Chapter 12

A day before yesterday, Reed asked me out and I haven’t given him an answer yet; I haven’t texted him, cause I couldn’t come up with anything. I didn’t want to say no but saying yes seems wrong. After their practice, I bid my goodbye and quickly drove home. I told them that I wasn’t feeling well and needed to go home immediately.

Yes, it was because of Reed who just asked me out, and also it was because of Lucy. When I found out that she likes me, I was feeling something in my chest and there’s like butterflies in my stomach. I shouldn’t be feeling this, but I am. What’s even worst? I don’t know what I’m feeling right now. I can’t explain it and it’s confusing me. And to top that all of, when I slept I had a dream about her. We were at the park and we kissed, it wasn’t a nightmare but it definitely scared me.

Today was the first day of the sports competition. People from different schools were going inside the gymnasium to watch the cheerleaders perform. Everyone was excited, Lexi and I were sitting in the middle while other people were still looking for a place to sit. It’s also Lexi and Kayla’s anniversary today and they have to go right away after the competition because they made a reservation at a five-star restaurant and couldn’t be late, since 5 pm was the only time available for today. That also means, I’ll be giving Lucy a ride home and I can’t avoid her anymore. I’ve been avoiding her since a day ago and whenever she texts me, I just tell her that I wasn’t feeling well. I’m sure that she doesn’t believe me, but she never asked what was wrong.

“There they are!” Lexi pointed out the girls who were lining up to start their cheer.

The girls got into their positions and when the horn blasted they start to do their routine. People were cheering and howling as Olivia was thrown into the air and was caught by the other girls. It’s like you’re watching Bring It On, that’s how good they were. Kayla and Lucy climbed over the top and raised their hands with a grin on their faces. Kayla spotted Lexi and her grin grew wider, Lucy saw me and that made my heart skip a beat. Instead of avoiding her, I smiled a bit and waved to her, making her smile even wider. After that, I avoided eye contact with her for the rest of their performance. 

Their performance was amazing, they got everything right and did it perfectly. After them, the other school, Golden Park was up.  Their outfits were a bit the same as Rosewood’s, but our color was black and orange, while theirs was blue and white.

They started with a song type of cheer, lights were turned off and I heard some people snickering, Including Lexi.

“Boring,” She faked a yawn.

I nudged her with my elbow. “Don’t be so rude,”

“What? It’s true,” I rolled my eyes and the lights were turned back on. 

Their cheer was good but Rosewood’s was better. No doubt, we’re going to win. I just know it. And just like that,

We won.

People went wild, standing up from their seats with a grin on their faces.  My best friend ran up to her girlfriend and gave her a bone-crushing hug, and as for me, I just stayed where I was. If I wasn’t awkward and uncomfortable, I would’ve ran and hugged Lucy and the others too, but I didn’t want them to see what’s wrong with me.

What is wrong with me?

“Congratulations, Kay!” I said, giving her a hug as they approached me.

“Thank you, Amber!”

“Are you guys gonna go now?” I asked, remembering their date.

They both nodded at the same time. “We’ve been planning to go there and they’re always packed. They only had 2 reservations left, 2 pm and 5 pm. Of course, we took the 5 pm slot,”

“You guys have fun, alright?” I gave them each a hug. Knowing that I’ll be left alone with Lucy, my hands started to sweat.

“We will. Have fun with Lucy too, okay?” Kayla winked.

I rolled my eyes, playing along. But deep inside, I was very nervous and I was already shaking. I rocked my feet back and forth just to hide my nervousness. While waiting for Lucy, my eyes roamed around and observed what other people were doing. They were still hugging and celebrating our victory, happy tears were coming out from their eyes. Then I spotted Reed a few feet away from me, and it made my heart pound more, so close to hyperventilating. I haven’t gotten an answer, and he might ask me about it, so I sped up toward Lucy and I was greeted with a smile that sent a warm feeling to my stomach.

“Hey, Amber!” I flinched at her voice and the way she said my name. It was beautiful coming from her mouth, okay? I was scared of how much impact it has on me.

More specifically, I was scared of what I’m feeling towards this girl.

Maybe I just wasn’t used to being friends with the queen bee of our school. Yeah, that must be it! I checked behind me if Reed was still in his place, but he was much closer to us. Eyes widened, I grabbed Lucy’s bag and grabbed her hand and dragged her with me as fast as I could.

“Amber, what is going on?” She said, looking more amused than confused.

“I’m avoiding someone,” I admitted, stopping in my tracks as she stopped too.

“Who?” She eyed me like she’s ready to face that someone.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” I said calmly.

“Are you okay though?” She held my hand again, sending a jolt through my body. It did make me jump, and her face turned into a curious one. “Okay, what’s going on with you? You seem jumpy,”

“Me? It’s just my usual self,” I lied.

She shook her head. “I know you. You’re not always like this,”

“Can we just go? The person I’m avoiding might find me here and I’ll be damned,” I pleaded.

“In that case, we should probably go,” Now she’s the one who’s leading us to my car, not letting go of my sweaty hand.

My hands gripped the steering wheel so firm, that my knuckles turned white. I’m all tensed up, while the girl next to me was wiping her sweat with a towel. For some reason, I watched her from the corners of my eyes. Her feet were on the dashboard, her thigh-length skirt rose a bit higher on her legs. Her exposed stomach was glossy due to her sweat, beads of sweat were dripping down her neck. She tilted her head to the right, giving me more access to her neck as she wiped it with the towel.

I gulped, my chest was heaving heavily. I felt butterflies in my stomach, and it’s not good. I couldn’t even think straight!

“You’re staring, because?” She spoke.

I jumped in my seat. “I wasn’t staring-” I looked at her feet. “Can you put your feet down?”

“Why? Are my legs bothering you?” She raised an eyebrow.

Yes. “N-no.”

“Then there’s no reason for me to put it down.” She smirked, continuing to dry herself.

Why am I feeling weird? Why am I feeling nervous around her?

I like men. Paul Walker, Channing Tatum, Cole Sprouse, Hugh Jackman. Yup. I love them. I love men. But then there’s also Sandra Bullock, Anna Kendrick, Kristen Bell, Karen Gillian. I love those women too. A straight girl can be attracted to men and women, right? I mean, they’re celebrities. Totally fine. 

But why am I attracted to this girl seating beside me?

“Fuck.” I whispered to myself.

“Here? I don’t think car sex is comfy,” Lucy thought out loud.

My heart went ballistic. It felt like it’s gonna jump out of my chest. “Lucy.”

“Kidding!” She laughed.

I tapped my fingers on the wheel. I couldn’t contain myself and couldn’t hide it anymore and this got Lucy’s attention.

“I am deeply worried, babe,”

I snapped my head to her and it hurt. “Babe?!”

“Yes. Would you prefer me to say honey bee?” She asked.

“Amber will do,”

“Seriously, Amber. What’s going with you? You’re so nervous and you’re sweating,” She wiped a drop of sweat off from my temple. I shuddered from her touch.

“Fine. I’m totally fine,” I lied as my voice cracked

“One of the things I like about you is that you’re a bad liar,” She smiled.

“I just… I just want to go home,” It’s a lie and also a little bit true. I really wanted to go home.

She didn’t push her questions anymore. “We can just go to your house and I’ll walk from there to my house,”

I shook my head. “You’re tired and I’ll be fine,”

She took my hand that’s resting on the transmission. But instead of jumping, it comforted me. It did make me relax a bit. “Whatever’s bothering you, you’ll be okay, Amber. I’ll be here if you need anything.”

After I dropped her off her house, she blew a flying kiss my way and I crushed it with my palm. I think I know what I’m feeling, but I was scared to confirm it.

I took my phone out and dialed a number. Seconds later, a voice spoke, “Hello?”

“Hey, Reed,”

“Amber, hey! What’s up?”

“I was just thinking about what you asked me before… When are you free?”