Chapter 34

We’d get to see our beautiful cheerleaders perform one last time.

The last sport that will be playing was football. Reed and his team were in the locker room while the cheerleaders were sitting below the bleachers, getting ready for their cheer. People were still arriving, occupying the available seats as they left a trail of their popcorns on the floor. Lexi and I sat in the middle, which is the perfect place to sit, getting a better view of everything. When you sit below, you’re too close to the field and you wouldn’t be able to see other people that were blocked by those in front. When you sit on top, you’re too far to figure out who’s who. So sitting in the middle, it was just the perfect place to see everything that’s going on.

The night sky was darker than it should be. It was a gloomy night and thunder could be heard every 10 minutes. It was definitely going to rain. I felt like something will go wrong, but my guts told me to stay positive and that everything will be fine. However, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling I have no matter what I do.

While waiting for the event to start, Kayla and Lucy were with us. We were comforting them with words to make them feel better and less anxious about their last performance. We all had this kind of moment. When something bad happened and you have to do it again, there’s this fear that grows in you, making you anxious and overthink that it would go badly like the last time did. I know how scary it was, to be scared of something you’ve done before and have to do it again. But what matters is, even if it did happen, it doesn’t mean it will happen all the time. Like when you feel like no one cares or loves you, you’ll be surprised that there’s one person who does or maybe even more. Like when you feel your new partner will hurt you like the last one did but turns out they love you much more and can’t even think about hurting you.

I think that’s the good thing when you’re overthinking. Eventually, there are some things that will prove you wrong and that things would be okay in the end.

“You’re gonna be just fine, Luce. You won’t make a mistake this time,” I reassured her, caressing her hands with my thumbs.

“How can you be so sure?” She bowed her head, playing with our intertwined hands.

“I trust my guts,” It wasn’t enough for her so I decided to speak again, “You’re an amazing cheerleader, Luce. Just because you made a mistake before, doesn’t mean you always will. You guys are going to kill your performance later.”

And that finally made her smile, I guess my answer this time satisfied her. “I’m so glad and thankful that you’re here. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” She cupped my cheeks and looked at me lovingly.

“You’d cry,” I grinned, laughing with her.

“I probably would,”

I poked her nose, “You got this.”

We invited Lena to watch the game with us, but she and her friends had to study for their exams tomorrow. I messaged Blaire this morning, asking her if she’s gonna watch the game as well. She replied back and said that she wasn’t going so I forced her to watch with us.

Speaking of Blaire, she stood out among the crowd below, her eyes were scanning all over the place, definitely searching for us. When our eyes met, a look of relief washed over her face, pushing her way out of the crowd. Lucy got up from her seat to give it to Blaire.

I was greeted with a hug. “I thought I’d get lost out here,” Blaire said,

I let out a chuckle, sitting back down and Lucy sitting on my lap, “Thanks for coming, Blaire.”

“Are you sure Reed will be surprised?”

“You said you haven’t been to any of his games, right? I’m sure, he’ll be really happy you came as well.”

Reed didn’t know that her sister was gonna watch the game. I forced her to come because I wanted her to see her brother play and see how good he was.

I told Lucy about this and surprisingly, she was okay with it. She even smiled at Blaire when she got here. Both of us were shocked to see Lucy being friendly with her. Was she jealous? No. Would I stop calling her Jealucy then? Absolutely not.

“Since all of you are too kind to save me a seat, I bought snacks for us,” She took out the burgers, fries, and popcorns from the paper bag, handing me and Lexi each our food.

“Thanks, Blaire,” Lexi smiled.

“I didn’t know you two knew each other,” Kayla said, taking a fry.

“We met on my date with Reed then we became close. She’s like the big sister I’ve always wanted,” I tapped Blaire’s shoulder.

“You sister-zoned me?!” She gasped.

This made Lucy snap in her direction, her jaw was clenched. I could feel her body tense under my touch. “You have a problem with that?!”

“Do you-“

“Yes,” My crush snapped.

Blaire began to cackle, leaving Lucy confused. “That’s why you’re called Jea-Lucy for a reason. Relax girl, I was just messing with you. Amber is like a little sister to me,”

My lips perked up when Lucy relaxed and slumped against my shoulder, snuggling her face in my neck as I kissed the top of her head. Their coach called out their names, motioning for the two to go to where the other cheerleaders are.

“Come on, you’re gonna do great, Luce,” I spoke, comforting her. The way her body trembled lightly, I could see how nervous she was, so I added, “Just think of me or look at me when you feel nervous,”

“Then it’ll be harder for me to focus. Why don’t you just give me a kiss as a goodluck charm?” Lucy smirked.

“There are people,” I scanned the place to see if anyone’s staring, but thank goodness, everyone was busy with their phones, “Just a quick peck, okay?”

There’s a glint in her eyes that’s telling me it’s not going to be a quick peck. She got a good grip of my face, slamming her lips on mine. I understood that some people don’t mind PDA, but I do.

She pulled away after a few seconds with a satisfied smile. She used her thumb to wipe the lipstick smudge. “Aren’t you adorable?”

I blushed under her gaze, muttering. “I guess,”

The three of us said ‘goodluck’ to the two cheerleaders, watching them run to their group. Before we know it, the place was already packed. People had their food and pom poms with them, some were cheering for our school, and some were cheering for the other school. It’s Rosewood vs Larrington. I’ve heard that Larrington’s football team was really good. They only have 2 loses all throughout this year.

The girls got into their positions, I looked over to Lucy who took a deep breath. Our eyes met and I gave her a confident smile, nodding at her. Her body let loose, the corners of her mouth went up. She counted off from 1 to 3 before they started moving. The crowd started to make some noise, hyping the girls up. Lucy did a- what the fuck! I didn’t know she can do a backflip! My mouth was wide opened. This girl wasn’t telling me stuff about her.

“I see why you like her. She’s good at cheerleading,” Blaire commented.

“She’s more than that. She’s good in everything. Except in cooking and shooting ducks,” I chuckled to myself.

“Shooting ducks?” Her brows furrowed.

“The game booth,”

“Ah.”

After their performance, the football teams made their entrance into the field. Their respective captains were called by the referee. Our team chose heads while the other chose tails. The referee flipped the coin, caught it in the air, and dropped it on his palm. He pointed to our team, tossing the ball to Reed. They went to their places, waiting for the referee’s whistle. When the whistle was blown, Reed passed the ball behind him and tackled the opponent in front of him on the ground. A dude was running to Reed’s direction but Reed was too fast and dodged him, making the guy fall on the ground. But the ball was now stolen from our team. The opponent ran to the other side as he dodged Rosewood’s team, earning a score.

As the game carried on, Larrington was winning so far. We were in the third quarter already and Rosewood was left behind. The scores were 26 and 8; seems like we still have a long way to go. Our team was trying to do their best, but I guess they weren’t trying enough like the other team was.

The sky released another grumbling sound, lightning appeared, lighting the whole place for a millisecond. When I went back to watch the players, I saw Reed lying on the ground, clutching his ankle in pain.

“What happened?” I asked Blaire.

“Number 5 pushed him too hard and caused him to twist his ankle in the process,”

Some of our team went to check Reed, but he got right back up on his feet. But it looked like he sprained his ankle as he’s limping on the way to the center.

“Yes! Kick their asses, Reed!” Blaire shouted.

“I hope he’s alright,” I’m really worried about Reed. My eyes followed him as they continued on with the game.

Blaire held my hand to comfort me instead of me comforting her. “He’s a strong guy, Amber. He strained his ankle before when he was using a treadmill. He kept going with a swollen ankle.”

“Wait, he tripped on the treadmill?”

“Yep,”

“Was the speed fast?”

“No…”

“How did he trip then?”

“I may have uh… Unplugged the cord,” She said sheepishly.

“Why did you unplug it?”

“I needed to curl my hair cause I was going to a party and I needed to get ready,”

My head snapped in her direction, jaw dropped. “Blaire!”

“He was fine! He even kept going,” She defended. I shook my head, chuckling at her.

They have to win this last quarter and take the championship. It’s been so long since we got the championship. It’s time to bring it back home.

Larrington has the ball. The referee blew the whistle and thus, the ball was passed to the person behind, but it quickly got stolen by Reed. The crowd cheered to see our team catching up. Reed was tackled but got ahold of the ball, passing it to Saviel. He ran as fast as he could to the goal and kicked the ball, flying past the vertical post, earning 2 points for us.

The boys gave him a hug, screaming as they congratulated him for scoring. As the game continued, more points were added to our team. It was nice to see them being so focused on the game, giving their all. Everyone could see how much they wanted to win this.

With the remaining time of 1 minute, our score was still lower compared to Larrington’s. Our score was 43 and their score was 45. We needed 3 more points to win, but with that short time? It was almost impossible. We were just hoping for the best.

The ball was now stolen by number 8 from us, tossing it to number 19. He was close to the goal and our hearts were beating so fast as the time ticked. Every second that passes by, our hearts seemed to beat faster. Damon, Reed’s best friend and teammate, got the ball from the opponent and ran like his life depended on it. People were now running to him, making him pass the ball to Reed. Reed who was limping a bit did his best to take the ball on the goal. With 3 seconds on the clock, number 8 tackled him from the back along with the others, causing them to burry the two underneath their bodies. And just like that, the buzzer went off.

We didn’t know where Reed and number 8 were, and the ball was nowhere to be seen. People slowly got up, lessening the pile of bodies. Reed was again, in pain; he clearly has the ball underneath him. But we weren’t sure if it went past the line.

Reed wasn’t moving that much so the referee was the one who moved him to check where the ball was. My hands found their way to Blaire’s as she gripped my hands too tight for my liking. But what’s even worse was that Lexi was digging her fingers into my arm. My attention wasn’t really focused on the pain but more on where the ball was.

The referee stepped aside and there it was. The ball was on the line. That means… Oh my god.

We won!