𝟬𝟭. ❛ SHE'S AN ANGEL ❜

          𝓒LARA stood backstage practicing her dance routine she came up with for the talent show. It was only a matter of time before she would be called out and she didn't wanna mess up not a single step.

          The brown skinned girl was not nervous since she had a long history of doing this. At the age of eleven, she found a manager named Brooke. He denied her many times, claiming he didn't ❛ work with kids ❜ but she kept insisting that he give her a shot.

          Now that she was twelve, he finally relented and made a deal with her. Brooke promised her that if she did good at this talent show, he would manage her. She would be an idiot to pass up the opportunity. So she signed up immediately and was prepared to blow the minds of everyone watching. This show could be it. The breakthrough she'd been looking forward to.

          "I don't think I can do this..." A boy was sweating bullets as he slightly panicked.

          It was a bit of a crowd out there watching and judging, so the girl could understand his feelings. She realized that not everyone had natural confidence like she did. The girl felt her eyes widen profusely when she made eye contact with the boy. No freakin' way.

         "Bobby Brown? I'm shocked." Clara Monet stood there with her mouth parted open.

          "What's with that face? You don't take me for the talented type?" The boy frowned, even more so when Clara began laughing at him.

           "No, that's not it. I just never would've expected you to have the balls to do this." She admitted, letting out another round of laughter. That statement seemed to tick Bobby off as he glared at her.

            "Shut up! You think you're funny?" He was annoyed because he knew she was right. His nerves always got the best of him whenever it involved other people watching. He cared too much about all of their opinions and didn't want to get clowned.

            "Bobby, chill! All jokes aside, good luck." The girl patted him on the shoulder just as the announcer called her name. She left him right there.

             "Good luck to you too." Bobby called out, knowing she couldn't hear him. He stared at her retreating form as if he was starstruck.

             Bobby took that time to admire her. The way she flipped her hair as she performed on stage and the way she could be described as graceful.

             Unbeknownst to him, two of his friends were in the crowd doing the same thing. Ricky and Mike both stared at the girl performing on stage.

             "She kill it every time." Mike hummed in approval as he leaned against the wall.

             "She's perfect. Her outfit, her hair, the steps!" Ricky pointed out, noticing all the young boys their age in the crowd going crazy over the girl.

              "I gotta make a move on her one day." Mike mumbled. Both boys started clapping as the girl bowed to the crowd and blew kisses at them.

              "All right! Give it up for Clara Monet! She did that like she meant that, right? Now let's keep the show rolling! Come on y'all! This next young man is making his stage debut! He is only eleven years old, but the best thing is he's from right here in Roxbury! So show some love for Little Bobby Brown!" The man announced and the crowd went wild.

             Bobby stepped out to the stage as everyone roared loudly for him. Clara was sent back stage but even she cheered as the music started.

            She observed the boy, biting her bottom lip softly as she realized he'd lost his confidence. Clara could tell by the way his grip on the mic became shaky. Bobby's hands grew sweaty, and the people stopped cheering for him, instead just staring at him like he was a different species or something.

            The boy felt his ears start ringing, drowning out the crowd as he looked around at everyone nervously. Bobby then ran off the stage and fled. His two friends shook their heads in disbelief at his actions.

             "That's your boy up there? That lil kid suck!" A guy from another side of town commented.

             "I know he did better than your monkey looking ass could do." Mike sneered, stepping up.

              "The hell you just say? Come again?" The random guy stepped up as well. Mike and him were face to face as they confronted each other.

              "I didn't stutter." Mike tilted his head before shoving the boy harshly and running off. Ricky pushed the boy as well and then ran away.

             The talent show ended with the band ❛ The Untouchables ❜ coming in first place, winning the money prize, with Clara in second place, winning a trophy that had ❛ Talented ❜ engraved on the front.

            Second place wasn't too bad, but she really wanted that money prize to be able to help her parents out. She felt bad because of all the money they spent getting her put together for the show.

            "Little sis, you did great out there!" Sasha squealed, proud of her younger sibling.

            "Yeah, that was something else!" Lisa preached. Their oldest sister Tiffany wasn't a girl of many words, but Clara knew she was proud when she saw her stood there dramatically wiping her tears.

             "Don't be disappointed, my special girl. You're gonna be a star in no time." Monica, their mother, chimed in with a big smile. Clara felt so much better after hearing the woman's words, knowing she could read her emotions like an open book.

𝓣HE next day is where it all started. Brooke kept his promise and contacted Clara, saying to meet him in the rec center that following week.

         "Aye, Mike! Rick! Wait up!" Bobby called out, running after his friends.

          "Yo, what up, Bob!" Both boys greeted, stopping for a second to let him catch up.

          "What y'all doing?" Bobby made conversation, trying to figure out how to propose his idea.

          "Man, I'm bout to go trip this dude up in some basketball. You know how I do." Michael dictated, earning a laugh in return from Ricky who happened the be the ❛ dude ❜ he planned on ❛ tripping up.❜

          "How was the show last night?" Ricky changed the subject, turning to Bobby in fake curiosity. It took only a few seconds for him to come up with a lie.

           "Let's just say your boy did his thang." Bobby did his signature dance move, albeit lying.

           "You did your thang?" Ricky mocked him. "He did his thang." Mike played along, laughing.

           "Yo, we was there!" Mike eventually confessed, shouting in a teasing tone of voice.

"Saw the whole thing! Can't lie!" Ricky taunted, giving the younger boy a hard time.

"Y'all did?" Bobby sounded defeated.

"Yes! Almost got in a fight with some Cathedral dudes talking trash!" Ricky told him.

"They threw me off with all that damn screaming. But now I know what to expect, though. So it's not gone happen next time." Bobby explained.

"Next time? You going up there again?" Ricky was dumbfounded as he stared at him.

"Damn right! But the difference is, I want y'all up there with me." Bobby informed them.

"Nah, man. I don't know bout all that." Ricky shook his head, not wanting to look dumb.

"Come on, B. You played yourself." Mike stated, his face scrunched up at the idea.

"You know what? Y'all talk way too much smack. Forget it, I'll go get Corey, Travis, and Clara. Cause y'all scared!" Bobby shook his head.

"Ain't nobody scared." Ricky grew tense.

"Whatever, bruh," Mike just shrugged his shoulders, not really caring.

"All we gotta do is pick us a good song, get us some cool outfits, and we'll win first prize. It's that simple." Bobby tried to convince them.

"As long as we all get to sing." Ricky decided on agreeing. Bobby crossed two of his fingers behind his back while he shook his free hand with Ricky.

"And I know you want that money." He said to Mike. "Damn right." Mike shook his hand.

               "Now we on our way." Bobby smiled as his plan was going in the right direction.

"On our way to what? This ain't no group. It's only three people." Ricky pointed out.

"Well, let's go get Corey, Travis, and Clara." Bobby was dead set on forming a group.

"Clara, maybe, if she's down. But Corey and Travis, nah. I know who we should get." Ricky began as they crossed the street together.

"Who?" Mike and Bobby asked in sync. "You know that kid Ralph?" He inquired, grinning.

"Hell nah!" Bobby replied. "Oh, that lil dude that be doing kung fu? Nah." Mike snorted.

"Yeah, he my boy! He good people!" Ricky defended Ralph, leading them to him.

"Can he even sing?" Bobby questioned, not so sure about this Ralph kid joining.

"Yeah, man. Ralph can blow! You never heard him before?" Ricky voiced out loudly.

"Nah, every time I try to go up to him he always kicking and stuff!" Bobby replied.

As the three boys approached Ralph, he was in fact kicking and stuff, like usual. It wasn't a shock to any of them when he barely acknowledged them, continuing with his karate practice or whatever it was.

"Yo, what's up, Ralph." Ricky held his hand out for Ralph to shake, but the boy bowed at him instead, causing him to lower his hand.

"What's up," Ralph hummed, staring at Clara from where he was. He kept glancing at her, not caring if the boys caught onto him or not.

Clara was using a jump rope with her friends, not missing a single hop. The brown skinned girl didn't even notice she was being watched.

"Why won't you just go over there and talk to her?" Ricky noticed and stared as well.

"She's an angel. I just can't." Ralph shook his head, too nervous to try it. The others nodded in a form of agreement. They all felt the same.

"Stay here, Bruce Lee. I'll go talk to her for you." Ricky gained a set of confidence, swallowing his nerves as he approached the talented girl.

"Hey, Clara, how you doing?" He smoothly held his hand out and she gently shook it.

"Ricky, saw you at the show last night." The girl gave him a look, knowing he was up to something. He never came up to talk to her like this. Even at school, they barely spoke to each other but they knew each other well, having lived in the same area all their life.

"Yeah, you did great by the way. Good job on winning second place. But, um, you see my friends over there? They're afraid to talk to you, but I'm not. Can I sing something for you?" Ricky grinned.

Clara knew then and there that her suspicions were right. He was definitely up to something. Since he was intriguing to her, she decided to nod.

"Oh, and I, I'm craving your body! Is this real? The temperature's rising, I wanna feel! I'm in the wrong place, to be real. Woah──" Ricky sang to her, but didn't get to finish when Ralph pushed him out of the way and started singing for him.

"Woah, and I'm, longing to love you! Just for a night! Kissing and hugging, holding you tight! Just let me love you, with all my might!" Ralph sang.

"The reasons! The reasons that we're here! The reasons that we fear, our feelings won't, disappear!" The two boys sang in sync, equally shoving each other out of the way, fighting for her attention.

As the ice cream truck got close, all the kids ran away, shouting in excitement. This left the area vacant aside from the girl and the four boys.

Clara just stood there laughing. If they thought a love song was enough to win her over or make her feel special, they were wrong. Did they know who she was? This happened to her every day.

"Nice singing, but I gotta go." The girl waved at them, turning to leave when Ralph grabbed her hand, stopping her from going anywhere.

Bobby and Mike stood in place from further away, realizing they had their next two members of the group. Clara and Ralph were perfect.

"You're beautiful." The boy told her with a smile, releasing her from his hold. She smiled brighter than the sun at his compliment.

"Thank you, karate kid." The girl winked at him, rushing to go after the ice cream truck.

"That's what you get for being slick!" Ralph told Ricky, the latter only laughed at him.

𝒐𝒐𝒐. AUTHORS NOTE * 𖤐 ༘ミ
first chapter is out!!! hello everyone, don't be ghost readers!!! it makes writing the story so much more fun when the readers are interested and interacting! it also motivates me to update more frequently! by the way, how do y'all feel about my oc's so far????