by C. R. Jane
to run forever without feeling a thing defied explanation. Maybe it would extend to other things as well.
Backing up against the building I started to run, launching myself in the air…and promptly fell on my face. Damon didn’t try and stop his laughter as he leaned over
where I lay on the grass. “I don’t think you did it right,” he said with a smile. I wanted to retort back but I had momentarily lost my breath. Standing there in the sunlight, the wind tousling his hair, his eyes sparkling, he was so breathtaking it hurt. He looked lighter than normal, as if the invisible burden on his shoulders had been temporarily lifted. He noticed that I had grown quiet and his eyes filled with heat as we stared at one another. It had been hard to ignore the energy that constantly passed between us. As we had spent more time together he had begun to touch me more and my body had begun to live for our contact.
Damon held out his hand to help me up. He slid me up his body and held me in his arms. This was the first time we had been this close and I felt like I was going to hyperventilate. “Close your eyes,” he whispered. “Picture the girls’ movements in your head. Imagine your body replicating the movements.” I felt him step away from me and gently push me forward. All of a sudden I realized I was flying through the air. Before I knew it I had executed a set of flips that I had watched the girls do in a particularly complicated routine. I turned around towards Damon, shocked. He had a shocked look in his face as well that quickly turned smug. “Told you that you could do it,” he said, smirking. “Practice those moves a little bit more and you will be ready for the team.” Squealing I backed up, and for the next hour proceeded to do flips that I was pretty sure only the most experienced cheerleaders could do. I pushed back the troublesome thoughts that had crept into the back of my mind regarding this new set of abilities. I was going to enjoy this moment.
Chapter 19
Damon had somehow managed to get me a try out for the next morning in front of the cheerleading coach. I say “somehow”, but I was pretty sure there wasn’t a person on campus who ever said no to Damon Pierce. I was nervous as I pulled on my cheerleading shorts and a loose tee, and then pulled my hair into a pony tail. After thinking about it more and more I suddenly desperately wanted the chance to be apart of a team since the Andersons had made sure that I didn’t get a chance to have the normal high school experience. Damon was waiting outside for me. “I need to get you a cell phone,” he said almost growling. “I want to be able to talk to you all the time.” My heart started to do flips. Damon Pierce wanted to talk to me all the time! I talked myself down and just smiled at him. I did want to get a cell phone and actually could afford it now because of my tips from Moxie, I just hadn’t gotten around to it. Maybe I could do it later today after my tryout.
Damon interrupted my musings by handing me a coffee I hadn’t noticed he had been holding. It was from Leslie’s shop. I swooned. He got sweeter every day. I closed my eyes and let out a little moan as soon as the coffee hit my tongue, licking my lips to make sure and get every last drop. I was getting addicted. When I opened my eyes I saw that Damon was staring at my lips, looking pained. He quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me forward towards the practice field where I was meeting the cheerleading coach. Coach Ryan was an intimidating woman. Although she was shorter than me she was quite a bit stockier, and had so many muscles I was pretty sure she had to spend every second working out. She looked annoyed as she watched us approach her.
I had made sure to pull my hand away from Damon’s before we got to the field. I had expected her not to be happy with the tryout as I was sure that Damon had thrown his
weight around to get me it. Her look got testier as we got closer and she looked me up and down. “Let’s get this over
with,” she said exasperatedly. “I promised her a tryout, but I didn’t promise her a spot on the team,” she threw out at Damon. I tried to smile politely and stood in front of her.
“Alright, we will start simple. Show me a back handspring,” she ordered. Luckily I had looked up the name of the flips I had seen the girls doing so that I could actually know what I was being asked to do during the tryout. Taking a step forward I mentally pictured watching the movement in my head. Once again I felt my body execute a perfect back handspring. Relaxing a little I opened my eyes and looked at Coach Ryan. She looked less annoyed but I could tell that I would need to do a lot more to impress her in any way. “Do a round off back handspring double full now,” she said watching me closely. Once again I envisioned the movement in my mind and executed her orders perfectly. For the next half hour, I did flip after flip until I didn’t even have to think before moving.
I knew some of the flips she had asked me to perform were very advanced, perhaps more advanced than most, if not all, of the cheerleaders on the team could do and I wondered what she thought about my ability to complete them. Finally, she called me towards her. Her frustration was gone and instead her face was filled with excitement. “Where on earth did you cheer before here, and why didn’t you apply for scholarships and try out earlier?” she asked. I looked at Damon, who was standing there looking so proud of me it made me want to cry. He spoke for me. “Eva is coming from a difficult home situation and didn’t have much support for her skills,” he said smoothly. I looked at him sharply. I hadn’t told him much about my upbringing, but I guess a lot of my quirks and inadequate social skills must make it obvious that I had a troubled past. “I’m sorry to say that I’ve already given out my scholarship spots,” she said warily. “Will that be a problem.” “I have a full ride for academics,” I answered softly. “Does this mean that I’ve made the team?” I asked. “Made the
team? I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen someone as talented as you,” she exclaimed. “I can’t imagine not winning Nationals with you on the team. You are good to start today correct? You will have a lot to catch up on to learn the cheers and performances for football season. I’m sure you know that the first game is next week,” she said. I looked at Damon. I hadn’t known that it started next week and immediately felt selfish. Damon kept me talking so much about myself I hadn’t had the chance to ask him about football at all. He just smiled at me beautifully, not seeming to care at all that I hadn’t known.
Coach Ryan turned to look at Damon. “I guess I owe you an apology, “she said. “You weren’t just trying to get a girlfriend on the team so she could travel with you to games.” I blushed. “Um, I’m not Damon’s girlfriend,” I said shakily. “Not for lack of trying,” Damon answered with a grin. My mouth opened to gape at him. I didn’t know what to say to that. Coach Ryan looked between us and then decided to move on. “Practice starts at 4:30 sharp,” she ordered. “You can pick up your uniform at the clubhouse beforehand.” I tried to remain silent as I squealed internally. She began to walk away, stopping briefly and threw over her shoulder, ”We’re happy to have you on board Eva,” before turning and walking away again. Damon swept me up in a hug. “I knew you could do it.” In that moment I wanted to kiss him so badly. Quickly stepping away after he set me down I began to walk back to campus, eager to get away from him before I embarrassed myself. I couldn’t believe how much my life had changed in just a few short weeks. It was like someone had found a checklist of everything I had missed out on in life and was determined to give it all to me.
Chapter 20
I was nervous as I approached the field where I could see girls stretching. The practice uniforms were very form fitting and didn’t cover a lot of skin. I tried to pull down the shorts to make them longer but ended up just showing more of my stomach since the top was nothing more than a glorified sports bra. Some of the girls straightened up from stretching and stared at me as I approached. I responded with a small smile and wave. I had never been around a large group of girls before and in fact hadn’t had much luck with girls ever liking me for some reason. I started stretching on the edge of the field. I didn’t want to introduce myself before Coach Ryan arrived to explain the situation to the team. A legg
y, raven haired girl arrived on the field at the same time as Coach Ryan. She had what looked like very fake, very large breasts, a dark tan, and hazel eyes. She was beautiful. She immediately noticed me and called out nastily, “What the hell are you doing here?” I guess her beauty was definitely only skin deep. Coach Ryan glared at the girl. “Selena, this is Eva Taylor. She will be joining us on the team, and I think you all will be very pleased with the addition,” she said.
“Are you kidding me?” spit out the girl who I assumed was named Selena. “We’ve already learned all of the routines for the season. She is going to make us look like idiots.” Her voice was starting to wear on me so I stepped forward when Coach Ryan called for me. “Eva, why don’t you show the team some of the flips we ended with during your tryout.” I took a deep breath and stepped into an open area. I pictured all of the flips and gave a little sigh of relief when my body immediately began to execute them perfectly. I could hear some of the girls ooing and ahhing and felt more confident as I continued. Finally I stopped, putting my hand on my hip, and giving Selena a look. At this point she was glaring at
me but she had stopped complaining. The girls crowded
around me, introducing themselves, and congratulating me on joining the team. I smiled at all of them and began to relax.
We were practicing a half time performance for the first game when the football team began to run out on the field. A lot of the girls had stopped what they were doing to watch. A few of the girls were blocking my view so I couldn’t see what the football team was doing. I stepped to the side of the girls so I could see the field. As I did so a receiver who had been running my direction to catch a pass looked up at me and all of a sudden tripped and fell on the ground. A few players jogged over to where he had fallen to give him a hard time. He gestured to them, pointing our direction. The players looked over and stood staring. It seemed like they were staring right at me. Eric ran over to them and started chewing them out. I wondered if it was always like this when the two teams practiced near each other. Eric ran over to me. “How come you didn’t tell me you were going to be on the cheerleading team,” he asked grumpily.
“I didn’t want to say anything just in case I didn’t make the team?” I answered quickly. Eric had been becoming a problem. He wanted to hang out every second and was quickly becoming pushier when I couldn’t or didn’t want to. I had started hiding the fact that I ever saw Damon because it seemed to set him off. He would either get really quiet, or he would get really belligerent. Neither were fun to deal with. “Is there a reason that the team has to dress like sluts?” he asked nastily. “The whole team is staring at you.” I didn’t know what to say to that. I could admit that our uniforms were a bit small, but I didn’t think that qualified us as looking like sluts. I really wanted to be done with Eric.
Not wanting to start anything I turned around and started to walk away. He grabbed my arm roughly. “Eva, I’m sorry. I just hate how everyone is always looking at you.” I began to reply but the football coach blew his whistle and yelled at Eric. Eric looked at me forlornly and backpedaled away. I turned back around towards the team and noticed many of the girls staring at me jealously. I hadn’t noticed,
but the red head from my dorm was on the team. She was shooting daggers at me with her eyes. It didn’t look like I was going to be making a lot of friends on the team if the look on her face was any indication.
Chapter 21
I soon learned that Selena, the dark haired witch, was the team captain. As we ended practice the girls gathered around her. Selena stood in the middle with a clipboard and began to make announcements. “Don’t forget ladies that next Friday is the football banquet. Do not get super drunk and embarrass our squad. Remember Mary from two years ago. In case any of you have forgotten, or are new, let me just remind you that getting double teamed in the middle of the after party would count as embarrassing the squad,” she said with a smirk. I choked on the water I had been drinking. What kind of party were they talking about? “Also, don’t forget that my father got us amazing seats for ‘The Riot’ concert on Saturday night. We will be all getting ready to go together starting at 5 and then my daddy has cars that will be picking us up.” Scanning down the clipboard she continued, “I think that’s everything, you’re all dismissed.” Focusing her attention on me she snapped, ”New girl, you’re responsible for picking up all of the equipment and putting it away.”
Not wanting to start any trouble I started gathering up water bottles, pom-poms, and other various items to go back in the team’s supply closet. Leaning down to pick something up I felt someone leaning over me. Looking up I saw it was Eric’s redhead. “Listen little bitch, if you want to survive on this team I suggest you fall in line,” she said. “Eric’s mine and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away.” I stared at her in disgust. “Eric is just a friend, but even if he wasn’t, I’m not the kind of girl that you can threaten,” I snapped back at her. I glared at her, holding her eyes until she looked away. Giving me one last evil look she huffed and walked away. Maybe cheerleading was not such a good idea after all I groaned to myself.
I bent to pick up more things and again felt someone approaching. “Look, I’m not putting up with anymore shit,”
I cursed, standing up quickly. It was Damon. He looked
amused. “Rough practice baby?” he said softly. I melted. It was the first time he had called me baby, and it was one of the best things I had ever heard. “You could say that,” I said wryly. He put his arm around me and pulled me towards him. He had obviously just gotten out of the shower. His hair was still wet and slicked back and he smelled like a mix of cinnamon and sandalwood. His skin was sun-kissed, making his green eyes stand out even more. I couldn’t help sighing as I leaned into him. “Can I take you to dinner to make up for forcing you onto the team,” he asked sweetly. My walls were being crushed to pieces. It was impossible to maintain distance from him when everything he did or said was so caring and perfect. “I would like that,” I answered. He kissed my forehead. “I’ll walk you to your dorm to grab your stuff and then we can leave.” As we walked he grabbed my hand.
The lines were becoming so blurred. It definitely felt like we had passed the friend zone, but I hadn’t ever really had a guy friend before, not to mention a boyfriend. Maybe this was what nice guys did? As we walked out the gate I saw Eric waiting for me. He gave me a cold stare like I had betrayed him, then turned and walked away. I couldn’t muster up the effort to call after him. Everything he was doing was pushing me away. Damon saw Eric but chose to say nothing. I appreciated that he wasn’t trying to question me on it. I knew they had some sort of rivalry going on, but it was obvious that Damon was much better at the game than Eric was.
Chapter 22
After changing in the bathroom into a pair of silky black shorts and a white lacey blouse I had picked up at a boutique I had found near campus, I walked back into my room where Damon was waiting for me. He was looking around my room with interest, it was his first time coming inside. I had bought a few black and white prints of cities I wanted to visit for my walls and had strung twinkly lights around the top of the room. Damon had brought me some bright pink flowers after he had caught me staring at them when we passed a flower shop on one of our runs. I had put them in a colorful, little glass vase on my desk. My room was simple but I loved that it was mine and that I had bought the decorations myself. “I like your room,” he remarked, seeming genuine. I blushed. I was sure he was used to luxury I couldn’t comprehend and that my room looked like a little kid’s room. “I like it too,” I answered. He smirked at me. I was obviously being awkward again.
“Where are we going to eat?” I asked him. “It’s a surprise,” he answered, grabbing my hand again as we walked outside. There were a lot of students walking around campus, heading to dinner I presumed. I had grabbed a few meals at the dining halls but since I didn’t have anyone to sit with, and it seemed like I got a lot of stares, I had started to grab
dinner to go so I could eat by myself in my room. The food was a lot better than anything I was used to. When we got to the gates of the college, Damon’s driver, Shelton was waiting with a gorgeous black car that I presumed was super expensive. Damon had refused to tell me the name of it knowing I would look it up and probably freak out over the price. I had met Shelton a few days before when Damon had wanted to take me to a lunch that was across town. He was such a sweetheart. Shelton rushed to open the door for us as we approached the car. “Good evening, Eva,” he said. “Such a
pleasure to see you again.” “What about me old man,” said Damon, laughing. Shelton winked at him, “I’m sorry, but you just aren’t as pretty as this little lady here and I’ve begun to not even notice you when she’s around.” Damon laughed. “I can’t argue with that. There isn’t anyone as pretty as our girl,” Damon said. Did he just say “our girl”? I chose to ignore the statement. I wish I had some idea about relationships so that I knew what to say or do.
Damon took me to a sushi restaurant. He pointed out several celebrities that were eating there as well and laughed at me when I hadn’t heard of any of them. I had never tried sushi before but since Damon seemed to order the entire menu I had a lot to choose from. The wait staff fawned over us continually. They brought complimentary champagne over, not bothering to check my ID. It was also my first time trying champagne and I quickly decided that it wouldn’t be the last. By the time we left the restaurant I was slightly tipsy and had let go of my inhibitions enough to lean against Damon and feel comfortable holding his hand. We stood outside the restaurant, waiting for Shelton. “Will you come back to my place to watch a movie,” Damon asked. “I promise to be on my best behavior,” he said, grinning when he saw my hesitance. I didn’t want the evening to end. It had been so perfect. “Ok, I would like that,” I answered shyly. He picked me up and swung me around, pulling me close. “Thank you,” he said fervently.
