“S-P-I-R-I-T. Spirit! Let’s hear it!”
I threw up my pom poms in the air before falling back on my bed, defeated. I sounded like I hadn’t an ounce of spirit. I was at risk of losing my spot on the cheer squad.
And all because I couldn’t get Jason out of my head. We’d been together since I was sixteen, but after I left for college, he decided to move to L.A. to try to make it as a rock star. It didn’t take long after that for me to find out he was cheating on me.
And so now my S-P-I-R-I-T was more like S-U-C-K-Y.
I stared up at the roof of my bedroom, my hands resting on my stomach.
“Come on, Britney,” I sighed at myself, standing up and looking in the mirror, over the red and white of my cheer uniform. The skirt was short, making my long legs look even longer, beautifully tanned over the summer. Little white bobby socks and tennis shoes on my feet, my stomach bared by the top. The worst part about the cheer uniform was that it always made me look flat. It made everyone look flat, but me especially.
It was the one thing I hated about my body.
But at least I looked good in the uniform. I just had to get through one night without thinking of my ex. Just cheering my lit
tle heart out for the Stallions.
That was all.
The energy of the night had finally infected me. Being surrounded by fifteen women with energy to burn, and a team of burly football players grunting and showing off wasn’t all bad. In fact, by the time the game was finally over, I was disappointed.
“You coming to the after party?” Suzie asked me. She’s my best friend, and the person who had to hear all about how Jason broke my heart. She was convinced that all I needed was a rebound guy, but honestly, I didn’t want to tell her the real reason Jason broke up with me. Well, yea he was cheating, but that was my fault.
I was always waiting for the right time, and the right time never came with Jason.
So I was still a virgin.
If she knew that, she’d be even more desperate to get me laid.
“I don’t think so,” I said, though when Toby ran by me and gave me a smile that could melt ice, I wanted to. The idea of just finding someone else... it was enticing. But I wasn’t that type of girl.
“Come on, it’ll be good for you. Way better than sulking at home by yourself.”
She grabbed my arm, tugging upon it. “Hey! Toby! Can Britney and I hitch a ride with you to the after party?”
Toby stopped, looking between us, but his eyes lingered upon me. “Sure. Just let me grab a shower.”
Suzie smiled smugly at me, as if now there was no refusing her.
And, really, there wasn’t.
Toby’s hair was still a little damp by the time he hopped into the car to drive us to the party, but it looked good like that. Gone was his uniform, and instead he wore a simple white V-neck t-shirt that stretched around his bulging muscles and broad shoulders so tightly.
I got the front seat right next to him.
“Can’t wait to cut loose a little,” Toby said as he shifted gears, taking us on down the highway towards the party. “Been on coach’s strict health regimen for months now, I’m about to lose it!” he said, flashing me a big grin.
I smiled at him, though I was secretly hating and loving Suzie for forcing me to get out. Honestly, I needed some time to cut loose as well. I just hadn’t prepared, so while Suzie’d changed into a slinky black dress, I was still in my cheer uniform, and feeling a bit self-conscious of it.
“Yea, it’ll be great,” I said, immediately kicking myself for how boring I sounded.
Suzie cut in for me.
“Britney here is just dying to cut loose,” she said, reaching out and shaking my shoulder, prodding me along. “There’s only so long a gal can take watching you big muscleheads roll all over each other before she pops, y’know?” And with her bright lip-gloss she made the word pop too.
I was mortified, but Toby seemed amused by it, chuckling deeply as he reached over, shifted gears again.
“Hey, I can sympathize,” he remarked.