Wild Girl (Aston Creek High 3)

Who would have known that being in love with someone would have been so damn frustrating? Don’t get me wrong, it certainly has its benefits but there are other times where all I want to do is strangle him. Times like now as he smirks at me from across the court, knowing I can’t resist watching him play while every fiber in my body desperately wants to be mad at him. God, I’d do anything to be able to wipe that smirk off his face right now. He drives me insane.

The game finally comes to half time and the two teams go to their separate ends of the court while the cheer team takes center stage to shake their asses for the crowd.

Nessa rests back into her seat. She’s a huge basketball fan. Scratch that, she’s a huge Damian fan and every time he was on the court, she was sitting a little straighter, screaming a little louder, and smiling so much wider.

“The boys are on fire, don’t you think?” she says, needing the halftime break just as much as the boys do. If she was to keep going, she’d probably lose her voice and then who would annoy me with constant pestering and snide comments?

At her mention of the boys, I can’t help but slice my eyes across to them. Slade stands by his coach’s side as the other guys take up every available bit of space on the bench, each with a bottle of water in their hands, dripping with sweat.

As if sensing my gaze on him, Slade looks my way and I instantly roll my eyes, earning myself a sexy as sin smirk. God, why does he have to look so damn good? Especially in that uniform with his arms on display. He’s my weakness. I feel my will crumbling.

I must not look at the sexy boy. I must remain mad.

Before I can get a response back to Nessa, the cheer team start their routine and something has me glancing their way and paying attention to them for the first time all night.

They all wear cheap, blonde wigs with black crops and high waisted jean shorts. Usually, I’d think nothing of it but the way Rachel stands front and center with her stare locked heavily on mine tells me I should be preparing myself for war.

I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Every single reason why I need to be mad at Slade flies from my head as I suddenly have a new target. My eyes narrow as she prances around, shaking her ass cheeks that hang out the bottom of her shorts. So far, there’s nothing to be threatened by, just a shitty outfit that I’m assuming is supposed to be a mimic of me.

They finish off their little dance and just as I go to let out a breath, Rachel smirks and her team begins scattering around and getting themselves into position with props as though they’re about to perform some sort of skit.

A girl walks out into the middle of the court with the eyes of the whole gymnasium on her, though what really catches my attention is my name painted across her chest in a deep red paint. My gut is screaming that this is going to be some sort of attack on me and my hands ball into fists at my side as Nessa watches them with the same cautiousness.

It’s not the first time the cheer team has performed a skit. They do this quite a bit but I’m damn sure it’ll be the first time they’ve attacked a student while doing it.

Something tells me that this is going to be humiliating. I mean, she wouldn’t go to the effort of getting matching outfits and cheap wigs if they didn’t plan on making a splash.

The skit starts and it instantly catches the attention of both teams as mine and Slade’s relationship starts playing out. They keep it quick and briefly skim over everything knowing they only have a certain amount of time before the boys start their third quarter.

I feel Slade’s stare burning into my skin but I refuse to look away from the trainwreck before me as the cheer team tries to humiliate me. There are reminders of how Slade used to disregard me, how I crumbled and told the world about my parents’ murder, and then how my little brother drunkenly admitted to the world that I’d been raped, though the way the cheer team laughs over it is almost as though they’re accusing me of making it all up.

Their timeline is completely fucked up and to be honest, even though they’re attempting to destroy me, I find it somewhat entertaining. Am I that much of a threat to them that they need to go to these lengths to try and put me down?