"Forgot this," I hear and my eyes widen when I register the voice, turning around to face Christina who hangs out of the room with a keycard in her hand. "And this," She waves my phone in her other hand, careful not to hold it too close to the card.
I take them both from her, careful not to touch her skin in the transfer and she disappears back into the room without another word. Letting out a sigh of relief, I continue on my way to the other girls' room, knocking and waiting.
It's Reed who answers the door and gestures for me to come inside. "Hanging in there?" She asks and I roll my eyes.
"I'll live."
"Look who's no longer over-exaggerating," She teases and I stick my tongue out, crashing back onto a perfectly made bed. Maddie looks at me out of the corner of her eye and goes back to hanging up her clothes, checking her phone once before putting it in her back pocket.
"So game. Dinner. Swim?" I ask, changing the topic and Reed nods, sitting beside me.
"Yeah, we'll eat in the hotel and go for a swim after."
"Is everyone invited to that?" I ask hesitantly but they both know what I really mean by that.
"Well, they're guests of the hotel to so if they want to come, we can't stop them."
"You invited them yourself, didn't you?" I ask and Maddie turns around, tapping her nose with a little smirk on her face.
"I like them!" Reed defends.
"I thought you didn't like Christina in solidarity? Change your tune so quickly..." I tease.
"Oh, I don't. When I say hi, I don't even ask follow-up questions." She says and I roll my eyes, smiling.
"You don't need to dislike her for me. I'm aware she's quite popular."
"I don't think Reed's friends with her because she's popular," Maddie says and I shrug.
"She's charming, or so I've heard," I admit reluctantly.
"Or so you've heard..." Reed repeats, looking over at Maddie, and the two exchange a glance.
"Alright, I'd rather take a nap than be subject to this," I tell them, standing up with my phone in one hand and my key card in the other.
"I'll call you when you should start getting ready if you sleep in!" Reed calls out to me as I leave the room and I throw up a hand to wave back at her, assuming she can see me.
The walk back to my assigned room is short and I scan my keycard, knock lightly twice just in case someone is getting changed, and go in. Taylor and Layla are nowhere to be found, and Christina is standing by the dresser, her claimed drawer open and her arms above her head as she slips on a different top.
My eyes widen at the sight of so much exposed skin, the dip in her back pronounced, the muscle on either side of her spine obviously strong from cheerleading and working out. She turns around to face me and my eyes dart to the bed.
"Hey," She says quietly, her voice unsure.
"I was just going to take a nap..." I say, glancing up before walking over to the wall outlet and plugging my phone in to charge, to give me something to do with my fidgety hands.
"Same here," She says and I look up, noticing the top she'd just changed into looks soft and comfortable, perfect for sleeping. My eyes trail lower, past her sleep shorts, and land on her long, toned legs briefly before I get the good sense to look away. "I'll just take their bed because they're not here."
"Oh, thanks," I say, slumping onto the bed and lying on my side. The sound of rustling makes me crack an eye open and I watch as Christina pulls back the covers, her back to me and the hem of her shorts dangerously short, just slightly baring where her ass meets her thigh. She turns to slide into the bed and I screw my eyes shut so as to not get caught ogling her.
She sighs sleepily, settling in by tossing and turning and I relax my face, keeping my eyes closed. I can't imagine how hard sleep will be to come by when I'm sharing a bed and blankets with her tonight, but there's something about being alone in a hotel room with her that has me on edge.
"Can I ask you something?" I hear her ask and my eyes open to see hers already on me. We're on our sides facing each other, our bodies mirrored with our hands under our pillows. I nod.
"What did I do? To make you hate me?" Her voice is so soft, and curious. I pinch my lips but her eyes have me arrested and I can't help but hold her gaze despite wanting to look away.
"You didn't really do anything, personally."
"So what then? I always thought we'd get along one day..." She says sadly and I curl into myself, feeling guilty.
"I just have a lot of people in my life who compare me to you. I thought that as long as you were better than me at everything, I should keep my distance so it's not so obvious...It sounds stupid saying it aloud."
"Oh. I didn't realize. I always thought the competition made both of us better. Plus we're not even in the same sport..." She has a point. I nod.
"Doesn't stop my parents from telling me that I should be more like you."
"Imagine they knew I was gay," She laughs lightly and I finally break our eye contact. "You'd be off the hook."
"They'd probably be happy if I dated anyone. Even if it was a girl."
"Really?" She asks, eyes wide.
I pause. "No, probably not. They're a little more conservative."
"And what about you?" She asks and this time, it's my eyes that grow wide.
"What about me?" I ask, afraid that she somehow knows.
"Are you conservative? Is that why you don't like me?"
"I—oh my god, do you think I'm homophobic?" I sit up straight, the covers falling down to my waist. "I swear, I don't have a problem with—"
"Okay okay. I believe you. I didn't think that was it anyway," She says and I exhale, relieved. For some reason, that felt like the end of the world.
"It's not that I don't like you...It's more like jealousy."
"You're jealous of me? If that's the case, you need to start seeing yourself the way other people do."
"What do you mean by that?"
She shrugs. "I'm not anything special."
"Your friends might be hurt if they heard you saying that."
"And what about yours?"
"I don't have a lot—"
"Your friend's worth is determined by how many of them you have?"
"That's not what I meant," I say, my anger rising. She raises a challenging eyebrow and I realize she's just trying to get me worked up. I purse my lips.
"I don't like when you do that. You know where all my buttons are and exactly how hard to push so I don't even realize you're doing it."
"Practice makes perfect," She smiles cheekily.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I bet you win a lot of arguments with that smile," I tell her. Her perfect lips stretched over perfect white teeth. She's got dimples in both cheeks and her face gets even prettier when it's lifted that way. Her skin is just light enough that I can see when her cheeks turn the slightest bit red after my comment and it brings a smirk to my face.
"Careful, someone might think you're hitting on me. A compliment? Who are you?" My smirk drops.
"I'm not hitting on you," I say, my voice coming out more defensively than I would've wanted.
"Just say you like women, I won't judge," She teases and I laugh.
"And if I do?" I say, taking her by surprise. I don't think she expected me to play along, and now she looks like she's trying to figure out if I'm teasing or telling the truth. She's all furrowed brows and curious once-overs. "I like women," I admit, more easily than I would have thought.
Her lips part in shock, but she doesn't say a word. "In hindsight, I should have known all along. Shego? Daphne? Harley Quinn? Even in cartoons, they were all I would look at."
Christina laughs, finally breaking out of her shock. "I've got to say, I am quite surprised. My gay-dar is usually really good."
"That's probably because I just figured it out myself."
"That doesn't usually stop me. You don't really fit into any boxes."
"Yeah..." I trail off and there's a period of extended, not uncomfortable, silence before one of us speaks up.
"Why did you tell me?"
"I wasn't planning on it, trust me."
"Still," She says and I shrug.
"I guess it feels safe to tell someone who is so secure in themselves. Already out to everyone."
"Do your friends know?"
"A few of them. I didn't do the whole cake announcement thing."
"Doesn't seem like your thing."
"It's not," I laugh.
"Hey, I know we don't exactly get along, but if you ever wanted to talk about it..."
"Yeah, thanks," I say, and this time the silence between us is filled with understanding. "Does this mean I have to stop being mean to you? Because it's my only outlet," I smile and Christina whips her pillow at me. I don't react fast enough and she hits me square in the face. The faint smell of vanilla coffee assaults my nose and I breathe in a deep breath before turning over in bed, squeezing it in my arms, and closing my eyes.
"Have a good nap," she says and I hum, feeling her eyes still on me when I drift off to sleep.