Sweet Poison

Sweet Poison (13)

A few minutes before the  bell rung, I walked into class and sat where I usually sat at. The two weeks I've been here, Eli had made it his mission to sit by me. I knew with us sitting next to each, that it would  be a great time to apologize. I realized that I had jumped to conclusions and had not gave Eli a proper chance before I ultimately tagged him as a jerk just because of the rumors I had heard about him.

Eli walked into the class, anger still etched on his face. I sprung up and waited for him to sit by me, but he didn't. Instead he walked right pass me and sat by Dylan, the whole time I watched my mouth was hanging open in shock. I guess he really wanted to show me how angry he was.

Dejected, I turned to the front of the classroom and waited for class to be over. Fifty agonizing minutes later, the bell rung and I leaped up to rush out of the classroom. For a while I listened through class feeling angry and sorry for myself, until I decided that I wasn't going to feel horrible over Eli because he's not worth it. . .at least I think, and hope.

 I turned the corner, casually walking through the hallway when someone swung their arm around my shoulder. "Hey Elissa", a familiar male voice greeted. I smiled and turned around, but my smile quickly faded.

"Oh hey Dylan", I greeted back, crossing my arms.

"Hey you want to go out on a date . . .maybe at my house or something", he asked. There was a slight wariness in his tone like he thought I would say no. Well he was right.

 I raised my eyebrow at him. A date at his house when I barely know him. I don't think so. That's a dating no, no.

 "Um that's so sweet Dylan but I'm actually really busy" I replied as sweetly as I could, trying not to be to rude about denying his offer.

My politeness was disregarded because a large frown replaced the tiny smile that had been on his face. "Oh. . .okay I'll talk to later", he mumbled, removing his arm from around my shoulder rejected and walked away. I felt really bad about letting him down, but a part of me couldn't really focus on the guilt.  I had a lot on my mind already and I couldn't let my guilt at hurting Dylan's feelings be another worry of mine. 

I met up with Sarah. "Hey Sarah", I forced a smile as I leaned against her locker.

She obviously feel for it because she slammed her locker with a huge grin on her face. "Hey, guess what!", she squealed excitedly.

My eyebrows rose. It must be something really good because Sarah never squealed or acted overly peppy, it was more of an Alice type of thing to do.

"What?",I asked, curiosity burning.

"Today is tryouts for next year cheerleaders", she announced loudly causing a few people near by to glance our way curiously. They all laughed lightly when Sarah began dancing around not even caring about the crowd she was attracting.

Despite her upbeat mood, I couldn't find it in me to show that much enthusiasm. "Oh" was all I could really manage out.

If Sarah picked up on my mood, she surely didn't show it. "Yeah lets go to lunch now I'm kind of hungry", she said grabbing me by the wrist and  pulling me to lunch.
                                                        
We talked about Eli at lunch and once again Trish bragged some more. I didn't really care though. I knew that at least half or even her entire story was stretching the truth or completely false.

* * *

It was a humid sunny day as Sarah and I walked to the football field for tryouts. The humidity and the nervousness induced sweat seemed to make my clothes cling to my skin almost. One look at Sarah and I knew that she felt no anxiety about the tryout. She was dancing around and practicing a routine. "Remember be as flexible as you can and always smile", she said pointing to her smile. She was trying to give me a few pointers before I went and tried out.

 I nodded dully and rubbed my hands together. I was still thinking about this morning with Eli and then Dylan, but I was more focused on acing this tryout.

We arrived at where the tryouts were and Trish was sitting at a table with a clipboard. "Trish is captain", I whispered, trying to mask my shock in my voice.

"Yeah, we'll get on the team definitely but we have to look like we put in effort", Sarah whispered. She signed her name on a clipboard and I followed. I couldn't help but feel like we were cheating in a way, if what Sarah said was actually true.

 We sat down and watched the first girls do their routine. I had to admit they were really good and I knew I wouldn't be as good as them. I was stuck in my own thoughts, when Sarah tapped me. "Hey it's my turn, wish me luck!"

I nodded and watched her walk up. She started hers and she looked stunning. Her smile never vanished and Sarah had way more pep than I originally thought she had. I guess her pep only came when she was cheerleading. The rest of the time she was the cool, collected, and the laid back one of the group.

My jaw was still touching the floor when Sarah walked up. "It's your turn. Trish doesn't seem to like you a lot right now so if you get on the team it'll be a surprise", she nudged me.

I looked at her dryly, not sure if I should be thankful for her truthfulness or worried.

"But don't worry Elissa, you'll do great!" She added when she saw my look of worry.

Slowly, I nodded and walked up. Okay just like me and Sarah practiced, I thought to myself and turned on the music. During the whole routine I  petrified of messing up but I hoped I didn't show it as I kept a smile planted on my face and my voice loud and clear. I ended the cheer with a split, which I had just perfected yesterday, and a smile.

The other girls clapped but Sarah outdid all of them, clapping rapidly and the loudest. "Wooooaaahh you go girl!", she hollered, hooting at the end. The other girls looked at her vilely while Trish simple rolled her eyes. Alice who I had just noticed on the bleachers at the top with a few other girls was also clapping wildly. I giggled because they were the only ones cheering now, but that was fine with me. I got up and nodded to Trish and sat down. "You did great", she said giving me thumbs up.

"You did too",I smiled. One more worry could be crossed off the list.

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