"Are you sure it was Chad?" I asked Ellie at school on Monday. She hadn't been answering my calls all weekend.
"Yes Scar, I know what I saw! It was him and some sophomore." She replied miserably. She'd been flirting with Chad all Friday night but it turned out he was never interested in her in the first place. When Ellie had turned her back, he was already making out with another girl.
"Well, you can do a lot better than him anyway." I confirmed. I did feel sorry for her though. She went to a lot of effort for him.
She sighed. "What did you get up to anyway?"
"I, uh..." I decided it'd be best to leave out what happened with Chris. Ellie would make a huge fuss and never shut up about it. "I drank a little then just started to feel sick so I spent half the night sitting on my ass." I spoke hastily, hoping that sounded convincing.
It didn't.
"Pfft," Ellie scoffed. "I don't believe that for a second." Then her eyes widened. "Tell me his name! He was hot, right? Please tell me you used protection."
"Ell!" I gave her a gentle shove. "No, nothinh like that happened."
She narrowed her eyes at me. "Fine, whatever. How did you get home then?"
"I walked." I replied immediately.
"Three blocks in the dark?"
I nodded. I contemplated telling her about my smoking hot stalker, but decided against it. Maybe I dreamt the whole thing up. Yeah, that'd make sense, right?
I thought of his perfectly sculpted jaw and sea blue eyes. Erik...
I shook my head to snap out of it. Even if it wasn't a dream, I'd probably never see him again.
It was our lunch period at Redwood High in Ohio and I was dreading cheer practice next. I didn't exactly fit the description of an upbeat, energetic cheerleader at the moment.
I finished my nachos as the bell went and Ellie and I headed for the change rooms in the gym, only to be met by one of my least favourite people.
"You know we don't do uniforms in a size 6 Scarlett, so ditch the French fries if you want to make it to the pep rally." screeched Tiff.
I cringed. After I broke up with Chris, I wanted to quit cheerleading but I knew that'd be what Tiffany wanted so I wasn't going to give her that satisfaction.
Ellie was about to defend my honour with choice words when I tugged on her hand, signalling that it was okay.
"Nice to see you too, Tiff." I replied, my tone less than friendly.
"I mean it. Our reputation is too good to start sporting whales." Her hands sat on her hips, each word coming out her mouth making me want to leave the hall in defeat. But I was better than that.
I turned to face her. With her long blonde hair extensions and layers of cakey makeup, she had the look to match her awful personality. But she was the most popular girl in school, I didn't quite understand how being a complete bitch got her high on the social ladder.
"Whales, huh? So if the view on clowns was the same, I guess we'd both be out of here." I heard Ell smirk beside me, feeding me confidence.
Tiff scowled. "I'm so close to kicking you off this squ-"
I quickly interrupted her. "Go ahead, do it. Good luck finding a replacement before the game."
Her frown made the wrinkles in her forehead prematurely age her. She knew I was right.
I shot her my award winning smile and proceeded to get changed.
It was hard to resist the urge to punch her after what she'd done to me, but it was Chris's fault just as much as it was hers so I didn't see the point.
Our routine was to 'Starstruckk' by 3OH!3 in which the moves I thought were a little trashy, but that was no surprise, Tiffany did create them. It was fast and upbeat and totally draining all of my energy.
There were a handful of students sitting on the bleachers, mostly the basketball players that came to check us all out in our minimal clothing. I wish they wouldn't because it was so distracting, but Tiffany had all the authority when it came to our practises and I'd be stupid to say that she didn't want the attention.
Our final move was a pyramid where I was in the dead centre and it was pretty tricky, we'd never gotten it perfect before. I was lifted into the middle, trying to concentrate on my balance and assist the girls in getting up and it was going okay.
Until I looked back to the bleachers.
Someone sat at the back of the room, arms crossed and slumped in the chair; wearing a black hoodie.
Erik.
Holy crap. He wasn't a dream.
What was he doing here? I was sure he didn't go to Redwood and now that I think of it, what was he even doing at Chad's party? This was all way too weird.
The sight of him made me lose my balance and I started to wobble back and forward. Before I could warn anyone, I let out a squeal and toppled over the girls and fell on my back.
I groaned, it made my head spin. Thank God the mats were soft.
Ellie stood over me helping me sit up. "Scar! Are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine." I rubbed my head.
"What's your problem, Scarlett? We were going fine until you just had to mess it up, didn't you?" Tiffany shouted in my face.
Before I could say anything, Ellie was on my case. "What's her problem? What's wrong with you? Can't you see that she's hurt? Stop being such a bitch!"
Tiffany looked a bit shocked, but I didn't even care at the moment. I looked back up to the bleachers and just caught Erik leaving through the side door leading out to the back of the gym building.
I didn't say anything to Ellie or Tiffany. I just rose to my feet and fled up the stairs until I reached the same door Erik had walked out a moment ago. I heard voices behind me yelling at me to come back, but I needed answers and I needed them now.
The outside back of the gym was home to lots of overgrown grass on the old car park that nobody ever used anymore. I caught a glimpse of Erik's back rounding the corner.
"Hey!" I shouted, running up to him.
He turned around and my breath caught in my throat. His piercing turquoise eyes met mine and I froze.
"I-I want answers." I tried to sound as brave as I could manage.
"Answers?" he cocked his head slightly.
I puffed, out of breathe from our little chase."Who are you? Why are you following me?"
He sighed at looked at the ground, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that Scarlett. Not yet anyway."
I looked at him with utter confusion. "What's that supposed to mean? How do you know me?"
"I've known you for a long time, Scar." He still avoided my gaze
"What do you want from me?" I gulped. This guy just kept getting creepier and creepier.
"Remember Friday night when you said you trusted me?"
I did remember.
"Well trust me now." He took a few steps closer to me so we were less than a metre away from each other.
I remained silent.
"I have to go, but I'll see you again shortly." He left in a moment, leaving me with no new information, just me lingering in an uncomfortable feeling
"No, wai-" But it was too late. He walked over to where his Audi was parked and drove off, leaving me standing very confused and alone.
YOU ARE READING
Tightrope; A New Romance
Fantasy'Adrian placed his hands against the wall on either side of my head, his alluring scent intoxicating me. I couldn't believe it. He had everything a guy could ever want; he had his freedom. But here he was, right in front of me, begging me to love h...
