king and queen

nine

Alexa's POV

The door opened and shut quickly behind. I didn't move. I was so ashamed.

Once I was noticed I quickly realized it was Dallas and Johnny from their girly shrieks. Dallas coughed to cover up his shock of seeing me.

I felt a shoe touch my back and all I could do was move slightly into my corner.

The door shut again and I heard Dallas sigh.

"Alexa?" He asked.

I didn't say anything.

It was silent for a moment.

"You okay?"

Did I look okay?

I didn't say anything. I felt so many negative emotions.

"Look, I don't say this very often, but I'm sorry."

I wiped the tears off my face. I still didn't look at him. "It's okay. I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have done the whole thing without you."

"I wasn't really planning on helping with it, anyway." He said awkwardly.

It was another silence.

"Can I ask you a question?" He uttered. I shrugged. "Why is this so important to you?"

I didn't really know how to respond. I thought for a moment. "Y'know, it doesn't matter. I'm gonna drop it, anyway."

"Dropping it? Like off the court?"

"Yeah... this was supposed to be fun and enjoyable. A fun way for everyone to get to know us and see who to vote for. A-And there's just no point to doing this anymore. Might as well give it up to someone who would enjoy it."

"Oh. Well, you still didn't answer my question."

"About why is was important?" I asked looking at him. He nodded. I look back to my knees. "It's not." I said quickly. "I guess I took it more seriously than necessary."

"I feel like you're lying."

"Even if I am, it doesn't matter."

"Well, I wanna know."

I looked him in the eye. Man, is he pushy. I sighed and tried to keep my emotions contained. "I-I... y'know... I don't think you'd understand."

"Maybe not exactly, but I could help?"

"No... it's not like that."

"Well, if we're gonna be locked in the storage closet together, might as well tell me."

"Are we locked in?" I asked nervously.

"Not entirely. But I'm 99% sure Johnnys out there keeping watch. He's kinda pissed I did that to ya."

"Oh." I uttered. I knew he didn't actually care.

"Come on, Alexa. Maybe it'll make ya feel better?"

I sighed. "I don't want your pity. Okay?"

"Okay..."

I breathed to calm myself down. "Well, I've been dancing for fourteen years. Recitals, competitions, all that stuff. And for fourteen years, I've been begging my dad to come to one of my performances. And he never came to any. He always worked nights and my mom worked the typical nine to five as a nurse. My mom tried her best to make it to every performance. She couldn't to all of them, but you could tell she was trying."

It was hard to talk about my mom. I miss her so much.

I continued. "My dad normally said that he was busy. Even though I knew he wasn't. He's a morning drinker, sleeps through that, then goes to work at night. And for the first time in my entire life, after I mentioned it, he seemed somewhat interested. And he'd come. And that's all I ever wanted from him. I just want him to know that this is something I love and I was good at it. Well, at least I thought I was. I dunno. I just want him to see me as someone with potential."

"I'm sorry." He said.

I shrugged. "Doesn't matter. If he's gonna come to one thing in my life I don't want it to be this. Especially when it's a shitty, dumb dance anyway."

"Alexa... I didn't really mean what I said in there. I mean, you've obviously got talent. Competitions, caption of the cheer team. Come on."

It was silent for a moment. I finally spoke up. "Well, without confidence this is gonna suck anyway."

"Wouldn't your mom be able to come? You said she's tried to make everything. That's gotta be some sort of confidence booster."

Oh boy.

"My mom passed away."

"Shit..."

I started to cry. "I wish she were here. She would always push me and believe in me. His opinion never really mattered to me until she was gone."

"How did she..." He paused as he searched for the words.

"I was only nine so I didn't really get the full story. But she was overworked and stressed. That mixed with heart conditions... she just couldn't take it anymore."

"Wow. I had no idea."

I smiled slightly. "Yeah. How would you? Most people don't really look too deep. I mean, yeah my friends know. But most people see me as a spoiled brat who gets everything she wants. My mom always told me if I give people kindness, I'll get kindness in return. But, man, it's hard to give that sometimes. People are mean."

Dallas' POV

Oh, boy.

Shit.

I'm an asshole.

I had actual sympathy for this girl.

She's right. Nobody would ever look deep into her life to make sure she's okay. She plays it off so well.

"Alexa. I envied you. To be honest, I still kinda do. I was only bringing you down to make myself feel better."

"It's okay. You haven't had it great either, from what I know. I'm really sorry I didn't give you more say." She stood up. "I'm sure you'd to a great job. And you can bring those ideas to whoever is your partner."

"You're my partner though."

"I really don't wanna do this anymore."

"But your dad's coming!" She opened her mouth to talk as she brushed the dust off her uniform. I cut her off. "Come on. Let's learn this dance. I'm ready to listen and we're gonna be the best goddamn dancers out there."

"Dallas-"

"Nope. I'm not taking "no" for an answer. Come on."

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the door. I opened it and Johnny was waiting out there for us.

"You done being an asshole?" He asked

"Yup. And we're gonna go and beat every single other group there is. Let's go. We've got work to do."