The bet

20.Royal Academy vs Redwood

Olivia

Today is Thursday which means that today is the day I got to see Joel play basketball.
I don't know why it makes me exited.
I haven't seen him all day today. Our last talk was when I gave him my mom's cookies.

That moment comes in my mind.
Joel looked so...different.
He looked like he was hurt. They all did.
It felt like something was off with them.
And they were like they were trying homemade cookies for the first time.
I felt sad for them. I don't know why, but I did.

I wanted to go there and hug Joel.
But I couldn't. And I never will.

Since yesterday I haven't received any message from Royal Academy high school.
It's strange because he was sending me messages over and over.

''Yo, Liv.'' Andy calls interrupting my thoughts, '' Viens par ici.'' he's sitting at the front seat of the school's basketball court.

Today is the match of our school against ''Redwood'' high school.

''Hi.'' I sit beside him, ''When is it going to start?"
"After five minutes I think.'' Andy answers.

''You know, basketball is stupid. Football is better.'' Andy says putting a fistful of popcorns in his mouth.
"I like them both.'' I laugh.

''Ohh, cheerleaders are here.'' he grins like a maniac, and I roll my eyes.

I watch the cheerleaders perform their dance and I can't help but look at Avril.

She looks like she owns the field, and she's so good at it.

Avril got into cheerleading as soon as she arrived in this school, and she immediately got Alexa's post as the leader.
And looking at her performance is enough to take your breath away.
She moves around with such ease and her movements are perfect.
I have always known that cheerleading is hard, but she makes it look so easy.

''Avril looks so good at this.'' I hear myself say.

''I would definitely hit on her if she wasn't our enemy.'' Andy says looking at her with heat in his gaze.

He looks at her like she's the only thing in this world. He looks at her like she's so precious and he wants to keep her.
He looks at her like he's...

No. Of course not.
Ridiculous thought.

I turn my eyes to look at the cheerleaders again.
They throw Avril up in the air.
She makes three flips in the air and then lands herself perfectly in the ground.

My jaw hits the floor.

The crowd breaks in clapping and cheering.

''Holy shit, that was awesome!'' Andy says.
Awesome indeed.

Alexa gives Avril a full hatred look, but Avril doesn't even spare a glance towards her.
She keeps looking forward unbothered by her surroundings.
It looks like she doesn't even care about all those people cheering for her, she's not even smiling. She keeps a neutral face.

It looks like she hates being there.
But why?

The cheerleaders leave the field, and the basketball team comes in.
And that's when my eyes land on him.

Joel Cullen is wearing Royal Academy's basketball team uniform.
The jersey is blue with yellow lines and so are the shorts.

His number is 17.

He looks really hot in this outfit.
Like hot, hot not just hot.
His hair is perfectly styled, and the clothes fit perfectly on him, showing his muscular body.