BETWEEN WORLDS: BEHIND THE SCENES (CHAPTER 2)
A look back at the second chapter of Between Worlds
Okay, so Chapter 2 jumps ahead from March-ish into September-ish. I don't have hard dates that I'm putting out there, but in my mind, that's what I've envisioned. I didn't want to pick up immediately after the shot, leaving it ambiguous for a minute. For some reason, when I envisioned this, we would jump forward and the first chapter would simply be setting up the groundwork for what's to come -- our main character Azeil, the people around him in the world (his mother, his teammates), and also the people who go to Langston Hughes.
As we learn in this chapter, Azeil hit the shot to win the game, and thus Highland Prep won the championship. Even months later, it feels like a bad hangover for Langston Hughes High School, especially for its players who have been replaying that game and that moment over and over again. It's something that, as a reader, should sit with you because you should feel disappointed for them. While the eyes of Langston Hughes were through Azeil in the first chapter, and in a way through Zahair as he was the main person talking from Langston Hughes, Rashaad needed to be the voice of the second chapter.
Rashaad, in my eyes, is the heart of this book. He's the guy who is gregarious and affable, able to connect with any and everyone. He's the life of the party, but also the guy who can look at someone and see they're hurting and pivot on the spot. In my head, it feels like a camera is simply following him through his morning routine as he makes his way to school and then through the hallways with various interactions, from students to teachers, it doesn't matter, as he can connect with all of them.
In addition, I wanted to highlight Rashaad's charisma and how he can easily connect with people or take over a classroom for the right reasons, as highlighted in the classroom scene, as the students are being students and are at risk of punishment for their behavior. Rashaad picks up on that immediately and starts to take over in a way that only he can.
By the end of the chapter, though, you start to realize why it's important we see this from Rashaad's perspective, because he is joined by a new student, someone he is aware of because of that championship game. The goal was to leave the reader with a question in their mind as to why Azeil would now be going to Langston Hughes when we last saw him as a scholarship kid at Highland Prep.
See you tomorrow for Chapter 3.
Hope you enjoyed this insight into Chapter 2. If you want to catch-up on BETWEEN WORLDS please check out the chapter index. In addition, be notified on the next post by subscribing below.