39-cheer & karate


Lacey and I were currently getting ready for a cheer competition on this lovely Saturday morning. This was the last competition of the season and I was beyond ready for it to be over. I won't lie, cheer competitions were my least favorite part about cheering.


All of the make-up, hair dos and a can of hairspray for each one. I hated the big bows most of all. I always felt like a new born baby girl whose parents wanted everyone to know their kid was a girl. Every single time I have to put in these damn bows I always silently thank my mom for not putting them on my head when I was that little. Don't even get me started on the uniforms. I hated those as well. They were over the top, too sparkly, too showy, and too ugly. I preferred our regular uniforms. They were just as good.


The other cheerleaders were bitches. I walked past one girl who yelled at me for getting in her path of the "hairspray moment" that's what she called it, not me. Keep in mind this girl was about ten or eleven years old. Guarantee if I would have pushed her she would have broke from how skinny and tiny she was. She was definitely a flyer.


Nick, Logan and Catherine were in the audience. Lacey begged Logan to come, I told Nick he didn't have to sit through four hours of it but he chose to come anyways. Catherine was excited to see us at a competition, something about how she liked when we did those crazy flips. Yes, those flips we do are awesome but it hurts like hell when you don't dismount right.


When it was our turn to go out on to the floor I looked over to see Nick and the others sitting there. Logan looked bored out of his mind and Catherine had her phone ready to either take a video or a millions pictures. My guess was both. Nick noticed me and sent me one of his heart stop smiles and a wink. I told myself repeatedly not to mess up or get nervous.


I didn't get nervous but I did get dropped and let me tell you, it hurt. Luckily no bones were broke but I will be sore for a while. It wasn't my fault, one of the new girls lost her grip and I went falling to the ground. Needless to say we lost. But overall we came in third, so not too bad. I don't think anyone was upset, we were just thrilled it was over. The long and grueling practices had taken a toll on all of us and we were all done.


I was sitting down on one of the benches where all the cheerleaders got ready while Lacey was a gem and went to get all of our stuff packed up. I changed immediately after the doctor gave me the all clear. I was happy to out of that uniform. So happy I was even considering burning it.


"Taylor!" I hear Catherine squeal and run up to give me a hug. I couldn't help but wince in pain. Ouch.


"Hey." I groan.


"Oh. Sorry. You okay?" She asks me when she lets go.


I sigh now that the pressure of her arms around me is gone, "Yeah. Nothing is broken." I give them a reassuring smile. "Uh. Logan, Lacey is packing up our stuff. She may need help." I tell him. Lacey wasn't exactly his biggest fan at the moment. I told you she had to beg him to attend. I figured him helping her would give him a few brownie points.


Logan scratches his arm, "Yeah. I'll go help." He then leaves in the direction where Lacey was.


"I'm gonna go see if I can get a cotton candy before we go." Catherine announce before heading to the concession stand. That girl has a major sweet tooth.


Nick comes to sit down next to me, "You sure you're okay? Cause if you aren't, I can give you a massage." He smirks.


I playfully roll my eyes at him. Although, a massage from him doesn't sound like a bad idea.


"Maybe later." I tell him. "What time is Charlie's thing?"


Nick looks at his watch, "If we leave here soon, then we will make it with some time to spare."


Charlie and Jade were in the same karate group and their sensei put them in charge of training a younger group. Since Charlie and Jade were both third degree black belts they accepted and were very excited for the opportunity. Their class was presenting tonight and Charlie invited all of us to come see it.


"We ready to go?" Lacey says packing my duffle bag and Logan has hers. They weren't holding hands but they seem to have patched things up or were on the way there.


Catherine comes back with a huge thing of cotton candy in each hand. And I just know the other one is for Nick. He cannot resist that stuff. His eyes light up when Catherine hands one to him. Lacey hands Nick my duffle bag so now he has his cotton candy in one hand and my bag in the other. He looked ridiculously cute.


———


"These seats suck." Micah complains, trying to get comfortable.


I would have to agree with her. The seats were in a good viewing section but the shape of them sucked. They were wooden with very little padding.


"Sweetie, I may just sit in your lap." Micah huffs to her boyfriend. Yes she brought him a long. And he is the opposite of what I thought he was. This guy -Olly- was a tall lanky guy with curly brown hair and glasses. Don't get me wrong, he was nice and not very talkative but I pictured Micah with a guy who was drop dead hot and kind of a douche. It was hard to believe Olly was the guy she was trying to make jealous. Olly looked like the type to fall at Micah's feet for anything. Another odd pairing.


Olly laughs nervously, "Whatever helps you."


Lacey and I share a look. She was right there with me on this.


Nick, Jay and Logan make their way back with all of the snacks they had gone to get for us all. They start passing around Nachos, popcorn, drinks and candy bars. Nick and I agreed to share a bucket of popcorn and Nachos, but I did tell him to get me a separate drink. He frowned until I told him I wanted lemonade. Nick isn't a fan of that stuff, he is a straight soda drinker and every once in a while he will drink water. Or a milkshake. He and Catherine shared a sweet tooth.


"Phillip?" Lacey says getting everyone's attention.


Phillip walks over to us with popcorn in one hand a drink in the other. "Hey Lacey. Taylor."


"Hey. What are you doing here?" I ask. I never thought he would come to these things.


"My mom got a free ticket from Mr.Barron. She and my dad are having a date night so she gave me the ticket." He explains.


"You are here by yourself?" Lacey asks with her brows furrowed. Phillip nods his head. "Nonsense. You can join us. There is an extra seat."


"Oh I wouldn't want to impose. Really it's fine." He says.


"Phillip, please sit with us." I pout. Phillip means a lot to Lacey and I. We see him at school and hang out with him often, he deserves to get to know our other friends.


Phillip sighs in defeat, "Alright."


Phillip takes a seat beside Nick. Those two are actually pretty cool with each other. Not too long ago Nick got upset that I was spending time with Phillip but once I explained everything he was okay with it.


"Hey man." Nick greets.


"Hey. Who are the other people?" He whispers to me and Nick.


"Behind you is Micah and her boyfriend Olly. Logan you've met once. And then there is Catherine, Charlie's sister." I introduce.


"Nice to meet you all." Phillip smiles. Micah and Olly smile back. Catherine smiles but also blushes. I look over at Lacey to see if she noticed and she certainly did.


Catherine is better off crushing on Phillip rather than Xander.


Pretty soon the lights dim and we hear the music of 'Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting'. And that's when we know we were about to witness little kids do their karate moves.


"That was honestly the cutest thing I have ever seen." Catherine cheers as we walk outside and get greeted by the mid March weather.


"Yes it was. I lost count of how many times I said awe when we were teaching them." Jade laughs.


"Awe my ass. Those kids were almost near impossible to train." Charlie huffs.


"I think it went great. No one seemed to notice anything else." Phillip speaks up from beside me. He has warmed up to everyone quite nicely. Lacey and I were proud. Sure he has his own group of friends but he seemed to like everyone and vice versa.


"Thanks man." Charlie says to him.


"No problem. I'll see you three at school and the rest of you later on." Phillip says before he heads off to go find his car.


"He's smiling a lot more these days." Lacey tells me.


"I've noticed." I say back.


"He's so cute." Catherine sighs dreamily. "Is he dating anyone?"


"Nope. Phillip hasn't dated in a long time." I shake my head. I can't help but frown, Phillip is doing a lot better since Emily passed but he still has trouble like us. No girl wants to deal with him so he doesn't date.


"Oh." Catherine mumbles.


"That doesn't mean he won't start. He's just been through a whole lot. He keeps his guard up. I say give him a chance, talk to him. Phillip seemed to notice you, Catherine." Lacey advises her.


Sometimes my bestie gives great advice. This is one of those times.


"Maybe I will." Catherine responds with a small smile on her face.


Jay throws his hands up in the air, "That's it! If Catherine gets in a relationship, then I am definitely getting a girlfriend. Olly, man, hook a bro up!"


"Olly please hook him up." Logan laughs. 


"Please Olly." We all begs. Olly laughs at us, I don't think he knows how long Jay has been complaining about being a single guy in a group of guys with girlfriends. From what Nick has told me, they talk about their relationships pretty often, especially while they spar. Nick promises it's all good things...most of the time.

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