Shattered Ties(20)

“Are you ready, princess?” Jennifer asked sarcastically.

I liked it much better when Jesse had called me princess even if he was being sarcastic about it.

“Yeah, I’m ready when you are,” I replied, ignoring the iciness in her tone as I started stretching.

“Great. Everyone ready?” she shouted.

The girls nodded and prepared for the start of the routine. I grabbed the remote next to the CD player and hit play. As soon as I heard Nicki Minaj’s “Roman’s Revenge,” I relaxed my body and prepared to start. This was my thing. Cheering was everything to me, and I loved it. It was like breathing. I couldn’t live without it.

My eyes met Lucy’s, and off we went. We’d perfected this routine over the summer, and I could do it with my eyes closed. We both did two cartwheels that put us in front of the rest of the girls. I took a deep breath. We started off small with a toe touch jump, and then we did two more cartwheels past each other. Next, it was tuck, tuck, back up, get a running start, then an aerial, and end with a handspring. I. Loved. This.

We continued to do our stunts until we finished up our routine with two basket tosses. I was sweating, and my muscles were burning, but I loved it. I’d been cheering since I was three, and it was such a huge part of my life. Thankfully, my mom thought it was good for me to keep in shape, so she fully supported me.

“That was great!” I said to the rest of the girls.

They had all performed flawlessly. We were a hell of a team.

“Okay, let’s do it again, and then we’ll move on to the next routine!” Jennifer shouted from beside me.

We spent the rest of practice doing our routines over and over until we were sure that we had them. Even though it was Friday, our school didn’t have a game until the following week, so we decided to add an extra night to our practices for the week. When we were finished, I showered and pulled my hair back into a ponytail. I was nervous over the fact that Jesse was probably out in the parking lot already, waiting for me.

I waved good-bye to the team and left the gym. As soon as the parking lot was in view, I saw Jesse leaning up against his Jeep, waiting, just as I’d expected. My stomach churned nervously as I approached him. I wasn’t sure why I was so nervous, but I was. I wanted tonight to be perfect even if it wasn’t a date in his eyes.

“Hi,” I said awkwardly as I stopped in front of him.

“Hi back,” he said casually.

I wanted to kick him for being so at ease when I was a giant ball of nerves.

“You ready?” I asked.

“Sure. You want to take my car or yours?”

“It doesn’t matter to me,” I replied.

“Okay, we can take mine. This isn’t a date, but I can be a gentleman and all that crap.” He grinned, and that damn dimple appeared in his cheek.

“You’re off to a good start, talking like that,” I teased.

“Right? Anyway, hop in, and I’ll take us to grab some food.”

I walked past him and slid into the passenger seat of his Jeep. It was very strange to be in a car that didn’t have all the luxuries I was used to, but I kind of liked it. Life was boring when you had everything you wanted.

Jesse started the car and switched on the radio to some rock station. I found myself bopping my head to the song as he pulled out of the lot.

“Who is this?” I asked.

“Breaking the Hunger. They’re a really cool rock band from West Virginia. They just came onto the scene a few months ago, and I’m already a huge fan.”

“I don’t listen to rock, but I like this.”

“Whoa, wait a minute. You don’t listen to rock?” he asked incredulously.

“Nope. I usually listen to pop music. I like stuff that I can dance or cheer to.”

“So, you don’t listen to Linkin Park? Metallica? The Doors? Seether? All That Remains?”

I shook my head as he continued to name off bands. “Nope. I have no idea who any of those bands are, except Linkin Park. They play on the pop stations occasionally.”

“I’m not sure if I should feel sorry for you or kick you out of my Jeep at this point. You poor, sheltered child. How have you survived in this world without rock?”

“By being awesome?” I teased.

“I feel like I should educate you. You’ve missed out on so much, young one.”

“Hey, I’m not that young. I’ll be eighteen in a month. I’ll be legal and all that jazz.”

“Wait, in a month? When’s your birthday?”

“October third. Why?”

“You’ve got to be shitting me. We have the same birthday.”

I smiled from ear to ear. What are the odds? “That’s too funny. Will you be eighteen, too?”