horns and hooters were blaring. teachers and students were chatting, filing into their seats at the stadium. the footballers were yelling out to eachother while they warmed up, and the cheerleaders yelled and flipped to keep the crowd entertained.
it was dark over the pitch, but the moon and the overhead lights provided more than enough light for the people there. the cold night air was blown around by the slight breeze, making goosebumps arise and teeth chatter. most spectators were wearing the typical cali high beanies and scarves, which were striped; maroon and mustard coloured.
overall, the atmosphere was tense. this game was a big one; one of the biggest of the season. cali high would be facing off against beverly hills, and there was a huge rivalry between the schools. plus, the whole of cali high was still gossiping about the johnny-kenzie situation, and many of the spectators wanted to see some drama, or some "tea being spilt" as the immature (and cringey) freshmen kept saying.
mackenzie was nervous. more than nervous. currently, she was trying not to hyperventilate, the perky cheer girls crowded around her.
her waist-length brown hair tumbled down her shoulders in a mass of elegant curls. her makeup was perfect, stunning actually, and you would have never known that a few hours earlier she'd been crying her eyes out to an old adele song. complete with her (very short) cheer uniform and white sneakers, she was breathtakingly beautiful– not radiating confidence and cockiness like she normally did, but instead rocking an enthusiastic yet humble vibe. her breakup with johnny had changed her, but only in the most subtle of ways.
"hey. it's okay. just breathe!" emily patted kenzie on the shoulder.
"yeah," lexi said, "it's just a game, and i promise, this'll all be over in a few hours."
mackenzie scrunched up her nose. "not helping." she grimaced. "fuck butterflies, i've got sharks in here!" she pressed both hands to her stomach, willing the nerves to disappear.
maddie slapped her on the back and kenzie shrieked. the girls laughed. maddie then gave kenzie an inspirational pep-talk.
"kenzie," she said, "you need to fucking get over yourself and start ordering us around like the bossy bitch you are so we can get to work and help these stupid footballers in their stupid pants and stupid helmets win. okay?"
mackenzie surprised all of them by taking a big breath and then plastering on a grin– a real one, not a fake one. trust maddie to tell it how it is.
"okay. okay girls." mackenzie smiled. "we'll start with intimidating the other team. we can run over there and start yelling. then we'll spilt and do the tumbling and stunt routine. to round it all off, we'll do our all time favourite cheer. y'all got it?"
"definitely." dylan grinned, high fiving devenity.
mabel, lily, brynn, annie, jayden and lilia linked hands. the action passed throughout the circle, until everyone was holding hands with kenzie in the middle, her eyes shining with love and gratitude.
"we got this girls!" she then yelled out, "lets go to the other end– then take your formations!"
the cheereleaders all dispersed, strutting to the other end of the stadium. after the spilt, they quickly regrouped and obediently took their places, mackenzie front and centre. she counted them in, yelling, "five six seven eight!"
"you might be good at basketball,
you might be good at track,
but when it comes to football,
you might as well step back,
gooooo cali!" the girls yelled out along with over-the-top and enthusiastic choreography.
they repeated this cheer many times over at the end where the beverly hills students were spectators. the footballers from beverly tried to inconspicuously watch them at the same time as they were warming up– some of them kept looking over at the cheer girls. mackenzie thought that was probably not because of their intimidating cheer, but more likely because of their tiny cheer dresses. oh well, you can't win them all, she thought.
calling over her girls, she regrouped them at the other end of the stadium, ready to show off to cali high with all of their tumbling. kenzie counted them into their routine, and anxiously tried to watch both the routine and the football boys. she couldn't quite pick out which one johnny was, but there was one guy that immediately stopped when he saw she was staring. mackenzie quickly looked away, and realised with a jolt they had come to her part in the routine.
quickly bolting forward, she ran in a straight line to start her combo. she successfully completed her round off back handspring back tuck, but fucked up the landing. one of her ankles gave out, her knee went completely outwards, and she buckled under the weight of the pain, falling in a heap on the ground.
the pain rippled through her; a tearing feeling, and then sharp stabs of agony in her ankle joint. her mouth fell open, and it felt like the air had been sucked out of her body. she was completely frozen, unknowing of what to do.
she didn't feel embarrassed or ashamed; she just felt pain– and a lot of it at that.
maddie quickly rushed to her side, pausing the routine and stopping the girls. they were quick to crowd around her, asking questions like, "are you okay?" and, "does it hurt?"
tears pooled in mackenzies eyes as she looked in the expectant eyes of her girls. she shook her head. "not fine. it hurts."
those were the last words she said before she started crying. tears dribbled down her cheeks and she felt a lump forming in her throat.
maddie fell to her knees, pulling mackenzie into a sitting position where her ankle wasn't bent strangely.
"not going to lie kenz, it's not looking good. i think it's starting to swell already." maddie said, voice shaking a little.
"we need a teacher!" mabel piped up, only to be sassed by devenity, who said "fuck teachers, we need an ambulance for this shit!"
"no!" mackenzie gasped. "no ambulance. i'm fine. promise!"
some of the girls had turned around, and were looking behind them. they were turning to each other, whispering, with horrified eyes.
"what?" mackenzie breathed, before wincing. "what is it? does it look that bad?"
"um..." lilia started to speak, but she stopped.
brynn stood and looked where the other girls were looking, and her mouth dropped open. "more like who is it."
"what's going on?" mackenzie demanded, trying to sound as fierce as she could through her tears.
her question was answered when she saw johnny jogging towards them. shock coursed through her, and she quickly tried to wipe away all her tears and swallow them back.
he pushed through the girls, and they parted for him in a daze, letting him through. he looked distraught.
"are you okay?" he asked, voice croaky. he cleared his throat. "i saw you fall, and i was really–"
"i'm fine." mackenzie mumbled, looking away. the tears were coming back, and for different reasons now. just looking at him made her heart hurt.
"you're lying." he said softly before bending down next to her, dropping his voice low. "you always avoid my eyes when you lie."
mackenzie sniffed, feeling her ankle throb and tears well up in her eyes. she laughed bitterly, still not looking at him. "fine. it fucking hurts. no lie."
johnny cleared his throat and spoke slowly and quietly. "maddie, can you go get a teacher? and annie, could you please tell my coach i'll be back soon?"
both girls nodded and ran away, taking a few other girls to accompany them. now the only girls left surrounding them were emily, devenity and lexi.
"i– what are you doing?" mackenzie asked johnny, stuttering and finally looking up. she'd been looking at her ankle, which was blushed red and starting to swell. from previous injuries, she guessed she'd torn the ligaments.
"taking care of you. like i should have in the first place." he replied, swallowing hard.
mackenzie opened her mouth, but nothing coherent cane out. she was rendered speechless, not able to think of anything to say. she only looked at him and blinked away her tears.
johnny bent down and made eye contact with her. "i'm sorry."
mackenzie smiled through the pain, looking up at him through her lashes. "i know, johnny. now's not the time."
he heaved a deep sigh. "will it ever be the right time?"
mackenzie bit her lip. "i– i don't know."
johnny moved to pick her up and kenzie blanched, jerking away. she'd either have to be piggy-backed or carried bridal-style, and there was no way she could handle being close to him, let alone being touched.
"i just want to help–" he tried to say.
mackenzie interrupted him. "don't." she choked out, starting to cry.
he pulled back immediately. "i– what did i do?" he looked at the other girls that were accompanying them. they looked away, fast.
"i can't think properly around you." mackenzie huffed, cheeks a flushed red colour. "and you need to be with your team, not with me. college scouts are here."
"i'd rather be with you." he mumbled so quickly mackenzie was almost sure he hadn't said anything at all.
mackenzie closed her eyes. "not helping. go, johnny."
"please let me help, kenz, i'll just take you to your car–"
the pain crowding in and around her ankle was worsening, and she knew she needed help. she'd need loads of ice and possibly a trip to the hospital. she needed to hurry.
"go!" she said louder, starting to cry properly now. the sobs started freeing themselves.
johnny was biting his lip, unsure of what to do. he looked around and up at the girls around them. standing, he turned away from her. it looked like he was wiping his eyes, but mackenzies own eyesight was blurry due to her own tears so she couldn't be sure. she drowned out the rest of the conversation, numbing herself from the emotional pain that came with dismissing johnny, and instead pried her shoe off her foot with intense focus. this she could do, this she could handle. baby steps, she reminded herself as she tried to stop the tears, baby steps.
maddie soon came back with a male teacher, and together, after mackenzie slung an arm around each of their shoulders, they were able to hop out of the stadium.
mackenzie was intensely mad at herself for crying the whole way out of the staduim, but she wasn't crying because of her injury.
she was crying because she felt like she'd just made a big mistake– for the second time around.
AUTHORS NOTE
sad chapters r funE