My squads crowd the bathroom. While a few are on their phones, I and the others are touching up our makeup."Our cheering video has already garnered 5 million views on Instagram," Sookie jumps excitedly."Let me see." I close the lid on my red lipstick right after kissing myself in the mirror.Sookie hands me her phone, and I look at it."2 million in 1 hour is poor," I say disappointingly, giving her phone back."Well, it's still good, though." Sookie is content with the video's performance."Whatever," I re-checked the lipstick on my lips, making sure it was okay.My personal Instagram account had acquired more than 5 million views in 1 hour for just showing my feet. I expect our cheering videos to do more.A nobody entered the bathroom, and I glared at her. She nervously halts at the door, staring back at me."I really need to pee," she said, her voice trembling with nervousness."Like, I care." "Go and use the boy's bathroom or the janitor one," I command, and immediately she goes
Knowing his heart belongs to someone else, it hurts whenever I see Nate at school.I struggle not to stare at him whenever he's going into his locker or walking the corridor. It's not good for me; every moment of his presence feels like a pinch to the heart.As I see Nate coming my way, I head to the bathroom, fighting every ounce of desire in my body not to look at him. With every attention I give him, I fall deeper in love with him. It will be impossible to climb from such depths.Loving someone so much and knowing there's no chance of him ever loving you back is unhealthy for the heart.As I'm walking to the mirror to fix my hair, I see the reflection of Samantha exiting the bathroom stall. We both stop staring at each image in the mirror. Samantha goes to wash her hands at the far end of the bathroom countertop. Sadly, I'm still staring at her."I miss you, Samantha," I sob. She's washing her hands as if she doesn't hear me."Please say something to me." I'm crying even more."Sa
I'm leaving biology class when I feel a grasp around my wrist, and my head turns to see Nate's hand holding mine.He leads me into an empty classroom."Why did you agree to go on a date with Lucas when I warned you about him?" As he releases my hand, he inquires.I'm trying not to smile at his overly concerned expression, so I bite the inside of my lower lip, stopping myself from smiling."I'm a big girl, Nate. I can take care of myself," I say, trying to make him even more jealous."Lucas has a sex video of every girl he sleeps around with that he shows as entertainment to his friend, and I don't want you to be one of his sick videos as well." Nate reveals.I'm still not changing my mind about going on a date with Lucas after hearing about his sick videos.Nate calls my name "Jaylee" as he places my hand in his palm, and my body feels like a lit candle, melting slowly with his flaming touch.I'm softening in his hand as he calls my name again, "Jaylee, I know you're a virgin, and I w
At cheerleading practice, I can't stop staring at the scarf around Amber's neck, knowing what she's hiding.At the end of the practice, I'm leaving. Amber calls me on one side.She says, "I know you saw my wound yesterday," leaving me speechless."I swear I wasn't spying on you. I thought it was Sophia using the bathroom, and I-"Trying to explain myself, Amber stops me. She then checks to ensure we are alone before responding to me."No one shall know about this," she warns.I nod."Is Lucas the one who hurt you?" Eager to know who gave her the scar, I ask as she's leaving."That's none of your business, and if you ever question me about my personal life anymore, I swear, I will have you kicked out of this squad." "Got it." She quickly returns to me and speaks.I nod fearfully.Amber walked, angry, from the gym and slammed the door, and I wish I didn't care about what happened to her.As I'm leaving the gym, Nate walks past me, going down the hallway. He holds his head straight, and
My phone rings as I throw myself backward onto the bed. Seeing that Travis is calling me, I immediately sit up.Travis is the swim team co-captain from my previous school, Cavalier High. He's also my best friend. We haven't talked since I left Canada for Richmond, America.I don't have the guts to speak to him after joining a new swimming team.I watch the phone as it rings for the third time until I've garnered enough courage to answer it. I decide not to tell him I'm on the Effney High team yet."Hey, Travis," I answer."You're a sellout for swimming for our rival," Travis yells over the phone.I'm left speechless at how he found out."I thought you were better than teaming up with our rival Nate. But now I see that you're not.""How did you find out?" I say this as I rise to my feet."Your new school Facebook sport page."Immediately, I go for my laptop and search for the page, and I'm stunned to see a picture of me while training with a long paragraph of coach Brimworth bragging a
I'm at a nearby gas station, sitting on the hood of my car, drinking. As I'm halfway through the first beer I'd bought, Sophie, the HotShot cheerleader I remembered ripping Jaylee's clothes at Amber's party, comes up to me. She is holding a little girl's hand, and they both have a cone of ice cream.Sophia is still in her cheerleading gear. She is licking a strawberry-flavored ice cream, and the little girl is blueberry, I guess."Hey Nate," Sophia says as she stops to lick her ice cream and greet me.I nod, not in the mood to speak to anyone."I spot you from the glass window in the convenience store, and I thought it would be good to say hi to you since we both go to the same school."I stifle a smile at her move at flirting with me. I know she likes me; Jaylee told me so. I remembered she attacked Jaylee at the party because she believes she and I are together.Seeing that I'm in no mood to talk, she says, "Well, see you around at school.""Yeah," I say.I wave back at the little g
As Nate drives off, I'm jumping in the hallway that I had his number. We've exchanged numbers before he left. I stand, staring at his contact number on my phone. I could not wait to go out with him tomorrow.A few minutes later, I receive a notification from Instagram stating that my newly added contact is on Instagram. Immediately, I open the notification, and it takes me to Nate's profile. I walked to my room, admiring his profile picture. Shirtless picture of him, with one hand running through his wavy black hair and the other holding the phone while he faces a mirror in the bathroom. He's so hot that I lay in bed, staring at it for a long while, before searching for more pictures on his profile.I'm surprised to see only pictures of him and none of his girlfriends, leaving me with the realization that Jaylee had lied to me. I feel foolish for ever trusting Jaylee; I should have realized at Amber's party that she was not to be trusted. I should have known it was another of her plan
I'm in bed crying. I feel so stupid forever believing that Nate was interested in me, and the saddest thing is that, though he made it clear that he'd never be interested in me, I love him more.Placing my face on his handkerchief. His handkerchief was soaking up my tears.I hear a knock on my door."Jaylee, are you okay?" When my mother speaks, I stop crying.I say nothing, wanting her to go away."You haven't left your room since you came from school. So, I'm just checking on you."Irritated, I yell back, "Go away, mom. Just leave me alone."Angrily, she yells back, "When will you ever forgive me for not allowing you to go to Amber's party?"I roll my eyes at how clueless she is about everything."Fine, keep locking yourself in your room; at least I won't have to deal with your stupid behavior."I'm so enraged by her words that I sit up and shout, "Great. I too won't feel as if I'm suffocating around you, because every moment around you feels as if I am."I hear angry feet walking b