Disclaimer: I will sing it out to the mountains and the seas. Or I'll cheer it.

Gimme a N! Gimme an O! Gimme a T! Gimme a H! Gimme an I! Gimme another N! Gimme a G! What does that spell?

:: brief recheck ::

NOTHING!

Yeah I was never a cheerleader…


October 28, 1988

Odessa-Permian vs. Midland Lee

Win after Win after Win.

Oh baby we were amazing. Permian spirit rose to amazing heights after we first realized the loss of Boobie wasn't going to kill the team.

Weeks were flying with the wins. Everyone was in amazing spirits and the team as a whole lifted everyone's spirits. Even Donnie's dad seemed to be pleased. He and I had short conversations off the field always with Donnie and Flippy by our sides.

Donnie and I were doing fine. At first, I thought that night in the car would ruin it, but it was only awkward for a few moments. I had told the story to Melissa and Maria. Maria in turn had told it to Brian who came to me in complete disbelief.

"Frenchy, don't lie. Seriously, it's not even a good lie. No one's going to think any worse of you just because you and Donnie had sex in the truck. Actually I think you've held out longer than anyone I know."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm serious Jock. Ask Donnie, nothing happened. It nearly did, but it ended."

Brian had taken my advice and went to Donnie coming back with the same answer. He was still shocked and the only thing he said to me was making me promise not to blue ball his best friend to death. That earned laughter form me and a scowl from Donnie.

Melissa and I walked on the field laughing about something that had happened in English class that afternoon when Maria came rushing over.

She stopped before us hands on her knees. "Copper beat Woodland today!"

My eyes widened. "Are you serious? If we win we're in the play-offs."

Maria nodded, standing back up. "If we lose we still have a chance. We'll be in a three way tie with Midland Lee and Cooper."

Melissa shook her head. "It's decided by a fucking coin toss. Stupidest thing I've ever heard."

I took her mascot head and put it on her. "Well then I guess we'd better be careful tonight."

"I think our cheerleaders better be careful." Donnie had his helmet in hand and was pressing up against me.

I leaned my head back for a kiss smiling. "Have fun." I felt his hand resting on my butt. "Not that kind."

"You know as cute as you look in these pants I miss the skirt." His eyes took in the top and a small smile played across his face. "Although I am very fond of that top."

I rolled my eyes pushing him toward the benches fixing the straps of my shirt. Brightly shining silver tops that were low cut gave the whole squad a good amount of attention. Under the lights, it was even worse. It was as if we were beacons on the sidelines. Not a good thing to wear if you were trying to hide.

Maria wiggled her eyebrows. "So?"

I grinned. "Nope. He hasn't gotten anything. Brian thinks he's going to die in the next week or so."

Melissa shook her head smiling. "I think you broke him. He probably wouldn't know what to do."

"I CAN HEAR YOU!"

The three of us turned to see Donnie staring at us angrily while Brian was laughing and Mike had his head down an obvious smile on his face.


"Boobie. I mean this with all the love in my heart. Shut. The. Fuck. Up." Maria's voice was coming out a growl. For the calm one out of the us she was loosing her cool rather quickly.

We'd been watching the game and Boobie was getting agitated at not getting out onto the field. Maria, Melissa and I had taken up our usually spots on the team's bench while the rest of the squad cheered and talked with their friends in the stands. Mostly it was too intense to be cheering. Everyone was more interested in the game than the cheerleaders, which was usually but we could be cheering naked and no one would know the difference.

Boobie had come out of the locker room to cheering fans and a few frowns from Midland. He hadn't gone it yet but continued to annoy us with card tricks and bribing Gaines to put him in the game.

My eyes widened as I watched Donnie on the field. "Oh no Donnie. Oh Jesus tell me you're not…" My words were lost in my throat as I groaned. Donnie had taken #25's helmet and slammed him into the ground. Everyone was getting frustrated and now Donnie was going to lose it. I had been hoping he could hold out until halftime.

He came walking off the field, Gaines forcing him to sit down. My eyes flicked to the stands to see Charlie yelling and Flippy disappearing. Looked like Donnie was going home with his dad tonight. Not a good thing.

I nodded to Maria and Melissa before moving by the cooler near Donnie. I moved behind him resting my hands on his shoulder pads. He took my hands and slid them around his neck making me move closer to him my face right next to his. We didn't look at each other, just at the field.

I felt a bead of sweat moved from his temple to my cheek. His skin was on fire and I could feel how upset he was. "You okay bébé?"

He leaned his head back blinking his eyes. "It's so fucking frustrating." He squeezed my hands. "How mad did my dad look?"

I licked my lips not sure what to say. "Flippy left." It was sufficient enough.

Brian came over next to us. "Donnie, you know if you need to…"

Donnie just shook his head standing up and releasing me. "I know Chavo. I know. But I'm going home tonight." He turned to me trying to smile. "Think you can give me a kiss? I mean I know I'm sweaty but I think I need one right now."

I moved over to him feeling the need to stand on tiptoe. It was something about the uniform that made me feel two feet shorter than Donnie. "It'll be okay."

He sighed moving back at the halftime signal. "I hope you're right."


I sat on the bench by myself. Maria and Melissa had already left trying to beat the crowds that were taking their anger out on everyone. Boobie had gone in after the half only to be carried off the field shortly after.

We started getting back the game in the end. We were moving up the field with only a minute left. Unfortunately, in the end with the crowd watching and energy pouring Mike's throw was too tall. I've never seen a crowd change faster. It was terrible the day Boobie got hurt but there was venom here today.

I heard movement and looked up to see the few remaining members of the team emerge. It was mostly just the seniors that were left, everyone that the crowd would have mauled in the first place. Mike came out first eyes red and visibly shaken. If there was one position you didn't want on the football team it was being the QB. All of it rested on your shoulders. I watched in silence as he got into the car with Coach Gaines.

I got up from the bench when I saw Brian and Donnie. I gave Brian a quick hug and moved to Donnie almost scared to let him go. "You can come with us."

He sniffed a few times shaking his head. "No I have to go home."

I looked at him worried. His chin was already cut up and although his father didn't usually beat him, who knew what would happen tonight. "Donnie…"

He brought me bag into his arms squeezing me tightly. "I'll be over tomorrow okay? I promise."

I nodded into his chest pulling back to let him walk to the car where his father was stretched in the back seat. Brian pulled Donnie to the side whispering something I couldn't hear. Donnie mumbled something back, nodded and walked away. Brain took my arm and we headed to the car in silence.

The radio was on Slammin' Sammy talking to pretty much the entire population of Odessa. Not one soul was happy. Brian and I winced as they mentioned Donnie on the radio. The ride home for him couldn't be going very well about now.

"Brian. You okay?" I slid my eyes over to him. As much as the others joked about Brian being the one to get out of here I knew the truth. As much as he hated the small town congestion and obsession with football, he loved the game. It may not have been his life as it was for some of the people here but it was one of the few things he actually loved.

He sighed turning down the volume but still not shutting the radio off. "I think so. I told you how it was out here. Football season is all we have. There is no other sport that gets this much coverage. It's our senior year we're supposed to be happy and relaxed. But everyone is completely stressed out and there's nothing we can do. It's not as if we can talk to someone about it. Around here, everyone is against us. They're not disappointed we lost. They're furious. They expect certain things. They expect us to win. I can say this now. If Coach doesn't win the coin toss, they're going to try to lynch him. And I'm not even joking about that."

I bit my lip looking ahead of us. "You think everyone else is going to be okay?"

"A lot of people have been holding out for scholarships. And as good as they actually are on the field they'd be found a lot quicker if they won a state championship. A lot of people are going to be over looked. Some people are going to stay in Odessa for the rest of their lives." He sighed again. "Some are perfectly fine with that. The rest of us? Well the rest of us are just going to do whatever we can to get out of here."

I nodded looking out side window running my finger along the glass. "You think Donnie's okay?"

"I think Donnie knows he can come over if he needs to. He's my best friend and he's done that for as long as I can remember. Plus he knows you're here and you're worried." Brian put a hand on my shoulder and I looked over at him feeling a bit better. "Marie, I know everyone's been telling you this but you mean a lot to Donnie. I haven't seen him this relaxed in a long time. I've also never seen him smile at a girl more and not look like all he's thinking about is bringing her home." He paused and laughed. "I mean he has that look. He's had that look since the first day he met you, but there's something more."

I smiled at Brian giving him an awkward hug so as not to obstruct his view of the road. "Thanks Brian, that really means a lot. Oh and what's with Aunt Rosie and Uncle Al going away tonight?"

Brian shivered. "It's their anniversary. They go away for the weekend to 'reconnect.'" He raised an eyebrow at me. "I thought she already told you about it."

I smiled. "Oh she did. She also mentioned they were coming home late Monday night so the two of us would have more than enough time to clean up anything from the party tomorrow."

Brian shook his head laughing. "Yeah mom told me a few years back as long as I didn't leave a mess it could be out little secret and dad would never have to know. Did she say anything else?"

I looked out the window trying desperately not to laugh. "Yeah she said try not to have sex with Maria on the couch because she just had it reupholstered."


A/N:

Yay for falling asleep for a few hours after coming home.

I love the fact my old stories get random reviews. Apparently, I write decent Criminal Minds fanfics and have been asked to do another one. I am very very tempted.

Any who, thanks to my lone reviewer for Chapter 6:

BirdsofPrey9832: Thanks! Glad you like it.

p.s. Next update is going to be slightly late. I'll explain later...