The Transformation

Chapter 7

It was one of the days when we worked on only stunts at cheerleading. That meant that it was one of the most dangerous days for me. They usually caught me, but there were a couple of times that I was barely caught at all.

"Oh my gosh! It's Jake!" I heard Olivia whisper to Cammi before I was thrown into the air.

I noticed mid-air that I wasn't above the rest of the girls. When I came down, I landed in Jake's arms and a football hit me in the head.

"Take 5 guys." Jake called to the guys and sat me down.

"Ow..." I muttered and rubbed my head.

"Are you okay?' He knelt next to me.

"I'm fine. Did I hit you?" I looked at him.

"Nope. I'm good." Jake smiled.

"I should get back to practice." I stand up and run back to the girls.

"Meet me here 15 minutes after practice." He yelled as I got back.

I nodded as I was thrown into the air again. This time, they caught me. I took my hair out of its ponytail during a waker break and shook some glitter out.

"Why does Jake want to see you after practice?" Olivia came up behind me.

"I honestly don't know." I practiced a back end.

"He's going to ask you out and you're gonna be his date to the dance!" Olivia whispered into my ear.

"Impossible." I stood up.

"Cammi! You owe me $10. I told you that she would deny it!" Olivia ran off screaming.

I rolled my eyes and started my new floor routine for football games. I make tiny errors that most people wouldn't notice, but they bothered me.

Once practice was over, I put my stuff in my cheerleading bag. I sat on a bench on the side of the field and waited for Jake. I pulled out a book and began to read.

"Hey." Jake sat next to me.

"Hey." I put the book back into my duffel bag.

"Are you sure that you're okay? Sam can throw the football pretty hard?" He put his stuff on the ground.

"I'm sure. What did you want to tell me?" I asked.

"Do you want to be my girlfriend and/or go to the winter formal as my date?" Jakes said quickly.

"So Olivia wasn't joking." I thought.

"This is awkward." He broke the silence.

"Um... Well... No not really." I answered quietly.

"What?" Jake stared at me like I had come down from outer space.

"Sorry. I-I just don't know you well enough." I grabbed my bad and ran off.

I had the slightest feeling of guilt. But I didn't want to be in a relationship. Jake was a nice guy and all, but I barely knew him and Jake didn't seem like he would be compatible with my personality. I didn't want to hurt his feelings by running off, but I ran anyway.

When I got home, I unpacked my cheerleading stuff and started on homework. As I did, I kept thinking about what Jake had asked me and how I reacted.

"Snap out of it, Vanessa. You did the right thing when you said no." I told myself.

But I had a lingering thought that I should have told Jake 'yes'.