The Blonde Cheerleader

Chapter Twenty-Three: Idiotic Piece Of A Lamb

"You can do it," I urged as I stood next to Evan, staring at the front door of his house.

Those pictures managed to convince him that now that he has all the evidence, he needs to face this issue head on. I'm sure that deep down inside, he's only acting like this because he still place his mother in such a high pedestal.

Not blaming him though, he saw how strong she was when she found out about Erin.

This was the exact same situation that I had with my mom. I respected her and looked up to her, but when something went wrong, it had a snowball effect. I wasn't able to fix it but that doesn't mean that he can't. I hate for history to repeat itself in the form of this boy who has already experienced enough.

I gave his hand a light squeeze as I pulled him with me. Stopping right in front of the door, I gave him an encouraging smile as I rang the doorbell for him. In his current disposition, he doesn't have the willpower to be the one to march in there and talk to her. So we'll do the next best thing, have his mother be the one to open up to him.

When the door swung open, his eyes widened and his grip on my hand suddenly tightened. I held back a yelp at how strong it was, but when I slowly rubbed my thumb over his hand, it slowly loosened. Mrs. Matthews stood there, as normal as she should be, switching her gaze from her son to me.

Evan opened his mouth, but finally realizing that she was the one at fault, she spoke up, "Let's talk inside, Evan."

He gulped audibly before nodding, letting go of my hand before following his mother inside. I just stood there, looking around, trying to gauge what I should do next. Mrs. Matthews came back and with a curt nod, she closed the door closed in front of me. Shrugging, I took a step back before turning around to go to my car – it was better for them to clear this out.

I only promised Evan that I'll drive him here, I'm the unwelcomed guest if I stayed.

Before I got far though, the door clicked open again, "Clara!"

Looking over my shoulder, I glanced at him before his mouth opened. Tilting my head to the side, I waited for his words but apparently, it died down into his throat as he closed his lips again. Blinking, he took another breath before saying a brief, "Thanks."

Call me cheesy and all, but to be honest, a word of appreciation was probably the only thing I needed, "I told you to trust me and that I'm here for you."

Oh god, I'm getting sappier than a maple tree.

"I'll watch you later," he said, his lips pulling up into a soft smile.

Nodding, I told him, "Go to Viv's party tonight. Invite all your friends and I'll text you the address."

"Isn't it a little bit unusual for me to go to those things?"

I shook my head, "Just thought you might need to let loose."

***

The lights were all directed to us as the judges' cold hard gazes were set on our group, ready to pick out every mistake that we can possibly make. Our smiles didn't waver though, we stood there with outmost confidence as we waited for our music to play.

That's what I've always been telling the girls – be sure about yourself and you'll be able to pull people in with ease.

Besides, if their leader has this big of a self-esteem, they should damn follow in her footsteps. I'm not training a bunch of cowards.

Just the first note brought us all to attention and we started to move. With our last performance concentrating more on the flips, this one was more based on the dance. It was quick, it was snappy, and everything needed to be synchronized.