Okay, so here's my newest chapter. I'm sorry that my updates have taken so long, but my life has been ridiculous lately. Anyway, sometime in the next week, there will be a 'Southern Belle' update. For now, enjoy this. Oh, and I don't own these characters except Chloe and Jaime. Thanks to Jaime (ShesGotHighHopes) for editing and being tolerant of my sporadic nature. I also entirely blame this chapter on my muse and listening to my I-Pod at midnight.
ENJOY!!!!
Chapter Three- Forever Your Girl
Two days later after school…
It was now Wednesday after school, and the gang was gathered in the gymnasium for Junior Varsity and Varsity Cheerleading tryouts. Chloe, Stephanie, and Mary Lou were trying out while Jaime, Lula, and the boys were watching to provide moral support and a cheering section. Coach Hall was standing at half court holding a microphone preparing herself to speak in order to calm down the spectators. Chloe, Steph, Mary Lou and the rest of the girls were on one side of the gym preparing themselves to tryout in front of what felt like the entire population of Trenton Central High School. The current Junior Varsity and Varsity cheerleaders were lined up on the opposite side shooting the hopefuls appraising looks as if they were deciding their worth to be on the squads.
"Attention, students and thank you for coming to see our cheerleading tryouts. We will be starting with the Junior Varsity cheerleaders. Five freshmen will be joining the five sophomores who were selected during spring tryouts. We will also be selecting two alternates in case of injury. Please be reminded that this is a competitive squad so only those who take that seriously will be selected. Now let us begin these tryouts."
The first few girls who tried out were dreadful. There was just no other word for it. The first girl was so nervous that every so often, she'd forget words or moves in the routine they had been taught the day before. The second girl had obviously just found out her boyfriend was cheating on her because she kept forgetting where she was and would periodically scream 'motherfucking cheating asshole'. She was eventually dragged away by her friends who were just shaking theirs heads in disbelief. The third girl obviously thought she was the shit, but was so bad it was almost comical. The fourth girl was decent, but when she went to do the final back tuck fell. Thankfully, the only damage was her embarrassment and not a major injury. The next girl to tryout was Joyce Barnhardht. To everyone's amazement, she was really good. After Joyce, it was Chloe's turn. She strolled to the center of the gym and began to cheer.
We got the spirit, yea, yea.
We got the spirit, yea, yea.
We got the North, the South, the East, the West.
Cougars don't play no mess.
We got the spirit, yea, yea.
We got the spirit, yea, yea.
We got the North, the South, the East, the West
Cougars don't play no mess.
We got the SPIRIT!!
As Chloe finished the cheer, she moved seamlessly into an effortless back tuck sticking the landing perfectly. She couldn't stop the grin that formed on her face as her friends cheered like crazy for her. Chloe walked back over to where Steph and Mary Lou were as Steph moved out to center court to tryout. Her tryout also went well as did Mary Lou's. A couple more girls tried out before they were dismissed, and the Varsity began their tryouts for alternates. As soon as they were dismissed, the girls joined the rest of their friends at the gym exit so they could go hang out at Jaime's house. Jaime's house was their favorite place to go. Her mother always bought the best food and she never nagged them about how their day went.
The whole gang was walking to Jaime's house because she only lived a couple of streets away from the school. They were goofing around and just acting like the carefree fourteen-year-olds that they were. Lester was giving Chloe a piggy back ride while simultaneously tickling her which made her giggle madly. Lula and Tank were chasing each other like they were six-year-olds again. It was a truly an adorable sight. Carlos and Stephanie were just walking deep in conversation, which was how they usually were. Jaime and Bobby were having a debate about some obscure science theory which, sadly, was very typical of them being the dedicated students they were. Mary Lou and her newest boyfriend, Lenny Stankovic were just watching their friends amused at all that was going on. They finally arrived at Jaime's house where her mom was waiting in the kitchen with a fresh plate of cookies. Once the kids were all settled, Mrs. Reynolds left the room so the kids had some privacy. As soon as she left, the world's funniest and loudest thing; all ten of their cell phones went off at the same time.
They all chorused, "What the hell?" as they all opened their phones to find out what the devil was going on.
They all opened their phones only to discover that they all had received a picture message. It took them a minute to realize exactly what the picture was of before a deadly silence enveloped the room.
It was picture of Chloe talking rather intimately to a guy who was most definitely not Lester. Chloe and the guy were not touching or anything too salacious, but they were standing close together and appeared to be having a very personal talk. It was not immediately clear who the guy was until Lula zeroed in closer to her phone before saying rather loudly, "Is that Carl Constanza?"
It was. This was bad. Very bad. Carl and Lester had gotten along well until Chloe moved to Jersey. Carl and Lester had both developed a crush on Chloe, and of course, Lester had ultimately won, not that Chloe was a prize. Things had been tense between the guys ever since Chloe had made her choice. Chloe looked upset because the photo could be severely misconstrued if one did not know the circumstances behind it, and Lester did not. She looked over at him, terrified to see his reaction to the photo. Lester and Chloe locked eyes as he said in a very low, flat, emotionless voice, "I do not want to hear it. I need time to think. We will talk later. Guys, let's go to my house."
With that, the guys all filed out of the house after Lester. As soon as they were gone, Chloe couldn't hold it any longer and burst into tears. The girls immediately smothered her into a group hug while she sobbed her eyes out. Ten minutes later, she had calmed down enough to function. Chloe walked to the refrigerator to grab the ice cream that Mrs. Reynolds always kept there for girl related emergencies. Once she had grabbed enough spoons for everyone, they all traipsed into the living room where they collapsed on the sofa. Jaime, being the practical one, wanted the story so she asked bluntly, "What exactly is the story behind that photo?"
Chloe sighed, and because she was so upset began to ramble, "Well, Carl and I have biology together and Mrs. Goshert assigned us to be lab partners and we have a major lab due at the end of the month, and so we were in the hallway talking about it. We were talking quietly and standing close together because everyone's lab is the same and we didn't want anyone stealing our report ideas, and I guess whoever took the photo thought something fishy was going on. Oh my God!!"
The other girls looked startled at her yell and Steph said with an eye roll, "For the love of God Chloe, what's going on?"
"Joyce is behind this, I just know it! She wants me and Lester to break-up, and she used Carl as a pawn in her scheme because she knew he liked me. Well, this is WAR, but first, I need to figure out how to get Lester to listen to me. And here's my idea!"
The following Monday at lunch…
Today was the day that the first part of Chloe's plan was going down. Today's part of the plan involved getting Lester back because they had not spoken since he had walked out of Jaime's house. This, of course, meant none of the guys had talked to the girls because the guys had adopted a 'bros over hoes' attitude while the girls were all 'hoes over bros.' However, today that was going to change. Chloe had a plan to get her man back, and it was foolproof.
Chloe and the girls had decided to all dress alike today. They were all dressed like Catholic school girls with a slight edge. They each had white button down shirts with the top two buttons undone to show a little cleavage, red ties knotted loosely around their necks, red and black plaid short skirts, black thigh highs with platform Mary Jane shoes. They had been getting whistled at all day, but it was vital for Chloe's plan according to her. The girls were at lunch and the plan was minutes away from going down. The girls kept their eyes out for the lunchtime monitors who usually got bored and snuck away to the teacher's lounge leaving the kids completely unsupervised for the thirty minute lunch period. Once the monitors left, Lula pulled out her boom box and set it on the lunch table. The girls then climbed up on the table drawing attention to them including the table that the boys were at. Lula had been appointed spokesperson since she had the biggest mouth, "Okay, you people listen up! My girl, Chloe, here has a message she wants to send to a very special guy and you people are going to shut the hell up so she can send her message."
With that, Lula hit play on the boom box and the strains of a song began and it was SHOWTIME!
Hey baby
You
gotta remember
I'm forever your girl
Baby forever...and ever
and ever
(You know I am)
Chloe sang the first part of the song before jumping down off the table and walking towards Lester to sing the next part of the song. She lifted his chin with her fingers as she sang the next part.
Baby pick your
head up
Come on and look me in the face
Cuz I can tell that
somethin'
Is bringin' you down
(Why are you down?)
Chloe plopped in Lester's lap and continued to sing to him as Lula, Steph, Mary Lou, and Jaime danced to entertain the other people watching. Lester found himself singing the guy parts as they came up in the song.
Is it the
rumor
That another boy
Wants to take your place
(I hear he's
after your heart)
Have you been hearin' the stories
They're
goin' around
(All of my friends are talkin')
Baby just
remember I gave you my heart
Ain't no one gonna tear us apart
He
could promise the moon
And the stars above
Even if he promised
me the world
Just remember I'm forever your girl
He could
promise the world
You gotta remember
I'm forever your
girl
Honey listen to me
Your love is all I need
You
should know that I don't need nothin'
That money can buy
(Just
promise you'll never leave me!)
So if a boy were to come
along
And try to make me leave you
(Girl I'd go out of my
mind)
There'd be no need to worry
I'm tellin' you why
(I
need to hear that you really love me)
Baby don't you know that
I love you
And I'd never put nobody above you
He could promise
the moon and the stars above
Even if he promised me the
world
Just remember I'm forever your girl
He could promise
the world
You gotta remember
I'm forever your girl
I'm
forever your baby
Just remember I'm forever your girl
He could
promise the world
You gotta remember
I'm forever your
girl
When the mountains crumble into the sea
That's the day
someone'll come
Between you and me
Baby just remember I
gave you my heart
(Tell me) ain't no one gonna tear us apart
Baby
he could promise me diamonds
Even if he promised me pearls
Honey
you know I ain't lyin'
Listen as I tell it to the world
You
gotta remember baby remember
You gotta remember
I'm forever
your girl
Baby forever and ever and ever
We'll be
together
I'm forever your girl
Baby forever and ever and
ever
You gotta remember
I'm forever...
Hey baby he could
promise the world
Boy you know I love you
And I always
will
If we live 'til forever
I'll be lovin' you
I'll be
lovin' you still
I'm forever your girl
In the midst of her singing, Chloe had joined her friends in their dancing but as she sang the last few lines, she went back over to Lester and plopped back in his lap pleased to see him smiling at her. Finally the song ended, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as she whispered, "Forever your girl?"
He whispered back, "I thought you said no one meets their soul mate when their twelve years-old?"
She smirked playfully at him, "I lied."
He laughed before he pulled her close to him and kissed her with all he had. They broke apart reluctantly when they heard their friends yell 'get a room.' Lester turned and glared as he said, "Do you mind? I'm kissing my girl here."
Bobby smiled at his best friend, "Yes, we mind. The nausea makes it hard to appreciate the girls' innocent yet naughty attire."
Jaime smacked Bobby on the back of the head as she said, "Don't be such a damn pig. These outfits were Chloe's idea, and she still has not said why."
Chloe grinned at her best friend, "Lester likes the schoolgirl look. I figured it would get his attention even if the singing didn't."
Lester smirked and said, "It definitely got my attention."
Steph looked annoyed as she said, "Stop being nauseating. Can I please go change into normal clothes now? I look and feel ridiculous."
Carlos, who had been sitting silently, until now said, "I think you look cute, Babe."
Steph gave him her biggest eye roll accompanied by her best death glare. Carlos smiled at her and pulled her toward him and began tickling her. She started giggling, and the others watched the scene in amusement. Carlos and Stephanie were so in love and did not even know it. Steph had finally managed to pull away from Carlos's attack and said, still giggling, "Stop it, Carlos. Walk me to my locker so I can change out of this stupid outfit."
With that, the two walked off towards the freshman lockers. The others watched them walk away before Mary Lou, said, "I love my best friend, but she is so dense. Those two are so in love, it's unreal."
The rest of the gang just laughed because they knew Carlos and Stephanie were too dense for their own good. Stephanie and Carlos were still visible and Stephanie had apparently said something amusing because Carlos was laughing and the others distinctly heard him say, "Babe…"
TBC…
Hope you liked it, if you did, PLEASE REVIEW!!