I closed my eyes, actually going to try to sleep, but as soon as I began to drift off, my alarm woke me up. I groaned and looked at the time. 6:30 AM. Great. I dragged myself out of bed, so tired that I couldn't even think correctly and went to take a shower, hoping that it would wake me up at least a little bit. While I was in the shower, my mind drifted to the night before... With Nicole. I smiled softly, remembering how sweet she was. How soft her hands were. I began having those... thoughts again. I closed my eyes and my head filled with images of what I imagined being with Nicole would be like. My hands slid down my stomach...

"Waverly!" Wynonna's voice came muffled through the door.

I was pulled out of my thoughts and brought back to reality.

"Yeah?!" I asked.

"Champ's here for you."

Ugh. I rolled my eyes. "I'll be out soon."

"Hurry. You know Daddy doesn't like him being here."

Daddy doesn't like anyone being here.

I finished my shower and then got out, drying myself off. I headed back into my room to get dressed and brush my hair. I caught a glimpse of my cheer uniform and groaned. I'd totally forgotten that we have practice today. The first game of the season is tomorrow night. Perfect.

I got dressed and then shoved the uniform into my bag before heading downstairs. I had Nicole stuck in my mind the whole time. Champ smiled at me as I came down the stairs and I flashed a small smile back at him.

"You look so hot, babe," Champ said.

That was his idea of a compliment. I wouldn't mind hearing "beautiful" or "gorgeous" or even just "pretty" every once in a while.

"Hey. Keep it in your pants, junior." Wynonna told Champ accusingly, pinching his arm.

Champ hissed in pain. "Ow. Bitch," he muttered.

Wynonna smirked. "Have a good day at school, baby girl," she told me.

"I will," I replied.

Wynonna kissed my forehead and then I walked outside with Champ. We got in the car and drove off. At some point, we stopped before we got to the school, because Champ wanted a "quickie" before school. I gave in and we hooked up in the back of his pick-up. When we got dressed, I looked at the time.

"Shit. We're late, Champ."

"Ah, who cares. That was amazing."

"Yeah, for you," I thought.

"What?" Champ questioned, looking hurt.

Shit... I said that out loud, didn't I? "Nothing. Sorry, I'm just.. tired. I didn't get any sleep last night."

Champ seemed unconvinced but nodded. We got back in the truck and drove to school. I walked through the hallway, my head down.

"Whoa, there, stranger. Watch where you're going," I heard Nicole joke as we almost bumped into each other again.

I looked up at her and immediately smiled. "Hey, there."

"How are you doing?" Nicole asked, beginning to walk with me.

I shrugged. "I'm fine. Just tired."

"I heard your sister yelling at you when I dropped you off last night..."

"Oh... Yeah... Willa is... mean when she drinks."

"She drinks?"

"Yeah. Daddy does too, but he goes to Shorty's for that. Willa'll drink anywhere."

Nicole nodded a bit, seeming a little worried about what I'd just told her. I looked down, kind of ashamed of my home life. Nicole looked at me.

"Hey. Wanna ditch?" She asked me.

I looked up at her. I'd never ditched before...

"Sure," I told her, smiling softly.

This girl will be the death of me.

Nicole led me out to the field. "We'll get caught here. This way," I said, leading her to a section I knew no one else went to.

Did I really wanna be somewhere alone with her? Somewhere no one else knew about? I just don't know if I trust myself around her... Especially not after this morning...

I'd almost touched myself while thinking about her...

We reached the spot and sat down. Nicole looked at my bag.

"You're a cheerleader?" She asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah. Head cheerleader, actually," I replied, smiling at her.

Nicole smiled back. "That's cool," she said.

I blushed and looked away from her. We sat in silence for a bit before we started talking again, getting to know each other.

"Where's your mom at?" Nicole asked me.

"I don't know. She left when I was four," I answered.

Nicole frowned. "That must've been pretty rough."

"Yeah... Besides Wynonna, she was the only one who treated me like I mattered."

"Wynonna is your other sister?"

"Yeah. She usually takes me to school and all that."

"How old is she?"

"Twenty-three."

"And Willa?"

"Twenty-four."

Nicole nodded a bit. She seemed to think for a bit and then looked at me again.

"What's your dad like? Besides, you know, the drinking?" She asked me.

I thought for a minute. "He's... not even really there. Well, he is... But it doesn't seem like it. He's almost always at work or at Shorty's, so we never see much of him. But he doesn't really look at me at all...He doesn't even celebrate my birthday," I told her, looking at her.

"What about Willa and Wynonna?"

"Willa... Willa's mean... She always has been, but she used to be a lot meaner. When I was little, she caught me looking through Daddy's drawers and said she wouldn't tell if I walked across one of the beams in the barn."

"That's horrible."

"Yeah... And she threw my favorite stuffed animal out onto a frozen pond. When I went out to get it, I fell through the ice. Wynonna had to pull me out."

"Wow. Let's talk about Wynonna now..." She was clearly trying to get me to talk about the good things.

I smiled. I began thinking about all the things Wynonna did for me. Everything was so genuine. She actually cared.

"Wynonna is the best sister I could've ever asked for. She does so much for me. I can't even describe how great she is."

Nicole smiled. "Well, I'm glad you have at least one person like that," she told me.

We laid back on the grass and looked up at the trees above us.

"What about your family?" I asked her.

"Oh," Nicole shrugged. "They're fine. I don't really live with them anymore."

"Why not?"

"Uh, they threw me out."

I froze and looked over at her. "What? Why?"

"Because they hate homosexuals." I think Nicole just told me that she's gay...

"And that's what you are? You're gay?"

She nodded. "Yep. Sorry if that makes you uncomfortable."

"It doesn't." In fact, I was glad to hear it. But I'd keep that to myself... For now, at least.

I hadn't realized how long we'd really been sitting there until the final bell rang. I looked at the time and stood up.

"I-I should go. I have, um, cheer practice," I told Nicole.

She stood up with me. "I can walk you?" She offered.

I smiled a bit. "Okay," I agreed.

We walked around to the open field and headed towards the locker rooms. The other girls were already getting changed into their uniforms. I looked at Nicole. I had the strongest urge to kiss her. But I bit my lip and turned away.

"Looks like this is your stop," Nicole said.

I nodded. "Yeah. You know, you can sit in the bleachers if you wanna watch the practice," I told her, trying to hint that I wanted her to come and watch.

Nicole made a face. "Why? You think that because I'm gay, I wanna watch you guys dance around in your little skirts?" She was offended.

"N-no. I didn't mean it like that..."

"Then how did you mean it?"

"I meant that I wanna hang out with you afterwards... but I don't want you to leave," I admitted.

Nicole's expression softened. "Oh," she muttered. Her cheeks turned red... oh my god, did I just make Nicole Haught blush?

"Yeah... so will you stay?" I asked her. I left out the part where I secretly wanted her to see me dance around in my little skirt...

"Yeah. Yeah, of course I'll stay."

I smiled. "Good."

I went into the locker room to change. Tiffany, who'd walked in at the same time I did, looked at me.

"You're friends with Nicole Haught?" She asked me.

I looked at her. "Yeah, why?"

She shrugged. "I've heard some things about her."

"Like what?"

"She's a lesbo," Tiffany whispered.

I've rolled my eyes a bit. "Well, yeah, I know that. She told me," I scoffed.

"It doesn't bother you?"

"Why would it?"

"Because what if she starts checking you out? What if she tries to, like, touch you or something?"

"You think Nicole is gonna try to rape me?" I can't believe she was actually saying this!

"Hey, your words. Not mine."

"But you implied it."

"But I didn't say it."

I rolled my eyes. Tiffany was so irritating sometimes.

"Look, Nicole isn't like that," I said firmly.

"How do you know?" Tiffany asked, getting undressed.

I looked at her body and froze before turning away and beginning to undress myself. "Because she isn't."

"That's not an explanation, Waverly."

"If she hasn't tried anything yet, what makes you think that she will?"

"What makes you think she won't?"

"Because she's sweet. She's a good person."

Tiffany rolled her eyes and got dressed in her uniform. She put her things inside of her locker and then left. I sighed. Being around her while we were both undressing was just so strange. I'd never noticed another girl's body until now. I cleared my throat and finished putting my uniform on.

I left the locker room and stopped when I saw Tiffany talking to Nicole. She stood close to her. Too close. Nicole spoke, and Tiffany laughed, putting her hand on Nicole's arm flirtatiously. Nicole smiled awkwardly. I found myself mad that Tiffany was touching Nicole and standing so close to her, so I walked over and smiled at them.

"Hi! I seen you've met Tiffany," I said to Nicole.

Nicole looked at me. "Oh. Uh, yeah," she said, clearly feeling weird about the situation.

"You were right, Waverly. She is sweet," Tiffany said, smiling seductively at Nicole.

I looked at Tiffany, trying to keep myself from cussing her ass out. Not too long ago, she was basically calling Nicole a rapist, but now here she was. Flirting with Nicole! Ugh, I just wanted to slap her.

"I am?" Nicole asked, looking at me.

I looked at her and smiled. "You are," I told her.

She smiled widely, looking at me with eyes that could just make me melt.

"So, Nicole. Are you gonna stay to watch us practice?" Tiffany asked.

Nicole reluctantly looked away from me. "Oh, yeah, I was, actually. Waverly and I were gonna hang out after."

"Mind if I join you?"

Yes, we do. "Not at all," I said.

Tiffany smiled. "Perfect."

We headed out to the field, Nicole following us. I walked in front of Nicole so that Tiffany couldn't, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tiffany swaying her hips more than usual as she walked.

Fucking bitch.

I rolled my eyes and kept walking. I had a feeling, though, that no matter how hard Tiffany tried, Nicole's eyes would be on me. I could just feel it. When we got to the field, I turned around and looked at Nicole.

"You can go sit over there and watch, if you want," I told her, pointing at the bleachers.

Nicole looked over at where I pointed and nodded. She looked back at me. "Okay. See you when you're done," she said. She put a hand on my shoulder and then began walking away.

"See you, Nicole!" Tiffany called.

Nicole looked back over her shoulder and flashed an awkward smile.

As we began to walk over to the area where the other cheerleaders were, I pulled Tiffany aside.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked her.

"What are really you talking about?"

"With Nicole. I know that you're flirting with her."

"So what?"

"Were you not just talking about how she might try to touch me?" I asked in a hushed voice.

Tiffany scoffed. "You're so clueless, Waverly. I was just trying to make sure you weren't going after her."

"What? I-I'm with Champ. And I'm straight."

Tiffany laughed. "Yeah... "Straight". Okay," she said, clearly being sarcastic. She added air quotes when she said "straight".

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

"Nothing. Just that I've seen the way you look at other girls. The way you look at me. You're definitely not straight," she said, a smug look on her face, though she spoke quietly.

I looked around, feeling slightly ashamed of myself. I can't believe she noticed before I did...

"Anyways. Nicole will be mine," Tiffany practically vowed before walking off to the practice area.

Jesus.

What am I gonna do?