Chapter 2

Dreams come true

Trey’s perspective

TREY

I am Trey, and I was born in New York on May 3, 2042. My parents are African American with Caribbean roots. Due to my father’s job, we have had to move many a time. I lived in New York until I was seven years old, then I spent four years in Zurich, Switzerland. For a short time, my father also worked in Los Angeles and Paris. My parents, my sister and I got tired of moving. We all missed our home, our extended family in New York, so after a few years we moved back there. I can still remember how happy I was about that. My most important goal in life and in my career was to become a professional dancer. This dream could only be fulfilled in the city of dreams. I adore the hip-hop, the R’n’B, the jazz, the bass, and the beat in the streets of New York. As soon as my ears catch good music, it awakens an energy in my body that is beyond words. An energy that literally forces my body to dance.

My parents are God’s greatest gift. They are caring, loving and supportive of everything I am interested in. Whenever we have a celebration at home with the family, they all want me to perform my dancing skills. I am anything but shy and love to show off my talent. My mother would say that I am obsessed with it, and this actually comes pretty close to the truth. My parents recognized and encouraged my talent from an early age. During my childhood, I attended various dancing schools in New York and got better and better. My talent gained me popularity in high school; however, it was my looks that I attracted most people with. My classmates, who did not have the guts to approach me at school, sought to connect with me through social media. Heaps of messages were on each of my accounts. They called me the school’s girl crush – but I remained down-to-earth. I got along well with everyone, the nerds, the misfits, the hoopsters, the footers, the cheerleaders, and of course all the girls at school. From a young age, my parents taught me that I should treat everyone the way I would want to be treated. Although I was so popular, I did not find the girl with that little something during that time. Often my relationships failed because most of the girls did not have the brains I was looking for. Some of them did not even know who Malcolm X was or that the first black President of the United States of America was named Barack Obama. I was looking for a girl who would accept me as the center of her life and teach me new things.

After I graduated from high school, my parents wanted me to move on to college. For the first time, my parents and I had a real argument. The teachers at my school and my parents knew I was destined for greater things. My parents wanted to make sure I had a plan B in case things did not work out with my dream of dancing. I did not let them talk me into anything, and was quite determined. My sister Olivia, who is younger than I am, loved the same music as me. She knew how popular I was thanks to my talent and believed in my dream. To stop depending on my parents, I looked for temporary jobs and put some money aside. My father was not too thrilled, but he respected my persistence and the way I pursued my goal. After the argument, a few months passed, and I got my first chance to appear in a music video. It was not anything mind-blowing, but I was able to gain some experience and met new people who knew about show business, which is something I strive for. They were amazed by my talent and how quickly I mastered the routines. Therefore, I got more small jobs and took part in several projects. The pay was always much too low, and often I took the job without getting paid at all. Some people suggested to me that I should apply for a job as a dance teacher in different dance schools. After a short time, a dance school in Brooklyn gave me the chance and I quit my two temporary jobs. My students loved my engaging and humorous way of teaching. Word spread, and so I taught beginner and intermediate hip-hop several days a week. I motivated my students to keep practicing, told them my story of how I got this job, and that one should never give up on their dreams.

It was 2061, and I was proud of everything I had accomplished at the age of nineteen. I was still living with my parents. My sister and I loved to watch music videos and carefully study them. We were always extremely fond of Liyah’s videos. Liyah was one of the biggest stars of our time. Not only was she a good singer, but she could dance and act incredibly well. Liyah was an inspiration to many people and became a big star at the age of fourteen. She not only wrote songs that were tremendously metrical, but she was also one of the kind of people who managed to create incredibly soulful music. Her image to the world represented a pure soul, besides that, for me, she was one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen. She possessed a special smile and sweet dimples on both cheeks. Liyah radiated a light in each of her videos that was beyond description. I was totally in love with her and kept telling all my friends that she would be my future wife. At that time, I read in the media that Liyah had been spotted with rapper Jayden in a restaurant. Jayden was known for his bad boy image. Everyone in New York knew that he had been a drug dealer in the past. Like me, he grew up in New York and was one of the best rappers in the world. He created the hottest rap music; not surprisingly, his music videos were of such a high level like no other. Jayden even started his own music label "Golden Jams” and had some of the best people under contract, except Liyah. He also had his own streaming service, any artist in the world could join. He was as much as ten years older than Liyah, and honestly, I did not understand what she saw in him. In my eyes, Liyah was an angel and Jayden showed himself as a monster in his videos.

In 2061, Liyah turned twenty-two years old. She was at the peak of her career, selling millions of records worldwide, getting some solid movie roles, and being present on every red carpet. Appearing in one of her music videos one day was among my biggest wishes. She was the princess of show business. Unfortunately, I had to abandon my dream quickly. Liyah died in a plane crash at the age of twenty-two, shortly after a video shoot in Mexico. The media reported that the private jet was packed to the brim. It was also revealed that the pilot had been on trial for drug possession in the United States shortly before the accident. I was devastated, even though I had not known her personally. She was just too young to pass away, and her life was only about to begin. The entire story sounded rather dubious. How many times have we been told similar storylines and blamed the pilot. Blaming a dead person is an easy way to quickly close the case. We will never know the truth. A few months passed. I continued to focus on my dream and worked hard on it. An inner fire was burning inside me, I wanted more from life. At that time, a new female star suddenly appeared at the top. She personified a sexy, charming and confident image. From now on, she became the queen in the pop and R’n’B business. It is all about Kiana. The entire world knows and loves her. She became famous with the girl group "Destiny’s Angel", which her own father put together and now manages. The band consisted of Kiana and her two best friends. They indulged in creating music that was reminiscent of the old days of the nineties and which taught women around the world to love themselves as they are, to pursue their own agenda, and to strive for independence. The music appealed not only to women. In fact, men were obsessed with Kiana. With her music, she taught them how to treat a woman and what a woman expects from a man. She provided the young generation with new courage to tackle dreams with her music and gave us energy that was needed in this world to survive. Her music fueled us to fight for the things we love and not to give in easily. Right here begins my story and plunge into the world of the American dream. The band "Destiny’s Angel" were looking for male dancers in New York for their world tour and for gigs at award shows. I was ecstatic with joy. I imagined how it would feel to be on tour with Kiana, to be able to stand next to her on stage and be envied by all her fans. I wanted this job and knew I had to prepare something special for the audition. So, I had my best friend Dean compile the best songs from Destiny’s Angel and asked him to create a poppy remix of them. Dean excelled himself. The beat was expressive, powerful, and I had two weeks to rehearse choreography. I practiced and polished my moves, sometimes late through the night, and had a blast. My body did not feel the slightest fatigue. The closer the day approached, the more time I sacrificed for it. I neglected my family, my friends – I just did not care. Dancing and music gave me new energy day in and day out, and that was all that mattered to me at that time. Suddenly, the moment was there. I was quite excited on the way there, to say the least. When I arrived at the casting and introduced myself, I was told that it was my turn to be third. In the waiting room, I pondered how I would like to say hello to Kiana. It seemed to me that no form of address was appropriate, and I was getting more and more nervous. Meanwhile, more candidates showed up. The waiting room filled up, and a long queue formed in front of the building. A young, good-looking lady fetched me and accompanied me to the room where the audition was to take place. I stepped into the room, and there she was! Kiana was sitting at a table, along with her father and her two friends who were part of the band....