Issues / ROMAN GODFREY / #wattys2019

One.

"H E M L O C K G R O V E! H E M L O C K G R O V E!"

Pom-Poms shook wildly at the bleachers full of packed in students and teachers who were cheering on for their home football team as they led the game into the last four minutes of the last quarter.

Mariana Ramos cheered excitedly, her curled ponytail bouncing in time with her body's movements of high kicks and excited jumping. Hemlock Grove High was a relatively small school, the population peaking at about five-hundred students, which left them only fourteen cheerleaders of all grades and rankings compared to their competition who had a Freshman class of four-hundred alone.

"And number 23, is going, and going, and TOUCHDOWN! HEMLOCK GROVE HAS A 15 POINT LEAD!"

great, now can it just be over? I have a Netflix date with myself.

When the game was over, Mariana changed in the girl's locker room, slipping off her mini skirt and neatly folding it up, placing it in her bag to take home. She slipped on her complimentary jacket from her coach, zipping it up tight and quickly putting on her jeans.

"There's a party at Raymond's tonight, are you coming?" Mariana turned around, seeing the team's captain, Lucy, waiting with her own bag of clothes. Lucy was the partier, not Mariana, so it was a surprise that Lucy took the time to ask when she already knew what the answer would be.

"Nah, I'm going to head home, I have things to do," Mariana answered, not missing the way it seemed Lucy fought the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she only smiled, nodding, and turning around to leave. "I'll see you on Monday at practice, then!"

"Yeah... See you."

_

"Come on, come on!" hands angrily smacked the steering wheel when her car refused to start. It was a 1999 Ford Taurus, a gift she had bought for herself with a few hundred bucks she had saved up from her waitressing job at the local diner. It had been in good condition, honestly, and she didn't know what could cause her battery to die at ten o'clock at night.

A cold shiver went right through her as she reached into her little purse and pulled out her iPhone, unlocking it and quickly pulling up her dad's number, pressing it to her ear when it dialed. It rang to no avail.

"Seriously, dad?" she complained, hanging up the phone and gathering her things, swinging open the door and stepping out into the chilly Pennsylvanian air. She locked her car and started walking through the empty parking lot and towards her house that was a few miles away. Mariana mumbled to herself as she walked down the dimly lit roads, her athletic bag slung over her body, and her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

She had been walking for at least twenty minutes when headlights shone from behind her, making her self-conscious but curious at the same time. She kept walking, making herself assume that whoever was behind her was some creepy serial killer and it would be in her best interest to just keep on walking.

It was easier said than done because she could hear the car slowing down as it got closer, and the sound of a window being rolled down made her get goosebumps, and they weren't from the cold.