My Boyfriend's Girlfriend

thirteen

"Come on, Barties! Let's go!"

The cheer team was lined up, waiting for the last three minutes of the second quarter to finish, so we could bust out our half time routine. Most of us, myself included, loved the thrill of the sport. But some only loved how it made them look. And even though it was a chilled 40 degrees out, we all had our legs on full display, ready for the routine. I, for one, couldn't wait to put my sweatpants back on over the cheer skort.

My nerves were settling in as I looked at the timer on the scoreboard. We had less than two and a half minutes to go, and Tessa, who had been sitting directly above me all night, hadn't said a word or done anything to get Danny's attention yet. Honestly, I had absolutely no idea what she had planned, or if she was just going to hope he saw her when he looked at me. So far, he hadn't even looked in my direction once. There were scouts here from all over, and whether he had his plan or not, he still wanted to impress any and all competition. He liked to make himself memorable.

A part of me wanted her to not say anything, to not screw the game up for Barton. And I couldn't lie, it was a big part of me. As much as Danny infuriated me, the rest of the team did nothing to deserve a loss. I had but almost all of my nails down out of anxiety, ruining my nail tech's beautiful work.

"Has she told you what her plan is?"

Stacy walked up to me, her eyes on Tessa in the bleachers above. Tessa caught our gaze and grinned widely. "How is she so frickin' cool?" Stacy laughed, and shook her head. I quickly scanned the field to make sure Danny hadn't seen our little encounter. My worry dissipated slightly as I saw him mid-play. It was dark out, I had to remind myself, and there was hardly a chance of him seeing anyone in the bleachers, even if their faces were illuminated by the field lights.

I looked up at the scoreboard again, and watched the seconds flick by, agonizingly slowly. We had another minute and forty two seconds before halftime, and every second that passed was another chance for Tessa to do something to get Danny's attention. Would she scream his name? Would she stand by the locker room door at the half? My stomach was in knots just thinking about it. I'd feel awful if Barton lost simply because of Danny's actions.

I was ripped from my thoughts suddenly when the timer buzzed, signaling the end of the second quarter. Stacy shimmied up next to me, as we got in position to head out onto the track turf.

"I think I'm going to throw up." I muttered under my breath. Stacy elbowed me in the side and shushed me.

"With that attitude, absolutely." She rolled her eyes playfully. I stuck my tongue out at her, but stopped abruptly when I noticed her eyes widen while looking out at the field. My heart sped up as I turned around to search for Danny.

He was standing with some of the other guys on the sideline, and they were grabbing their water bottles and things to head for the locker room. Danny, however, was standing frozen in place, his eyes focused on the Barton student section. His mouth was agape for only a split second, before his gaze scoured the cheer line for me. He flashed me a million-dollar smile that would've won me over just a few weeks ago, but now just made my stomach churn. I watched him as he anxiously wiped at his forehead and shook his head in disbelief. He turned on his feet and kicked at the ground in what I could only imagine was frustration, before following his teammates out.

I waited to see if he'd turn around and look back at Tessa, or look at me, anything. I wondered if he'd apologize to Tessa later, maybe call or text her. When he didn't turn around, I let the breath I was holding onto out slowly. I felt my shoulders collapse on the exhale, letting a little bit of stress go.