TANGLED PLANS

38

It seemed that the seniors had planned all of this out.

The cheerleaders perform for the full length of the song, and then they all take their seats in the stadium. Then the song changes, and all the other seniors start to walk into the room one by one. It goes at random (I guess they haven't planned it out too much) as many more seniors come in and do a quick cheer before sitting down at their spot.

Once the majority of the seniors are in here, the song changes once again, and the rest of the seniors start to walk in in their football gear. Or just their shoulder pads and a jersey on top. The crowd only grows louder around us as the student body cheers the seniors on for their last season of their high school career.

"Oh shit," someone says from above me.

"What?" Parker says from beside me to Keilly. Maria puts a hand to her mouth and says, "It's Max."

"Max?" Parker asks, and then has a quizzical expression on his face. "Why are we acting weird about him?"

"Because—"

"We like him! Yeah!" I shout out before Maria can go on any further. I give her a look that hopefully she can read. Once I'm sure she isn't going to say anything, I turn back to the ground, which has only grown louder and louder. I hadn't seen Max walk in earlier, but I see him now.

It seemed that a couple of the cheerleaders had come toward the players, and they were dancing around them. I'm looking at Max because he had the most energy out of all the players. Brayden was also standing in front, but he was in the corner, avoiding being danced on by a girl in her cheer uniform.

Some of the other players were getting flustered and acting shy, but Max was the one who was loving it the most. I had known that he liked the attention, but today it seemed excessive with the way he was letting the girls dance around him. He puts his hand up as the song whirs down, and at the end, a cheerleader I recognize as Ashlyn leans up and kisses him on the lip.

I hadn't known that was going to happen. I didn't even know that they were a thing again. Was that why Max rejected me last year? I thought he cut off ties with Ashlyn because he didn't want to be around her anymore. Max's eyes widen so much that I can see them from here, but the surprise only lasts a second before he wraps a hand around her shoulder and pulls her close to him.

I can't obviously make out what they say, but I can see the grins on their faces as they both head toward the bleachers as well.

The music cuts off as soon as the last person—who happened to be my brother—takes a seat. Principal Pickett, who I hadn't known where she was, comes back to the center and picks up the microphone.

There is a loud noise as the microphone screeches, and a couple of people are making me groan at the noise. I cringe at how loud it is. Mrs. Pickets face flushes as she stops it and says, "Okay, so! As this school year starts and..."

"Did something happen between you and Max?" I hear a voice in my ear and turn around to find Parker looking down at me.

There's confusion on my face when I say, "What?"

Parker only looks at me and then glances down at the bleacher across from ours. After the quick look, he studies my face. "There was a mixture of anger or longing edged on your face."

"What?" This time the word is a sputter because I couldn't believe that he could pick up on that. Maybe the anger, but longing—what did that even mean? I wasn't longing for Max. Not anymore. I wanted to ignore him as best I could.

"Mhm." Parker only hums in answer and then turns away from my face. His hand is still around my shoulder, and he pulls me close to him. "Say, he broke your heart, or did you break his, and now you want him back?" I'm opening my mouth and closing it like a fish, but I didn't know how to respond to that. Parker only chuckles and says, "Well, then it's settled."