~ "Strangers don't know you, so show them something they won't ever forget about you." ~
"So, who was that guy, anyway?" I was deep in thought about the whole fiasco a few minutes ago when Niña' question brought me out of my train of thought. She raised an eyebrow at me as we walked out on the field to start practice. We were late for cheer practice which was something that rarely ever happened since I hated being tardy. I forgot to mention that I was the team captain.
Not the usual thing we mostly do, but, thanks to that cotton-headed idiot Brandon that bumped into me and spilling the food, we were delayed for practice. I was pissed and I could hold a grudge on people for some time. It took a lot for me to get mad at someone. He just pushed my buttons.
"Just some creep that ruined our food." My voice laced with venom. The girls didn't want to get on my bad side and stopped asking any more questions. But, Kaye was relentless and smirked deviously. "He seems to have the hots for you though, Dee."
She used my usual nickname. The girls always called me 'Dee' since day 1 and it just stuck with me. When someone calls me by my real name, it was fine with me. People that don't know me just overhear and start calling me 'Dee' so I kept the nickname.
I only walked away, more like stomped away in anger and further upwards the side of the field while the girls trailed behind. My converse dug deep into the grass of the playing field.
"Shut up, Kaye. How can you be thinking about that when I can tell you're starving? Plus, you have no food."
Catherine joined me and pulled a rigorously strict face, scowling at Kaye as she temperately slapped her arm.
"Stop pushing her buttons, Kaye! If you wanna stay alive in this world, you don't piss Diana off!"
Kaye groaned and furrowed her eyebrows, muttering a 'Sorry, Dee' as I walked further away from my friends. The football team was already out, playing a few practice games. All day they would butt heads and run around in circles like a herd of bulls, drinking Gatorade and in the meantime, drooling over at my team. The rest of the cheerleaders were scattered everywhere, gossiping like there was no tomorrow since we weren't present yet. Practice would not be able to start without yours truly in the house.
Their heads immediately snapped to the direction of five girls walking on the field in emerald and pearl colored uniforms. They all rounded together when they saw the pissed off state I was in.
"Alright girls! We're going to do some stretching before we begin. Let's see you girls work those muscles!" I clapped twice, my voice high pitched and firm almost cold as ice.
In a snap second, the other cheerleaders huddled together to begin their warm-ups. They began with the knee warmers, kicking their knees up to just enough to reach their chests. I was still in a stressed mood while glaring at the other girls in front of me. First, I was extremely hungry and had no food to eat. Second, I was angry because that guy Brandon from earlier caused us to not have anything to eat. My wallet was starting to run dry for buying them lunch most of the time.
"You look hot when you're angry!"
The voice was registered in my brain and it made me fall to my knees. My legs instantly turned to jelly and all the stress flew out of my body with the snap of finger. I turned around and stared at the girl that stopped me entirely from doing warm-ups. It turned out my bad day wasn't so bad after all when I laid eyes on the beautiful figure that was in front of me, smiling so heavenly.
"Chellie!" I squealed in pure delight as I ran to Rochell. I excused myself from practice and ran to embrace my girlfriend. Just seeing my source of happiness in front of me made me a million times happier.
Tightening myself around the hug, I released a tired sigh of relief after seeing Rochell so happy, adjusting my mood to match her energy. I owed a day to myself to spend it with Rochell since we hardly see each other during school hours. We attended different schools and that got in the way of the number of hours we had to ourselves.
I swung my arms around Rochell's neck, pulling her closer for a giant bear hug. She was much more taller than me. Letting go from the hug and the warmth going away slowly, I pouted but it disappeared when Rochell held up a bag.
"I brought you food!"
Once I saw the paper McDonald's bag and realized that it was actually for me, my legs kicked into overdrive, having the adrenaline to do 3 cartwheels on the bleachers. I squealed and grabbed the bag, kissing Rochell in the process. I hurriedly opened it and inhaled deeply. The smell of hamburgers and fries made my mouth water. I smiled at my girlfriend, giving another peck to her lips.
"This is why I love you!" I looked up and smirked. "And also because you're sexy."
"Hey! Where's our food, Santiago?" Kaye twirled around, her hands on her hips whilst shooting Rochell a playful grin.
We all laughed, but I saw Niña frown and told Kaye to mind her own business. Well, that was a bit rude of her. It was only a joke. Niña has been acting a bit weird lately.
I shrugged it off. Rochell's smile grew wider as she saw me in a happy state. She watched me take a break from practice, but I paused and snapped around.
"Continue your squats!" I ordered to the other cheerleaders.
I walked over to the bench, hands locked with Rochell's and the food in my other hand upwards to the bleachers. We sat down while we conversed in small talk. It still wasn't enough, but we could cope with it.
"I've really missed you lately," I started first, holding the untouched bag in my hands while still holding on to Rochell's hand.
"Me, too. But, look, as much as I want to grab your ass while you squat, you have to eat first," Rochell replied, wiggling her eyebrows in a funny matter.
I giggled while opening the bag, elbowing Rochell softly. I grabbed the cheese burger out and ate it wholeheartedly, savoring every taste. Never had food tasted this good before. When was the last time I ate? Probably a week or two weeks ago. I was dropping pounds fast. But, no one knew I've been trying to starve myself. I thought I was already fat.
It was time for the other cheerleaders to take a break, drinking cold water and talking. Some of them were checking up on their football boyfriends on the field. Kaye walked up to me and nudged me in the side.
"Oww!" Kaye got one of my ribs, knowingly that she took Taekwando during Freshmen year.
"The guy is here," Kaye whispered lowly.
"What guy?"
"You know; chestnut colored hair. Eyes in the color of chocolates."
"Okay, Kaye you're being extremely cheesy when describing this specific "guy" that I have no idea who you're talking about."
Kaye got the idea that I wasn't understanding and groaned. Pulling me up and making me drop the half eaten burger, I lazily followed Kaye to a farther point from our spot and stopped. Kaye furrowed her eyebrows and whispered, "Brandon is here."
"Brandon? Who's Brandon?"
"Ugh! God damn it, Dee! He's over there at the bleachers from across the field," Kaye screamed at me, pointing her finger at the direction, attracting attention to us being out on the field.
I sighed and looked where Kaye was pointing her finger at. She was right. Sitting across the field from where we stood, the brunette boy was on the bleachers with his two other friends. Some girls would say that they were handsome and their looks would be to die for. Whether they were famous or not, their names still haven't rung a bell. Nor would they make it on my list of favorite male celebrities.
The guy caught me staring and the smirk from earlier came back. It was like he could only have one emotion and that was to look creepy to every girl he sees. Waving his hand as a friendly greeting, I scoffed and rolled my eyes away. My phone beeped as I marched away to return to practice.
From: Unknown
I see you've been eyeing at me, gorgeous. 😏 Penny for your thoughts? 😉
Kaye peeped at my phone over her shoulder and murmured, "It's Brandon."
"How did he get my number? Oh my god. Kaye, you gave the douchebag my number! How could you? You know I already hate him and he's a complete weirdo! Ugh."
"I know how you can be in these types of situations so giving him your number wouldn't do him any good. This will be fun. You can probably use him for our cheerleading campaign since he claims to be such a a big shot."
She tried to convince me that what she did would be a good thing and if I played my cards right, Brandon would actually be of use to us. Even though, I didn't like using people for my own personal gain. I scowled at the message and replied with a sharp tone.
To: Unknown
As if, creep! 😒 My thoughts are way more expensive than a penny. 😤 Get a life! 😡
Kaye was smirking from behind me. "Kaye! How could you give him my number?! What were you thinking. Hold up. Don't answer that. You don't think, Lagunay."
She just shrugged her shoulders, walking back to the other girls. I rolled my eyes and returned to glare at her from across the field. Kaye saw my reaction and laughed. She then winked at me and blew a kiss. Another beep followed. My best friends continued practice without the head cheerleader. It was almost over anyways.
From: Unknown
Oh come on, baby. Don't be like that. I always did value a woman's opinion. 😉
Instead of the message making me blush like how a fanciful teenage girl should react when a boy sends something like this, I instantly snapped out of it when Rochell pecked my cheek and scooted over to me, draping her arms over my shoulders. I didn't feel the need to hide nor cover my screen since my insignificant conversation with Brandon was not worthy enough to be concealed from my girlfriend.
"Whatcha doin', babe?" Rochell asked, attempting to see what I was doing.
An idea popped into mind that would surely be a bit of a tease for Brandon, who was waiting for a text back from across the field. I was going to show him that he had no chance and who really owned my heart. Taking a deep breath to ease the annoyance that was starting to bubble, I stood up from the bleachers and extended a hand out to Rochell.
"Follow me to the bathroom?"
Taking the waiting palm into mine, I quickly dragged her to the restrooms without looking suspicious to her. We walked a couple of inches to the area and finally reached it. Making a complete stop, Brandon thought that I was heading towards his group and stood from his seat, eyes tinted to shine down at me with a spite of interest. Repeating myself to turn down guys in outlandish schemes was becoming tiresome, nonetheless the gimmicks I could stir up was worth paying money to see.
I knew that Brandon was glancing at me and I spun Rochell around to face me. I made sure we were in a position where Brandon could get a good view of us. Cupping both her cheeks, I stared up into Rochell's enlightened eyes filled with bliss and swirls of brown.
"Kiss me," I demanded, my voice so full of desire.
Not hesitating, Rochell leaned down and softly placed her lips on to mine. Hugging my waist to pull me closer, I knew that Brandon and his little friends were watching.
"What the fuck?" Someone cursed aloud in our direction. It was Brandon.
I couldn't help but smirk against the kiss when we both pulled away. The kiss was quick and nothing to deep to get ourselves into a situation. I would have to explain to Rochell what childish dilemma I got myself into this time. She had a goofy smile on her face as I hauled her along with me back to the girls. Heat began to erupt from my back, starting from my lower back and slowly rose to my neck. Pretending that it was a Brandon trying to burn a hole through my head, I didn't look back to see his face drawn like an expression of a sore loser.
Round one goes to me.