"You can all take a break. Good work, but Ashley, watch your footwork during the 'kick-step-step'," their choreographer told them. One after the other, they all flopped down in the chairs and couches in the studio. Jacob flopped down beside Ashley. Ashley slouched over trying to catch his breath. He looked really frustrated.
"Ashley, can I talk to you for a second?" Jacob asked quietly.
"Yeah," he replied
"Have you talked to Shelly lately?"
"Of course I have."
"Well…" Jacob waited for Ashley's response.
"Well, we still both don’t have enough money for her to come down," Ashley replied.
"There has got to be a way," Jacob said quietly to himself.
"OK, break's over. Back to work boys!" Announced their choreographer. Jacob continued to sit there and think. "Com'on Jacob, that means you too!" Jacob shook his head, as if to get out of the trance he was in, and got back to work along with the other guys.
****
The next morning Ashley was looking more depressed then ever. He was moping around not really talking to anyone, not eating very much, but Ashley's strangest behavior that morning was that he didn't even touch his hair. Jacob knew that this was serious.
'Maybe Ashley could just break up with Shelly and put them both out of their misery,' Jacob thought, but then he knew that that would make him feel even worse. 'There had to be some way that they could see each other.'
"Ashley, could you pass me the OJ?" Trevor asked. There was a long pause where Trevor waited for Ashley to reply, but he didn't. Instead, he just sat at the table staring into his cereal bowl and chewing very slowly. "Ash!"
"Huh?" He looked up, and Trevor pointed to the orange juice on the table. "Oh." Ashley picked up the orange juice, but he continued to look down into his cereal. He passed it to Trevor, but Ashley let go of it too soon and the lid wasn't screwed on properly. The lid flew off when the orange juice container hit the floor, and juice splattered everywhere. Trevor leapt up from his chair and shook the orange juice off of his hands. Ashley didn't even look up.
"Ashley!" Trevor shouted. He looked up and stopped chewing his Corn Pops for a second. "Nice move!"
"Oh, I'm really sorry Trevor. My mind was off in another place. Here I'll clean it up." As Ashley got up to get a cloth to wipe up the spilled juice, Jacob was in the living room where he saw the whole thing.
Jacob sat on the couch and shook his head, "Wow, this is worse that I thought. I have to do something if fate won't."
