"LETS GO LADIES" I watch as Dayton stands up from his seat cheering, jumping, and clapping his hands loudly.
Tyler and I are a laughing mess but as soon as I see the girls take the stage we go quiet instantly.
You couldn't even hear a pin drop.
At least in my mind, you couldn't.
My focus strays to Linnea subconsciously.
God, she's gorgeous, I know I don't like her or have a crush on her. Well maybe I did in elementary and middle school, but not now.
She is just an amazing person inside and out.
You know that feeling you get when you look at your best friend? Where you feel like you would be lost in life without them. Do you feel all giddy but in a friendly way? That's how I feel when I see Linnea Johnson.
Or that's how it used to be at least.
I just want things to go back to how they were before, before all the bad.
After our conversation I completely understood her. She needs time, and I will give that to her.
Anything for her.
I don't know if I'm ready to share the whole story but I will tell her all she needs to know for now when she's ready.
I rip my eyes off Linnea and gaze over the whole group. Now I may not know a whole lot about dance but this is really good.
It's a slow song, very sad.
I hear Tyler sniffling next to me, I side-eye him and he side-eyes me and we both just return our focus forward like nothing happened.
The event is in a high school auditorium, the ceiling has a cool pattern on it and the walls have something that looks like sound reducers. Assorted colored lights are illuminating the stage.
As the music ends the dancers slowly make their way off the stage and over half the people in the auditorium stand up and cheer.
"That was amazing" Tyler shakes my shoulders.
"Yes, I know" I laugh as we sit back down in our seats.
Once the last performance is finished the boys and I rise from our seats and make our way out of the auditorium.
I glance at Dayton and see him eyeing the table of flower arrangements and bouquets.
I give his shoulder a little shove toward the table and he walks over there dipping his head down and chuckling.
I debate going to the table and buying the whole thing for her but refrain as I know where we stand right now. Soon.
Tyler and I go and stand near the door waiting for the girls to come out.
We're going out to have dinner like we planned earlier this week.
It's nothing fancy, just a casual restaurant.
No, it's not Sonic, although I wouldn't mind having Sonic for the 3rd time this week.
Maeve pops into my line of vision holding her hands up like "rock and roll" with her tongue out shaking her head vigorously.
I do the same thing back and she laughs, throwing her head back slightly as she leans on the wall next to me.
Soon after, Naomi pops up and does her handshake with Tyler and stands by the wall next to him.
"Here you go Naomi '' Dayton shows up out of the blue holding out a bouquet of red roses in Naomi's direction.
I look at her with a smile on my face happy that Dayton is finally stepping up his game with Naomi.
He fucked up a year back and now he's trying to win her back.
From her perspective, he was just fucking around with some girl but that's not the whole story.
It's a whole case of, you guessed it. Miscommunication.
A lot of that seems to be going on these past few years.
Her eyes go wide then quickly return to their original state.
Dayton looks like he's about to shit himself and I hear Tyler trying to suppress his laugh.
He kicks him in the shin causing them to continuously kick each other like little kids.
She looks up at Dayton followed by her looking down at the flowers he has handed in her direction.
She grabs them with two hands. "Thank you, Dayton." She says with a small smile, surprising us all.
She moves to stand by Maeve and Linnea who must have shown up at some point during their interaction.
"Alright ladies, are we ready to go? You guys did great out there by the way" Tyler holds the door open for the girls and drops it once Dayton and I show up at the door he gives us an evil laugh while continuing his way to the car, draping his arms over Maeve and Linnea's shoulders.
We stand in between our cars debating who's riding with who as there are 2 cars and 6 of us.
"All I'm saying is I'm not riding with that little pipsqueak in the back talking my damn ears off," Naomi says with her hands raised in the air.
"What?" Dayton gasps. "How dare you call me such a thing." He expresses pointing at Naomi accusingly.
She mutters something under her breath climbing into the driver's seat of the car.
"Pipsqueak? Whatever" He says under his breath.
"Yep, I'm going with them" Tyler points to the car where Naomi and Maeve are already seated climbing into the back seat.
"Oh come on guys" Linnea mutters opening the passenger door of my car.
Dayton and I look at each other not sure what to do.
"Um, Hello? Are you guys coming?" Linnea taps her nail on the glass giving us an unimpressed look from the passenger window.
We quickly hurry into the car, Dayton hopping into the back, and me in the driver's seat.
Once we were settled in, I checked the mirrors before putting the car into reverse and placing my right hand on the passenger seat headrest to turn my body to get a better view as there is no backup camera.
Once we were out of the parking lot on the road I grabbed the aux cord and held it up to Linnea glancing at her.
She grabs it out of my hand and plugs it into her phone struggling for a bit before finally getting it.
She plays some Bruno Mars music and slowly sways to the music.
Dayton hums from the backseat and we all chuckle at that.
I focus on the road ahead and spot the car with the rest of us to my right.
I look before making sure to pay attention to the road.
I hear Dayton and Linnea giggling.
I'm assuming they are making funny faces at the others.
A smile slowly makes its way onto my face at the sound of their laughs.
It only takes about 8 minutes to make it to the restaurant.
I turn into the parking lot and park the car, shutting it off, hopping out, and walking to the passenger seat to open the car door for Linnea.
Dayton beats me too though.
Bastard.
He sticks his tongue out at me, I jump at him and he flinches a little.
The 3 girls walk ahead of us and we boys are not far behind.
Of course, Dayton and Tyler are already playing fighting, at least I think they are playing.
Naomi hears this and whips her head back giving them a look that makes them stop instantly holding their hands up in surrender, she looks at me and I just shrug pointing back at the boys.
We walk inside to see a lot of people, plates clattering together.
Waitresses and waiters take orders quickly and with precision.
A young man who looks like he's fresh out of high school seats us at a booth near the back and tells us he'll be with us shortly.
Naomi and Maeve go straight for the inside seats of the booth.
But not before Tyler and Naomi start fighting over the window seat.
They love their window seats.
"But Naomi!" Tyler pleads in a childish tone. "You always get the window seat" He complains.
"Fine. But just this once." Naomi tells him pointedly.
As she slides into the booth next to Tyler.
I assume Dayton wants to sit next to Naomi so I take a seat next to Linnea on the outside and Dayton opposite me.
"How do you guys do that stuff? Like the spinny spins?" Tyler asks, sounding amazed.
"You mean Turns?" Linnea responds with a small smile looking at Tyler.
"Yeah, Yeah. Those." He responds nodding his head enthusiastically.
"Lots and lots of practice." Naomi laughs taking a sip of her water.
He nods still looking confused looking down at the table fiddling with the cup of water in front of him.
"So how often do you guys have performances or competitions?" I ask curiously.
"We have comps usually once every two weeks, small things like this every few months and as you know we perform at every other basketball game," Linnea says as she inspects the menu in front of her.
I nod as I pick up one of the menus off of the table.
The food was amazing, I don't think our waiter liked us very much.
Tyler kept chugging his Soda and asking for more.
Other than that it was fun.
"Should we go walk and get ice cream? There's a small ice cream shop down the road." I ask, glancing at my watch as we walk out of the restaurant.
They agree and we begin walking, taking a right out of the parking lot onto the sidewalk.
I place my hand on the small of Linneas' back and guide her to the inside part of the sidewalk farthest from the road.
She gives me a confused look but continues her conversation with Maeve.
Dayton and Naomi are walking a little ahead of us together talking about god knows what.
The street lights light up the sidewalks and we pass many different small shops and antique stores on the way.
I love this town. I truly do. I can't see myself living anywhere else in the future.
I spot my reflection in one of the shop's glass windows.
I look happy. Happier than 3 years ago at least. I'm really proud of myself for getting through it.
Although it still hurts and probably always will.
But now I know how to handle it all and live my life without dwelling on the past.
And start thinking of the future.
The future I want, and have the power to build for myself.
.......
That's chapter 14!! Whoop whoop!
This is so much fun to write this and I'm exited to see which direction I take the story in
Next chapter will be in Daytons Pov! Followed by our queen Linnea🙌
As always feel free to leave feedback, comments, ideas or things you'd like to see In the story here 🤷♂️👉
LOVE YOU GUYS AND REMEMBER YOU ARE LOVED AND YOURE AMAZING BYEEE