The Perfect Touchdown

Four

When I woke up the next morning I was so disoriented I nearly forgot where I was. A look at the familiar décor reminded me that I crashed in Aiden's room last night and looked down to confirm with the shirt I was wearing.

I looked around the room and didn't spot him anywhere, my guess was he successfully crashed in Avery's room, and he was somewhere asleep downstairs or in the yard. I let out a loud yawn and trudged out of bed to grab my clothes from the bathroom and get changed, but I decided to keep Aiden's shirt on and tucked it into my jeans.

The smell of eggs and bacon greeted me as I walked down the stairs and I found Aiden in the kitchen cooking up a storm.

"You're up early. Where is everyone else?" I asked and took a seat at the island counter.

Aiden just pointed over his shoulder with the spatula toward the living room. Sprawled out on both couches and the ground were Avery, Carter, and Noah. None of them made it to their rooms it seemed.

"Sucks to be them, they're going to miss out on this awesome breakfast," I said. My mouth was watering by the time Aiden placed the full plate of eggs, toast and bacon in front of me, then joined me with his own plate.

"I still can't believe for someone of your size, you eat as much as your brother."

"There is a lot of energy to be put into cheering, and you can't grow from muscle from nothing, right? As a player, you should understand the fat-to-muscle ratio one needs to carry, it isn't much different for a cheerleader or dancer."

He shrugs. "I suppose not. When do you start your first training class?"

"Monday morning actually, we have to prepare for the first game at the end of the week. Speaking of, do you guys know who it's against yet?"

Aiden groaned. "It's always the same game. A home game against Jacksonville State, it's why they always find ways to taunt us beforehand."

"This isn't the first time they've crashed one of your parties, is it?" I asked.

"No, it's not. It is the first time Shane has shown up himself."

"Is Shane the captain of the Jacksonville Gators?"

He narrowed his eyes at me. "How did you know that?"

"I met a friend at the party last night, turns out he also plays for them."

"What the hell, who is it?" Aiden asked, sounding a little angry.

I frowned and put my fork down. "Why does it matter? He's just some guy I met at Emma Perry's party a few weeks ago. Anyway, I need to get back to the dorms and finish setting my stuff up. Can you give me a ride back?"

He nodded but still looked slightly pissed off.

~*~

The first week of Uni went by like a tidal wave. My first cheer practice was a disaster, especially after meeting the supposed cheer captain of the team, Leah Palmer. She ran her team like a drill sergeant and barked insults that would make Gordon Ramsey proud.

By the end of the week, I was completely spent and couldn't feel any muscle in my body. I really thought the summer I attended cheer camp was the worst I would ever experience, but this definitely topped it.

"Wow, you look destroyed," Isabelle said when I dragged myself into the room.

I flopped onto my bed and rolled over it to try and straighten out my back.

"Everything hurts. Why didn't they think to put baths in the bathrooms? It's literally in the name!" I cried, wanting nothing more than a bath to soak into but all we were blessed with was a single stand-up shower.