BETWEEN WORLDS: BEHIND THE SCENES (CHAPTER 7)
Taking a look back at Chapter 7
This chapter is one of my favorites because Nia is probably one of my favorite characters in this book, filled with characters I thoroughly enjoy. When we open the chapter with Azeil sitting in the high school football stadium, it has been a week since the previous chapter. There's not much to fill in during that past week, but we can imagine it's been more of the same and possibly further alienation as whispers have spread around the school after Zahair's and Azeil's one-on-one turned fisticuffs. The students at Langston Hughes are going to naturally support Zahair, so that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.
Still, Azeil has made his way to the football game because the alternative is to sit with his father in this new foreign home. Sitting there, someone approaches him and that person is Nia. Looking at the early chapters, I wanted someone to help make Azeil feel more comfortable here. There is only so long you can put him out of his comfort zone before he snaps and takes everyone out with him. Nia helps ground him and the dialogue between the two is one that sees us pulling back the curtains on both characters that are critical to the rest of this novel. Nia is smart, charming, beautiful, and kind. She sees someone sitting by themselves and while they haven't really crossed paths before, her heart sees this and she wants to fix it. That's her lot in life.
In addition, there is the element of high school crush and romances. These are two that are attractive people, thoughtful people, and they would eventually gravitate towards one another as all sorts of people typically do. For Nia, she sees someone who needs a friend in the moment. For Azeil, he's tired of feeling like an outcast two weeks into his time at Langston Hughes and desperate for a companion.
The scene with Coach Booker and Azeil is a highlight as well because it's the first time they're interacting. Booker is a no nonsense kind of guy and tells it straight, whether the other person likes it or not. It's refreshing to hear from Azeil's perspective because he's not slanting anything one way or another, but straight down the middle. He acknowledges the difficulties in Azeil's life, the value Azeil could bring to his team, but also Coach's responsibility for managing these personalities on one team and how Azeil could rock it. Still, he's up to the challenge and it is important for Azeil to have someone else who sees him and believes in him since he's lost the person who was all of that for him.
The idea of a post-football party is all part of going to high school and growing up. As you can imagine, in the next chapter, it will continue to challenge and push Azeil onto the next step in his journey.
See you tomorrow for Chapter 8.
Hope you enjoyed this insight into Chapter 8. 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.