Eight Years

Eight years ago

Sweating, thirsty, exhausted, hungry, ready to hit the sack. Practice just ended, and the whole cheer team is pushing through the double doors to get into the locker room. Trying to get off the school grounds before our coach decides that we should go over everything once more.

I wipe the sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand and run my fingers through my hair while Amy and I head for our lockers. I open mine while she goes to hers a few feet away.

"Are you going with us to Jack's later?" she asks me as we both pull our shirts over our heads to change out of the sweaty clothes.

Jack's is a local diner, the hangout place of every teenager in our town. Everyone goes there every night on the weekends, even if they're not planning on eating or drinking anything. They just go to hang out and gossip with friends.

I pull my hair up and twist it into a bun before securing it with a band. "I don't think I can," I tell her. "I mean I have lots of homework to do, all the assignments Mr. Rodriguez and Mrs. Harris gave us this week." I roll my eyes and dig out my phone from my bag. "And I still haven't even started reading the book Mr. Stick-up-his-ass gave us last week to finish before the end of the month."

I hear Amy's locker closing before she sits down on the bench behind me. "You can postpone all that for a few hours, can't you?" She throws a ball of gum into her mouth and tightens her ponytail. "You're our team captain, you're supposed to hang out with your team outside of practice, too."

From the corner of my eye I see Taylor open her locker at the end of the row. "Jack bought some karaoke stuff there, you should come and test them out with us."

Amy smiles widely at her before nudging my leg with her hand. "I know how much you looooove karaoke. You have to come."

I hate karaoke.

I shake my head and turn to my locker again, taking my bag out. I close the locker and throw the strap over my shoulder. "I have to do the assignments."

Amy claps her hands together, getting up on her feet to stand on the bench. "Hey everyone," she shouts to our teammates, her hands cupped around her mouth. "Who in here thinks that our captain should come and sing some Beyoncé with us tonight?"

I slump against the lockers, shaking my head once more. It's not that I don't want to go and have fun with everyone, I just really have to get my homework done. I have to keep my grades up so I'll get into a college far from here. I'm sick of this small town.

I hear my teammates slamming their lockers shut before cheering and howling fills the room, and they circle around me and Amy. They all lift their hands up in the air and shake them as if they were holding our red and silver pom poms in them.

"Y, E, S," they all chant. "Yes!"

Amy smiles down at me smugly, her arms crossed over her chest and one brow cocked at me, waiting for my reaction. Daring me to refuse.

My darling best friend knows me so well. Knows that I always give in under pressure.

I look around at everyone's faces before dropping my shoulders and giving in. "Well, if everyone's going—" I guess I can postpone the assignments until tomorrow.

"Woohoo!" Amy shouts and jumps down. Throwing her arm over my shoulders and pulling me to her side, she turns to the others. "See you all in a couple hours. Everyone be ready for some karaoke," she tells them, throwing a glance at me.

Everyone turns to leave, but she stops them for a second. "Oh, and, thank you for your service, ladies." She makes a show of bowing at them. "I couldn't have gotten her to agree without you guys." She acts as if crying and wipes imaginary tears from her cheeks, her voice shaking. "You were of so much help, I don't know how I can pay you back for such hard work."