Well, I'm a week late but that is better than the space between my last chapter. Well, not much to say this time other then I hope you all enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 52: Alisha's Comp
Despite my best efforts, Edward's words stayed in my mind, hovering on the edge, demanding my full attention. Now, I was finally letting them have their due.
Marriage. It was something I hadn't thought about but something that I feel like I should. I mean according to Alice, I didn't have long left. Her guess was that by fall of this year, I would be a vampire. Six months, it wasn't long at all.
I should do as much as I could now, while I was still human. Get as much time with everyone, do any ambitions or dreams that could be done with my friends, just in case Alice's vision really did come true. Marriage was one I hadn't considered but now, it was something I wanted. Of course, I might not be here that much longer, might not be around for it if it happened later.
I sat down at the breakfast table, running the thought through my mind. Dad sat at one of the chairs, looking half dead and sipping his cup of coffee. Kathy was over at her house for the moment and Alisha was still asleep. It was the perfect time.
"So when are you going to propose to Kathy?"
He sputtered, his eyes going wide as he choked on his coffee. I waited a moment so he could catch his breath before starting up again.
"I know you guys haven't been dating long but your one year anniversary is going to be coming up soon. I realize she's only been around Alisha and I for five months or so but I think she fits well with the family and Alisha would love to be able to call her a step-mom."
I paused at the incredulous look he gave me.
It seemed to take him a second to figure out what he wanted to say. "Where did this even come from?"
I shrugged my shoulders, widening my eyes a fraction to give myself an innocent look. It wasn't like I could tell him that if Alice was right, I wouldn't be here much longer. I couldn't tell him that Alisha would need a mom that she could rely on. Her sister wouldn't cut it anymore. I couldn't tell him that I wanted this family to be whole for however long it could before it was broken again.
He continued to study my face for a few seconds before he sighed, looking down at his coffee. He swished it around, like he was contemplating the most monumental thought. He sighed again, looking out the window before his lips parted. "I've actually been thinking about it."
I blinked once, twice before my lips pulled into a smile so wide my cheeks started to ache. "Really? Since when?"
He looked slightly sheepish. "Well, to be honest I wouldn't have introduced Kathy to either of you if she wasn't someone I hadn't planned on making a part of the family. I've just been considering when the right time would be because we haven't been together long, even if we had been friends since we moved here."
I nodded along as he spoke. "I call going along to pick out the ring."
He shook his head, taking another sip of his coffee now that he was sure I wouldn't say anything that would cause another choking fit. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't tempted to try and do so. Instead though, I ran upstairs, shaking Alisha awake. She wasn't too happy when she saw me but seeming I was the only one around to help her this morning, she grudgingly accepted, allowing me to prep her for her competition.
This would be the second one and this time, we were shooting for first place. After what had happened, I had gotten a stern lecture from coach Melissa before she allowed me back on as a junior coach. Apparently Rosalie had filled in for me when I had disappeared.
I ushered Alisha to the bathroom, forcing her into her uniform and then putting one of her cheer shirts on over that. Next, I wrestled her hair into a high-ponytail before I started to curl it. In the mirror, her lips were set in a firm pout.
"Why couldn't Rosie do my hair today?" She asked. The fact that she had been the one to do it last time went unsaid but the implication was there.
"Because Rosalie was busy this morning. She had some stuff to do but you'll see her and the rest of the Cullens when we get to the competition." Not to mention that Jake, Billy, Emily and anyone else from the tribe that felt like coming. According to the few times I've talked to Jake since I've been grounded, they all had accepted Alisha as a piece of their extended family. The thought of it brought a small prickle of relief along with a whole lot of unease.
Alisha just glared into the mirror as a response.
When her hair was completely done, bow in place and all, she headed downstairs to get breakfast. I couldn't help but think that she better hurry. We had to leave in half an hour and she still had to get her make-up done. Thankfully it wasn't much, just a little bit of eye-shadow.
I on the other hand, really needed to hurry. I went to my room, getting dressed in the clothes I had put out the night before. Plain, black pants and a nice, navy blue shirt. It was one of the ones that I bought back when we went on the shopping spree with Alice. As a second thought, I also threw on a white cardigan. Gyms were usually pretty cold if you weren't either in the crowd or one of the cheerleaders. My hair was left straight and there was a light dusting of neutral make-up that I wore. Hey, I had to at least look the part if I was going to be the junior coach.
By the time Kathy arrived, we were all ready. Dad was dressed and actually awake now. Alisha was all done up and had her bag packed with water, juice and snacks. I had my own bag which was filled with hair supplies, an extra bow, extra pairs of socks, some paperwork, about three copies of our cheer music and a huge amount of snacks. Packing with children who might have forgotten stuff in mind wasn't the easiest. The amount of parents that send their children to compete with colorful or mismatched socks instead of plain white ones was almost unbelievable.
After we double-checked that we had everything we needed, everyone climbed into Dad's car and then we were headed. The drive to Alisha's competition wasn't nearly as long as the one to mine had been, probably because her's was considered a rec team and as such, their competitions were usually smaller. Today, it was being held at a high school about forty-five minutes away.
Cheerleaders had to be there an hour before the doors opened so when we pulled into the parking lot it was about half full, a line of parents already at the door as they waved goodbye to their children. I could even see two of my own cheerleaders heading inside.
Alisha and I quickly said our goodbyes, rushing towards the front doors. As soon as it closed behind us we were immersed in a crowd of uniforms, glitter and bows. With my hand firmly holding Alisha's shoulder, I looked around until I found the familiar colors of our team. When I did we made out way over, joining Melissa and the eight girls that were surrounding her. Looked like we were still waiting for the rest of our team.
"Good morning." I told everyone. I got a chorus of them back from most of the girls and a nod from coach. "When is the coaches meeting?"
"In twenty minutes. Hopefully the rest of the team will be here by then." She said, holding a wristband out to me. It was a type of paper that was used for admissions, almost exactly like the ones from the fair. All coaches, assistants and juniors had to wear them to be identified as part of the team, not to mention it meant we wouldn't have to pay for admission. She was already wearing hers.
I struggled with a it for a minute, trying to get the sticky part to actually land on the paper instead of the hairs on my arm. By the time I had mostly succeeded, two more girls had shown up and I could see a third walking through the door. That put us at twelve, only seven more to go.
In the following minutes, the others on the team trickled in and when everyone was finally present and accounted for, we headed into the gym, snagging one of the open spots on the bleachers. Melissa left only a few minutes later. That left me looking after eighteen girls and one boys as they talked, played and complained about being hungry, nervous or that they had to go pee. It wasn't hard per say, I had enough experience with children but between them, the loud music that the other teams were testing and the other teams themselves, well, let's just say I was glad when she finally came back.
At that point I started running bathroom trips, bringing those that needed to go down to the restroom. After that there were food runs down to the concession stand for the children who had money.
By the time everyone was back and sitting in their spots, the muscles in my neck were tight and I had to consciously relax my jaw to stop from clenching my teeth. I hadn't realized keeping track of all of them would be this stressful.
After another moment that no one asked for anything else, I took a seat next to Melissa, sighing as I did so.
She gave me a look, smirking and I did my best to not stick my tongue out at her. After she was done with her gloating, she pulled out a piece of paper. "We're number four in a our category so we'll have a little bit before we have to head out to the warm-out mats."
I looked down the list, noting that we were around the middle as far as performances for the entire competition. "Are they doing a cheer and tumble off?" I asked, not seeing it listed out on the piece of paper.
"Yeah but it's not on the coaches handouts, just the ones for the viewers. Is Alisha going to do it?"
I shrugged my shoulders in answer although I knew she would at least want to try the tumble off. For each of the age groups, they allowed each cheerleader to enter and do either their best tumbling pass or their best jumps depending which they entered. It was an individual competition as well so anyone could do it. The top three for each age group would be awarded with medals. It was a fun event to watch and one that I was actually looking forward to it. It was always amazing seeing these little girls pull out some pretty impressive tumbling passes.
It was a few minutes later that the doors opened and people started streaming in. I kept an eye out for Dad and Kathy. Both the Cullens and anyone coming from the tribe would be easy to spot what with one group being exceptionally pale and the other freakishly tall. It took me a total of four minutes before I found them. I reached forward, poking Alisha. She glared at me in answer, at least until I pointed Dad and Kathy out to her. After that we both watched them as they chose a seat on the bleachers. There were sitting a little to the left of the center, closer to the front than they were to the back. It didn't take long for the Cullens to join them on one side and then I saw the Quiluetes coming in.
I could see Jake easy enough and it looked like both Embry and Quil were with him. After a second I saw Emily as well, with a very tense Sam next to her. Even Sue had shown up, Charlie and Billy in tow. That was another surprise, especially seeming Charlie hadn't even mentioned anything about going to this. After a moment I could only shrug. This was the closest competition Alisha was having, it would make sense that everyone would come to this one. I had to admit though it was kind of funny. Between everyone, they almost took up a whole section of the bleachers by themselves.
Still, them being here for Alisha didn't stop any of the tension between the two groups of mythical creatures from forming. Sam was clearly eyeing Carlisle who was smiling pleasantly back. Edward was staring at the wall very intensely and I was sure he was focusing on their thoughts. Even Emily was looking at the Cullens with a little doubt in her eyes. Ironically, the only two that seemed relaxed about the whole thing was Jake and Rosalie. They had both nodded at each other before turning towards the mats.
Alisha called out, waving to them and just about everyone waved back.
Melissa saw the interaction and gave me a look, probably at the number of people that were there but she didn't say anything, only glancing away after a second.
It wasn't much longer until the competition started and when it did, I found my attention drifting towards the teams that were competing. Seeming it was only really young kids at this point, the most impressive thing that I saw tumbling wise was a lone back-handspring. The kids were adorable though and I found myself awing over more than a few of them throughout.
By the time an hour had passed, a total of 12 teams had performed so far. It was also approaching the time that we would head for warm-ups so with a small amount of groaning and a large amount of nervous smiles, we herded the children out to the hall where they started stretching. When they were done, we had enough time to mark the routine a few times before heading to the warm-up area.
When we got to the spare room, it was already crowded with other teams. We had to wait for a few minutes before it was actually our turn to get on the warm-up mats but as soon as we were, time seemed to fly by. Between the warm-up, tumble and full mat, we had a total of twenty minutes or so but it felt more like four.
When we had finished with our time, we had one team in front of us and the team that was performing right now. It meant we would have about five minutes or so for them to catch their breath before they would have to perform.
I glanced back at the huddle of 2-4 graders. Most of the girls were smiling brightly, preparing for the time that they would be in front of the crowd. There were however two who stood with their arms pulled against their chest, their eyes darting around nervously. I was sure that their pulse was racing, their stomach dropping at the thought of going out on that blue mat. Amanda and Bethany.
I did my best to move to them, setting my hands on top of their heads for a quick moment of reassurance. They glanced up, a pair of blue and brown eyes meeting my own as I gave them a smile. Theirs were hesitant as they returned it but it was at least present now. I ruffled their hair, just a tiny bit so I didn't mess it up.
"All of you are gonna do great, just like you do at practice." I told them.
Amanda smiled back but doubt flooded into Bethany's eyes. I leaned down a little bit so I was on eye-level with them. "Wanna know a secret?"
They quickly nodded.
"I always get nervous before I would go on but as soon as the music starts, it always felt like I was back home, in the gym doing something I've done a thousand times. You know this routine and you'll do great."
I glanced up, catching Alisha scowling at me before she looked away. I was forced to look back at the girls I was talking to though as Bethany reached forward, wrapping her arms around my waist.
"I promise I'll do my best," she said, smiling wide enough to show a missing tooth she had recently lost.
"That's all anyone can ask of you."
I moved back towards Melissa as the announcer called the next team onto the mat. We were up after them. The last few minutes flew by as we peaked through the divider at the team. There weren't bad but the stunts were definitely shaky.
As soon as they ended and the crowd started cheering, Melissa gathered the kids, giving them a few last minutes words of encouragement. When she was done, she lined them up and they grasped hands, smiles pulling at their lips and teeth flashing.
It was another long minute before the announcer finally called them out. We parted the curtain to allow them to pass easily through before following them. As coaches, we were allowed to sit on a few chairs that were situated a couple feet away from the front corner of the mat. I took the seat that Melissa didn't, gripping the sides with clenched fingers.
To be honest, I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous for them. I could feel my heart beating faster than normal in my chest and there was a fluttering in my lungs. I wanted to say I was being stupid, I wasn't performing but this was my little sister who was. Even though this wasn't her first competition, even though I had seen the videos from the last one, I couldn't help it.
"Forks Spartans, you may take the floor."
As a group, all of the children walked forward onto the mat, heads held back, chins up and grand smiles on their faces. Looking at them, I felt myself relax slightly at their confidence. I also couldn't help it as I felt the small bit of pride spark in my chest. This was my team and I would finally be able to see them in action.
They all struck their beginning poses, the boy in the middle with his arm crossed, two girls standing on either side of him. Behind him, three stunt groups were in a line together on the back half of the mat.
The crowd settled down as relative silence filled the gym. It was only then that the music started, flooding the entire place with sound. I could feel the bass thrumming through the floor and beating in my chest, almost in time with my own heart.
The boy did a small move as the three stunts in back quickly went up into a prep. The words 'get ready for a show' blared over the music as the three flyers mouthed the words. At the same time, the boy bent backwards, doing a back-walkover as the four girls on either side of him, Alisha included in the group, did back-handsprings.
There was a round of cheering from the crowd as the stunts came down and they moved to a new formation. This time there were four stunts groups in a diamond shape. They all put up a prep before carefully switching over to a lib. Slowly, all four flyers pulled a scorpion but the girl in back dropped it at the last second. At least it didn't look that bad seeming the others did as well as they put there legs back into an arabesque. They held that for four counts before lowering their leg back to a prep. While still in the prep, the stunts moved, changing to two lines. When they were in the new formation, the bases, back and front, pushed the flyers into an extension before popping down.
I nearly went deaf as Melissa screamed in my ear in excitement when they finished the first stunt. This was the stunt that the back group had dropped at the last competition. I sent her a small glare but I didn't have time to really put any power behind it before I was looking back towards the mat.
Already they had moved on to their next formation for jumps. They did their three jumps, although their timing was off. That wasn't something that was surprising though. At this age, that was how most jumps were.
I watched intently during the rest of the routine, counting under my breath for them, even if they couldn't hear me. When they got to tumbling, we got a good amount of yelling from the crowd when the boy did a front-walkover, followed by two girls doing round-off back-handsprings and Alisha doing her back-handspring tuck.
I have to say that my eyes did not leave Alisha during the performance. She looked like she was having the best time of her life, her lips pulled back into a wide grin. Her eyes were bright as well, a type of light to them that I hadn't seen from her in a while. It made her glow in a way that none of the other cheerleaders could hope to attain. I might have been biased though, just a little bit anyways.
When they finally hit their ending pose, I jumped up, cheering for them. At this point, my voice was starting to get hoarse from all the yelling I had done during the routine. After a second, I was surprised to find that Melissa and I were jumping up and down, hugging each other as we did.
I pulled myself away, slightly embarrassed as the whole team rushed at us.
"How come you never got this excited for our team?" I questioned her.
"Your team isn't this cute."
I rolled my eyes at her answer but I couldn't help agreeing.
The first thing that I did when the girls and one boy surrounded us was to find Alisha in the group and hug her to me. I couldn't help it. Seeing her perform for the first time, in person and not just in a video, I hadn't thought I would be this happy for her, this proud of her.
"You did so well-"
Whatever I would have said next was lost as she yanked herself away from me, her blue eyes hardening into a glare. "Like I care what you have to say."
Ouch. My mouth literally dropped open at her words before she grabbed the hand of one of the girls beside her and headed back towards the bleachers. Melissa shot me a sympathetic look before starting to lead the other girls away. After a half a second, I followed, behind, bringing up the rear.
"So how do you think they'll do?" I asked, turning to Melissa after we were all back in our previous spot. I was doing my best to not remember what had just taken place a minute ago.
"It was definitely better than the last time but it all depends on the other teams. There was one that almost beat us out for second. They were the team that went before us. The team that placed first is the last to perform in our division."
"So, I'll have to keep an eye open for them?"
"For sure."
After a moment, I looked over to the bleaches on the other side of the gym. The first thing I noticed was the scowl that Rosalie wore, her eyes narrowed the slightest as she gazed at Alisha. Jake didn't look the happiest either but at least his attention seemed to be split between Alisha and Rosalie. Dad and Kathy's were both grinning and when they caught my eye they gave me a thumbs up. In that moment I was happy that neither of them had enhanced hearing like the Cullens or the pack. I glanced towards the rest of them when my eyes landed on Edward, or more importantly the pity that I could see in his eyes as he looked at me.
I diverted my gaze. I didn't want to see that look from anyone and I wanted it from him least of all.
Slowly, the other teams were called forward to perform and as they did, the adrenaline rush from earlier was fading. I could feel the aches from before coming back. The muscles all down my neck and back were tight, making it slightly painful to keep an eye on all the cheerleaders surrounding us. On top of that, it was impossible to forget about the music that was blaring from every speaker in the gym. The bass that had almost been in rhythm with my heart was now pounding in my skull and I had to grit my teeth against the pain. Even my vision seemed to be vibrating with the sound. It seemed a bit like overkill but looking around, none of the others seemed to be as effected as I was. Apparently I was just getting old.
The rest of the teams performances flew by in a blur as I did my best to concentrate on the teams instead of the pain that was ringing in my head. After the last one performed, the announcer stepped onto the mat. I forced myself to pay attention as they called up the girls for the jump and tumble off. Alisha did end up signing up for it and she pulled her best pass that she could come up with, a walk-over, round-off back-handspring tuck. Quite a mouthful and quite impressive. That was until another girl in her age group stepped up and pulled a lay-out from nowhere.
At this point, Melissa stood, heading out to the coaches meeting and to collect our score sheets.
As soon as each girl had competed, the announcer was back again but instead of calling all the teams to the mat like I expected, he walked to the center as he turned to face the crowd.
"Now, we got a special event here planned for all of you, something a little different. I'm going to need all you cheerleaders to get ready and to get your best puppy dog faces on because we're going to have a Daddy Dance Off."
There were whoops from the crowd and I couldn't help but smile, especially at seeing the gleam in Alisha's eyes as she zoomed in on Dad.
"You'll have a little bit to decide but I'm gonna need all the contestants down on the floor in five minutes. Remember, the winner will receive a $50 gift card so that's a good incentive right there."
As soon as he was done talking, there was a mad rush of cheerleaders up the bleachers and to their parents. I followed behind Alisha just to make sure she didn't get lost. I arrived just in time to see her crawl on Dad's lap, her eyes wide and her mouth in a pout.
He groaned, looking over at Kathy for backup but she simply laughed.
"Please Daddy," she begged.
"Come on, you can't disappoint her." Charlie spoke up.
He groaned again but this time it was in defeat and I couldn't help but snicker. What I wasn't expecting though was for Alisha to then turn to the person sitting next to dad.
"Please, Uncle Charlie."
His face colored red as soon as the words left her mouth. "I don't know about this. I'm not much of a dancer."
"It can't be that hard. Besides, it's like you said, we can't disappoint." Dad hedged, a smirk stretching wide across his lips.
Charlie looked like he would do anything to take back his words but after another look from Alisha, he too caved. They both stood, teasing each other as they made their way towards the mat that was slowly filling with other males.
"You know, technically I'm not even your father so I don't even know how you dragged me into this." Charlie called back.
"Oh, suck it up and give us a show." It was Billy who yelled that, Jake next to him laughing at the predicament. "And just know I'm getting it on video."
The two friends were far enough apart by then that Charlie couldn't respond so he only sent him a look.
By the time the five minutes had hit, a group of forty or so fathers had clumped together on the mat.
"Now," the announcer started. "What's gonna happen is I'm going to play some music. I need each of you to show your best dance moves while a few of our judges go around eliminating people. We'll do that until we get down to five."
There were cheers from the crowd as they waited for the music to start and then there was plenty of laughter as "Gangnam Style" started to play.
I could see my dad roll his eyes and send a look to Charlie before he started swaying back and forth. At first that was all he did but after a little bit he started to get into the music and he actually did the moves to the song. About half way through, the song switched to "Call me Maybe." At this point, Dad turned to Charlie and started to serenade him, much to his embarrassment. After another minute, the music changed a third time to "It's raining men."
At this point, most of the people on the mat had been eliminated. There were now only a few stragglers left, doing there best. When the music stopped a minute later, most of the five that were left were bent over, resting their hands on their knees.
"Okay, now that we're down to five, let's get the names of our proud fathers and which team they are here to cheer on." He went down the line and surprisingly, both Dad and Charlie were still left at this point.
When he got to Charlie, he held the mike out to him. "Charlie from Forks," he wheezed into it. He got a few snickers at his red face and the sweat pooling on his forehead.
The announcer moved onto Dad next. "Jeff, also from Forks." Dad was a little bit more composed but his face was still flushed.
When they had gotten the names of all five men, the announced was back. "Now that we are down to five, we'll play two more songs. The first song we will get down to three and then we will have a true dance battle to see who is the winner of the $50 gift certificate. Those in the audience will help us to decide."
The crowd cheered again as "I'm too sexy," started playing. The five men immediately started dancing although one dad actually took his shirt off. Thankfully he was quickly pulled off the mat. Another dad got pulled off when he tried to do a cartwheel and kind of just flopped over.
With only three left, Dad and Charlie somehow still in it, the music changed for the last time. "Come on, let's see what you got." The announcer yelled as tango music started playing. There was a pause as all of the dads looked incredulous at each other. Then, much to everyone's surprise, Dad and Charlie hugged each other as they started to do the Tango.
The crowd roared in approval, especially as Charlie tried to dip Dad and ended up only dropping him to the mat. He didn't take any time to recover though, only got back up in time to give Charlie a twirl. I just about died laughing. At this point, my stomach ached and I couldn't breath. This was even funnier than the time that Edward had asked me out and the entire cheering team had performed to Mulan.
After another few seconds of the music playing, it was cut as the announcer was back, chuckling into the mike.
"Wow, you all must really love your kids to be up here doing this."
I could see Charlie shaking his head, his entire face bright red from the exertion.
"Now, to choose the winner. Let's hear if you think Frank should win." The announcer walked up to the lone guy as there were a decent amount of cheers.
"A good amount. Now, let's see who thinks Jeff should win."
The entire place was blaring with cheers and there were even some people that were stomping their feet against the bleachers.
"Wow, that's going to be tough to beat. Let's hear it for Charlie."
Again the bleachers roared to life, just as loud as before.
When crowd hushed a few seconds later and the guy went over to Frank. "I'm sorry but I think you've been outclassed."
Frank nodded, waving to the audience as he walked off to a few awws. The announcer then walked up and stood between Dad and Charlie. "As far as you two I couldn't tell. Let's hear another round as we try and decide who's the winner."
Before they could, Charlie waved his hand, brushing away the thought. "That's okay. I just forfeit. All I want to do is sit anyways."
His words were met with a round of laughter.
"Well, then I guess that means that Jeff is our grand winner tonight. Everyone, please join me in congratulating him as he receives his $50 gift certificate to Kay Jewelers."
I couldn't help the bark of surprised laughter, especially at what I had talked to dad about just this morning. Alisha gave me a look but I waved it away. Just because dad was thinking about it didn't mean that it would happen anytime soon and I didn't need to be giving it away. Hopefully he would just look at this as a sign.
After Dad and Charlie cleared the mat, all the cheerleaders were finally called to converge onto it. Our team got there in time to snag the front corner of the mat, Melissa joining us at the last second.
"How did they do?" I asked, hanging a few feet back.
In answer, she flashed the score sheet at me, giving me just enough time to see the 81.5 that was circled. Definitely not a bad score for this age group. Now if we just knew what the other teams scored.
The announcer took center mat, although nearly everyone cringed when there was a loud screech that came from the microphone. I couldn't help but groan as my headache flared back, more intense than before. Apparently it's hadn't gone away and I had just gotten really good at ignoring it. After a second that he let it die down, he started off by calling people up for the jump and tumble off. We listened quietly, clapping at each name that was called but we all burst out cheering when they announced that Alisha had gotten second place in the tumble off. She stood up, smiling as she went to receive her medal.
When they were done with that, they moved onto the different age groups. I waited, impatiently for them to finally get to our own. I wanted to know how the team had done.
"Now, in for the 2nd-4th grade division."
Melissa hushed all the girls as they chattered excitedly. They all had their hands up, covering their mouths in their excitement.
"In third place, with a total of 76.3 points …"
I broke out into a grin. This means that we got at least second place, maybe even first with the gap between their scores and our own.
A team started cheering and I realized I had completely missed who had actually gotten third place.
There was a few seconds for everyone to hush again as the team received their trophy.
"In second place, with a total 79.8 points …"
I bit my lip, hard. Hard enough to almost break the skin to keep me from making any noise. I could see Melissa as well, her arms clenched around her stomach as she fought to not give it away.
"And finally, in first place with a total 81.5 points, the Spartans from Forks."
Everyone was jumping and cheering. Again, Melissa and I were hugging each other but I didn't care this time, wasn't embarrassed at all that I was hugging my coach. They had done it. They got first place. The crowd was hollering but despite the noise, I was sure that I could hear Jake cheering for Alisha above it all.
Melissa sent a quick look to the boy on our team and he ran to meet the woman that was carrying the trophy over. He took it and the handful of medals she held out for first place, before running back to us, nearly tripping in his excitement.
Melissa let go of me in time so that she could engulf him in a hug, When she pulled back, she took the pile of medals before she started to pass them out.
I took a breath, noting in that second how incredibly dry my throat was. Perhaps I had done a little too much cheering. I glanced around, realizing that the announcer had moved on to the other divisions while we were still celebrating over our win.
I don't think anyone cared, especially the few girls that were dancing around with their medals resting on their chest.
In the end, Melissa made the shush in time for the last few teams to be called, though that didn't stop them from grinning so big that even their gums were showing in their smiles. As soon as the last award was given, there was a rush from the bleachers down to the mat as parents started crowding in for pictures. There were team pictures, group pictures, even individual pictures that happened with the trophy. By the time everyone was satisfied, about half of the people had already vacated the gym.
"If you want to grab your sister and meet up with your family you can leave now." Melissa told me.
Most of the parents had grabbed their children and left as soon as the picture were done being taken. There were only two girls left, one of who's dad was still having her pose in front of the trophy.
"Okay, I'll see you at practice next week." I told her as I grabbed Alisha's hand and started to lead her away. I felt her stiffen as soon as I did but I ignored it, or did my best to.
I led the way, over to where everyone was still waiting on the bleachers. When we got close though, Alisha tore her hand from mine, running ahead to Jake and Rosalie who were waiting for her. For a second she seemed to freeze before she threw herself towards both of them.
I was much less enthusiastic as I joined the group, standing by Dad and Kathy. I watched as everyone moved forward to congratulate Alisha. She was beaming from all the attention, especially as she got to show off her two medals. Despite her words earlier, I still couldn't help but be proud of her, especially with how far she had come.
Caught up in the moment, I jumped only slightly when I felt a heavy hand fall onto my shoulder, though the immense heat that was flooding from the skin gave me a clue to who it was. Still, I was slightly surprised when I glanced over my shoulders to see Sam standing behind me. He leaned down until his face was next to mine and I could feel his breath moving my stray hairs as he spoke. "Come down to the reservation soon. We need to talk."
His voice only sounded slightly ominous, though I could see a majority of the Cullens stiffen. No doubt they had heard Sam's words as well.
I quickly nodded, sure it would be about the spontaneous trip to Italy I had taken. Part of me just wanted to roll my eyes and ignore him but with how Alisha was all tied up with everything now, it wasn't like I had that choice. Not if I wanted to be able to protect her when I could, not if I wanted to stay updated on what was going on.
He stepped back, leaving me alone as he took his spot next to Emily. She smiled up at him, taking his hand before turning her attention back to Alisha.
Seeing those two together and especially seeing the way Emily was looking at Alisha, I had to wonder how close they had gotten in the past few weeks that I've been grounded. Although I have overheard a few stories of Alisha telling dad and Kathy about her time in La Push, I had to question how much she had been immersed into the tribe. Apparently enough that Jake would come with his friends, enough that his father would come as well. Enough so that the leader of the frickin werewolf pack would come to something as simple as a cheerleader competition.
A part of it scared me, more than I wanted to admit. It meant that Alisha was no longer just my sister.
"Can we please?" She begged, her words pulling me from my thoughts. She was riding piggy back on Jake as Rose hovered around her.
Dad couldn't help but grin at her tone. "So demanding today." Despite the words, his voice was light and he chuckled at the end of it. "Isn't that fact that I did the dance off for you enough? Now you want a souvenir too?"
"You and Mom always got us some before." She stated, her eyes flickering towards me and away.
He sighed, drawing it out at the pout she wore. "I suppose. Why don't you go pick something out."
Alisha squealed, although it wasn't really that much of a surprise. I'm sure that everyone here knew that she was going to get her way from the very beginning. The whole group moved, almost as one, each following after their own species, as they walked to the tables.
I followed behind, almost feeling disconnected from it. I shook the thought away as I turned towards the table and the merchandise that was left on it. As per usual, there were plenty of shirts, sweatpants, sweaters and bows, all priced anywhere from $15 to $35. Most of it was way more than I was willing to spend on any single piece of clothing. The bows weren't too bad though, especially seeming there was a two for twenty deal. Maybe …
"Anything that catches your eye?"
Edward's voice made me physically jump though I managed to bite back the yelp that wanted to escape. After letting my heart return to it's normal pace, I glanced over at him, scowling slightly. His eyes were bright again, a robust yellow like the sun shining off a nugget of gold. A slight smile was resting on his lips and the pity was gone. Instead, there was a gentleness there, a lightness that was similar to how Alisha had looked when she had been on the mat.
I glanced away, biting my lips slightly before answering his question. "Why does it matter?" I didn't like it, didn't like the fact that everyone seemed to be happy, that everyone seemed to be better off.
There was a small pause. "Well, I did tell you that I would let you pick."
I looked back to him, my eyebrows raising in question. His smile only widened before I remembered his words. Back in the meadow, he had promised that the next time he bought me something at a competition he would let me pick it out.
Almost instantaneously, I could feel my teeth grinding together as I glared at him. "As if I'd want anything from you."
Just for a second, there was a look of hurt in his eyes before it was gone, the smile forced back to his lips. At the same time, I realized how much of a child I was being, especially with how closely my words mirrored Alisha's earlier ones.
"Well, we are supposed to be friends again."
I couldn't help but turn away from his gaze. I didn't want to see the emotions within it. "No, you're supposed to be trying to earn my trust again and you can't do that by buying me stuff."
"That's not why I offered." He said, his voice somehow still level.
I knew it was very childish of me but in that moment I wanted him to feel as off as I did. I wanted him to wonder how long it would be until things could go back to normal, if they ever could. I wanted him to see all the happiness surrounded him, but not able to be a part of it.
"Think of it as a late birthday present," he suggested.
I wanted to say something snarky again but everything seemed to drain out of me in that second. The only thing that was left was utter exhaustion and pain as my head beat in rhythm with my heart. All I wanted to do was climb into my bed that was a forty-five minute drive away. I was tired of being mad, tired of not being me. I wanted to be happy again, to be able to pick on Alisha and laugh with my friends.
I glanced over at Edward, noticing the tension in his arms, the way his shoulders were ramrod straight. I knew forgiving him wasn't going to be easy, that him earning my trust back would take a long time but I really didn't need to make it any harder, on him or on me.
"No thanks, but perhaps you can try again for my next one." The words were soft but they were the only thing I could bring myself to utter before I stepped forward, fitting myself into the space between Dad and Kathy. They were like my wall right now, my fortress, the one place I did fit with little to no effort.
I didn't look back at Edward.
First I want to say thank you to everyone who has been leaving comments. They really are what spurs me on to get the chapters done as soon as I can, even if they are late. You guys are all amazing. Keep up the good work. Just as a heads up, I'm not sure if I will have a chapter next Thursday, partly because I have no clue what is going to happen in the next chapter and partly because of finals. Next week is my last week though so after that we should get back on a normal schedule. Again, thank you to everyone that has been enjoying this story and I'll see you all again soon.
