I shook my head, "Nothing happened!" I exclaimed, turning to look at Derek and Spencer. Spencer was laying on his stomach on my bed, while Derek was leaned up against it with a pillow pushed to his chest.
"So he gets cheated on by his girlfriend, you guys share a cute, sentimental moment, and then you just... leave him?" Derek questioned with his brow raised.
I gasped at the accusation, "I did not just leave him. He asked if I could drop him off at his house, he said he wanted to be left alone!" I defended my actions. Spencer was about to speak, when I heard a knock on my door. The three of us all looked to see who it could have been, revealing my mother standing next to one of my three brothers.
"Hey guys! I was just checking in to see what time you guys were going to be home tonight?" I bit my lip and glanced over at Derek, knowing damn well I probably was going to be out late.
"So, the game starts in an hour and doesn't finish till nine. Aaron Hotchner, you know him? He's hosting the huge party afterwards, apparently all the cheerleaders have to be there. It's some sort of... social requirement?" I was trying to be as nice as possible, but for some reason, she didn't seem concerned about me being out late.
"Aaron Hotchner?"
I looked at her weird, "Yeah? He's in my friend group. I dropped him off at home the other day after my shift, remember? That's why I got home late?" My mother looked at Spencer,
"Isn't he the boy that always bullied you? You're letting her hang out with him?" Spencer shook his head,
"He redeemed himself"
"Still, I don't like him, I heard he's a horrible kid" I rolled my eyes at her harsh words, trying hard to ignore them. "Don't roll your eyes at me. I don't usually judge kids, but the only good thing I've ever heard about him is that he's incredible at football. I heard he used to be wrapped up in that gang in the town right next to us, so trashy" I clenched my fist.
I didn't know why I got so angry, and for some reason, I was quick to defend him. "It's a rumor that isn't true, he isn't involved in any gangs" I shot, "He isn't bad, he just puts up an act so he can't get hurt"
Everyone looked at me in shock, especially because I was defending him. It wasn't a shock to talk back to my mother, it was just a shock that it was about him. My mom just shook her head and walked out of the room, and Derek let out a laugh, "Damn, giggles. You not telling us something?"
I rolled my eyes again, "No" I replied, and I checked myself in the mirror again. My new uniform was tight and cropped at the top the bottoms a very short pleated skirt. They were out school colors, red and black, but it was weird seeing so much of myself in an outfit. I didn't typically wear clothes that were tight and short fitting,
"Your boobs looks good, the outfit is cute" Spencer complimented, nonchalantly. That was typical, though. Even if it sounded weird, we weren't afraid to point out the little things that would normally be weird or perverted. I smiled,
"Thanks"
"Bro, what?" Derek questioned, "If I ever looked at a girl and said that, she's back hand me" I started to fix my hair as he told us that,
"Spencer isn't trying to get into my pants. If you told me that, I would assume you are because you've slept with, what? Half of the school?" I smirked and winked at him, and he scoffed with a small smile at my words.
I slid my white sneakers on over my ankle high socks, "Come on, you and I can't be late remember?" I said to Derek, and then I turned to look at Spencer, "Oh, and Spence. I'm dropping you off at JJ's. She's with Emily right now waiting for you" I grabbed my bag full of face paint and clothes for the afterparty, and the two started getting up. We made our way out of the room,
"I heard the chicks on the opposing cheer squad are really hot. You've got to stand them up, got it?" I looked back at Derek, who was talking to me,
"Come on, you know we've got the hottest girls on our team. Like... Penelope, Haley's two friends. You know, the ones who are like thirty times hotter than she is?" We all started to laugh, but Spencer's was more of a nervous one.
Derek put his hand on my shoulder as we finished walking down the stairs, "We've got you too" He complimented, and my face turned a bright red as I smiled sheepishly. I was about to reply, when we heard,
"I can't believe she let you on the team" We looked to our right, seeing my sister along with Angelina, sitting there on the couch. I rolled my eyes and was about to keep walking, when she said, "Did you put concealer over Spencer's eye? That's so gay, he should rock the bruise I gave him" I paused in my tracks and spun around,
"What the fuck did you just say?" I spat in pure disgust. She was already ruining my night, and it hadn't even started. She stood,
"You heard me"
"Is being gay supposed to be an insult? Because last time I checked, you and Angelina were making out with one another while Dean and Tim watched." I outed, and she was about to grab me, when Derek stepped in. His large stature blocked her instantly, he towered over the two of us.
He looked pissed, "Shouldn't you and your eyeliner wearing friends be listening to Metallica or something?" He shot at her, and I tried to stifle a laugh. She glared at him first, and then at me. I raised both my eyebrows and I waved goodbye at her, signaling to her that she had already lost. Her and Angelina stormed up the stairs, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I wrapped mine behind his back as the three of us walked out of the house,
"Thanks"
"Yeah, anytime Giggles"
In almost no time we dropped Spencer off at JJ's, and Derek and I were off to the school. We were talking about the opposing team, and how they were are hardest competitor. Last year they crushed us, but Derek thinks that's only because Aaron was out with a concussion for the game.
I pulled into the school parking lot, which was not yet packed. "Penelope is wearing my number on her cheek for the game, Valeria Xu said she was wearing Dave's. Who are you doing? And do you think Haley is going to be wearing Aaron's? Or Michell Blakes?" He said as we got out of the now parked car, and as we walked towards the field, I smirked.
"I don't know. Nine was always my lucky number" I glanced up at him to see if he got the hint, and he most certainly did. He looked like the joker with the size of his perfect smile.
"Do it, you won't" He dared, and I raised a brow,
"Oh, I won't?" I tested, and he tilted his head a bit. We stopped in our tracks to make full on eye contact,
"You wouldn't"
"Ronnie, come over here! We're having a meeting in the changing rooms!" We both looked to see who had interrupted our bet, seeing Penelope and Valeria with huge smiles on their faces. I patted Derek's shoulder,
"Oh, I would" I walked off, and I heard him laugh.
"You're reckless, Veronica Gordon!" I walked backwards towards my friends with a mischievous grin on my face as my eyes were glued to his,
"No, I'm just a bitch" I saluted with two fingers and once I raised my hand away from my forehead, I turned back around. I finished making my way towards my friends, "Who's ready to win tonight?" The two girls squealed,
"We are!"
000
I grabbed my pom poms off of the bench, and Garcia looked over at me. "Doll face, I can't believe you're about to do that" She examined the black paint on my face, "You're playing a dangerous game at our first game of the year"
I patted her shoulder as the two of us started to follow out the rest of the cheer squad from underneath the bleachers. We had purposely stayed back, "Come on, PG. You took Derek, plus..." I leaned closer to her, our faces only inches apart, "I'd gladly cheer on Aaron Hotchner" She gasped, but before she could say anything, all the cheerleaders started rushing out.
This meant the football team had just started playing, and I rolled my eyes. However, I instantly put a fake smile on my face as I waved my pom poms up in the air. The entire squad hurried out and the crowd applauded.
I hated being a cheerleader, the only reason why I did it was so that I could be closer to the football players. Who would pass up the chance to wear a short skirt and hook up with all the hottest guys in the school?
I just wasn't a very peppy, cheery person. So doing dance routines and leading the crowd by screaming cheers wasn't really my forte. I did like that Haley Brooks made almost all of the dance routines slutty, it made things more fun. Especially seeing the football players stare at us.
All the girls with numbers on their cheeks, which had been maybe twelve of the girls, ran towards the wired fence separating us from the team. We were all cheering, and I after a few moments, I turned my head to see if everyone had still been doing so. Everyone was, except for Haley, who was staring directly back at me from further down in the line.
She looked furious, but she smile didn't fade from my face. It only grew, and I tilted my head a little. I started to cheering loudly again, this time Aaron's name. Penelope started doing the same for Derek, and everyone followed with their teammate. The look that had been on Haley's face was priceless, and I loved it. I loved knowing I could make her angry.
I looked back at the boys playing, and the rest of the night went on. The screams from the crowd continued, and it felt like years before half time was up. I already wanted to go home with Spencer and watch movies, I had no motivation to dance in front of hundreds of people and then go to a party after.
Or at least, that was until I heard, "Gordon!" I turned around to see Aaron standing on the opposing side of the fence. I jogged closer to him, and he pulled his helmet off of his head. All that could be heard were the sounds of the other kids screaming for the football teams, but for some reason, it was making me feel a bit more excited.
But it could have been looking at Aaron. He was fully equipped in his red and black uniform on the field side of the fence, staring down at me in my stupid tiny cheer uniform. In that moment I felt my heart stop, and I couldn't tell if it was the way his hair was messed up, or the fact that the sweat trickled down his forehead made him glow.
He shot me his signiture smile, "Lucky number nine, huh?" I chuckled, "I like hearing you scream my name" He admitted, and this time I let out a scoff. I tried to hold back a grin, and then his smile faded quickly. His eyebrows furrowed as if he realized something, "Wait, I didn't mean..."
"I know what you meant" I accidentally let my smile show, "You're doing great out there. We're killing them"
"It's always motivating seeing a pretty girl with my numbers painted on her" He told me, leaning down a bit as if he was about to say something else.
However, he was rudely interrupted by the high pitch voice of my blonde bitch of a team captain. "Gordon, let's go. We're on" She ordered, angrily. I rolled my eyes, and he raised his brows.
"Wish me luck!" I told him, and I started to hurry off.
"You won't need it" he called back loudly, and I could feel my cheeks heating up. I couldn't believe what was going through my mind. I couldn't stomach the fact that I was feeling things for Aaron Hotchner, it made me sick.
I always had two rules. Don't start a war with anyone, and never let Aaron Hotchner manipulate his way into my heart.
This year I had already failed both, miserably.