Watching him play with her daughter she couldn't help but wonder what might've been if things turned out differently. If the accident that left her pregnant and alone had never occurred.
To clarify her feelings about the way her life had turned out she needed to go back.
All the way back to the first time she met her first love... Dean Portman.
"Hey Allie, have you checked out the new guy? You know the new JV hockey player" Hayley Law asked with a look in her eye that said she was in complete lust.
Allie Taylor shook her head and tried not to roll her eyes. "I assume you're talking about Dean Portman. I guess you could call him cute, but he seems like he has an even bigger ego than Rick Riley. I mean did you see that stripping stunt he pulled?" she questioned. She was fully aware that she was pretty much the only female at Eden Hall who didn't think that Dean Portman's "penalty box striptease" was the best thing ever.
Hayley sighed "Oh yeah, what a body!" she exclaimed grinning from ear to ear. "What I wouldn't give to be on the JV squad right now. Imagine being on the bus with that!!" she added dreamily.
Allie had to laugh at this, "Hayls, we don't actually travel on the bus with the teams remember?" she pointed out.
Allie was the co-captain of the Varsity Hockey Team Cheerleading squad with Traci Ryan. Hayley and Allie hadn't really been looking forward to their next practice since Traci pretty much dumped the captain of the Varsity team, Rick Riley for Luis Mendoza, a member of the JV Hockey team following Varsity's humiliating loss to the JV team in the showdown the previous Friday night. Clearly, tensions between the two teams were now at an all-time high.
Hayley giggled "Oh yeah, I must have been dreaming that part" she admitted guiltily.
Allie shook her head smiling. Hayley was hopeless when she had a crush. She pulled her History textbook out of her locker and shoved into her bag ready for the next class.
"Hey Allie" Scott "Scooter" Vanderbilt greeted coming up beside Allie and Hayley.
"Hey Scooter, close game Friday" Allie said smiling at him. They had dated for 8 months the previous year and now they were close friends.
"Yeah, too bad we lost though, I honestly thought Rick was gonna throw Cole through the locker room wall. He was so pissed!" Scooter laughed. Rick and Cole were two of the meanest players on Varsity and they had made no secret of their dislike for the JV team.
"I can imagine" Allie said truthfully. Although Cole was bigger than Rick, Allie had seen for herself the strength he could muster when angry. The last time he got that angry, it had ended up with a guy in a coma for 3 weeks.
"Was good of Charlie to pass the puck to Goldberg and give him the glory. I could never ever see anyone on our team doing something like that" Scooter commented.
Allie nodded in agreement "Yeah, that was really nice of him. Hey I almost forgot, what's this I hear about you and the JV Goalie?" she teased him. All the cheerleaders had been gossiping over the weekend about Scooter kissing the JV team's female goalie on the cheek following the game.
Scooter blushed a little, "She's really cool" he said simply.
Allie ruffled his hair "Aw Scooter's got a crush on another goalie, how sweet!" she laughed.
"Shut up!" he said pretending to be offended.
"Oh see now Scoot that really hurt" she joked shutting her locker.
"Yeah Scooter you'll have to apologise for that one" Hayley piped up. She had been listening with interest to their conversation. It had always amazed her at how Allie and Scooter could still be such good friends after being a couple. The part where they were talking about Julie Gaffney was particularly intriguing to her, especially since Allie was actually happy for him rather than jealous.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." He said putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her in for a friendly hug. "I gotta go anyway we're meant to be having fittings for our new uniforms this morning. I'll catch up with you later" he said walking off.
"New uniforms?" she questioned turning to Hayley.
Hayley looked at her with a blank expression. "Don't ask me" she replied shrugging.
"C'mon lets go" Allie said slinging her bag over her shoulder.
They passed Traci Ryan on the way to History class. She was leaning against the wall obviously upset about something whilst her new boyfriend, Luis Mendoza was trying his hardest to comfort her.
"Should we ask now or should we wait til later?" Allie whispered to Hayley as they approached.
"Later" Hayley replied quickly and the two girls tried to stifle their laughter. Traci was a nice enough girl but her intense interest in playing games with boys often got her into more trouble than it was worth. They quickly walked past pretending to be absorbed in their own conversation.
"Oh my god there he is!" Hayley exclaimed grabbing Allie's arm.
"Huh?" she asked before realising what Hayley was talking about "Oh" she added in a flat tone. Dean "Mr Striptease" Portman himself was standing outside their History classroom door.
"You think he's in our class? God I hope so" Hayley almost squealed.
"God I hope not" Allie replied bewildered at her friend's reaction to the newest JV Enforcer. She'd met the other JV Enforcer Fulton Reed before and he seemed quite nice, even though he was extremely shy and barely said two words to her but Portman seemed different. He seemed like he was full of himself, especially when it came to girls and hockey. She felt a little guilty for judging him too quickly but there was something about him that just rubbed her the wrong way and she couldn't place her finger on it until...
"Hey babe" he greeted her as she walked past him to enter the classroom.
She ignored him and continued walking if I just ignore it hopefully it will go away she thought clenching her fists. She really hated being called "babe" by guys who didn't even know her name. Sure she was blonde and a cheerleader but it certainly didn't mean she was a ditz who would go out with anybody who called her babe.
"Hey I was talking to you" he pulled up beside her and placed an arm around her shoulders.
She calmly grabbed his hand and pulled his arm off of her and turned to look up at his face. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realise. I was so sure my name wasn't Babe when I woke up this morning. Hayley did I change my name?" she asked her friend who was watching in disbelief at the intense sarcasm currently dripping from her best friend's mouth.
Hayley couldn't bring herself to speak and just shook her head. What she would give right now to have Dean Portman chatting her up the way he was with Allie right now.
Allie turned back to Portman who was also looking at her in disbelief.
"Right so now we have that cleared up would you mind going away now?" she shot him one final glare before taking her seat.
Portman just stared after her surprised until he was snapped out of his trance by Fulton bursting out laughing. "Smooth Portman, real smooth" he managed to get out.
"Oh shut up Reed" he said smirking a little. That was the first rejection he'd gotten since being at Eden Hall and he enjoyed every second of it, which he found a little odd.
He spent the remainder of the lesson staring at the back of her head wondering what she was really like. He had seen something he really liked in the fire behind her green eyes when she'd glared at him, it was something that told him she was worth getting to know better.
"Allie are you insane?" Hayley asked as they were walking out of class.
"Probably, depends on why you're asking though" Allie replied with a smile.
"You know why" Hayley scolded. She couldn't believe how Allie just pushed Portman away from her when its obvious he was interested. If it was her then she would have been his in an instant.
"He just annoys me that's all. That and being called 'babe' by someone I've never met before just doens't do it for me" she explained.
Hayley was about to say something when she was cut off by Courtney Field, another Varsity squad cheerleader. "Hey guys you'll never guess what I just heard" she said excitedly, her blue eyes lighting up as they walked down the hall.
"What?" Hayley said getting just as excited as Courtney was. She was such a sucker for gossip.
"Come closer guys, its meant to be a big secret until the official announcement" she said standing in between the two so she could whisper.
Hayley and Allie stopped and leaned towards her to hear what she was saying.
"So, Cindy heard the Dean talking to Mr Riley and they've bumped Traci back to JV squad. She's gonna be so pissed when she finds out!" Courtney revealed.
"I think she might already know, we saw her with Luis and she was pretty upset about something" Allie reported.
"So Allie, looks like you're Captain all by yourself now" Hayley said patting Allie on the shoulder.
"Oh great" Allie said sarcastically. She never really wanted to be co-captain of the squad with Traci in the first place but the others convinced her she was the only one who could stop Traci from making them do lame "stripper" routines to cringe-worthy pop songs.
"So, next routine to Slipknot. We can run around in scary masks!" Courtney joked in a fake evil voice making the other two girls laugh as they continued walking.
"Yeah, I wish, then it'd be my ass being bumped back to JV!" Allie laughed at the thought of the Varsity squad doing cheers to Slipknot in masks. She could picture the little kids in the stands crying because they were scared.
"We all know why she got bumped right?" Hayley commented when the laughter had died down a bit.
Courtney and Allie nodded. "Rick" they said in unison.
"Exactly, god he is such a jerk. Can't stand losing both the game and Traci to JV so he gets daddy to apply pressure to the Dean to get her bumped" Hayley said quietly as they approached the cafeteria doors.
"What'd you expect though, daddy couldn't revoke JV's scholarships so he goes after what he can. If you ask me, I think they've more than proven their worth around here. They played pretty well on Friday night, JV that is, not the Rileys" Allie said.
Courtney and Hayley nodded their agreement understanding her point. The girls filled their trays and headed towards their usual table.
"You know who I think is adorable?" Courtney piped up once they had sat down.
"If you say Dean Portman I swear to God I'll shove that apple down your throat" Allie warned. She was sick of hearing how gorgeous the female population at Eden Hall thought Dean Portman was. He was just one guy for crying out loud.
Courtney laughed "Oooh someone has issues!!" she said ducking to avoid the scrunched up napkin Allie threw at her.
"But no, I wasn't going to say him" Courtney laughed when she saw Hayley glare at Allie and Allie visibly relax when Courtney said it wasn't Portman "I was gonna say Dwayne, you know the Cowboy. His accent is so sexy" she continued staring past Allie over at the JV table where Dwayne was sitting.
"Good, so which one's Dwayne?" Hayley asked turning around to see.
Allie and Courtney smiled at each other "Duh, the one in the cowboy hat" Courtney responded causing Allie to crack up laughing.
"What's so funny?" Mel Watts asked. Mel was another Varsity cheerleader who had just arrived at the table.
"Explaining to Hayley what a cowboy looks like" Allie explained turning around to see Dwayne smile shyly in their direction.
Her face soon dropped when she noticed Dean Portman wink at her. She merely rolled her eyes at him and turned back to Mel.
"Oh I almost forgot, Coach Wilson wants us in the gym at 2 for new uniform fittings" Mel reported.
"What's with all the new uniforms?" Hayley asked. "Didn't Scooter say he was getting fitted for new ones too?"
Allie nodded "Yeah, but it's a good thing, my skirt is so damn short now I'm in danger of my butt hanging out!" she complained making the other girls laugh.
Allie was the only cheerleader on the squad that hated the uniforms being so short. She'd much rather wear shorts or pants than a skirt. The other girls liked the advantage it gave them against non-cheerleader girls when it came to guys. They found that most guys couldn't resist a cheerleader in a short skirt.
"Oh Allie, I know one JV player that wouldn't want you to wear a longer skirt!" Hayley started before quickly shutting up when she saw the glare she was receiving from Allie.
Allie hoped the other girls hadn't heard that comment as she gritted her teeth and said "Shut up or I'll make you wear it!"
"What JV player?" Scooter butted in gesturing that he wanted to sit down. Allie scootched over in her seat so they could share.
"Never mind, just Hayley being mean" Allie explained as she moved her fries closer to Scooter so that he could share them.
"Why aren't you sitting with Julie?" Allie asked cautiously glancing at the JV table where Julie and the other female hockey player Connie were staring at her and Scooter sitting so close together.
"I don't think the guys on the team like me that much. I think that Portman guy wants to kick my ass" he confessed.
"Don't worry about him, he's such a dickhead. If he touches you I'll kick his ass" Allie offered patting Scooter's arm. He wasn't exactly a wuss but he definitely liked to avoid violent confrontations.
"Wow, that will do wonders for my reputation! Captain of the Eden Hall Varsity Cheerleaders being my own personal bodyguard!" he said placing his arm around her shoulders causing both of them to laugh.
"So I guess you've heard about Traci then" Allie leant in and whispered. She wasn't sure if Traci was present at the table and didn't want to make her feel any worse than she already did.
"No, what? Why are we whispering?" Scooter whispered back with a grin. Cheerleaders did strange things sometimes.
"Because it's meant to be a secret!" Allie whispered a little too loudly and had now attracted the attention of Mel and three other girls who didn't already know.
"Oh right, go on then" Scooter leaned in even closer.
"Riley had his dad bump her back to JV. How shitty is that?" she whispered.
"HE WHAT?" Scooter almost yelled forgetting it was meant to be a secret.
"SSSHHHH!" the cheerleaders listening scolded him but it was too late, they now had the attention of most of the cafeteria.
"Who is that girl?" Julie asked Connie. She couldn't help but feel a little jealous, Scooter was leaning in closer to her and eating her lunch. Was she his girlfriend? She hoped not. She was really beginning to like Scooter.
"I'm not sure, I've seen her around though, I think she's captain of the Varsity cheerleaders" Connie replied patting Julie's arm to comfort her when she noticed her shoulders slump.
"Great, as if I can complete with the head cheerleader" she said sadly watching the two of them whisper together.
"Oh come on Jules, I doubt he'd kiss you after the game if she were his girlfriend. Besides don't you think she would have tried to scratch your eyes out by now if they were together. Maybe they're just friends" Connie tried to make her friend feel better.
"Yeah I guess" Julie replied quietly still watching the other table.
"It's an evil cheerleader conspiracy, I'm telling you" Averman announced upon seeing the other cheerleaders crowd around Scooter and the head cheerleader. "They're plotting our doom. Varsity couldn't beat us so they're sending in the cheerleaders" he said and was greeted with a pile of French fries being thrown at him from different people at the table.
"Thanks a lot guys, waste my lunch why don't you" Goldberg complained making the table laugh.
"HE WHAT?" they all heard Scooter yell before he was scolded with a big "SHH" from the cheerleaders.
"Wonder what that's about?" Connie commented to her boyfriend Guy Germaine.
"Well obviously a guy's done something to the poor little cheerleaders" Russ butted in with a scowl on his face. He still hated pretty much everything about Eden Hall including the cheerleaders. Hockey, the Ducks and Coach Orion were basically the only things he didn't hate.
Fulton glanced at Portman who was still watching the table with interest. Surely they can't be talking about Portman can they? Fulton couldn't help but wonder what kind of trouble his friend had gotten himself into this time. He knew Scooter was one of the nicer Varsity players but he was still friends and team mates with the nastier ones like Riley and Cole. Sure the prank war had been fun but Fulton was kind of relieved that he didn't have to look over his shoulder all of the time anymore in case Varsity were going to pull another prank on him.
"Hey I'm gonna go over there and find out what's going on" Portman whispered to Fulton.
"Are you crazy? Allie was not impressed with you this morning. I highly doubt she'll warmed up to you now" Fulton warned.
"So she has a name, why didn't you tell me that earlier? And besides who said I was going over there to see her anyway? Her friend seemed pretty impressed with me, I might just go and talk to her friend instead" Portman argued not fooling anyone.
Fulton just shook his head as Portman got out of his seat to approach the cheerleaders table.
"I bet ten bucks that she either ignores him or yells at him" Charlie piped up next to Fulton.
"No way man, I'm not betting against the inevitable" Fulton said watching as Portman ran his hands through his hair and went to make his move.
"Oh man this is gonna be so damn funny" Russ laughed from his seat next to Guy earning giggles from majority of the Ducks table except from Connie and Julie who just looked confused.
Unfortunately for Portman, Allie had seen Traci sitting quietly with Luis on the other side of the cafeteria and had decided to go and talk to her. Just as Portman was about to sit next to her to strike up a conversation she stood up and turned to walk off. Seeing him sit down she said "See ya" and headed over towards Traci and Luis.
"Aw man that gotta hurt!" Russ laughed and high-fived Charlie who was about to burst into a fit of laughter. Even Connie and Julie had smirks on their faces.
Portman just stared after Allie in disbelief. "She'll come around eventually, she never stays mad for too long" a female voice brought Portman's attention back to the table he had just sat down at.
"Huh?" he said snapping out of his trance.
"Allie, she never stays mad at anyone for long. She says it takes too much effort" the brunette he recognised as Mel explained.
"Yeah but I wouldn't call her babe anymore, she really hates it" Scooter added his bit in eyeing Portman. He wasn't sure why Portman had taken a sudden interest in his best friend and he wanted to make sure Portman wasn't going to hurt her.
"Yeah, what's it to you anyway? Aren't you supposed to be in to the Catlady?" Portman retorted ignoring the stifled laughs coming from the other cheerleaders.
"I know more about her than you will ever know Portman" Scooter said getting up from his seat and walking over to the Ducks table to sit next to Julie.
"What's his problem?" Portman asked.
"He's just protective of Allie, they're best friends" Mel filled in the blank for him.
"Just friends huh?" Portman quizzed with an eyebrow raised.
"Yes just friends" Mel said rolling her eyes. This guy was hopeless.
Portman smiled to himself. So there's hope yet.
"Hey Trace" Allie said coming up behind the blonde girl.
"Hey" Traci replied glumly. Luis looked up giving Allie a cold stare. She chose to ignore it for the time being.
"I heard about JV squad. I'm sorry" Allie said softly sitting down next to Traci.
"I bet they're all laughing at me" Traci said self-consciously.
Allie shook her head "No, we're all pretty pissed about it. I can't believe Rick would stoop that low" she said "God he's such a wanker" she added earning a small smile from Traci and Luis.
"It's okay, at least I get to spent more time with Luis being on JV and all. Its just that I'm gonna miss you guys so much" she said tears forming in her eyes.
Allie reached over to give her a hug. "Hey, we're still friends. You can sit with us any time you want Trace and if those JV bitches give you any crap then we'll kick their asses together" she said laughing. Much like the hockey teams, the JV and Varsity cheerleading squads also did not get along.
"Thanks" Traci smiled feeling relieved to know she still had friends left.
"Well since it seems Traci's momentarily forgotten her manners I think I'll just introduce myself, hi I'm Allie" she said extending her hand out to Luis.
"Luis" he replied taking his hand in hers and shaking it.
They were interrupted by the bell ringing signalling that it was the end of lunch.
"I'll catch you guys later, nice to meet you Luis" Allie called over her shoulder.
"You too" Luis said slinging an arm around Traci getting ready to walk her to her next class.
"Dude how does he do that?" Portman asked Fulton amazed that Allie was friendly with Luis Mendoza who was dubbed the school's "Latin Lover".
Fulton shrugged "Dunno, I'm guessing he didn't call her babe though" he laughed at his own joke reminding Portman of Averman.
"Not funny" he said thumping Fulton on the arm. "Come on let's go" he said walking towards the door.
"Ow, that hurt" Fulton said quietly rubbing his arm as he followed.