I wasn't fully concious yet when I felt someone begin to shake me awake. Letting out a small groan, I opened my eyes only to see Zack crouching next to me, holding a finger to his lips. Not saying a word, I blinked a few times until the room came into focus. My eyes fell upon the clock on the wall to see that it was a 5:00 in the morning. Fifteen cellphone alarms where set to ring in half an hour. Sitting up, I turned back over to look at Zack and frowned slightly. With a small smirk, Zack brushed a strand of wet hair out ofhis eyes and grinned, "I thought you'd like to take get ready without fighting the rest of your squad for a chance at the bathroom."
At these words, a small grin spread onto my face and I nodded before attempting to stand up. As I tried to stand I felt a weight on my legs and I looked down to see that during the night Kelly's legs had found their way on top of mine. I restrained myself from laughing, slowly getting up with Zack's help. Zack and I titpoed our way around the sleeping girls and up the stairs. Once we were in my room, I closed the door and began to get my things together, placing my towel and my other shower necessities on my bed. "What time did you go to sleep last night?" I asked, raising a brow as I glanced over my shoulder to see Zack spinning around in my computer chair. Zack and I had sat up in the kitchen talking for at least an hour until I had decided that it was best I get some sleep or I might just find myself breaking a bone during a simple cartwheel. As I scooped my things into my arms Zack shrugged, "I only stayed up for another hour or so after you went to sleep. Adam and I just sat up and then we went to bed." I nodded and blew my bangs out of my face, "Where did you sleep?" I questioned, raising a brow. "I took the guest room." Zack said simply as he let out a yawn and ran a hand through his hair. With that, I nodded and walked into my bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind me. As I turned the water on I let out small sigh and closed my eyes as I let the water adjust. I had so many different things running through my mind that I wasn't quite sure what I should think of first. As I stepped into the shower I realized the first thing on my mind had to be the competition today. The squad had never had a junior captain before and I needed to make sure we qualed for state at the very least. We had gone to nationals for the best several years so not even making state would be an embarrassment. I had to prove myself to the senior members of the squad who had all been a bit bitter when they had been passed up for the captainship.
Twenty-five minutes later when I stepped out of the shower I was resolved to think of nothing else except the routine I would be doing in less than three hours. As I wrapped a towel around myself I took a deep breath and wiped the steam from the mirror. My thoughts began to drift and I quickly shut my eyes, took a deep breath and stepped out into my room. As I stepped back into my room I found Zack lying on my bed reading through my AP Government case files. I raised a brow and cleared my throat, causing him to look over in my direction and smirk. "A bit of deja vu, no?" He questioned, referencing the previous day. I rolled my eyes and let out a small laugh, "Regardless, I need to change, kay?" I stated as I raised both of my brows, waiting for him to get up and leave the room. In typical Zack fashion however, Zack continued to stare at me blinking. "What are you waiting for?" He questioned, smirking broadly. I rolled my eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. With a chuckle, Zack stood up, dropped my case files on my bed and walked out. Despite myself, I laughed, locked the door behind me and took my cheer outfit out of my closet and spread it out onto my bed. As I closed the doors of my closet I heard screeches coming from downstairs. Laughing, I shook my head and figured that all of the girls were scrambling to claim one of the three bathrooms in the house. I turned on a bit of music to clear my head as I changed into my cheerleading outfit. As I finished changing I heard pounding on my door. "One second!" I exclaimed before plugging in my hair dryer. The person continuned to pound on the door until I opened it. When I did in fact open the door I saw Kelly standing there, pouting, in her pajamas, with her hair all messed up. Raising a brow, I laughed as she looked me up and down only to notice that I had already showered and changed. "I'm quite literally last in line for the other bathrooms. Can I use yours?" She muttered. Laughing, I nodded and stepped aside to let her in. I closed the door beind her and locked it as Kelly walked into my bathroom.
"Tired?" I called out as I started to dry my hair. "Yeah!" Kelly called back as I heard the water turn on. With a smirk on my face, I yelled out, "Yeah, I can imagine making out with my brother and then not telling me can be quite exhausting!" Just as I had expected, Kelly didn't answer for at least five minutes as I continued to dry my hair. As I put on a different song I heard the bathroom door open. I turned around only to see Kelly standing there, the same way she had walked into my room ten minutes ago, biting her lip and looking as if she was about to cry. I turned the hairdryer off and placed it onto my dresser before turning around and looking at Kelly. It was quite for a few minutes before Kelly let out a long sigh before biting down onto her lip once more. "Chloe, I am SOOOOO sorry I didn't tell you. You know how much I like your brother and it just happened so fast! I meant to tell you but I just didn't know how you would react and I didn't want stress you out right before regionals. I was thinking about the right time to tell you but I couldn't come up with anything. Chloe, I'm sorry!" Kelly finally finished and bit down on her lip, looking up at me cautiously. For a second I didn't say a word, I only looked at her with a bemused expression on my face.
Taking a deep breath, I shook my head. "Kelly, sweetie, calm down. I really really don't care. I'm not mad. You know how much I want you and Adam to get together. I totally get that you didn't want to stress me out. Just don't be afraid to tell me anything, alright?" I said, grinning at Kelly. Kelly's eyebrows shot up and se smiled broadly before letting out a squeal and hugging me tightly. "Thanks so much Chloe!" She exclaimed before running off to the bathroom. I let out a small laugh and unplugged my hairdryer, plugging in the hair straightner instead. As I straightened my hair my eyes once more fell upon the calender on which I had circled the date for the Spring Fling. I sighed and blew my bangs out my face before turning away from the calender and looking into the mirror. I would worry about this after Regionals were over. Just as I finished straightening my hair and I had set down the straightner, Kelly stepped out of the bathroom. I smiled at Kelly and nodded towards the hair dryer before turning back towards my dresser to do my hair. Sighing, I picked up a red hairtye and tied up my hair before tying a red ribbon around my hair.
By the time I had finished my make-up Kelly had already finished changing and drying her hair, and was now in the process of straightening her hair. "I'm going to go downstairs and check on how the other girls are doing, kay?" I asked, raisng a brow. Kelly nodded her response and I turned around and walked out of my room. As soon as I stepped out of my room I was greeted by the sound of a few screaming cheerleaders. I laughed and shook my head as I watched Gina chase Hailey around with a stick of eyeliner. A few moments later, Rachel walked up to me holding a page of different colored stickers. She grinned at me before placing a blue and red star sticker onto my face. As she walked away I shook my head. The insanity on my squad sometimes shocked me. However, despite how insane I thought these girls were I loved them all to death. I stood out in the hall for another minute as the screaming quited down. That was a sure sign that almost everyone was finished getting ready. As I turned back around and walked into my room I was pleased to see that Kelly was already finished getting ready and she was getting her things together. I smiled and got out my touranment gym bag and began to throw things into it. Sighing, I reached under my bed and grabbed my pom-poms before throwing them into my gym bag. As Kelly hummed to the music I threw in the CD with our routine music on it, a few towels, water bottles, and some of my make-up incase of any touch-ups. As I zipped my gym bag up I grabbed my camera off of the dresser and turned to look at Kelly who had just finished packing up her gym bag as well. The two of us smiled at one another and nodded before linking our arms together and walking out of my room. As I stepped out into the hall I could hear chatter coming from downstairs. Kelly and I walked downstairs only to see thirteen of my best friends standing in my living room, all ready for Regionals. A smile came over my face as I clapped my hands to get their attention. The girls instantly stopped talking and looked over at me. Only when it was silent in the room did I notice that Zack and Adam were standing over in the corner. I raised a brow and gave both of them an odd look before looking back over to the squad.
I cleared my throat and let out a sigh before beginning to speak, "So guys, I know we all woke up really early and that it's kind of hard to be especially peppy when you're standing in my living room at 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday morning, but just so all of you know, I really appreciate the work you all have put in lately. So, today, let's just go out there, have a lot of fun, do our best and try and nail our routine because I knew we definitely can. Regardless of what place we get today, first, second, or fifteenth just know I've really enjoyed being your captain so far this year." I finished my little pep-talk only to hear a collective squeal from the girs before they all came up to me and hugged me tightly. I laughed lightly as I let them hug me, chastising myself for giving a sappy speech to a group of cheerleaders. After about five minutes of hugging and squealing I broke away from the girls hugging me and clapped my hands together, "Alright girls, let's head out. I'm sure the bus is here by now." As I said this, the girls all looked at one another and frowned in confusion. For the past couple of years we had always gotten the parents to drive us to the out of the city competitions. This year however, I had chartered a bus so that the entire squad could travel together. Going in small groups, I felt, always made me more nervous than if I were to travel with the entire squad. Laughing, I shook my head and pointed towards the door, "Go." I stated. All the girls laughed and shook their heads, they all knew how neurotic I was about my planning. As all the girls filed out of the living room I stayed behind to look around for a bit and to make sure I wasn't leaving anything behind.
"Coming?" I heard a voice ask from behind me. I picked up my gym bag off of the floor, slung it over my shoulder and turned around to see that Zack was leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets, hair falling itno his face, smiling at me. I laughed, "Yeah, I should probably get going or the girls are going to start getting anxious." I said walking towards the front door. "What are you and Adam going to do today?" I questioned as Zack and I stepped out of the house and onto the city street. When Zack didn't give me an immediate reply I frowned and looked up only to see him giving me an odd look. "What is it?" I asked with a light laugh as I locked the front door and dumped the key into my bag. As I turned away from the front door and began to walk towards the large chartered bus sitting in front of the house Zack let out a laugh. I pouted and looked up at him, "What is it?" I exclaimed. Zack laughed once more and shook his head, "What else would we be doing today?" He questioned, giving me a look before stepping up onto the bus. As I saw this, my eyes opened wide and I smiled broadly. I felt my heart beat wildly against my chest, and I let out a breath. Seeing the funny look that was bound to be on my face Zack laughed and held out his hand. I grabbed it and he helped me up onto the chartered bus. As I walked onto the bus, the girls let out a loud cheer and I laughed, brushing a strand of hair out o my face. "Everyone ready for this?" I exclaimed, only to recieve a loud cheer in return. Laughing, I shook my head and sat down next to Kelly. Sighing, I leaned against the seat and looked over at Kelly, who, not surprisingly, was giving me a funny look. "What?" I exclaimed. Kelly laughed and shook her head, "Nothing," She muttered before leaning back into her chair as the bus took off.
************
Two hours later and one sappy movie later, the bus pulled up to a large high school somewhere out in Long Island. As the bus stopped I stood up and peered at the school through the window. I could hear the girls chattering in the background but I couldn't quite understand what they were saying. My mind was simply going over the cheer routine over and over again. I was terrified that I would mess something up and cost the team a trip to State and subsequently, a trip to Nationals. The driver opened the bus doors and I took in a sharp breath before turning around and throwing my gym bag over my shoulder. Kelly grabbed my hand and the two of us walked out of the bus together. The squad assembled outside of the school and we all stood in a tight circle. I made a face at Betsy and Amanda before nodding towards the school and leading the squad into the large high school. As soon as we entered the school the smell of hairspray, perfume and athletic wear filled my nostrils. Pursing my lips, I looked around a bit and took in the sight. I had been to this same competition twice before, and yet, this time it all seemed a lot different to me. Biting my lip, I nodded as the registration desk came into view. "Go find an area, I'll be right there." I announced to the squad before striding over to the registration desk. I patiently waited behind a cheerleader in a green and white uniform. As I waited for her to register her squad I frowned a bit and tilted my head to the side, the uniform seemed strangely familiar.
"Hanover High School." The girl said as she walked up to the registration desk.
As soon as those words were out of her mouth, my face contorted into a frown and I pursed my lips. It was no wonder that the uniform had seemed to familiar to me. Hanover High School was our biggest rival in just about everything. We always played them at our homecoming games, and had beaten them four out of the last five years. We also always beat them in regards to cheerleading competitions. Last year they had been almost certain that they were going to get first place because they had packed their routine with a lot of difficult stunts, but they had been rather off with their precision so we beat them for first. I was sure that they were out for vengenance this year. As the girl finished registering she turned away to walk back to her squad when she noticed that I was standing right behind her. The girl wrinkled her nose, looked me up and down and pursed her lips. "Hello Chloe." She said, her voice full of distane. I raised both of my brows and thought for a second, "Hello Sharon." I replied in sickly-sweet voice before shooting her a sarcastic grin and walking forward to the registration desk. "Chambers High." I said sweetly to the lady sitting at the desk and waited patiently as she began to get our school's folder together. "That didn't seem all to friendly." A voice said from behind me. I raised a brow and smirked, without bothering to turn around. "Well, it never is with Hanover," I said calmly before looking over my shoulder to look at Zack. Zack merely laughed and shook his head before walking up to my side.
"Here you go dear." The woman at the front desk said warmly before handing me a manila folder with a few peices of papers in it. I smiled politely before beginning to walk away with Zack towards where the squad had assembeld. "I don't quite see what is so funny about that fact Zack." I teased, shaking my head. Zack merely laughed and shrugged his shoulders as we did our best to maneuver around dozens of running cheerleaders without crashing into one of them. As we neared the area where the squad had set up, I turned my head towards Zack and slightly frowned, "Not that I don't really like having you here, because I do, but what exactly are you doing at a cheerleading competition?" I questioned, raising a brow. Zack laughed lightly and stopped in his tracks as a bit of color crept up into his cheeks. I raised both of my brows and opened my eyes wide as I stopped as well. Zack shrugged his shoulders, "Well, despite the fact that I'm not too fond of this ridiculous, pom-pom waving, squealing activity..." At this, I merely rolled my eyes and allowed him to continue, "I do want to see how my little sister does and I want to make sure she doesn't break anything." As these words came out of his mouth, I nodded my head and plastered a smile on my face though I at the same time I felt my heart drop. "That's fair." I said, nodding my head and beginning to walk once more. Honestly, what had I been expecting? It made more than perfect sense that Zack wanted to see how Hannah did. Had I been expecting him to say he had come along to support me? I nearly scoffed at the idea. Zack and I had been friends for a little over a month, and too be quite honest, we had only started being friends a week into knowing one another. That first week we had known each other we had positively hated each other. Even after that we had, had our fair share of fights. Just because I was slightly confused about my feelings for him didn't mean that he had any doubts about considering me to be just a friend. "Besides," I heard Zack begin, "I kinda, maybe, sort of wanted to see you do awesome." He said, grinning as his hair fell into his face. Despite myself, I grinned broadly and bit down on my lip. I opened my mouth to say something when we reached the squad and I realized they were all looking at me expectingly. I frowned for a second before remembering the envelope I was holding in my hands. "Oh, right!" I exclaimed before shaking my head and opening the folder. "We're number twelve." I announced to the squad before handing our number off to Kelly. I took out the order of school peformences and scanned the list. I frowned when I saw that Hanover was assigned the slot right before us. "They would do that." I muttered to myself before closing the folder and stuffing it into my gym bag. Amanda rolled her eyes, "Don't worry about it, we'll be just fine!" She exclaimed, patting my shoulder before clapping her hands and directing us all towards the exercise mats.
********
"Come on, I want to go watch it!" I snapped as I dragged Amanda, Betsy and Kelly through the school towards the performance area. I was desperate to see Hanover's routine. "Chloe!" Amanda snapped as she tried to stop me, "What's the point in watching their routine? We already know what it's going to consist of...it's going to be flashy and loose. Just watching it is going to make you unnecessarily nervous." Amanda tried to reason as I maneuvered through the hundreds of people in the high school. "No matter." I snapped as I continued to walk, my lips pursed. I knew Amanda was right but for some reason I didn't really care. I just really wanted to see their routine. I wanted to know how tight our routine had to be in order to beat them. As I heard music beginning to pump through the speakers I quickened my pace and reached the on deck area. I poked my head around the corner and watched as the Hanover squad went about their routine. It was just as Amanda had predicted, they had a lot of flashy stunts and difficult tumbling sequences, but all of their moves were a bit loose. They had however, tightened up a bit. I scrunched up my nose as Sharon landed a particularly hard tumbling sequence. I let out a frustrated breath and turned away from watching. I was more than positive that if I watched anymore of the routine it would make me frustrated. "I'm going to get some air." I muttered to Kelly before walking out of the school. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a second. When I opened them back up I could see Zack standing a few yards away, hands in pocket, staring out. I frowned a bit and jogged over to where he was standing.
"Hey." I breathed, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. Hearing my voice, Zack raised a brow and turned to look at me. He smiled lightly, "Hey. You nervous?" He questioned, tilting his head to the side slightly. I shrugged my shoulders and turned my body outward, staring out as he had been just a minute ago. "I bit." I lied. In all honestly, I was nervous beyond belief. I was terrified that I would screw up one of my handsprings and cost the team a trip to State. Zack sighed and put an arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side for a moment. I felt my cheeks turn bright red and he hugged me. I returned the hug and as we pulled away from one another, Zack looked down at me and grinned, "You'll do just fine, I know it." I drew in a sharp breath and nodded, "Thanks." I said with a nod of my head and I turned away to look back out at the street. I bit down on my lip as I admitted to myself that I had actually fallen for Zack over this past month. I almost scoffed at myself before letting out a sigh. If someone looked at the two of us right now, standing side by side, they would never guess that I had fallen for him. We were such polar opposites that it was nearly laughable, the idea of the two of us dating.
"I should probably head in so the squad doesn't freak out." I muttered after a few minutes. Zack nodded and the two of us began to head back into the school. As soon as I walked through the doors, I was attacked by the squad. "We're on in two minutes!" Betsy screeched as Amanda thrust my pom poms into my hands and dragged me away. I glanced over my shoulder to look at Zack who flashed me a smile and gave me a hands up before walking off to take a seat in the bleachers. With my heart pounding against my chest I followed the squad out onto the performance mat. I drew in a sharp breath as we all took our spots. I ran my eyes around the gymnasium and took in the hundreds of faces sitting in the bleachers. I frowned and squinted my eyes as I tried to find the two boys I was looking for. A minute later my eyes finally landed on both Adam and on Zack. Amongst all of the preppy cheerleaders, cheer moms and dads and JV cheerleaders here to cheer their varisty on, Zack and Adam looked so out of place. The sight of those two sitting there made me laugh and I smiled broadly before getting into position. As I waited for the music to start I could feel my heart pounding, my breath quickening, my hands getting clamy and my stomach churning. I heard the first guitar chords and my stomach churned before I heard the que and the routine began.
It was the longest, most exhilirating, most traumatic four minutes of my life, but I enjoyed every second of it. Every handspring, every basket toss and every back tuck was carried out with the same precision we had practiced the day before in the Chambers High gym. I couldn't have been happier with the way we had all carried out the routine. As the music came to an end and every last tumbling sequence ended I gripped my pom-poms tightly in my hands and smiled broadly as the squad all circled around me. We all let out a few high-pitched squeals of delight before trotting off of the performance mat in order to wait for our results. "That was amazing!" Amanda squealed as she hugged me tightly. I laughed lightly and returned the hug before the entire squad formced one giant hug. The speakers crackled for a second and we all drew in a sharp breath as we realized that they were about to announce our score. "And it's a 9.8 for Chambers!" For a moment none of us realized what had just happened. However, once we let it sink it we all let out a high pitched squeal, hugged one another, and jumped up and down. A 9.8 was as close to perfect as we could have hoped for. Even if another team had a better score, we were guaranteed a spot in the top 5, and thus, a spot at State. "I'm so proud of all of you!" I exclaimed as I clapped my hands together and leaned over and hugged Hannah. The squad all let out a collective "awww" and I laughed, "Don't get all sappy on me now." I mumbled before they all lurched forward and grabbed me into a group hug. Once I got free I brushed my bangs out of my face and breathed, "I'm going to go find Adam," I said with a laugh before turning away from the squad. A barely had to walk 8 feet until I crashed right into my brother. "Hey!" I exclaimed happily. Adam smiled broadly and ruffled my hair. "You did great Chloe. Congrats." Adam said, flashing me a genuine smile before giving me a tight, long, brotherly hug. I smiled and patted Adam on the back. Despite all of our differences, the two of us were extremely close. "Thanks so much." I said as the two of us seperated. I glanced over his shoulder and frowned momentarily when I noticed Zack wasn't with him. "I'll be right back, kay? Go chill with Kelly." I teased Adam, causing him to go bright red before I walked off to find Zack. With a smile on my face, I set off to find Zack. Today was a good day.
As I rounded the corner, however, my mood substantially dampered. Standing off to the side was no one else but Lila...and she just so happened to be talking to Zack. I stopped in my tracks and gripped my pom-poms tightly. What the heck was she doing here? I looked around for a bit just to make sure that I was not dreaming it up that I was at a cheerleading competition. I blinked a few times and then turned my head back around. As I did I felt my breath lodge in my throat and my eyes open wide in complete and utter shock when I saw Lila's lips pressed up against Zack's. My heart leapt into my throat and my hands became clammy. Today was a shitty day.
