**********
The school was buzzing with the news of the upcoming cheer off between Candice and I.
Candice had initially said that it would be in a week, but it had been blown up into a huge deal now and thanks to Candice speaking to the principal, we were going to be having the cheer off during the interval of the schools football game.
The thought of losing my title of captain terrified me, but I was trying to make sure that nobody around me could tell.
"A little to the left..." Janey called out to her twin.
Janey was sat on Laceys shoulders and Lacey moved to the left like she'd been instructed to. Alicia was stood behind them ready to catch Janey if she fell.
"Perfect, keep still" Janey said as she pinned the other side of the large poster that she'd been pinning up.
"That looks awesome!" Chelsea grinned from beside me.
'KAYDIE 4 CAPTAIN' was emblazoned across the poster in hot pink glitter.
Pink and sparkles - my two favourite things.
At first I'd told the girls not to bother with any posters - but then the Candice ones had started going up.
Her photos on them looked more like something you'd expect to see in a dodgy magazine; she'd been bragging that a few had gone missing - no doubt her picture was now stuck on some hormone raged boys bedroom wall.
Eeew.
A few "anti-Kaydie" ones had appeared as well, though Chelsea had gone on a pulling down rampage and had got rid of them all. They had pictures of my face photoshopped onto a nun, with Candice next to me in her cheerleading outfit with devil horns and a pitchfork.
They were oh so hilarious.
Chelsea had come up with quite a few amusing anti-Candice poster ideas, but I'd decided that we weren't going to stoop down to her level.
So we were going round the school sticking up pretty, pinktastic posters.
"Right let's go and find Amber" I said, when the last of the posters had been stuck up.
After ten minutes of searching, Alicia texted TJ and found out that Amber was sat on the school field with him and a few others.
Eagerly, we all headed to the field.
"Hey Kaydie" Amber smiled when she saw me approaching.
I grinned when I saw that her hair was no longer orange and was now a cherry red colour - it suited her perfectly.
"Hi Amber, you're just the girl that we are looking for"
She looked up at the group of us, her hand over her eyes to shield herself from the glare of the sun.
"What's up?" she asked, popping the 'p'.
I nodded at the others with me.
"2, 4, 6, 8 - who's that girl we appreciate? Goooooo Amber!" we called out in synchronised preppy voices.
Anyone else would have been surprised, but Amber was clapping her hands in time with our cheer, tilting her head from side to side with a big goofy grin on her face.
"10, 12, 14, 16 - who do we want to join our team? Youuuuu Amber!"
We finished the cheer with collective jazz hands.
I noticed that a lot of fellow students had moved closer to see what was going on.
"Well?" I asked, beaming at Amber who now wore a dumbfounded expression.
"Huh?" she replied simply.
"They want you to join the squad" TJ said in a "duhhhh" tone, nudging her.
"You want ME to join?" Amber asked slowly, looking like we'd just surprised her with the news that she had won the lottery.
"Yup" Chelsea clarified for her.
She held out a cheerleading uniform to Amber.
"Say yes, please?" I pouted, batting my eyelashes at her.
She was silent for a moment before she let out an ear shattering scream.
Jumping to her feet, she did a manic dance on the spot.
"Of course!" she squealed, "Aaaargh I'm a mother freakin' cheerleader!"
I was startled when she lunged at me, knocking us both to the ground.
"Oh my god Kaydie, thank you!" she shouted as she squished the life out of me with a mahoooosive hug.
"You are more than welcome" I laughed.
************
"Kaydie, stop pacing" Liam told me.
I could tell that he was forcing himself not to laugh at me.
"I'm not" I frowned, standing still.
"You've sent me dizzy walking backwards and forwards for the last ten minutes" he replied, smirking.
I didn't understand how he was so calm.
Here I was panicking my butt off, while he was sat on the floor, with his back against the wall looking as chillaxed as a person could look.
"Come here" he told me, holding out a hand.
I took his hand and allowed him to pull me down to the floor beside him.
"Relax" he said softly, wrapping an arm round me and pulling me closer so that I was pressed against his chest.
I reached for the hand of the arm that wasn't wrapped round me and entwined my fingers with his.
"Do you not get nervous before a fight?" I asked, extending my arm to admire how perfect our hands looked together.
"Not hours before" he answered calmly, "About five minutes before a fight, the adrenaline kicks in but that's more anticipation, rather than me being nervous"
Jeeez, if I was going to fight I would be pooping my pants.
"Did this guy beat you up badly last time?" I asked.
The reason why Liam was so eager about this fight was because he had lost the last time they had fought.
"Nah" he replied casually, "He won because he managed to get me in a choke hold. Ray shouted for me to tap out to stop the fight, but I didn't"
Glancing up at him, I could see the stubborn glint in his eyes.
Refusing to admit defeat - that was something I could easily picture Liam doing.
"The fight was stopped when I passed out"
My stomach lurched uncontrollably.
Oh great, just what every girl wants to see - her boyfriend being choked until he is unconscious.
Liam must have felt my tension because he let out a chuckle.
"Have faith in me Kaydie, I've trained hard since last year and I won't be stupid enough to let down my guard like last time"
He pulled me on top of him so that I was straddling him; we were at the side of the ring where he trained Max so we were hidden away from anyones view. It had sort of become our spot to hang out in private when we were in the gym.
"I've got faith in you" I pouted, "It's just scary, you know? I'm sure you'd feel the same if it was me"
"Well I know you're going to win your cheer off" he told me confidently.
"Yeah but there isn't likely to be any choking, punching or kicking at that" I retaliated.
I hoped not anyway....
"I'll be fine I have my Blondie cheerleader here" Liam said, a brilliant smile lighting up his whole face.
It made my heart skip a beat.
"Do you always play Walk by Pantera as your intro song?" I questioned him.
He nodded.
There was no denying that it was a good choice.
"I'd have 'We Are The Champions' by Queen, but I'd have the Green Day cover of it" I told him, even though he hadn't asked.
"It would be a bit embarassing playing that and then losing" Liam pointed out.
"Yeah, but that would give me an even bigger push to win so that I didn't look stupid in front of everyone"
I made a mental note that I should play that song loudly for Candice if I beat her in the cheer off.
"Do you have any pre-fight rituals?" I asked, wrapping my arms round his neck and playing with his hair.
"Nope" he replied simply.
What a bore. I was hoping for him to divulge that he had a lucky pair of fighting socks, or something along those lines...
"We should start one?" I suggested.
Liam looked thoughtful for a second but realisation dawned on his face as I leaned in closer.
As soon as our lips met, I felt the familiar electrical tingle fire through my whole body.
The nervous feeling in my tummy was replaced with giddy butterflies.
The kiss was slow and sensual.
In other words... perfect.
I gripped Liams hair tighter and he moaned into the kiss.
I liked that a lot.
Pulling away, I rested my forehead on his. My breathing was slightly heavier and faster than before; as was Liams.
"Yeah, I think that should definitely be my pre-fight ritual" he smirked.
*********
Liams opponent was called Tyson Moon and I grimaced as he walked through the crowd and into the cage where Liam was already waiting.
Tyson was huge - he looked like three people molded together to make one big, burly monster.
"Shizzle, he is huge!" Chelsea hissed in my ear, voicing my own thoughts.
Chelsea and Jordan were both here with me watching the fight. TJ and Alicia were with us too.
The fight started and I held my breath as I watched Tyson and Liam advancing on each other, both of them looking like they were preparing to attack their prey.
Liam lunged at Tyson and Tyson quickly side stepped, narrowly missing Liams grasp.
"Breathe Kaydie!" Jordan told me, giving my shoulder a squeeze.
I let out the breath, sucking in deeply again.
Tyson had managed to tackle Liam to the floor, but Liam was able to twist himself so that Tyson was now underneath him.
I remembered when Liam had shown me that exact move, when I'd straddled him and he'd manoevered himself so that I ended up underneath him.
The bell rang to signal the end of that round and they broke apart.
Liam and Tyson played a game of cat and mouse for five rounds, both of them having instances where they were in control of the fight.
In the sixth round, Tyson managed to get Liam on the floor again and like before, Liam quickly moved into a position where he was able to push Tyson to the floor and straddle him.
Wasting no time, Liam reigned punches on Tysons already bruised face.
Chelsea grabbed hold of Jordan who was loudly shouting out instructions to Liam as if he himself was a trained fighter.
It made me happy that he was enjoying himself, it made me feel less of a weirdo about how excited I got watching people fight in the cage.
"Go Liam!" I yelled out loudly as Liam continued to punch Tyson.
It was obvious that fatigue was setting in, but Liam was still giving his all to the fight.
Tyson managed to wriggle himself free enough that he was able to twist so that he was now on his front.
Big mistake.
Liam grabbed Tysons left arm and yanked it so that it was now in an unnatural position.
Part of me wanted to throw up at the weird angle of Tysons arm and the other part of me wanted to scream with excitement that this could be it.
The excited part of me won and I screamed giddily.
Tysons face was contorted in agony and I willed him to tap out.
I hoped that he wasn't as stubborn as Liam - I so did not want to witness his arm being broken or dislocated.
The crowd erupted into uproar as Tyson tapped his hand on the cage mat three times ; the referee signalled that the fight was over and Liam released his hold.
My throat stung as I screamed my head off, hugging each of my friends in turn.
Liam had won!
Without thinking, I pushed through the crowd, shoving people out of my way.
Somehow, I managed to get to the cage and Ray nodded to the security guy that I was okay to come out of the crowd and go in it.
As soon as I was inside, I threw myself at Liam, not caring that he was sweaty and sticky.
He had a massive grin on his face and my heart soared just looking at him.
"You're amazing!" I shouted, grabbing his face and tiptoeing to kiss him.
**********
"We are the champions my friend.... and we'll keep on fighting till the end...." the whole car sang loudly as we drove to Sparkies in Rex.
My chosen intro song fitted the mood perfectly.
Liam was sat in the passenger seat. He wasn't singing along but he couldn't hide the smile that was on his face.
"That was amazing" Jordan said when we'd finished our song, "When is there another fight, I have to go"
I laughed at his enthusiasm, knowing that he was feeling the same buzz that I'd felt after I'd watched my first fight.
"I'll let you know" Liam said, turning in his seat to look at Jordan.
"Cheers man"
Jordan was totally fangirling over Liam.
Amber had suggested that we go to Sparkies after the fight. She was riding in TJ's car with him and Alicia - they were going to meet us there.
After parking next to TJ's car, we all got out and headed straight into Sparkies.
As usual, Rico and his group of friends were there.
Shantel was with them; she was sat beside Rico staring at her nails and quite honestly she looked bored out of her mind.
Her head snapped up and she looked over in our direction, her eyes narrowing when she noticed me there.
Liam gave my hand a squeeze and I smiled at him, forgetting about Shantel.
Alicia, TJ and Amber were sat at a table laughing about something when we joined them.
Alicia moved along so that Chelsea and I could squeeze in beside her.
"I'm going to get a drink" TJ informed us all, standing up.
Liam asked me if I wanted a drink and I asked for a slush puppy.
He followed TJ and Jordan followed him.
"I think your boyfriend fancies my boyfriend" I told Chelsea, making the four of us girls erupt into giggles.
"I think you're right" she admitted, looking over to where TJ, Liam and Jordan were talking while they waited in the queue at the drinks bar.
Liam looked so handsome that I couldn't help but admire him from afar. He'd showered after the fight and changed into a black collared shirt and dark blue jeans. Other than faint bruising on his right cheekbone, you couldn't tell that he'd been in a fight that night.
"Stop undressing him with your eyes" Chelsea nudged me, making me blush.
Liam looked over and gave me a small smile, before turning back to TJ and Jordan.
My stomach flip flopped in response.
Dayummmm, I had it bad.
**************
We'd all been dancing.
There had been a mixture of songs and after dancing up close and personal with Liam to a slow jam, the tempo switched to a much faster beat.
"I'm just going to the bathroom" I shouted to Liam, before walking off in that direction.
After going to the toilet, I washed my hands and then began to apply a fresh coat of lipgloss.
I hadn't paid attention when I'd heard the bathroom door opening again, but I tensed when I saw Shantel coming out of a cubicle and washing her hands beside me.
Looking at her own reflection as she smoothed down her hair, her eyes flickered towards me.
"It won't last" she said, her tone cold.
I pretended not to hear her and continued applying the lipgloss.
"He'll get bored" she continued.
I proceeded to ignore her.
"You're a pretty face, that's all"
Rolling my eyes, I put my lipgloss back in my bag and turned to leave.
Shantel stepped out so that she was blocking my way.
"I know Liam. I know Liam REALLY well" she said, her expression smug, "Girls like you can't handle boys like Liam"
I tilted my head to the side.
"Have you finished?" I asked sarcastically.
The girl was starting to really annoy me.
She smiled at me nastily.
"The novelty will wear off"
I sucked in a breath, releasing it slowly.
"Look Shantel, I know why you're jealous. Damn, I would be if I was you. But don't hate me just because you're Liams past and I'm his present"
And hopefully future.
She looked shocked that I'd had the balls to come back at her. The shock was quickly replaced with a dangerous look.
I was pretty sure I was going to get to have my own fight tonight as well...
The bathroom door opened and Chelsea, Alicia and Amber stumbled in giggling.
They froze when they saw Shantel and I glaring at each other.
"Um, is everything okay?" Chelsea asked, looking at me carefully.
I think she was waiting for me to signal to her that I needed her to step in and help me.
I loved Chelsea for the fact that I knew that she would do so in a heartbeat without asking any questions.
"See you around Shantel" I smiled, walking past her to where my friends were stood.
They all seemed to have decided that they no longer needed to use the bathroom and followed me out of it.
"What did she say?" Amber asked as soon as we were away from Shantel.
"Just a load of bitchy crap" I shrugged, "Nothing that I can't handle"
Liam was sat down at the table now, but I grabbed his hands, pulling him over to the dance floor.
A slower song was on again and I pulled him close to me so that there was no gap between us.
His eyes sparkled in intrigue as he looked down at me.
"Why do you look so determined?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.
I smiled up at him innocently, before resting my head against his chest.
Looking across the room, I could see that Shantel was now sat next to Rico again.
Rico was looking over at me, his gaze almost as intent as Shantels, except the fact that Shantel was yet again trying to murder me with her eyes,
Knowing that she was watching, I reached up, pulling Liams face down so that his lips crashed against mine.
It was petty and immature...
But damn it felt good.
Liam didn't seem to mind either and I felt him grin against my lips, his arms tightening around me as if I was his precious possession.
**********
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