Mason and I agreed to stay just friends. He couldn't do that to his little brother and I couldn't do that to myself. There were too many people that would get hurt and I'm afraid that my mental health would suffer. Never again will I sacrifice my mental health for anyone. Mason was happy with our agreement as was I. We could never happen.
At nine, my alarm went off. I had been awake since six, but it was my alarm to get ready. I was going to have to help some of the squad with hair and makeup. Some of them just don't have the skill it takes. I got up and washed my face and brushed my teeth. It was always the first thing I did in the mornings. After I turned on my curling iron and started on my makeup. We were doing silver eyeshadow with thick black eyeliner with dots of white in it. We had facepaint for drawing longhorns and things like that on our cheeks. Jaelynn was the most gifted with art so that part would be her job. I would have the task of eyeliner. I finished my makeup and began on my hair. I curled it so that it was super curly and then put it in a really high ponytail. I would have a headache within an hour but it was what we had to do. I put on my uniform. It zipped up in the back so we didn't have to go over our hair, which I was thankful for.
After securing my bow in place, I started helping my roommates with their makeup. I had brought enough protein shakes for all my squad. We wouldn't eat until after the game. We would sip on Gatorade and water after we had the shakes. It was to keep things off our uniforms and also to prevent us from messing up our makeup. Once their makeup looked as good as mine, we left to go to the other's rooms. It was going to take us at least two hours to get everyone done. Avery was doing hair, I was doing makeup, and Jae was doing school spirit. I struggled when we got to Savannah's room, but I did her makeup while staring her in the eyes. If it wasn't going to hurt my reputation, she would not be here. Next year I'll amend the rules and say that if you are to have relations with a fellow sister's boyfriend, you will no longer be part of the sisterhood. At least she'll be gone by then.
The game was supposed to start at three. We had to be on the sidelines by two-thirty and I wanted to go over the routine a few times before that. The girls were to be ready by one and down in the lobby. Jae and I were the first ones down of course. The others followed shortly after and we went into the conference room the manager was allowing us to use. We went over the routine several times. One of the freshmen kept messing up and it was frustrating me. She was panicking about being in front of all those people and I wanted to scream get it together. We perform in front of people all the time. Just because this was going to be televised did not mean that we needed to stress out. I called for a ten-minute break and I went to the lobby to get a soda. The lack of caffeine was getting to me and if I didn't fix it, someone was going to be very very sorry.
The basketball boys were in the lobby waiting on us so we could go to the stadium,. I told Rog we needed to do it once more and we would be ready to go. He went ahead and had the boys start loading up. Mason came over and wrapped me in a hug after Peter had left the building.
"I can see you're stressing out and I want you to know that you are going to do fantastic. You will shine like the star you are," he whispered in my ear.
"Thanks," I drew away, "You're going to do great too."
He winked at me and walked away. I took a deep breath and walked back into the room where the rest of the cheerleaders were.
"Let's do it!"
We got back to our places and Avery started the music for us. After we went through the routine, I knew that we were ready. It was going to be no problem. We loaded the bus and the energy was ecstatic. We had full faith in the boys winning and were excited to cheer them on. It was a twenty-minute ride to the stadium and we were all nervous and excited. Mason was super fidgety so I reached over and grabbed his hand. It grounded him and brought him back to the present. He gave me a grateful look.
When we got there, we looked at the building in awe. This was really happening. Our school hadn't been to state in over ten years. Now here we were. I was so ready.
We went in and the boys went to the locker room to put all their stuff away. Us girls and what male cheerleaders we had, went and got set up on the sidelines. I was thankful for our four guys because they were the ones who made the stunts happen. They were strong enough to handle the flyers themselves. It just worked.
At three, we were ready to start. We had played this team five times this season. We had won the majority of the five but that didn't matter now. This was the game that counted.
The teams lined up at half court for the national anthem. We all held our hands to our hearts and faced the flag. I loved this part of every game. The teams and fans all come together to remember what got us to where we are. The anthem always made me tear up a little bit. After it was finished, the teams went to their benches and got ready for the names to be called.
The guys who were not starting made a tunnel and for our team, Peter stood at the end. He had handshakes he did with each of the starters.
"Bryson Harris, 5'11 senior guard!" was the first name over the loudspeakers.
Valley fans cheered loudly as did we.
The next person was from Greers. I didn't know them but he was the tallest player on the court at 6'5.
"Blaine Mayberry, 6'2 senior!"
"Gage Luna, 5'10 senior!"
"Auston Harris, 5'10 senior!"
"Finally, Mason Harris, 5'11 senior!"
Valley and Greers switched as they called out starters. The fans were very loud on both sides. It was time for the tip-off. Blaine tipped it off to Gage and the game began. It got passed around several times before Mason decided to shoot. It was missed and Greers got the rebound. Greers gets a score and Blaine passes it to Gage. Gage sprints down the court ready to get some points on the board.
Gage shoots and misses. It's picked up by Auston, who passes it to Blaine. Blaine is fouled and gets to make free throws. He makes one giving us our first point of the game. Greers can get past our defense and shoot and make another basket. By the end of the first quarter, Greers was in the lead a 14-8. Valley had four turnovers and Greers had six. Peter came in the last two minutes of the quarter and Mason went out. Blaine had one point, Bryson had five, and Mason had two. In the second quarter, Valley scored twenty more points while Greers scored eleven more. That brought Valley up to the lead with 28-25. Mason was the lead scorer with ten points, followed by Bryson with eight, Gage with six, and Auston with three. That was the first half and it was time for us to perform.
Greers' cheerleaders went first because they were on the visiting side. Their routine was good, but I was confident that ours was better. They performed a song by Carrie Underwood- The Champion. I had chosen to do Jack Harlow- What's Poppin (Remix). It was great. When Greers' cheerleaders left the floor and went back to their side, we made our way onto the dance floor. Valley fans cheers as we ran and waved, some even did kicks. Everyone had a partner. I had the new guy. He had come during January and he was a quick learner. I liked him because he had a good personality.
As our song started, I started to flow. Zach was like that too. He had been a cheerleader at his old school as well. The routine went smoothly and even Greers' fans clapped for us. It went well. At the end of the routine, Zack and the other guys lifted up their partners while the other girls were the support. I flew up and flipped while holding my toes. We stuck it and the girls who were good flippers flipped. The crowd cheered loudly and we made our way back to the sidelines. There were still two minutes until halftime was over but the boys should make their way out in about a minute or so. We drank water and gave each other silent high fives.
The boys made their way back out and began to shoot around for the remaining minute. They were all sweaty and gross. At the end of the game, Valley won with a 62-47 lead. Mason had scored 18, Bryson had scored 16, Gage had scored 13, Blaine had scored 9, and Auston had 6. Peter didn't play but for three minutes the whole time. He was the last person to have possession and he held it for the last 8 seconds before throwing it down at the buzzer. The team dog piled and the cheers were deafening. When everyone stood up, Greers was given the runners-up trophy. They took a picture for a moment before announcing Valley the 1A State Champions of 2021. They got pictures of just the team and the team and the cheerleaders. As soon as they were finished, they announced the MVP of the year.
"Now for the player that put out the most work, showed the most sportsmanship, and was the overall most valuable player... Mason Harris!"
I screamed and he smiled so widely. I was so happy for him. He got his award and walked over to where I had been standing with Jae. He surprised me by grabbing me and bringing his lips to mine. I was in shock for a moment before I began kissing him back. He was a sweaty hot mess and it was one of the better kisses I've had. Woah, so much for being just friends.
He pulled away and winked at me before going back over to the team. I couldn't stop smiling. Out of the corner of my eye, Peter was glaring at him. Savannah was glaring at me. And you wanna know something, I didn't care.
A/N: This game really did happen and I just rewatched the whole thing to get the stats accurate. This is only halfway edited because I'm hungry and haven't eaten in 24 hours so I'm going to go do that. Have a good day and expect a ***possible*** Made to Fly update!!!