You can Bet on Me

Part 28 ~ Please Come

Maddison
"Please go to the game," Cassie pouted over the phone.
"No, I already told you – I don't want to go." I replied sternly, yet a small feeling of guilt built up inside me that I would just bail on her last performance as a cheerleader for the year. Cassie would be performing her cheerleader routine halftime in the upcoming basketball game on Sunday, and she really wanted me to come to watch, but I knew that where the basketball team was, Michael would be, and my heart couldn't handle seeing him right now. Cassie, out of me, Vivienne, and Hailey, was the popular, sassy, gorgeous one – she could charm any boy into doing her bidding, but she was still kind and sweet and didn't use her looks to her advantage. Many times she had been offered to sit with and join the popular group, but she had always refused, even making a few enemies with her cheerleader friends just because they insulted the rest of us. That was what I loved about her – even though she could be pushy and pouty at times, she was still an amazing friend that wouldn't abandon us for the world.
"Why? If you're not going to go, at least tell me why," Cassie said. I hadn't told her yet about what happened between me and Michael. I trusted her not to spill it if I told her, since Sarah had already spread the news and it was going around like wildfire, but the problem was rather that Cassie could and would definitely go up to Michael and give him the tight slap on the face and yelling into that I wasn't ready for. As much as I hated Michael right then, I wanted to handle my own problems. Face them myself when I was ready.

"There's no reason. I'm tired," I lied, rolling from my bed onto my study chair as I held my phone to my ear. I had shut my door so that my siblings wouldn't bother me while I was doing my homework, but in the end, it had been Cassie's call that had distracted me from my much-needed homework and assignments.
"Oh come on – just take some Gatorade and five cups of coffee and you'll be fine," her voice turned whinier and more desperate as she added, "please. I really want you to be there, and if you had a better reason, sure. But not because you're tired."
Her words served to feed my guilt. It was terrible, thinking that I couldn't even look at Michael right then and there, and because of that, my friend would be the one to suffer. But screw it. I let out a sigh and said, "fine, I'll go."
Despite how broken I was, I wouldn't let a friend down because I wasn't ready to face my heartbreaking ex. I was over him – or at least I was trying to. I won't let him get in the way of me and my friends, I thought. He had already hurt me enough, and I didn't want him to affect me any longer, as much as it hurt. Cassie let out an excited squeal that came out as more of a staticky screech from over the phone and said, "thank you, thank you! Alright, make sure that you're there, and don't be late. Promise?"
"Promise," I said, a smile finding its way onto my lips. Once I hung up, I let out a deep sigh and kicked off the wall to propel myself on my wheeled study chair into the centre of my room. What did I just agree to?
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It was cold that Sunday, and I had managed to make sure Sammy was with Mr Murphy, somehow convinced Addison to stay home and take care of Eleanor and Danielle, and Abagail was undoubtedly going to another party to get drunk as fuck for a second time. I had tried to stop her, but what the hell was I supposed to do against a persistent person like Abagail?
And there I was, standing in front of my wardrobe, staring at all my clothes in there and trying to imagine how I would look in all of them. I scrunched my nose as I came up with some terrible combinations. The basketball team of Liberty Academy was going pretty well and was in the finals, which was part of reason I suspected that Cassie wanted me to be there so badly, but I had a sneaky suspect that there was another reason that I didn't bother to find out. Finally, I settled on a warm, blue sweater, a random shirt underneath, and long, blue jeans since the basketball team's team colour was blue.
I let my hair out and fluffed it up with my hands before looking at myself in the mirror - I was the spitting image of bubbly. Grabbing a cute sling bag and slipped my phone and wallet in it, I went downstairs and yelled out to whoever was listening, "I'm going!"
As I got into the car, I made peace with my thoughts and agreed on one thing - I was so not looking forward to going, especially since I knew that my eyes would be drawn to one certain basketball player with mesmerizing blue eyes. But I couldn't let Cassie down - especially since it was her last performance for the year. I had confirmed that both Vivienne and Hailey were going to be there, and Paige, Iris, and Laura were all on the cheerleading team, Iris the captain.
It didn't take long to get to the stadium, since it was close to my home, and when my sad little car chugged into the carpark of the large stadium, I felt how out of place it was amongst all the other cars. I got out of my car and went straight inside. I was instantly taken aback by the large stadium, and I was suddenly aware of how small I was.
Already many people were filtering into the stands, loud chatter and yells coming from all over the stadium. Cleaners were quickly polishing the shiny floors of the basketball court as I spotted Hailey and Vivienne waving to me from the crowd. I had forgotten how big a deal basketball was to Liberty Academy.
I quickly sat down with them as Hailey squealed.
"What?" I asked, turning to her.
"I can't believe you're actually coming to the Lions' game," she explained. The Lions were the name of the basketball team at our school, which practically suited their fierceness when it came to competitions. As the game began, my eyes were instantly drawn to Michael. I hated how I couldn't take my eyes off him, and yet the way he played drew me in as well. His eyes sparkled and looked excited - so unlike when I had ran into him during my morning jog a little while ago.
Part of me wanted to cry that he could move on so quickly and yet I was still stuck on him, but the other part of me couldn't help but feel hurt. I had clearly not mattered to him enough if he could get over me that quickly. All the more reason to get over him, I tried to pry my eyes off him, but that was an impossible task.
I loved him too much for that.
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