friends (rick riley and scott holland)(INDEFINITE HIATUS)

chapter seven

Riley chews on the inside of her cheek and is pensively quiet. Gwen finishes up and smiles.

"Besides, if anybody says anything, we'll kick their asses. Isn't that right, Lex?"

Alexa gives a noncommittal response as she fixes her lipstick.

"You're all done, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Gwen." Riley smiles shyly before she goes over to one of the mirrors to check it out.

Gwen breathes a laugh and screws the lid back onto the body glitter. Then she checks her face in the mirror of her compact.

There's a method to how Gwen gets ready for games. A simple eye look and bold lipstick, glitter on her cheeks and temples, and a high ponytail wrapped in a bow: had they been doing a performance tonight and not been wearing long sleeves, she would have put glitter on her shoulders, too. In the end, she wants to look like the image that a person conjures in their head when they think of a cheerleader.

So, barring the paranoia that her brother will be beaten to a pulp in just half an hour, she's in her element right now.

"Hey, Gwen, are you going to the after-party tonight?"

Rachel's question breaks her train of thought and she glances up to meet the other girl's gaze.

"We haven't won yet. How do you know there's going to be an after-party?"

The brunette sucks her teeth. "There'll always be an after-party, and everybody wants girls at their parties."

"If we win, then I'll go. If we don't, then maybe not."

"You should go either way." Cindy hums from across the room. "No offense, Gwen, but you have been a total bitch lately. I think you need to get laid."

The weight in her stomach gets heavier as the words sit with her. Rachel flips Cindy off for her.

"I don't need to get laid, actually. I think I need to be chaste for a bit."

(Or, at least, stop sleeping with my best friend's arch nemesis.)

"Whatever you say, Gwen."

Before Gwen can comment on that there's a knock on the door. It opens slightly and a guy's hand sticks through the door to wave.

"I'm not going to stick my head in because I don't know if you guys are dressed," Rick's voice drifts through, "but I need Gwen."

All of the girls in the room turn to Gwen and she rolls her eyes.

He's standing directly outside the door when she slips out, wearing his black compression shirt and shorts. They each take a moment to drag their eyes along the other before they make eye contact.

Rick's in his skates, too. He really towers over her right now.

"You're half-dressed." She accuses. "You're half-dressed in public, you hussy."

"I can see your midriff. You're half-dressed, too, hussy."

He pokes her in the stomach with his knuckle for emphasis and she bats his hand away.