If We Fall Again

Chapter 3

FEW YEARS BEFORE:

It was the end of another long school day, and Elise was practically bouncing on her toes. She’d just joined the cheerleading squad, and every part of her was buzzing with excitement. The uniform was still fresh in her locker, untouched, but the thought of wearing it during game days made her heart race. It was everything she had dreamed about since freshman year. For once, she didn’t want to go home, where things were... complicated. Her parents didn’t always celebrate her small victories, and today’s exam results weren’t going to help.

Beside her, Sam adjusted her glasses and looked up from her textbook. “You’re still riding the high from joining cheerleading, aren’t you?”

Elise laughed, nudging Sam’s shoulder. “Obviously! I’m finally in! Can you believe it? After all that practice, I’m going to be out there during the games.”

Sam rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Yeah, yeah, cheerleader extraordinaire. I, for one, am perfectly content sticking to my books and my nerdy little bubble.” She grinned. “But I’ll be there cheering for you in my own way—probably solving quadratic equations in the stands.”

Elise shook her head, but smiled. Sam, with her perfectly neat notes and endless love for studying, wasn’t the type to join cheer, but she was still gorgeous in her own way—pretty with those glasses perched on her nose, always a bit more reserved than Elise, but just as sharp.

They walked down the hallway toward the bulletin board, where the latest exam results were posted. Elise’s stomach turned in knots. She already had a feeling this wasn’t going to be good.

“Oh no,” she muttered under her breath as she scanned the list. Her name stood out, and next to it, the dreaded score: B-minus.

Sam peeked over her shoulder. “That’s not so bad!”

“Not so bad? My parents are going to freak out!” Elise groaned, gripping her backpack straps tightly. “You know how they are about grades. Anything less than an A is basically a death sentence.”

Sam frowned sympathetically. “Look, it’s not the end of the world. You’ll do better next time. And hey, you’re a cheerleader now! They have to be proud of that, right?”

Elise shook her head, trying to hold back her anxiety. “They don’t care about cheerleading, Sam. They care about grades. I need to figure out how to avoid going home for as long as possible.”

Sam looked like she wanted to argue, but she knew Elise’s parents were tough when it came to academics. “Well, you can always come over to my house. My mom will feed you so much food you’ll forget all about your B-minus.”

Elise chuckled but shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m going to stay late and practice with the squad for a bit. Maybe if I wear myself out, I’ll have less energy to worry.”

Sam gave her a quick hug. “Good luck with practice. And text me if you need me.”

“Always,” Elise smiled, watching as Sam walked off toward the library.

As the sun began to set, Elise found herself on the field with the cheerleading squad, throwing her all into every routine. The rush of it helped—each jump, each cheer a temporary distraction from the dread building inside her. But soon enough, it got dark, and practice was over. Elise gathered her things and started her walk toward home, though she didn’t feel any more ready to face her parents than before.

It was just outside the school, near the parking lot, that she nearly bumped into someone. She looked up, startled, and saw a guy standing there—tall, dressed all in black, with a cigarette hanging lazily from his lips. He looked at her with an expression that was half-bored, half-annoyed, as if her mere existence was an inconvenience.