Author's note: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE C: we love you guys and what better way than to give you all a present in the form of a new chapter? This chapter is written by Midnight Rose 97 and may we say that she is an amazing writer. She came up with the ideas and so we do not own this chapter but all rights goes to her!
Enjoy :)
Chapter Seven
Kaylie woke up the next morning around 10:00am. Her head pounded. She groaned: hangovers are an ass. She recalled the events of last night: the 56-0 victory of the last game of the season, the INSANE after party at Austin's house—who knew he was loaded?—and the sweet kiss he gave her as he dropped her off. Kaylie smiled and then froze, realizing something—today was the first day of winter break! She gulped down some cold water and an aspirin, and clomped downstairs in her pink striped pajamas and skidded to a halt.
"Hi Mom! Hi Dad!" Kaylie said warmly with a smile.
"Someone's cheerful today," remarked Alex Cruz with a grin.
"Of course! It's winter break! Two weeks of no school…how heavenly!" Ronnie Cruz just laughed.
"What do you plan on doing?" she inquired.
"Well…I haven't really thought about it, but I need to go Christmas shopping…and hang out with the Fab Five!" Kaylie said enthusiastically.
Going to the kitchen, she stuck two wholegrain waffles in the toaster and poured herself a cup of 2% milk. Ding! The waffles were finished, toasted to crunchy, brown perfection. Taking them out of the toaster, Kaylie added some organic honey and fresh fruit—strawberries were her favorite. She sliced the waffles carefully, savoring the sweetness.
Once done with her breakfast, Kaylie ran up the stairs into her room. She quickly made her bed, and walked into her walk-in closet, perusing the options. She settled for a pair of white Rock and Republic skinny jeans, and grabbed a grey knit top from Juicy Couture. Pulling out her iPhone, she shot a text to Maeve: Wanna go xmas shopping?
The reply was almost instantaneous. Just what I was about to suggest!
Kaylie's thumbs flew over the screen: C u in 30? I'll pick u up.
Kaylie was choosing her jewelry—gold snowflakes earrings from Swarovski and her signature Juicy Couture charm bracelet. After applying her regular makeup and some simple silver eye shadow, she dumped her stuff in a black leather Balenciaga satchel. Kaylie bounded down the stairs and waved goodbye to her parents, slipping on a pair of grey Steve Madden wedge booties and a white Abercrombie jacket.
Fifteen minutes later, she pulled up in her silver Porsche next to Maeve's house. Maeve came out of the door, looking equally cute in dark wash Ralph Lauren jeans, a long white tank under a faux-fur trimmed jacket, and black leather knee-high Chinese Laundry boots.
"Hey Kaylie!" said Maeve.
"Hey Maeve." Kaylie drove to the Denver mall, and they stepped out. First stop: Nordstroms. Kaylie and Maeve headed for the dress section. Kaylie reached for a v-neck purple dress and a strapless silver dress. Maeve, on the other hand, grabbed a hot pink strapless dress with a diagonal small pleated bottom and a classic knee-length LBD (Little Black Dress). The girls went to try them one, and Kaylie stepped out with the purple dress and turned in a circle, the skirt flaring out.
"Adorable!" said Maeve, clapping her hands together. "Now me."
"Cuuuuute," said Kaylie, drawing out the "u." The girls ended up buying all four of the dresses.
-The Quarterback and the Cheerleader-
After going Christmas shopping and buying gifts, of course, Kaylie and Maeve drove back to Boulder with the trunk of the Porsche filled with shopping bags. A rumble broke the silence. Kaylie turned and looked at Maeve.
"Umm…I think that was my stomach calling for food…" she explained with a sheepish grin. Kaylie looked at the clock.
"My god! It's 6 already! And we just had those pretzels and lattes for lunch…" Within five minutes, they had arrived at Boulder, and drove to Panera Bakery, where they had wraps and soup for dinner.
Kaylie paused. "Hey Maeve, do you want to ask your parents whether you can sleep over at my house tonight?"
"Yea! I'd love to! Wait…lemme call them now…" Maeve pulled out her phone from her silver Juicy Couture bag to see that there were 11 missed calls from Nicky and Austin. She listened to a few of the voicemails, puzzled as to what would cause them to call so many times. "Hey Maeve, it's Nicky. Aus and I are wondering where you and Kaylie are, since neither of you are picking up your phones…Uhh…Yea…we have some news for you guys. So call me back ASAP. Thanks." The voicemail ended. "Kaylie?"
"Mhmm…yea?" Kaylie replied, with her mouth full of her wrap.
"You might want to check your phone…"
Kaylie looked puzzled until she reached into her bag and saw her screen said: "14 missed calls from Austin and Nicky." Her eyes opened wide, and listened to the voicemail. It was very similar to Maeve's, and Kaylie said, "We should go back now. It might be bad!"
Maeve nodded her assent and quickly packed up the rest of her wrap and soup. Kaylie did the same, and they walked to her car. Kaylie drove to her mansion in a record 10 minutes, while Maeve quickly dialed her parents, who agreed to the sleepover. Kaylie tapped in the keypad code, and parked quickly. As soon as she went through the door, she yelled a greeting to her parents and some mention of the fact that Maeve was sleeping over, before rushing up the stairs, with Maeve close behind.
Kaylie flopped on the bed, and pulled out her iPhone, dialing Austin's number.
"Hey, is everything OK?" she asked, her voice laced with worry.
"Yea, it's fine. Did you get my voicemails?" he asked.
"Yes—" Kaylie began.
"Well, why didn't you call me back?" he asked a bit accusatorily
"Uh…well I was out shopping…" Kaylie began.
"And you didn't feel the need to pick up your phone or text me or anything?"
"Well—" Kaylie paused, hearing Nicky's voice in the background.
"Yo man, chill. Maeve just texted me. It's all good."
There was a pause. Austin sighed. "I just worry about you Kaylie."
"Awww…Austin is a sweetie at heart!" Kaylie teased.
Austin grunted, but said, "Hey, can me and Nicky come over? We've got news—good news, that is."
"Ooh what? Tell me! Tell me!" Kaylie said excitedly, bouncing up and down.
"Nope," said Austin, popping the "p." "It's a surprise." Kaylie could just see his smirk perfectly in her head.
"Alright…" she consented, though pouting. On the other end of the line, Austin could "see" Kaylie pouting, just as she saw him "smirk." Austin laughed.
"Alright; see you in 10."
Austin and Nicky walked in, a slight dusting of snow on their heads. They gave the girls hugs, and greeted Mr. and Mrs. Cruz before sitting on the sofa.
"So, Austin…what was that news?" Kaylie asked, unable to suppress her excitement.
"Well…you see, we had an idea. A very good idea, mind you. And we talked to the parents, so it's all good. You only have to agree and—"
Maeve glared at Austin. "And what exactly would we be agreeing to?"
Austin held up his hands in surrender and pulled out four slips of paper, placing them on the table. Kaylie and Maeve bent down and took one of the slips of paper, lifting it to her face. Maeve's jaw dropped open.
"A week's stay in Vail?" she exclaimed, flabbergasted.
"Yup. I've got connections there, since I'm a premium member," said Austin proudly.
"We'd leave Wednesday morning, and get there in the afternoon to snowboard after dropping off our stuff at Austin's condo. He's got a place up there that's really close to the slopes and has a great view," said Nicky.
"Wait…why isn't Matt going?" asked Maeve.
"He's got plans already; apparently, his family's going to Cali or something," explained Nicky offhandedly.
"Oh…well at least we'll all be having fun!" said Maeve, already back to her bubbly self.
"Uh…Austin?" said Kaylie, a bit hesitantly.
"Yea, Kales?"
"I..err…don't know how to snowboard…"
"No prob. Your parents said they thought it'd be a good time for you to learn, since you live in Colorado now."
"Alright…though I don't know…I think I'll have the coordination for it…"
Maeve snorted. "You're one of THE best flyers on the squad. You'll do fine."
"Thanks! If you say so…but I'm going to be the one with bruises on my butt!"
Austin laughed, and gave Kaylie a quick squeeze. "Don't be nervous—I'll be there for you."
"Thanks, Aus," said Kaylie with a smile, leaning in to give him a peck on the lips.
"Ewwww…" said Nicky, ruining the moment. "Cut it out with the PDA; at least save it for vacation!" Austin punched Nicky playfully in the shoulder.
"I can't wait!" said Kaylie and Maeve at the same time. They all laughed.
-The Quarterback and the Cheerleader-
Wednesday arrived, and the Fab Four loaded their bags into Austin's Dad's BMW SUV. Austin and Nicky sat in the front, while Kaylie and Nicky sat in the back. After leaving around 7 in the morning, they arrived there around 10.
Austin grabbed his Victorinox luggage case and Kaylie's Juicy Couture suitcase, while Nicky grabbed his Samsonite. Kaylie unloaded her Juicy Couture satchel and carried it with her silver Chanel tote (see 5). Maeve followed with her Diane Von Furstenberg suitcase and Longchamp bag. After unloading their stuff, Austin spoke up.
"Hey, let's hit the slopes!"
The Fab Four quickly dressed and loaded into the car again, and drove to the check-in. Austin grabbed out his Burton snowboard and boots, while Nicky got his Never Summer snowboard and boots. Maeve had a K2 snowboard and boots, so after leaving their boards along a wall, Austin walked Kaylie in to get fitted for a board. After bypassing the line because of his membership, Kaylie walked out, still unsure.
"We'll ride the bunny slopes; don't worry!" reassured Austin.
"Bunny slopes?" asked Kaylie, confused.
"Yup."
"Why?"
"I dunno, but enough talking! Let's go!" yelled Austin enthusiastically, raising his glove-clad hand towards the sky. Nicky and Maeve laughed and followed the couple. Maeve reached into her North Face jacket pocket and pulled out a Samsung camera.
"God, I'm totally capturing this on film!" she said with a grin. Nicky laughed.
-The Quarterback and the Cheerleader-
Austin helped Kaylie get off the lift, and she looked around to see that she was the oldest person there—all the others on the bunny slope were younger than 10. She flushed pink, embarrassed. Austin saw this, and laughed, before kissing her on the nose.
"Alright, so you're strapped in now. What you wanna do is lean back a bit, so you're on the heel side—that's like you're heeling in cheer, but not too much," Austin explained, demonstrating. Kaylie leaned backwards, before falling hard.
"Ow!"
"Kales, you were supposed to bend your knees to keep your balance!"
"Well, you didn't tell me that!" she said accusatorily.
"Sorry, babe," Austin apologized. "Well, try again, and make sure to bend your knees this time." Kaylie tried again, and stayed that way for a while.
"Good! So now, what you wanna do now is rock back and forth…like this…" Austin demonstrated. Kaylie tried again and again until she finally got it, after a couple falls, of course. Unbeknownst to both of them, Nicky and Maeve had been at the top of the slope, filming this, and talking pictures for posterity.
-The Quarterback and the Cheerleader-
It was around 2 when they stopped. Austin pulled off his glove and took out his phone, dialing Nicky. A phone rang above them. Surprisingly, it sounded remarkably similar to Nicky's. Kaylie turned around, and squinted. She saw someone wearing a similar black jacket, but wasn't sure. Then she saw the giveaway. Maeve's pink and white bomber jacket was clearly visible from next to him, and her hair color was clearly visible, even under her black hat.
"Austin…I think that's them. Have they been up there the whole time?"
"Wait…what?" Austin looked up, slightly confused. He then saw Nicky, and hung up promptly. "Oops—bad reception," he said with a wink. "Let's go catch them," he said, pulling Kaylie along. Kaylie laughed, as they pretended to calmly go to the lift.
-The Quarterback and the Cheerleader-
Maeve looked around confused. "Where'd they go? They were just here…"
Nicky looked up from his phone. "What? Oh, that's weird…I just got a call from Austin…"
They reached the top, and Kaylie got off, with little assistance—she was getting really good at this! Kaylie unbuckled her boots, and snuck to where Nicky and Maeve were hidden. Austin followed behind, and put on a fake-deep voice.
"Excuse me, but what are you two doing here? You shouldn't be causing trouble."
Maeve jumped, and squeaked, "We're so sorry, sir! We were just—"
"Just what, Maeve?" asked Kaylie, speaking up.
Maeve and Nicky's eyes bugged out.
"Wha-at?" Nicky looked guilty and attempted to hide Maeve's camera by moving in front of her. This, however, only drew Kaylie's attention.
"You were taking pictures of us?" she yelled.
"Dude, chill, or someone might actually find us here," said Maeve.
"…whatever. I'm going down to lunch. Coming, Austin?" said Kaylie, miffed at the fact that her friends would do such a thing. Austin followed, as they snowboarded down the slope.
"A few more pictures?" asked Nicky teasingly towards Maeve. Maeve only glared at Nicky, and snowboarded down. "Hey! This was your idea! Don't be mad at me!" he yelled before catching up.
As Kaylie sipped some chicken noodle soup, Austin reached over to take her hand.
"Kaylie, are you still mad at Nick and Maeve?"
"Well, yea…a bit…it was a complete violation of privacy!"
"It was uncalled for, but I'm sure they were going to tell us afterwards—"
"How can you be sure?" Kaylie cut him off, her chocolate eyes blazing.
"I can't be sure, but that's beside the point. They're your friends, so you should forgive them," said Austin.
Kaylie bit her lip. "I will if they apologize. But if they don't—"
Austin interrupted. "Kaylie, I get it; you're **. And they should apologize to you. But I want you to enjoy yourself. And being ** at two of your best friends is no way to have fun," he said, his blue eyes surprisingly serious.
Kaylie sighed and gave him a half-hearted smile. "Alright," she consented.
"That's my girl," said Austin, grinning, back to his cheerful self. He leaned over and gave her a quick smooch. Kaylie smiled sheepishly, and kissed him back, before finished lunch.
-The Quarterback and the Cheerleader-
After they finished eating, Austin convinced Kaylie to watch him on the black diamond courses. This, Kaylie photographed—she had an eye for photography, and had gotten a few good shots of him doing tricks like "ollies," "1-2s," "crails," "goombas," "gorillas," and a really awesome one called a "mule kick." He did some flips too—"wildcats," "ninety rolls," "michalchuk," and her favorite—the "McTwist." Kaylie clapped at all the right moments—when she wasn't talking pictures—and it soon began getting dark.
"Hey, Aus?"
"Mmm?"
"I think we should be heading back now…it like 6…and my butt is frozen!"
"Oh! Alright; wait a sec." Austin pulled out his phone and shot off a quick text to Nicky: Yo man about 2 leave. Meet parking lot in 10?
Nicky replied: Yea, c u.
Kaylie looked over. "Who're you texting?"
"Just Nick to tell him we're leaving," he replied nonchalantly.
"…I see…" They walked to the parking lot, where they saw Nicky and Maeve near the car. As Kaylie and Austin's footsteps became audible, Maeve turned around, worry etched on her face.
She paused, hesitant. "…Kaylie…are you still mad at us?"
Kaylie pursed her lips and thought about it. Was she truly mad at them? "…No, I'm not. I got over it. But I was upset with your violation of privacy—"
"We're sooo sorry! We were just having some fun and were going to show them to you afterwards!" said Maeve.
"Kales, I'm really sorry. I mean, I didn't think you would take it that way…"
Kaylie smiled. "It's alright. It's the time for forgiving and forgetting, so that's what I'm going to do."
-The Quarterback and the Cheerleader-
The next few days passed, with Austin teaching Kaylie how to snowboard—she turned out to be a natural!—and doing fun activities in the evening, like watching movies, going shopping, and just having fun. Saturday, Christmas Eve, came around, and Austin waved four silver tickets in front of them during lunch.
"Guess what these are?" he teased.
"Tickets?" said Maeve, stating the obvious.
"Duhhhhh," said Austin, faux-sassily. "But…They're tickets to a special showing of the Nutcracker by the Royal School of Ballet. But that's not really the main attraction. Shawn White and Lindsey Vaughn are going to be there for publicity!"
"Dude, legit?" Nicky said excitedly. Austin nodded, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
Maeve and Kaylie looked at each other and nodded. "We've gotta get ready," they said with a smile.
-The Quarterback and the Cheerleader-
Kaylie and Maeve were currently in their shared room applying makeup and wearing their silver and black dresses respectively. Kaylie applied Gunmetal silver Urban Decay eyeshadow, black Urban Decay eyeliner, and benefit's girl meets pearl. She finished off with black DiorShow mascara and a light pink Lancôme Juicy Tubes. Her accessories were an Alexander McQueen hot pink, crystal studded clutch and black Christian Louboutin heels with an adorable bow at the toe Her hair was done in a curled, poufy bun with tendrils hanging out. Maeve, wearing her LBD, has on purple smoky eye shadow, also from Urban Decay, and gold MAC lip glaze. She accessorized in gold: a beautiful gold clutch embellished with a flower gold Jimmy Choo stilettos, and a Juicy Couture necklace with a bow and crystal setting. They walked out the door hand in hand to be greeted with Nicky and Austin looking much more handsome, their years of 17 looking much older and sophisticated. That feeling stopped when both Nicky and Austin grinned widely at the girls, though they smiled back and walked hand in hand to the black BMW, though it had been just washed and cleaned to look almost new.
Once arriving at the party, the two couples stepped onto the red carpet. One would think that they would go unnoticed, besides for the fact that Tom Danielson, one of Shawn White's competitors and friend, yelled, "Yo Aus! How are you, man? Got that McTwisty yet?" he teased.
Austin scoffed. "I got that 3 months ago. Kaylie here's got pictures to prove it." Kaylie laughed at the friendly rivalry. Meanwhile, photographers shot pictures of the cutest couple here—they were obviously in love with each other.
"Well, I dunno if you'll even make it to Olympic level like me and White here…" Tom said, smirking. At this Austin let out a hearty laugh.
"Maybe not, but you know it's a fact that I'm wayyy better than you at football!" Austin retaliated.
"True," agreed Tom, cocking his head. He then turned his attention to Kaylie. "And you would be…?" He checked her out, and not too surreptitiously either.
Austin wrapped his arms possessively around Kaylie's waist. "My girlfriend from Taft High," his voice suddenly growing harsh.
Kaylie elbowed Austin, and stuck out her hand. "I'm Kaylie Cruz. How are you?"
"I'm doin' great! In fact, I—" Maeve interrupted, seeing a friend in distress.
"Kaylie, Austin, we should go in now," she said nicely but firmly. Austin shot her a thankful look, and they followed her into the hotel.
Once inside and seated to watch the ballet in the fifth row, two rows behind and about 8 seats to the left of Lindsey and 14 seats to the left of Shawn, Maeve turned to Kaylie.
"What were you thinking back there? You're lucky I saved your **!" she whisper-yelled.
"What are you talking about?" asked Kaylie, confused.
"With that Tom Danielson guy. He was totally checking you out, and Austin was **. He was playing the jealous boyfriend card," Maeve explained.
Kaylie's mouth dropped into an "O." "Oh…I see. That was the problem? He's soo not my type. Way to cocky."
Maeve suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "Coming from the girl who's dating Mr. QB…that's a big claim."
Kaylie paused, realizing her flaw in logic. "Well, whatever. Austin and I are dating, so no one will get between us. Except for you and Nicky. But you guys don't count, since you're all…wait, what are you to each other?"
/maeve explains her/nicky's relationship here? I have no idea what it is, so I can't really incorporate it into the story with my writing.
-The Quarterback and the Cheerleader-
After the ballet, Austin turned to Kaylie. "Hey," he said softly. "Can I talk to you? Outside?"
"Mmm? Yea, of course." Kaylie smiled, thinking of how sweet Austin had been the whole night.
Austin took Kaylie's hand and let her outside onto a balcony. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet, navy box. Kaylie's eyes widened as he opened it to reveal a beautiful Swarovski necklace: it was a crystal snowflake on a gold chain (see 14), with "K" charm (see 15) hanging around it.
"It's beautiful," she breathed.
"Turn around." Kaylie did as wished and lifted her hair as Austin lifted the necklace out of the box and placed it around her neck. Kaylie let her hair down and turned around, to be caught in Austin's embrace.
"Merry Christmas, Kaylie," he murmured into her hair. Kaylie looked up to see his sparkling cerulean eyes reflecting the moon. In her heels, she stood almost up to his nose. Raising her feet a bit, she lifted her lips to meet his, and whispered, "Merry Christmas to you, too, Tucker."
The next morning, the Fab Four exchanged gifts.
Kaylie, of course, had already gotten her gift from Austin, and she in turn gave him a platinum key fob with "A" and "K" charms (see 16-17). Austin gave her a quick smooch. She then turned to Nicky.
"I wasn't really sure what to get you… but I made this, so I hope you like it," she said with a smile. She handed him a scrapbook filled with photos of them from toddlerhood up until now. Nicky flipped open to a random page and saw a picture of him, his face squinted in exhaustion, from doing parallel bars while they were young. Maeve looked over his shoulder and burst into fits of laughter.
"You—you look-hahahahahaha—consti-sti-pated!" she said in between gasps of breath.
Nicky slammed it shut and shot Kaylie a look. "I love it, but did you have to put all those embarrassing photos in it?"
Kaylie grinned. "Of course!"
"My turn, my turn!" said Maeve excitedly.
"I remember you wanting this…so here you go." Maeve saw the pink and chocolate brown box with a terrier on the front. She gasped.
"OHMIGAWD! Is this the charm bracelet I wanted?"
"Open up and find out." Inside was an adorable travel themed bracelet (see 18), as Maeve loved to travel all over the world.
"Thank you sooooo sooo much!" Maeve leaned over to give Kaylie a hug.
Nicky handed Kaylie a drawstring bag with a Coach label on front.
"I didn't really know what to get you, so Maeve helped me pick it out." It was an adorable Coach tote perfect for school.
"Oh my God! I love it!" Kaylie turned to Nicky and Maeve both to give them a hug. Maeve handed Kaylie a box with a ring in it. It was a silver ring with a heart cut crystal (see 20). Inside was engraved "Friends Forever."
Austin gave Nicky a nice watch from Bentley, and gave Maeve a cute keychain with a wallet/passport of sorts on it
Maeve gave Nicky a wallet from Emporio Armani, as she noticed that he needed a new one. She gave Austin a gag gift: a football jersey and shorts printed with a "cheerleading uniform." In addition, she got him a silk tie from Brooks Brothers.
Nicky gave Austin a $100 gift card to Underarmour for some sports gear, and a pair of really nick free weights. He gave Maeve a pretty Coach wallet that Kaylie gave him some advice on. They all found it kind of funny that Maeve and Nicky got each other wallets!
After the gift exchange, the foursome went out to snowboard again—half the time was gone already, and they wanted to treasure the rest before going back to Boulder.
Author's note: So, what'd you think? Next chapter comes up during New Years so keep your eyes peeled :) We were going to do another challenge/collab thing for chapter eight, but we're all going off today on holiday. We're going to Reno for the next couple of days so we won't be able to PM anyone to tell if they're correct so looks like the challenge/collab thing would have to wait til next year!
We would like to give a shout out to Midnight Rose 97 for this beautiful chapter :) We love you!
Elle: thank you for the review! And obviously, a new chapter is up! Courtesy of MR97 :)
xoxoxo: thank you! You're amazing :) keep reading!
MaximumMelody: hahaha! thank you! Well, she did reply in the end, maybe next challenge? Or you could come up with a couple name for Austin/Kaylie or Nicky/Maeve (look in the previous chapter for challenge deets) :)
anam: haha yeah! We included the whole "bend on one knee" thing to make it more interesting! And at first, we were only going to do just Austin in the middle of the field but we thought the entire football team would actually make a difference and K would be really happy :) hence, the whole football team! And "AuKay" sounds good! We'll keep it in mind, we're just waiting for a few more names and we'll pick :) thanks for inputting!
Carol bendon: thank you! We do try to make each and every chapter good :)
iLuvToRead: thank you! We love Kaylie/Austin too!
Now that you've read, review!
REVIEW!
Love,
S & T xx
P.S. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HOPE YOU GUYS GOT ALL THE PRESENTS YOU WISHED FOR! :D
