"You're such an idiot, Rowan," I laughed at my brother's shirt, which now held the entirety of his breakfast. He had been trying to make his meal and instead, he ended up spilling it all over his white button-up shirt.
"Oh shut it," is all he says which causes me laugh even more. His comment also has our dad joining in on the laughter just as much as I was. Rowan then retreated out of the kitchen to change his shirt.
I, thankfully, hadn't spilled anything on my uniform this morning. I had on the basic uniform skirt, which I had rolled up just a bit, and a button-up shirt.
I had put on platform converse along with a bunch of jewelry. There were a few basic gold necklaces that I had layered and different sizes of gold mini hoops on both of my ears.
"Sometimes I think I should be more worried about that kid than I am," my dad chuckles from the other side of the kitchen island.
He was getting ready to go to work, so he was dressed similarly to Rowan because of his suit. "Well, at least you can always count on me," I jokingly say. We both knew that I was just as much trouble as Rowan, maybe even more.
He just shakes his head slightly in response with a smile playing slightly on his face. "Reese, I have a question I've been meaning to ask you."
When parents start their topics off like that you know it's never good. It will either lead to a lecture or a string of invasive questions that you were hoping to never have to answer.
I turn away from him and pretended to do something, so he couldn't see my reaction to whatever he was about to say. I give a slight 'mhm' to signal for him to ask away.
"We have been here for a while and I just wanted to know how your friendships are going," he cryptically says. I keep my head facing the other direction of him and simply respond with 'good' because I knew there was something else he actually wanted to ask.
"Well, what I was actually wondering is," he starts. Oh god here we go, "Are there any, I don't know, special friendships? Deeper connections? Star-crossed lovers?"
I swear my eye twitched at his last question. I slowly turned my body back to face the man who had been asking these stupid questions.
And of course, he was smirking to himself over my reaction. "Eh...no?," I say more as a question than a statement, "I think it's time for me to go to school now. Love you!" I practically sprinted out of that room as fast as possible. I think I heard him chuckling at my reaction as I was leaving.
My dad had always known exactly what to say to get me riled up and it seemed like he wasn't going to stop anytime soon.
He also knew that I would have told him if I was interested in anyone. Honestly, he loved gossip and 'lovesick' talk more than any teenage girl that I have ever known. It would just be too hard to keep from him.
Even if I didn't tell him, Rowan would have told him. Rowan and I pretty much always know when each other is crushing on someone. It's probably more of a twin thing though.
Also, Rowan has had a history of being a snitch. To be fair though, I can't say I've never snitched on him either. But, I think we've both moved past those phases. I hope.
As I stepped outside of our house Rowan had already pulled out one of his cars and was waiting for me. I didn't have much of a choice other than to go with him to school, I guess.
The fact that we were driving together to school did make me skeptical. He tried avoiding driving me as much as possible.
Which meant he wanted something. Or he has to tell me something.
Slowly I reach the blue Audi and dump my bag in the back seat and then sit in the front passenger seat.
"So," he drags out the word as we leave the driveway and start driving towards school. "There's a game tonight," is all he says which makes me scrunch up my face with confusion.
"Rowan, I know that," I deadpanned, "I kinda have an obligation to be there because of cheer," I responded in a borderline condescending tone. For how much I complained about having to go to football games because of cheer he was well aware I would be in attendance for the game tonight.
"You have to wear jerseys to the game tonight," he mentions, "Anyone special you want to wear a jersey for?" He jokes but there was still some apprehensiveness in his voice.
I groan and slump down in the car seat. I dragged my hands over my face after this being the second time this morning the topic has been brought up. "No Rowan. And dad asked me the exact same thing."
I look over at him and he looks slightly guilty as he trains his eyes on the road ahead of him. "Have you two been talking about me behind my back?" I scoffed.
His eyes darted over to me quickly then returned to the road. "Maybe." So fucking guilty.
"I shouldn't even be surprised," I shake my head as we fall back into a comfortable silence.
The trees pass in blurs and I keep my focus outside. More of the leaves are turning colors making me more excited to be able to spend fall in a new state.
"Also," my brother breaks the silence, "I bought two Ducatis."
My body goes still before I slowly turn to make eye contact with him. Just as our eyes meet I burst out laughing. Like genuinely, full body, laughing.
"You? You bought a Ducati?" I reply between laughs. "Dude, you don't know how to ride a motorcycle."
He rolls his eyes at my comments. "First of all, I bought Ducatis, plural. Second, speak for yourself. I've known how to ride one since I got my driver's license." If he really bought two I was definity going to learn how to use one of them.
That gets me to take a break from my laughter. "I thought you were joking when you said you were getting your motorcycle license."
"Nope," he admits. Then a question pops into my mind. "Wait, what caused you to buy them anyways?"
He chuckles, "Parker has a few. I was at his house a few days ago and one thing led to another. Then all of sudden I own two Ducatis," he comments as if he just bought cookies from the store.
"I was going to be a nice brother and offer to teach my sister how to use one, but seeing as you think I'm insane, I might not offer," he tries to bait me into joining him.
"Fuck no am I ever going to learn how to ride a motorcycle. I would probably crash and die," I lied to him.
"That's a bit of an exaggeration and we both know it," he stated. "We both know you're a closeted adrenalin junkie, and there is nothing more in the world that you want right now than to learn how to use it." Fuck him for knowing me so well.
"I don't want to learn how to use it, Rowan," I lied again. He looks over to me and gives me an 'I know you're lying look'.
I glare at him but after a few seconds, I break. "Okay okay. You're right. I want to learn how to use it. Oh, so wonderful brother please teach me," I mocked as I put my hands up in surrender as he just laughed.
Honestly, I would have asked him regardless. I wasn't stupid enough to get on a motorcycle without any knowledge.
—
"He bought not one, but two?" Isla whisper-screams next to me as we were sitting in our classroom waiting for our class to start.
I had just told her and Willow about the craziness of my conversation with Rowan this morning. "As much as it shocked me I'm lowkey excited to learn how to use one," I tell her.
"It's making me want to learn how to ride one. And I can barely drive a car," she exclaims.
This makes me and Willow giggle slightly. We all knew, including Isla, that at this rate she wouldn't be able to even touch a motorcycle with her driving skills until she was in her late thirties.
Abruptly Parker pulls out the seat across from me and sits down. The table grows quiet immediately in his presence. "What?" he just asks and looks around at us as if he was offended by our silence.
At least he was aware that the conversation stopped in his presence. "What were you guys talking about?"
"Ducatis," Willow tells him with no other context. Parker's eyes snap to mine before his blank facial expression turns into a smile. "He told you about the bikes?" he asks with a raised brow.
I just nod. Willow and Isla knew Parker wasn't my favorite person in the world. I appreciated that they were the type of friends that when I said I didn't enjoy talking to Parker but wasn't able to come up with an exact reason, they just went with it.
—
My classes so far had been good in the morning. My second class of the day, women in literature, had just gotten out, which meant I had my free period now.
I still enjoyed going to the student lounge area, so that was where I was heading as I waved goodbye to Tate. I had a little bit of homework to catch up on first before I could read my book.
"I'm sorry but could you help me for a second?" A delicate voice says from right next to me. A blonde girl, who is a few inches shorter than me was standing in front of me. Her light hair framed her face and her green eyes were looking up to me as she stood next to me holding what looked to be her schedule.
"Sure," I say as she smiles. "Thank you. I just transferred here and I can't find my English class," she explains and I could tell from her eyes continuously darting around the hallways that she was, in fact, lost.
I can already tell this girl is one of the sweetest people in the world. She just radiates kindness.
She had on gold jewelry with colorful accents on her necklace and earrings. I could see pinks and blues on both her necklaces and earring.
"It's no worries. We're in the English hallway already," I looked down at the teacher's name on her paper, "Your classroom is right down there. I can walk with you because I have a free period right now. I'm Reese by the way." I introduced myself.
"Thank you again really, I'm Madeline, but you can call me Maddie," she beamed, "I just moved here from England."
"Well, I hope-" I get cut off when Maddie's face contorts into something that resembled terror as her gaze stayed on something behind us.
"Oh my god," she whispered, "This is going to sound so weird, but please just stay right there and do not move."
I just stare at her in confusion but do as she said and don't move. After a few seconds, she lets out a breath and regains some amount of composure.
"Are you okay?" I hesitantly ask. I couldn't tell what had caused her to have that type of reaction.
"Well you see," she faltered, "I- I think I saw someone I know, or I guess used to know." The lack of details in her answer was not helping my confusion.
"Can I know who it is?" I hesitantly requested. To be honest, this seemed like the most interesting thing that would happen all week.
"You probably don't even know him," she brushed it off. "I might, you never know," I persisted.
What can I say? I live for a little bit of drama.
"Well," she trailed off, "I used to go to school with him, in England. And we were super close but I have not talked to him in years," as she finished I noted the hint of red that peaked through on her face.
"Did you, oh I don't know, like this boy?" I nonchalantly pondered. My question only made her turn even more red.
"I don't know if I would say 'like'," she murmured. The smile on my face only grew bigger as she tried even harder to hide it. She definitely liked this guy.
"I think I'm going to make it my mission to help you two reconnect," I tell her. I could already tell that Maddie and I were going to be good friends based off of this interaction.
"I don't know if that's really necessary," she tries to reason. I knew she was at least half lying from the grin on her face. So, I chose to ignore that comment.
"It would be much easier if I could know his name though," I casually said.
She sighed in defeat, knowing she had to tell me now. "His name is Tate."
I don't know if it's possible, but my smile at least tripled in size. Not only was the guy Tate, but this was definitely the girl he told me about on the first day of class.
"I take it that you know him?" she asked as she observed my reaction.
"Yes and this means I have a lot to tell you," I grinned, "But you have to get to class, so why don't we meet up sometime this weekend?"
"Sure that sounds great," she replied happily, "Here's my phone number, just text me and let me know where." We say goodbye and she turns to walk into the classroom we had just arrived at.
I am going to make those two fall in love.
Even though I had just met Maddie, I knew that she was going to be one of those friends who always makes sure those around them are happy. So, I want her to be as happy as possible, as well.
The lack of consistent romance in my life has always led me to help my friends get into their perfect relationships. Even if Maddie doesn't know this yet, she will be fully in love with Tate by the end of this school year. If she isn't already in love, of course.
I had made my way to the student lounge and my smile hadn't fallen for a second, even when I was doing my homework. Knowing that two people are perfect for each other can really make anyone become the happiest person ever.
Am I slightly jealous that I haven't found that type of romance? Yes. Is that why I want to make sure everyone else always finds their perfect match? Maybe.
"What are you working on?" the voice said from beside me which made me jump slightly.
"Hi Diego," I said while continuing to look down at my book.
He sat down next to me at the table I had been working at. "Have you thought any more about the date idea?" he questioned.
To be honest, I hadn't given it a single thought. Not one.
"I'm not really sure," I explained to him, "I feel like I would rather get to know you better before going on a date, if that even happens."
"Come on," he sighed, "We can get to know each other better while on the date."
I feel like I wasn't completely opposed to dating Diego. He was cute with his curly brown hair and he was a few inches taller than me. Not to mention, he was really fit from playing soccer, but that seemed to be a repeating theme throughout this whole school.
"I know you'll have an amazing time. I mean, anyone would," he bragged.
"I don't know Diego," I speculated. I finally looked up from my book and turned my gaze onto him.
"Why don't you just say yes and you can bail on me during the date if you really don't like it," he offered. If he was giving me an out, then maybe I should just go. The initial bad gut feeling about him had dissipated throughout the last few weeks.
"Okay," I finally agreed, "I expect to be wooed." Honestly, the idea of being able to go on a date for the first time in forever excited me. It wouldn't be my first one, but high school romance is something every girl dreams about.
"Oh, you will," Diego smirked as he turned and finally walked away from me. My stomach was turning in circles and I couldn't tell if it was butterflies or nerves. I hope it was the previous.
—
"No."
"Why not?" Willow taunted, knowing exactly why not.
"Reese, it's really not that bad. No one even cares because they all know we can't choose which one we want," Isla chimes in.
After my conversation with Diego, my anxiety had just been building and building all day. Then this happens.
We were currently standing in the locker room about thirty minutes before the game started with a box of jerseys that matched the ones the football team wore. Numbers and all.
Thankfully, it wasn't the team's actual jerseys and instead a set just for the cheer team to wear during the first and last games of the season.
This situation wouldn't be as bad except the jersey I was staring at was number seven. Or better known as the quarterback's number who just so happened to be Parker.
You would think that there would be more options to choose from but I had gotten to the locker room late, thus I had the last choice of jerseys. Yay.
Isla stood in front of me in her jersey, which had my brother's number on it. It was extra long on her because of how short she is. Her black hair had been pulled up into a high pony with a green and white bow placed on top. Her sharp facial features were adorned with a mixture of glitter and face paint.
Willow's braids had been pulled into a low ponytail with the bow at the back of her head. She had on a jersey number that I think belonged to one of the running backs on the team. Her face was also decorated with glitter and face paint. Honestly, the whole cheer team had gone all out because it was the first game of the season.
The jerseys were gray with green accents on the number and sleeves to match our school colors. "Personally, don't see the problem with it," Isla chuckled, knowing how much it was bothering me.
"I'm never going to hear the end of this from him," I complained.
My comment made Willow raise her eyebrow, "Reese, I hate to say this, but I think this dislike of Parker is severely one-sided."
"Yeah. It is," I wholeheartedly agreed with her. "That doesn't mean it's going to stop though."
"Time to go ladies!" Our coach yells. We all gather our things to bring with us outside and leave them on the fence next to the track.
The walk to the track was short and we could already tell that there were going to be a lot of people at this game. I found out that the way the games worked here is that almost everyone comes to the games and they bring friends with them.
Most of the games for the division are split between Fridays and Saturdays which allows people two go to two games each weekend.
Our football team was out on the field stretching and warming up before the game started. To me, it was one of the most entertaining parts of the game. They always look so funny when they warm up.
We put our stuff down and then started to get into our spots. The plan for this game was to lead cheers, tumble, and do some stunts.
The student section was already getting rowdy as they were all wearing green with a majority of the guys looking like they dumped green paint all over them. If you told someone that the group in front of you consists of some of the richest kids in the United States, no one would believe you.
The football team exited the field which meant they were about to do their official run onto the field.
I caught the sight of Diego out of the corner of my eye and I turned and waved at him. He beckoned me over, looking slightly displeased.
My grin wavered a bit as I walked over to where he was standing next to the student section.
"Hey," I greeted. "What are you wearing," he asks without even saying hello.
"My cheer uniform?" I said more as a question.
"No. The jersey," he restates as he eyed my shirt. "A jersey," I say slowly, not following what his point was.
"The cheerleaders always wear them for the first game," I explained but it came out as a question because he should have already known that. It had been a tradition at this school for years. I turned away from him as someone shouted my name.
"Reese!" Isla shouts from about twenty feet away from where I was standing. "Get your ass over here!" she continued to yell.
I turned back to Diego. "Sorry. I have to go," I quickly shared before I ran back over to Isla.
I didn't hear if he said anything in reply before I got to Isla. "For someone who hates Parker, I don't see how you can enjoy talking to Diego Marshall," she comments.
Just as she finished her sentence, the football team ran onto the field and everyone went crazy. The entire crowd was yelling and the team was obviously buzzing with excitement.
I couldn't respond to Isla before I locked eyes with Parker. He obviously noticed whose jersey I was wearing. My brother tapped him on the shoulder and they exchanged a few words before Parker and Rowan made their way over to where Isla and I were standing.
I crossed my arms in front of me as they got to us. "Nice jersey," Parker says to me, causing me to roll my eyes.
Rowan just smiles down as Isla grins back at him. They have a silent interaction over the fact that she was wearing his number.
Parker's eyes had continued to make their way over the rest of my outfit. I had dutch braided my hair and then had the two braids turn into a low pony at the base of my skull. Green glitter starkly contrasted with my brown hair on the top of my head.
The glitter had not been my idea but I wasn't against it. As much of a mess as glitter makes, it's always fun to have glitter on yourself.
Parker's jersey was too big for me, so I had tucked the end of the jersey into my skirt. I also had a matching bow in my hair where my ponytail started.
Parker took a step closer to me as I stood rooted to the ground. Isla and RJ didn't notice the movement because they had started up a conversation of their own.
He got close enough that he could talk in a quieter tone so only we could hear.
"I like seeing you in my number," he whispered as he smiled down at me.
I couldn't help but have a slight red tinge come to my cheeks. If he noticed he didn't make a comment about it.
Stop it, Reese. No schoolgirl crushes.
But he was kinda cute. Well, maybe more than kinda.
He had really nice arms. I could more clearly see the toned muscle in his biceps. My eyes trailed down to the veins popping out in his arms. And his hands. My eyes slowly made their way over to his jersey as if I could see his muscular stomach through the shirt.
My eyes locked again with his eyes. "See anything you like?" he smirked. Obviously, he could tell that I had been checking him out.
"No. Nothing of interest," I answered with a disinterested tone.
He chucked slightly, causing me to see his perfect smile. "Whatever you say," Parker responded with his hands up in surrender. That was hot.
His hair had grown longer since the first day of school and was at the perfect length to run my fingers through- "I've seen better," I shrugged. I needed to get it together. Running my fingers through Parker's hair? What the hell?
He started laughing again. This time it caught the attention of Isla and RJ who looked over then resumed their conversation, clearly not that interested in Parker and I's conversation.
"That was a good one," he said while continuing to be amused by my statement.
I roll my eyes at him. "It's true Parker. You're not that special," I snapped at him.
"And who is? Marshall?" he nodded his head in the direction where Diego and I had been standing a few minutes prior.
"That's not who I was talking about but sure," I retorted. "Who then? An ex?" he asked again.
"Not that it matters, but yes," I grumbled. I don't know how our conversation had turned sour so fast but it seemed to be what Parker and I did best.
The only response Parker gave me was 'hmh,' before Rowan tapped him on the shoulder and they both jogged back onto the field.
The boys rejoined their group as the team went into a quick huddle before four of the players walked onto the field for the coin toss.
"So what were you and Parker talking about?" Isla asked from beside me. We both walked over to our bags to grab our pom-poms so we could start leading the cheers.
"Nothing really," I told her, which was far from the truth.
I had a white pom-pom in my left hand and a green one in the right. The student section went crazy as the guys started the first play since they won the coin toss.
One thing I hated about cheer was the fact you couldn't watch the game. Even if I didn't like football, having to hear everything and not being able to see what was happening was torture.
I know all we had to do was look behind us to see, but our coach had lectured us about not turning around because it became 'unengaging' to see the cheerleaders turn away from the crowd.
It was bullshit but I didn't need to do conditioning because I turned around to watch a stupid game.
The game itself went by quickly. During the first quarter, we mainly cheered and tumbled. Now as the second quarter started we were going to start doing some stunts.
Isla had done hers first. She first went up into a basic cuple. Her feet were together and her arms were in a high 'V' with three bases at the bottom. After she came back down she went up again into a liberty.
Behind her, I watched as Parker came off of the field and took his helmet off. He reached for a water bottle and started to drink.
His hair was sweaty and stuck to his forehead. He was slightly pink from the heat and it just made him look hotter.
I need to stop. Why am I this horny?
"Ready?" Willow asked from behind me. I guess I was up for the next stunt.
The five of us got into position. I had to do a basket toss, which was a little nerve-wracking. You know, getting thrown in the air and stuff.
The football game had been a little slow at that point because our team was already twenty-eight points ahead. It's not that the game itself wasn't interesting, there just wasn't a real competition against the school we were playing.
This meant most of the student section had their attention focused on us. They soon noticed that we were preparing to do a big stunt, so even more eyes than I had expected were watching.
My breath started to pick up little by little. I tried to calm it down but it wasn't helping at this point. The girl next to me started the count and within the next few seconds, I was flying through the air while twisting.
The student section went crazy but I kept it together, mainly for my safety as well as the base's safety.
I had almost made it back into the cradle when a whistle blew from the field and I knew something was off.
Just as I landed my elbow was grabbed at an awkward angle causing my shoulder to be twisted in an unnatural direction.
My face contorted in silent pain. I knew why my shoulder was hurting. A few years ago I had dislocated it and let's just say it never recovered fully.
Willow, who was on the other side of the bases, immediately knew that something was wrong based on my facial expression.
My feet were placed back on the ground and I turned towards her so that no one else could see that I was in pain.
She lightly placed her hand on my back and guided me towards my bag and handed me my water with my good arm. "Are you okay?"
I drank a few sips of water before answering her. "Yes. It's an old injury and nothing to be worried about," I breathed.
"Are you sure?"
I smiled and said, "I promise it's nothing."
Judging by her face, she did not believe me but truthfully it was already starting to feel better. I think.
"We should get back with the team," I diverted from the subject. She gave me a look as if she had more to add but didn't mention anything else.
"You good?" Isla asked me as Willow and I stopped next to her. Willow however was focused on something on the field.
I don't think Isla had seen my reaction, thankfully. "Yeah. Let's go hype up some intoxicated kids," I joked, even though it was a true statement.
I then looked over to Willow who was still looking at the field. Finally, I turned and saw what she was looking at. Or more like who she was looking at.
Parker was on the side again because our defensive side was on the field. Willow and Parker had been having some sort of silent conversation.
However, Parker had been pointing toward me.
Our coach called us over and the moment soon became forgotten.
Authors Note:
How bad is it that I have multiple character names that I really really want to change. Like I lowkey really do not like the name Willow right now for the character. I had originally named her Alexa and she would go by Lexi and I really am debating about changing it.
After my rough outlines, I have also decided that this book will probably be on the shorter side of stuff compared to the next three books because those will have more depth and backstories in the plots. I just wanted to give y'all a heads-up. But that could be a complete lie.
Guys, I want a Ducati so badly. I don't know how to ride a motorcycle but that is not going to stop me from wanting a Ducati
Off-topic but I can't wait for Tate's book, literally the Pinterest board is everything I want in life. And it's going to be the fourth book...but I might switch it with the book that I have planned for the third. I literally can not decide.
Guys, I researched cheer terms. Idk if they're right but I promise i tried
We love Maddie by the way!
Happy Reading :)