Flower He Couldn't Pluck

CHAPTER 38

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A/N: I am so sorry for such long pauses, my exams are finally over and I'm going to be much consistent with early updates.

I'm so thankful for everyone reading my piece of work and voting for it, it means a lot to me.

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THIRD PERSON'S POV

The last cheerleading dance ends with their school's team winning the match. The match went quite well, both of the teams were strong and fair.

Rose looks into the crowd with the motive of spotting a specific person, "I didn't see her either," Millie speaks out of nowhere.

"You think she saw our performance?" Rose asks, still scanning the crowd.

"She did," Jane states, approaching the girls. Millie and Rose shift their attention to her. She looks surprisingly calm, absolutely not like the usual Jane.

"I was standing right beside her," She continues, their eyes scooping out as they can't believe it's the same Jane who was crying like a child some time ago.

"Did she say something-"

"You girls rocked!"

"Yeah, you were amazing up there!" The boys exclaim as they pass by them,

"You did great, Meow," Joseph says as he approaches his girlfriend, they smile at each other before colliding their lips together.

"Thanks, you were awesome on the field too!" Millie replies upon departing from the kiss.

Joseph hugs Rose before complimenting her as well.

"Uh, Malika is waiting backstage for everyone, especially you," Jane dives in and points at Rose.

She sighs, she is aware of what's coming next but she won't regret a moment up on the stage. Cheerleading has always been a great part of Rose. She has always been so determined and only she knows how depressing it was when she got kicked out.

No matter what Malika is going to say or going to do, she is always going to cherish that she could perform on this big day.

"We will see you later, boys, you all were amazing!" Rose exclaims as she looks upon the team.

"Thanks, Rose!" Chang, the silent guy retorts instantly. He won't stop blushing, Rose passes a quick smile before leaving with the girls.

"You know Chang has a crush on you, right?"

"I know," Rose replies, smiling lightly. Chang is the sweetest boy in the team, maybe in the whole university.

Every girl aww's at his cuteness, but nobody really sees him more than just friends.

~

"Oh god," Rose whispers beneath herself before going into the room where the devil is waiting.

"10 runs of the stadium, or maybe 20, she won't go any far than this," Millie speaks as she notices Rose.

Rose sniggers, "And one hour of lecture for breaking the rule!" She adds.

"We're into this together, whatever she says!" Jane joins the conversation.

"Yeah, now let's go?" One of their teammates spats with no expression on her face at all. The trio looks at each other before hopping in.

Rose's eyes land upon the only important person in the room the moment she gets in. With a confusion of either passing a smile or straight up apologising, she decides to reject both the options and stand in the queue with her other mates.

"Well done girls, all of you did great!" She speaks, authority is bleeding in her tone.

"From the centre, sides and back too, each one of you nailed it and I'm so proud of all of you." She smiles, finally.

Rose smiles too, uncomfortably. She passes a look to Millie, she seems as confused as Rose is.

"Aren't you going to say anything about Rose replacing me?"Jane spats, she looks genuinely concerned. Well, Rose and Millie, on the other hand, are getting sucked out of their lives.

They look at the stupid girl with wide eyes, and Jane passes them an obvious look. Rose mentally slaps her head, here it goes, she thinks.

"Yes, I have quite a bit of saying in it," Malika speaks as she shifts her attention to Rose.

"You broke the rule, you were kicked out and still performed!"

Rose's eyes do not leave the floor, "And even if it was planned that you were performing, nobody thought of informing me."

"We didn't know, ma'am!" All of the other girls exclaim at the same time.

"I know,"

"Even Rose didn't know she is going to perform and I'm proud of her the most because she didn't forget a single step at all,"

"Every move was as if she has been practicing every day," Rose's head automatically gears up. Her eyes go bright upon hearing such positive words for her.

"Welcome back to the team, Rose, I can't let such an important member not a part of the team."

"Th- Thank you so much," She speaks after a short pause, she just couldn't believe this is happening. She looks at Millie, she looks as happy and surprised as Rose is.

"Now, since you broke my rule, I can't let it pass, can I?" Their faces immediately fell, "20 rounds of the stadium," Rose groans, she can feel the pain already.

"Don't forget to put the weights on, and Millie and Jane," Their attention quickly shifts at the speaker, "25 rounds to you!"

"Huh, but-"

"Get going if you don't want me to increase the reps!" The trio swiftly leaves the room, not even 10 metres more than the actual punishment they can bear.

~

"Oh god, huh," Jane struggles as she runs around the stadium.

"I can't fucking feel my legs!" She exclaims for the hundredth time. "Whose idea it was to swap me and Rose, anyway?" She yells, making funny expressions as she completes yet another round. She is hell tired, and hell annoyed, there are four more rounds left, Rose is already done and Millie is on her last.

"YOURS!" The other two girls shout back. "Now, get your ass running, I'm hungry!" Rose shouts, Jane rolls her eyes off.

She smiles, it is a good day for her. She decides to call Lily, to fill her in about everything that happened today, including the punishment.

She goes and sits on one of the seats, unlocks her phone and calls Lily.

"Hello?" Rose speaks the moment Lily picks her call, "Give me one second,"

Rose waits for her to get done with whatever she's doing until the sound of glass breaking reaches her ears, "Lil, what's happening?"

Another loud voice of breaking, "Okay, just great!" Lily huffs, "What are you doing?"

"Or breaking?"

"Some old antiques, I was shifting them, oh god-"

"My mom is going to kill me!" Rose shakes her head, typical Lily things, she thinks.

"I'm gonna hide it under Jerry's bed, he broke it,"

"Oh, you're awful, Lily!"

"This little dog tore apart her favourite scarf and all she did to him was scold while petting and giving treats! Can you believe that?"

"Chuck it, she wasn't even scolding him and the lady becomes the devil if I even wake up late, huh!" Rose laughs,

"You're the adopted one, I'm telling you!" She speaks within her laughs, "Oh, sure, I so wanna become a dog in my next life!" She spats as she hides the broken antiques beneath Jerry's bed.

"I'll get every ounce of pleasure in stealing someone else's mom!"