Claude paused what she was doing to look over her shoulder at them. "Whoa, talk about freakazoids." Leena stuck her tongue out at her friend, and Steve just looked amused. He had this grin on his face that made him look so relaxed that looking at him for too long made me want to go to sleep. Man, both of them just radiate calm the way my dad exudes essence of pissed off.
I gestured between the three of them and asked the question that had been bouncing around in my head. "So how do you all know each other? I think I've seen you around once or twice, but that was probably lunch or in the halls." Is it weird to be hyper aware of the people you like? Don't get me wrong, I am paying attention to the twins but every time Helena flips her hair or laughs it caught my attention and I have to look, even if it's just for a second.
Claudia waved her hand in front of my face and chuckled, "Wooo, Micah, Earth to Micah. We're over here." Claude seemed to be getting a kick out of this. "I said we met in that special internship program."
I knocked Claudia's hand out of my face, "Oh okay, so you are a younger like Claudia." The program only lets in younger students. Stupid system. Besides the crotchety old man running the program it seems pretty cool. Studying ancient languages, literature, really delving into history with no hesitation. God that sounds so fucking cool.
The redhead who sometimes felt like a sister shoved my shoulder again, "Hey cheer up. Maybe you'll get in after winter break." Uhm, I'm sorry what?
Pete and I both looked at Claudia. We spoke at the same time but different things were said, jumbling the message a big. "When did that happen?", "Wait Nerd heaven is opening up?" I shot my friend a withering glare, "Oh ha ha. Just because you don't like reading about the ancient Sumerians doesn't mean that no one likes it."
He groaned and hauled himself up onto the tailgate despite the strict instructions from his mom to let us help. I gotta say I'm impressed with him, even while I want to punch him. "Mikes, just because you like to read about the ancient sumos doesn't mean that anyone else does either."
A hand touched my shoulder and my skin jumped at the sudden contact. Helena used me as an anchor while she leaned forward to speak to my friend, "You know Peter I very much enjoy a long conversation about the sumerians. So since you're outnumbered, I think it's safe to say that the sumerians are an interesting people." I did not expect that one coming. No one's ever stood up for my weird taste in reading material. Not even my dad.
Warmth spread through me. It's so nice to have someone stand up for me for once. It's been so long since anyone's given a shit. I mean mom does, sorta. Tyson is too wrapped up in his own little world to see what's going on. Pete and Claude, well they're there for me but it's different. "Thanks." I mumbled.
Helena winked at me in place of an answer and beat a quick tattoo on the side of the truck, "So are we going or what? I do remember a promise to see daring feats of acrobatic prowess."
Pete laughed, "Heck yeah mother humpers! Let's go!" We all turned to stare at him. "Too weird?"
Claudia put her hand to his forehead, "Let's make a vow that you don't talk after the pain meds, deal?" Pete sighed with all the drama he could muster, and they shook on it.
It's strange to have an audience. Like a real one where they aren't judging me for form, or the complexity of my tricks. I did all my compulsories but this time there were all kinds of comments from the peanut gallery. Once or twice I had to stop and answer their questions so they would stop yelling down from the parent's bay. The whole reason it's there is for helicopter moms who have to watch every session. I don't think it's ever had a crowd that big in it, like, ever. We have a separate room for competitions and stuff.
The commentary didn't really start until I started working on my form for the more complex tricks. The ones I'm still perfecting. I got catcalls and encouragement and I swear they were all having a ball up there. If I thought they would have this much fun just watching me do walk-overs, back-in full-outs, and that kind of thing I would have invited them to watch me sooner.
Every time Pete called out something nuts or Claudia made an ill-advised joke coach gave me this long-suffering look. I owe her so badly. I looked up between sets and grinned. They all waved back down at me, even Leena and Steve. I owe them all so much.
A/N: I am so sorry for the delay. I wrote and re-wrote this a few times, I couldn't really decide where I was going with it all and then I got to this point and I had to think. Every time I try to continue I draw a blank, so this is the end. School is back in session for the next few months so my updates are going to be few and far between. Thank you so much for your patience. This is The End.