The Boy Next Door

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The meeting with Evan's dad went well, but I was glad when it was over. Being in there made me nervous.

While we were driving back, I asked if Evan could just drop me off at the school. "Did you forget something?"

"Uh, n-no. I'm actually, uh, trying out for something." I kept my face downcast as I mumbled.

"Like...a sport?" He chuckled.

My shyness was overwhelming now as I fiddled with my hands in my lap. "Cheerleading..." I said almost incoherently.

He laughed again and my face became bright red. "You don't need to laugh." He realized what he was doing and looked at me with a smile.

"I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at the prospect of you in a short skirt and tank top shouting during a soccer game." It was soccer season now, and the cheerleaders were down two girls.

The thought of wearing something like that made me frown (I wore very modest clothing), but it relieved me of being so shy in front of Evan.

We arrived at the school and I felt dizzy when I walked in. At least fifty girls, over half freshmen, sat in the bleachers waiting for their name to be called. I'd signed up early on, so I hadn't seen all these names. The head cheerleader was very organized though, so we would be called in alphabetical order, not the order we signed up.

There were some boys in the crowd too, mostly sitting in one group together, but a few sat with their girlfriends. It was loud enough no one even looked my way as I walked in and sat on the edge of the bottom row. Evan sat on my right and smiled. "This will be great." I smacked him. "What? When you make the squad, we can go together to the games."

"IF I make the squad," I emphasized the "if", "I'll need to get there pretty early."

"Like I said. We'll go together."

I raised an eyebrow inquisitively. He smiled. "You're on the soccer team?"

"Have been since freshman year. I'm the captain. Not surprised you didn't know." I blushed. I'd heard something about his being on the team last year, but I don't take part in gossip or believe any of it.

He took my mind off of what was at hand with jokes or pointing things out in the crowd. But then my name was called. "Megan Jameson?"

"God, help me," I muttered. Evan smiled by my side.

Shaking, I stood and walked toward them. The head cheerleader, a senior by the name of Rebeca, was watching me carefully. In response to this I straightened my back and tried to look confident. After giving me a part of a cheer they wanted me to do, I stood looking at the crowd and took a deep breath, doing it as carefully as I could and being as loud as I could manage.

"Thank you," said Rebeca, writing something down. She was in my church, she wouldn't be too harsh on anyone, would she?

Evan was smiling proudly as I walked back over to him. "Flawless."

"Yeah, right." I sat by him and tried to calm my shaking limbs.

After the others had finished, Rebeca stood. "We've made our decision based on accuracy and verbal power." Some of the girls' hopeful faces fell. "It was difficult, but we've chosen our two. Cal Martin." One of the girls that had been sitting alone squealed in happiness. One left. Evan grabbed my hand and rubbed calming circles on the top.

Rebeca's eyes landed on mine. "And Megan Jameson." Those that hadn't been called, along with every guy (except Rebeca's boyfriend and Evan) got up and left. Rebeca brought us down to the table, handed us pompoms, and asked for our clothes sizes.

"I'll see you Tuesday after school for our first practice. The soccer team gets half of the field and we're given the other. Your uniforms will be in your possession by this Friday." We nodded and turned to walk out, but Rebeca grabbed my arm to hold me back.

"I've seen you at church, Megan. You're an ambassador for Christ here, remember. To my knowledge, none of the other girls are Christians." I nodded. "Congrats on making the team." Then she whispered to me, "And Evan is a lucky guy, having you in his life. He needs you."

I frowned in confusion, but nodded and walked out. Evan hadn't been close enough to hear her even when she was talking in her usual voice, but whispering couldn't have hurt.

"What did she want to talk to you about?" he asked.

"Nothing," I shrugged. "Just welcoming me to the team. She hinted that she knew you?" Knew a lot about you, in fact. A lot more than I did.

"Yeah. Rebeca's...kinda like an older sister. I've known her since Dad and I first moved here. At that point I was really clumsy and it made Dad kinda angry with me, so I didn't hang out with anyone really, wore jackets with hoods all the time. Everyone at school thought I was stuck-up, she was the first person to talk to me."

I smiled. I often forgot how many people Evan really knew. "She means a lot to you," I stated rather than asked, but kindly. I knew from even the tone in his voice that he hadn't even considered her like a partner.

"Yeah." His smile was evident. "I was hoping you'd make the team, that way I can still drive you back. Soccer practices are, I think, about half an hour longer than cheerleading."

I nodded. "Tomorrow afternoon, do you plan to stay with Scotty for lunch?"

"Yeah. I've not eaten many meals with them since I moved in."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow at church." He smiled as I got out of the car.

"See you then." I walked inside and into my room, sitting on my bed to finish my reading in John for youth group tomorrow.