Friends Don't Kiss, Do They?

Chapter 1

I stand beside the bench and stare at Matt. Before I had the chance to say something, my team mate Samantha Miller pushes me aside, along with the other cheerleaders who follow Samantha around like she was the queen.

"Hey guys," Samantha says to both Matt and Tayvon.

Matt turns to them, smiling. "Hello ladies." He winks. The girls, except for Samantha, squeals.

"How are you enjoying the game?" Tayvon asks.

"The game is going great." Samantha reaches out and feels Tayvon's bicep. I could imagine how Bailey will react if she sees Samantha flirting with her boyfriend. "I see you have been working out."

"Well, I am an athletic after all. I have to stay in shape."

Not wanting to see my greatest enemy flirt with my friend's boyfriend, I push my way through the girls so I was standing in front of Matt. "Hi, Matt."

Matt looks my way, smiling, which causes the butterflies in my stomach to flutter. "Hi, Hailey."

"You, uh, you have nice muscles."

I feel my cheeks grow hot, wanting to kick myself from saying something so ridiculous? I wanted to tell him he was playing great out there, but instead the words came out differently when I got all nervous. The cheerleaders giggle over what I had said, and I couldn't imagine what my team mates think of me. Mostly I wondered what Matt will think.

Definitely later Samantha is not going to let me forget what a ridiculous fool I have made out of myself.

Matt looks at me weird. "Thanks... for noticing." He pauses for a moment. "You're doing great with supporting the team."

Coach Parker calls Tayvon and Matt back onto the court, along with another player to replace Bobby.

The game resumes. The blonde cheerleaders cheer. Rather than cheering, I walk over to my friends with my head down, humiliated. Emma stands up to hug me.

"I feel like such a fool for saying what I said," I confess. "I wanted to tell him he was playing so well, but instead it came out that I liked his muscles. He probably thinks I'm some kind of weirdo for saying it."

Emma pulls away and rests her hands on my shoulders. "No, he wouldn't think that at all, Hailey. He probably thought it was a little weird, but he was nice about it. He thanked you for supporting the team."

I let a smile spread across my face. "Yeah, he did."

Abby and Bailey stood up from their seats, ignoring the insults behind them for standing in other people's view of the court.

"It's okay, Hailey," Bailey tells me. "It's normal to get all tongue-tied in front of the guy you like. Before I started dating Tayvon I would get tongue-tied or say something completely stupid."

"Don't worry," Abby replies. "It will get better eventually."

"Why bother? Matthew Evans isn't interested in you." Samantha walks over to us with her two friends Kelsey and Chantelle, who follows her everywhere.

My heart fell apart when Samantha said those things. She really knows how to put your confidence down. I honestly don't know what I have ever done to make her hate me so much. For two years she has bullied me for no reason at all. Sometimes I wondered if she loathed me only because our coach Mrs O'Hare made the decision to allow me to be a part of the cheerleading team, while Samantha being the captain disapproved me. I was just a shy girl who wanted to be a cheerleader, and she didn't like it. Sometimes I wondered if she discriminated me because of my skin colour. I was the only Pacific Islander descendant in the team.

"Knock it off, Samantha," Abby answers. "Just because you can get Matt, doesn't mean you can make others feel bad about not dating him."

"I will get him. There is no way he or Tayvon Parker or any of the guys from the basketball team would ever date any of you. None of you are prettier enough." Samantha eyes Emma. "You're also aren't skinny enough."

Bailey frowns at her. "Excuse me, but I'm dating Tayvon. We have been together for a month now. You can't say I'm not prettier enough. And don't you dare say that to my sister."

"Well, trust me. He will dump you soon for someone so much better. Like me."

I frown at her. Who does she think she is? Bullying others because they are not like her? "Hey, don't you dare call my friend fat or say who any of my friends aren't going to get. Just because you aren't dating the hottest guy of the basketball team, doesn't mean you can go around assuming they will date you. Besides, I don't think Matt dates girls who stick their noses in the air all the time."

Samantha throws me a death stare. I figure she was going to say some kind of smart comment back, but she doesn't. Instead she and her friends just walk back over to the sidelines to continue cheering for the game.

As soon as she stepped away, I instantly regretted what I had said to her. "She is so going to make my life hell."

"Ah, doesn't she already make your life hell?" Abby asks.

"Yeah, she does. Well, I better go and cheer before Samantha tells me off."

I join the other cheerleaders while my friends sit back down. There is five minutes left of the game. I watch Matt carefully as he dribbles the ball, runs up and down the court. The ball is stolen. Matt takes a minute to catch his breath before continuing on. For the next four minutes, none of the teams have scored. With a minute left, Matt has the ball. Someone tries to take the ball. Matt throws the ball to Tayvon. He catches it, dribbles towards the hoop and scores just as the air horn sounds.