For The Love Of The Game

LACEY'S POV

Lacey flopped down onto her bed that evening. It had been an extremely long day. She sat up and kicked her shoes off. Today had come with plenty of surprises. Getting nominated for homecoming queen was bad enough, but to find out that it came from her friends was a whole new level of betrayl. She could still see their mischevious smiles when she closed her eyes. Groaning she sat back up and stretched. Basketball practice had been anything but fun. Coach seemed to have been in a bad mood and as a stress reliever for him, he made the entire team run. And run. And run some more. All she wanted to do was to just sink into her bed and to never get up again. No sooner had she layed down than her phone rang, and she didn't even have to guess as to who it was. Without looking at the caller ID she answered it.

"Hello Aaron."

"Hey!" came Aaron's way to happy voice on the other end. "Whatcha doin?"

"Getting ready to fall into a coma like sleep."

"Rough practice huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

Lacey let out a groan as she lifted her self up and walked into the kitchen. "That bad?" Aaron asked.

"Let's just say I have places that hurt that I didn't even know could hurt."

"Aww. I'm sorry. I could come over and make you feel better."

Lacey felt a smile creep its way onto her face. "Thanks but I really think I'm just going to collapse on my bed."

"Ok. Well I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow. Remember tomorrow is our game."

"I know. I have to make signs."

Hearing Aaron's warm laugh on the other end made Lacey feel at ease. "You don't really have to make signs."

"I know. But the guys would like it."

"Ok well I will see you tomorrow."

"Ok....love you." Lacey said quietly. It felt right to say it but she still didn't feel sure about Aaron's reaction, even though it was the same everytime.

"I love you too!" he said it without missing a beat.

Lacey hung up the phone and went to take a shower, knowing that as soon as she was done she would be able to collapse onto her bed and sleep like a baby.

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"So Becky McClintock said that she heard Heather Pearson say that Lacey would so win queen." Nicole said as they walked into the gym.

"There is no need to gossip about it. Lace is gonna win. No, ifs, ands, or buts about it." Tara said carrying an overlarged sign with the number 32, Korey's number.

"For sure! You should hear what the guys in the locker room had to say about you Lace. But if I tell you you can't tell Aaron. I don't think he'd like it. Even though it was all good things in my opinion," Ryan said slinging an arm around Lacey's shoulder.

"Hey I have an idea!" Lacey said enthusiastically. Everyone looked at her. "How about we NOT talk about the homecoming elections that you guys just threw me into!"

"That makes us sound like bad people when you put it that way," Tristin said.

"Yeah and we definietly aren't bad people." Nicole said, fidgeting with the sign that was made for DJ.

"You guys basically threw me into the lion's den!" Lacey said walking up the bleechers.

"Stop being over dramatic. You'll be fine!" Hannah said smiling.