𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐀𝐙𝐈𝐍𝐆 ; Luke Patterson

IV. FALSE PROMISES

Dahlia hadn't even noticed her and Julie were at school until she felt a hand on her shoulder, pulling her out of her thoughts that were beginning to spiral. Julie waved a small goodbye as she began walking towards Flynn, and Dahlia could see in the corner of her eye her own friends approaching her.

They were all wearing red cheerleading uniforms, their backs sporting a bobcat logo and their hair with a bow at the top.

Dahlia turned around, giving her friends her full attention. She knew she had been forgetting something since earlier that morning, and she had completely forgotten her and the rest of the cheerleaders were supposed to start off the spirit assembly with the cheer they had spent all week practicing.

"You didn't forget about today, did you?" Asked one of the cheerleaders, annoyance dripping from her tone as Dahlia sighed.

"No! No, of course not. Just had a weird night, is all," she replied, rubbing at her temples with the pads of her fingers, "give me five minutes to change." Dahlia added, waving the girls off as she quickly made her way over to the locker room.

She could hear footsteps following behind her, and Dahlia had to stop herself from yelling at them to leave her alone. She had definitely woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, and she didn't want to take it out on the innocent girls who were simply excited to show the other students what they had been working hard on.

Dahlia reminded herself to take deep breaths as she shrugged her uniform on, doubling checking her hair in the mirror as she stuffed a giant red bow on the top of her ponytail.

She didn't bother with applying makeup, no one would be able to see the difference—and she'd most likely sweat it all off anyway. She was tempted to give herself a pep talk in the mirror, but there wasn't enough time.

So with a final breath for confidence, Dahlia pushed her shoulders back, raised her chin and walked towards her friends with a half-assed smile that only her closest companions would be able to tell was fake.

Dahlia could see the heaps of students making their way to the gym, and she swallowed the lump in her throat. Dahlia felt out of place, and although she didn't show it, she'd rather be anywhere but there.

The Molina girl decided there was plenty of time to sulk later, but for now, she had an assembly to attend. She would hate to be the reason her friends missed their time slot to perform their cheer.

Dahlia allowed her shoes to lead her, her pale pink shoes bumping against the tile as she opened the door to the dimly lit gym.

Her eyes scanned the room for Julie and Flynn, though they were nowhere to be found. She felt her face fall slightly, but gently brushed it off as she could hear the jocks obnoxiously whooping as the cheerleaders filed inside.

Dahlia stood in the middle as she watched her group perform, letting herself get lost in the routine as she tried not to think about it too hard, knowing overthinking would surely mess her up.

A good twenty minutes, and a lot of sweating later, Dahlia stood amongst the line of cheerleaders that were soaking in the applause at the end of their routine, walking off to the bleachers in a perfectly straight line. Dahlia caught a glimpse of Julie and Flynn, who were clapping slightly sarcastically as they stood at the bottom of the bleachers.

Dahlia grinned as she broke apart from the group of say hi to her friends, and it was then when she saw Julie's mortified expression as another group filed onto the gym floor.

"Look who spent all her daddy's money on costumes and Katy Perry's choreographer," Flynn sneered, scowling as her gaze rested on Carrie.

"Well, it paid off." Julie admitted, watching as the girls in bright costumes and cheery smiles.