ Frank for the incredible beats he supplied. Don’t forget Prom is around the corner, ask your dates and get your tickets, it’s really going to be a memorable night.”

The bell rang, music was cut, and everyone groaned but eventually made their way to classes.

“Thank you Gabriel, that was fantastic.”

“Hey don’t forget about us.” Felicia yelled

“Yeah.” Followed Craig

“Thank you.” Emmalin replied back her mood brighter than it was earlier. “Again thank you. I will see you tonight?”

“Of course, I really do need to talk to you.”

“Okay call me after you’re done with classes, I should be done with the committee meetings, we are going to celebrate this success.”

“You’re welcome.”

She yelled in happiness and gave me another quick hug “I’ll see you later.” Then turned to help the committee clean up.

I saw Frank before I turned and gave him a point “Way to go.” He smiled. He really nailed it, what a mash up of songs he used. Never have I heard it like that before.

 I left at that and hurried to my next period class. I walked into my English class to applause from my classmates. I probably blushed some but I was sporting a smile. If I was to have recognition for something, helping Emmalin and putting on a good show was something I could deal with and it did get my mind off everything else that happened. Well so much for only being fifth teen minutes, I think I just gave myself another after that. I could already see my classmates playing back footage on YouTube.