The entire Christmas break, I did nothing but mope around the house. I eventually talked with Avery and told him that Aiden and I got into a huge fight over Leah, that his dating her has been causing issues for our cheer squad and the fight was big enough to cause a falling out between us, but I wanted to reassure him that it shouldn’t affect his relationship with Aiden. It was more time for me to branch off from the two of them. They were always my only friends when I was growing up, but they both didn’t have much longer left of school and they would be going off to start their football careers. I still had 2 and a half years left, I needed to make my own circle of friends and rediscover who I really was, whoever that was outside of my brother and his best friend. I knew there was a girly side of me that I had always wanted to tap into, and now was the chance since I was no longer surrounded by dudes all the time. I tried over the winter break to experiment with my style and get ri
“I’m sorry to suddenly bring you here, Miss Parks,” the Dean said. I was sitting in his rather small office in an uncomfortable leather chair and wondered what in the hell I did to get called to his office. “It was brought to my attention over the Winter Break that there has been some harassment and bullying within the cheer squad. Today, we are putting an end to that, starting with the suspension of Leah Palmer and dismissal of her captain position. Now, I understand that this position is something that is agreed upon by the members, but with one semester left of the school season, I believe your team is in desperate need of a captain.” My blood froze over in my veins. “Are you asking me to be cheer captain?” What was he talking about harassment and bullying? Sure, she was unbearable to work under, but Leah never really bullied anyone to the extent of being suspended. What the hell was going on? Was he really not going to tell me anything? I wondered, but there was no use asking
2 Years Later… “Go, San Marco, Go!” I cheered as loud as I could, but I could feel my voice becoming hoarse. This was the last game of the semester, and then I was off to live the dream. What dream was that? I had no idea. It had been 2 years since Aiden, and I resolved our differences and had been the greatest ever since. He finished his secondary schooling and was drafted into the junior league football team right away. This year was his first year as the draft pick and I wanted to get on the same cheer team as his team. But the chances of that were one in a million. It was my last year and not a single scout had noticed me, even as the cheer captain. Aiden kept reassuring me that it would happen, I just had to keep being the best that I was. But the past year had been draining to me and it felt like it was all for nothing. If I wasn’t scouted, the next best option would be to interview for different teams, but that was another long road of rejection. I didn’t think my little h
1 Year Later... Day of the Wedding Today was the day, all my dreams were coming true. I was about to marry my best friend and the love of my life. We had been through so much together in life, from growing up with each other to all the secrecy and suffering that finally led us to this day. I was remembering the day he proposed to me while I gazed at myself in the floor-length mirror in the whitest gown, it was almost blinding. I laughed several times when I saw how white it was, knowing that I was the furthest thing from 'pure' at that moment, especially with the bedroom activities Aiden and I had finally got up to once we rekindled 3 years ago. The door burst open and the twins rushed in, dressed perfectly and looking like angels in their bridesmaids' dresses. "We got it," Kendra said. "Finally," Kinsley grumbled and held up my veil. "Jeez, what took them so long with it? It's such a simple design." I laid out the veil and looked at the large Dallas Cowboys star stitched into
“Rylee is that the last of the boxes?” my mother called up the stairs. I jumped on my suitcase one more time in an attempt to close it. “I just have one more suitcase, Mom,” I said and continued to struggle. “Oh, honey,” my mother laughed. “Have I taught you nothing over holidays? You have to do it like this.” She sat down on the suitcase and pushed everything inside before she zipped it shut with ease. “I don’t think I weigh enough; I wasn’t blessed with the family height sadly.” “That hasn’t stopped you from getting into San Marco for JV Cheerleading. I thought you would be over the moon right now, and you’ll finally get to join your brother and Aiden.” My heart stopped at the mention of my childhood crush, the boy I could very well call another brother from a different mother. Our family has known the Reed family since before my brother and I were even a thought. My mother and Aiden's mother were best friends in high school and were on the same cheer team at University. They
“So, how did your Mom take the move this morning?” Aiden asked into the silence of his truck. “Just like Avery, she couldn’t wait to get me out the door,” I chuckled, but it came out a lot more forced than I wanted it to. “She’s just excited that you’re following in her footsteps. My Mom used to always say that you were the daughter she always wanted.” Just another reminder that I was nothing more than a little sister in his eyes. I forced another smile. “What time is the party tonight?” “Just text me whenever you guys are ready, and I’ll come and get you. Avery is going to be busy setting up for the party.” “Okay, thanks for the ride back, Aiden. I’ll see you tonight,” I said and hurried to get out of the truck. My heart pounded the entire way to my dorm room. This was how it always was when I was around Aiden. I can never control my feelings and my emotions are all over the place. This was supposed to be my year to start anew, but I wildly underestimated how much I thought I
Jake and I moved back onto the deck and sat down. “You have a lot of guts showing up to a San Marco frat party. I guess I can assume you and your friends are also on the Jacksonville State football team, right?” He slapped a hand to his chest in fake surprise. “How did you guess?” I chuckled. “Well, I should warn you now, my brother is captain of the San Marco Tigers, and I start my first year as a JV cheerleader this year for that exact team.” “Then this must be my lucky day.” “Oh, how so?” I was barely in my drinks, but I already felt the liquid courage coursing through my veins as the flirtatious conversation flowed between us. “I was hoping I’d get more excuses to see you, and it turns out I’ll get to see you at every game with San Marco. I used to dread those, now I’ll have something to look forward to.” He flashed me a cocky grin but for some reason it made me laugh rather than gag. “Wow, you really are the sweet talker.” He leaned a little closer. “It’s pretty easy when
When I woke up the next morning I was so disoriented I nearly forgot where I was. A look at the familiar décor reminded me that I crashed in Aiden’s room last night and looked down to confirm with the shirt I was wearing. I looked around the room and didn’t spot him anywhere, my guess was he successfully crashed in Avery’s room, and he was somewhere asleep downstairs or in the yard. I let out a loud yawn and trudged out of bed to grab my clothes from the bathroom and get changed, but I decided to keep Aiden’s shirt on and tucked it into my jeans. The smell of eggs and bacon greeted me as I walked down the stairs and I found Aiden in the kitchen cooking up a storm. “You’re up early. Where is everyone else?” I asked and took a seat at the island counter. Aiden just pointed over his shoulder with the spatula toward the living room. Sprawled out on both couches and the ground were Avery, Carter, and Noah. None of them made it to their rooms it seemed. “Sucks to be them, they’re going