I'LL ALWAYS HAVE YOU

2

"You don't have any feelings for him?"

Taylor and Maddie were in the library again, typing furiously at there computers.

"No...." Maddie trailed unconvincingly.

The truth was, after that kiss a few nights ago, Maddie wasn't sure anymore.

Sure, maybe when she was in 8th grade she had the tiniest crush on her curly haired companion.

Whenever Levi and his family come over for dinner, him and Maddie would go up to the turret and just talk and talk until his parents called him for desert.

They'd sit among the pillows and blankets by the window and scrunch up in little balls, wrinkling there nice attire.

That awful night at Scarlett Languine's graduation party when everything went south, Levi was the first person she went to.

She couldn't help but fall when he held out his pinkie and interlocked it with Maddie's, promising he'd never let her be bullied again.

They started dating about a month after and the rest was history.

Maddie's feelings probably wore off when she figured out Levi only changed his underwear once a week. Thankfully, after a talk with Mrs. Cornblume, Levi fixed that habit.

After the kiss, Maddie couldn't sleep. It was like a rush of adrenaline was pumping quickly through her veins.

Yes, Maddie had had her first kiss. It wasn't even with Levi. It was some guy in seventh grade who she didn't even remember the name of. Levi was her second after the homecoming dance during freshman year. When they let go, they both agreed it wasn't really there thing.

That kiss last night made the others seem so invisible, as if it was her first.

And after three days of replaying the scene over and over again like it was the first episode of the Carrie diaries, Maddie was about ready to punch Levi in the face.

Or maybe kiss him again.

Maddie shook her head "you're so in love with him!" Taylor gushed.

"Taylor-" "don't even try to make an excuse. Just admit it. Than go and tell him."

"Go and tell him! I'm like his little sister!"

"Maddie, I'm not sure if you noticed, but you and Levi have been dating for four years!"

She did have a point.

"I guess...." Maddie begins, shutting her laptop "I do like him a little..."

Taylor gave her the are you serious look.

"Ya. Maybe I'm in love with him." Maddie rests her head in her palm, feeling a bit more stressed out.

"Tell him tonight! After the game! And ask him to the homecoming dance, even if it's sorta implied that you're going together."

Maddie shook her head vigorously, already stressing about what she'd say when she'd come face to face with the boy she's in love with.

*

Maddie was out in the quiet, abandoned hallway. She loved it when it was like this. She slid her dollar in the vending machine and waited for her skittles to fall in the slot.

"Hey Maddie!" A voice called. Maddie turned her head rapidly, finding that the voice was Laura.

"Hey Laura." Maddie said nonchalantly, kneeling down and getting her skittles.

"I don't think I can perform tonight..." she trailed, and for the first time it looked like she wasn't lying.

Maddie got up from her crouched position by the vending machine slot and looked at the girl.

Her red hair fell over her clear skin in elegant waves. She wasn't wearing her uniform, but a striped sweater and a pair of black jeans. She looked like Laura, the girl who used to be Maddie's friend. She wasn't Laur, the girl who was so desperate for popularity and material.

"What happened?"

"I'm feeling exhausted."

Maddie knew that Laura probably forgot to eat today. Or at least claimed to have forgotten. She always did that before big games, leaving her already week body, weaker. She had diabetes after all.

In a sudden flash of generosity, Maddie handed the bag of skittles to the red head, as if it was an olive branch "Have these. Might give you a bit more energy."

Laura took them hesitantly "thanks."

"Anytime. Before next game, make sure to eat and hydrate yourself." Maddie said, not wanting to fill in for Laura's spot at the top of the pyramid.

"You know the routine for the top of the pyramid, right?" She asked, sticking the skittles in her back pocket.

"They don't call me the team captain for nothing." Maddie joked, earning a smile from the other.

Maddie looked down at her phone, seeing that it was a few minutes before the performance "I better go."

"Ya. me too." Laura answered back.

"See ya around?" Maddie questioned, wondering if this had somehow mended the large hole in there friendship.

"See you around." Laura smiled

Maddie turned around to leave, but not before Laura called a "you're gonna do great." to her.

and Maddie trusted that for this one moment, Laura was her friend.

Not for long.

*

The neon lights flashed brightly over the field. The sweaty players panted on the benches, drinking from there water bottles.

The cheerleaders were warming up on the other side of the field, opposite the players.

The other girls on the team used this time to excite the players a bit, while Maddie wasn't focused on them at all.

Except for tonight.

As Maddie stretched out her long legs, he gaze kept retreating to Levi. She couldn't help it. He looked so gorgeous under the lights.

He saw her staring and smiled giddily, waving his hand. She smiled and waved back, nerves flowing through her veins.

"Girls! Time for the show!" Coach Telesco called.

The girls got up from there spots on the colorful turf and began to get into formation.

The coach made her way to the bench where the speakers were set up and she pressed play.

Maddie watched Levi throughout the whole first portion of the routine, not hearing the loud whoops and hollers of the large crowd.

When it was time for pyramid, Maddie shook her head, she couldn't be distracted or she'll fall.

Her legs shaky and her mind racing, Maddie stepped upon the knees of the other girls and made her way to the top. She outstretched her arms to make a v and than closed her eyes for a minute.

In that moment, everything was so unbelievably clear. Her head felt light upon her shoulders, her thoughts like feathers drifting on her fingertips.

But than she opened her eyes, her glance flicking downward to where Levi stood. And he wasn't alone.

Laura stood, her hands around Levi's neck and her eyes looking into his.

Maddie didn't know what happened up until the point where the turf was pressing into her skin, sirens blared in the distance and a surging pain corded through her leg.

Throughout the whole ordeal, Maddie didn't notice that Levi was beside her, his hand clutching hers.

Although she didn't believe it yet, Levi would always be there. No matter what.