At It Alone

Chap 10

Blake's POV

Preliminaries snuck up on us. Mia tied up her hair. "So, why are we dressed as cheerleaders?" I asked.

"We are cheerleaders," Shay replied. "We're playing the part."

"Larp?" I asked.

"Yeah, larp," Mia replied, confusingly.

"What's larp?" asked Shay.

"Live action role play," I replied.

"We're taking on a character as a cheerleader," Shay replied. "It's not a fictional character."

"So it can't be larp-ing," Mia replied. "But I just go with it. Just learn to."

"Learn to? I had to learn your schedule to get a ride with you every single day to school," I stated. "You don't think I had to go with it? You're not the only one Mia."

"Guys," Devin butted in. "Not now. We're up." Mia was pretty well pissed at me. We went out to the floor and danced our hearts out. We waited on the floor for a moment. "Are we continuing on?"

"The Tiger Twirlerz will advance to the semi-finals," said the host.

"Yes," Shay replied. We went backstage. "Time to change?"

"Yeah," Mia replied.

"Right here?" asked Zoey.

"You got shorts under," Mia stated. "Last year, we had four different costume changes with four different layers. This year, much easier."

"So much easier," Shay replied as they took off their skirt to reveal black denim shorts. They took off their top and revealed a camo sports bra. "We're taking it to the hood."

"We gotta have culture," Mia smiled. Us guys changed and we were in black sweat pants, black new bounds, a camo shirt with the sleeves cut off and a black bandana. "The guys look great." She put on a black sleeveless denim jacket and a camo hat. "Definitely."

"Black?" I asked. "Really?"

"Hey, the judges judge on looks too," Shay replied. "Mia knows what she's doing." The girls put on their black jazz shoes. "I'm telling you her choreo helped us last year."

"I can feel the tension between the two of you but you gotta get that outta the way," Zoey replied. "We have a competition to win."

"I agree with her," Jayk said. "Keep things strictly business for now."

"I can work with that," Mia replied.

"Tiger Twirlerz," said a guy walking up to us. "You ready for your jazz/hiphop routine?"

"Yes sir," Mia replied.

"Alright, you're up," the guy replied.

"Let's do this Tigers," I replied.

"That's my line," Mia whined. She calmed herself down. "Let's go." We walked out to the floor. "Who are we?!"

"Tigers!" we exclaimed.

The music started up and we finished the routine. We walked outside. "Okay," I replied. "Are we going to be one of the five teams that advances to the finals?"

"Why are you being so negative?" Shay asked. "Damn! Just shut up."

"All teams on the floor," said a man over the PA system.

"Let's go," Zoey replied. We walked out onto the floor. "You beter not have jinxed us, Blake."

"The five teams advancing to the finals tomorrow are..." said the guy. He looked at his envelope. "The Tappers, the Jazzers, the Glitz Shakers, the Noble Flyers..."

"Mia," Shay said looking at her.

"There's still one more spot," Mia replied. "We still have a chance."

"And keeping their title with the highest score the Tiger Twirlerz!" exclaimed the guys.

"Yes!" Mia exclaimed. "We did it!" We went to the hotel lobby. "We did it! We did it! I managed to keep our title."

"Mia," said Mrs. Reeves walking in.

"Mom," Mia said hugging her mom. "I did it."

"I knew you could honey," Mrs. Reeves. "Your dad's flying in tonight so we'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright Mom," Mia replied as her mom left. "My dad's not missing finals."

Mia and I were sharing a room so we went to our room. "Mia, can we talk?" I asked.

"We're way past talking," said Mia grabbing her suitcase. "I'm sharing a room with Zoey for the night." She opened the door. "You can find a different ride to school since you can't learn to keep up with my schedule."

"Mia," I said as she slammed the door when she left. "Everything is seriously falling apart!"

Devin's POV

I heard the door slam. "Well, seems like Blake and Mia just broke up," I replied turning on the TV and getting in bed. "I honestly don't blame Mia. She's right." Indina Jones was on. "Ooo!"

"Devin, if Blake doesn't have his head in the game, this could ruin things," Shay replied. "We can't allow that to happen."

"Are you saying that so that we'll win or are you protecting your rep?" I asked.

"A little of both," Shay replied. "But mostly win, because Mia won't be the same if we don't win."

"Shay, hey," I said looking at her. "Look, the competition isn't till three tomorrow." She looked at me. "Why don't we try to get them back together?"

"You can try," Shay replied. "I'm staying out of her way in this situation."

"Huh?" I asked.

"I tried getting her with this one guy she liked last year, things didn't go to well for both her and me," Shay replied. "They were happy but then Mia decided he wasn't right for her. She broke it off with him." I looked at her. "He got me and then he went for Mia."

"What did he do to you?" I asked.

"I'm not a natural light brunette," Shay replied. "I had dark brown hair." I sighed. "And Mia doesn't have natural raven black hair. She used to be a blonde."

"Mia, a blonde?" I asked. "That's hard to see."

"Oh, yeah," Shay replied. "Mia was a blonde but she came to school with black hair during the second semester and told me what had happened." I nodded. "I can't believe it though. She was gorgeous with blonde hair. She's still gorgeous now."

"Well, to me, the both of you are gorgeous," I replied. "Before or after your hair treatment."

"Actually, he used paint and it dried our hair," Shay whined. "It took us two weeks to get it to look normal again." She sighed. "It's curse, I tell you. It's hair to keep hair healthy."

"Well, maybe our hair dresser can help you with that," I smiled. "She's really good with makeup too."

"I'll keep that in mind," she smiled. "But I think my hair is fine just the way it is."

"It's what you want." I looked at my phone. "We should get some sleep to get up tomorrow."

"You didn't know it was already midnight?" Shay giggled. "You really do lose track of time."

"It comes with the career," I replied. "What do you think Mia and Blake are going to do now?"

"Who knows," Shay shrugged. "She's very independent."

"Maybe but everyone needs love in their life," I replied. "Everybody does."