A Ticket Out of Life

Chapter Forty-Two

Alright guys, fair warning! There is a heated scene with Lance and Ashley at the end of the chapter. It's not too bad, but I figured I'd give you guys a heads up! :) Thanks for reading!

I woke up and started to rub my eyes. I had cheer practice this morning because competition was coming up in the coming week so Coach Reese wanted us to practice as much as possible. I slowly turned in my bed and stared sleepily at the clock on my dresser. I don’t wanna move, I thought grumpily and I pulled the covers back over my head.

“If I have to get up early to take you, then you are definitely getting up to go.”

I peeked out from underneath my blankets to see Lance standing by my bedside with his arms crossed. I narrowed my eyes and muttered as I pulled the blankets back over my head.

“Alrighty then, guess you leave me no choice,” Lance said as he ripped the covers off of me. He hoisted me up and carried me like a princess down into the kitchen. “Good thing you already packed your bag last night huh princess?” Lance said as he sat me down on the couch.

“I wanna sleep,” I muttered and Lance laughed. He ruffled my hair as his smile widened.

“You didn’t sleep well last night, did you?” he whispered softly and I shook my head. He picked me up again and carried me out to the car with my bag slung across his shoulder. He set me in the passenger seat and then quickly got in and took off towards the gym. I was able to take another small nap before Lance prodded me awake. Grumbling, I got up and told Lance goodbye and I put my bag on my shoulder. I walked into the locker and room and made my way out to onto the gym floor. Carrie greeted me with an enthusiastic grin.

“So how was your first Thanksgiving?”

“Very interesting,” I yawned as I stretched my arms over my head. “I got to meet a lot of people at once.”

“I bet that was tiring,” Carrie said as she started to stretch her legs. “Some of Lance’s family can be hard to deal with.”

“Tell me about it,” I laughed as I remembered my first impression of Cooper. Coach Reese entered the gym and started to shout orders. We immediately started going through our routines roughly. Coach Reese constantly asked me how I felt and if I could go on. I encouragingly assured her and we continued on with the practice. Since I had lost so much weight, I was able to be tossed around easily as a flyer. I was able to be thrown higher than before so it made the routine even more dramatic. Finally Coach Reese was content with what she saw and she released us. I sat down on the bench in the locker room as I caught my breath, Carrie changing right next to me.

“You okay?” Carrie asked as she looked down with a concerned expression on her face.

“Yeah I’m fine!” I said waving my hand. I looked down at my right hand and noticed the tip of my middle finger was slightly black. When did I bruise my finger? Shaking my head ever so slightly too where Carrie didn’t catch it, I looked at her. “I’m just catching my breath. I lose it really easily.”

“As long as you don’t overexert yourself,” Carrie said as she eyed me. “I know you do just because you don’t want anyone to worry.”

“I’m being careful,” I replied as I stood up. “I’m not going to be stupid about it especially when I have a chance to turn everything around.”

“Good,” Carrie said as she shut her locker. She had a twinkle in her eye as she faced me again. “I can’t believe competition is next week! I’m so pumped for it! I hope we kill it!”

“That would be so awesome if we could go all the way to the World Nationals!” I said excitedly.

“I know right?” Carrie said as we started walking towards the door. “That would be a first for our school.”