Something About Alice Murphy: BOOK 1

P A R T - S I X T E E N

Chapter Sixteen; Warning Signs - PART ONE.
January 25th
____________________________________________

The bleachers were alive with noise as the marching band played carefully rehearsed upbeat music. Students, parents and teachers gathered together, collecting in mass numbers into the rows of seats in the bleachers around the football field that had been so neatly mown that morning in preparation for the first big football game. It was dark out already, but the flood lights lit up the football field in a brilliant white light, illuminating every metre so that nothing would be missed for those who were watching.

Alice stood in her Cheer uniform with fluffy blue pom-poms attached to her hands, shimmering them from side to side as she stood at the edge of the field, holding a smile on her face as she searched the crowds for her parents and younger sister. A hand stood out from the crowd as it waved, and Alice grinned and waved her Pom Pom enthusiastically as she laid eyes on her parents and Charlotte who were wrapped up in warm coats and hats, waving excitedly at her too.

The energy surrounding Alice made her heart thud hard against her chest. She felt nervous and excited to be on show to the whole school as a cheerleader, dressed in a uniform that dripped with high social status. Their job for the length of the game was to keep big smiles on their faces and cheer the team on, obviously, and at no point relax or stop paying attention. This game was just as important to Cheerleaders as it was to football players, Juniper had constantly reminded them of this the whole week.

Alice turned around, deciding to look away from the crowds and glanced towards Candice who was watching the field with interest after having obviously zoned out, although she managed to continuing to shimmer her pom poms since they were under strict instructions not to stop.

"Are you nervous?" Alice asked, walking over to stand next to Candice, whose hair had been styled in perfect large curls which was almost the opposite to Alice's high, long ponytail.

"Not really," Candice replied, "I'm just trying to remember the rules of football so I know when to cheer," she giggled and Alice grinned as she laughed too since she wasn't that sure of the rules either even though she loved watching the game.

"Go eagles!" A few of the cheerleaders cheered, catching the attention of the two girls as the others cheered and waved their Pom Poms wildly. Alice and Candice joined in after glancing at each other with knowing, excited expressions...

From this moment, each of them knew nothing would be the same... things would change during school, their social lives would change, their private lives would change too, probably... now that Alice was getting closer to the Magnus Johnson, the star quarterback and secret psychopath, she knew that there was some invisible spotlight on her in more than one way, especially after the video of her kissing him circulated around Facebook.

Minutes passed slowly as the cheerleaders cheered and continued to hype the crowd, they'd begun chanting eagles over and over again, getting the students of Summerland High to cheer and chant louder simultaneously as their football team began to make their way onto the field along with Penticton High. Alice glanced over, her eyes landing on Magnus who was walking at the front of the line, she recognised him instantly by the way he walked, even though she couldn't see his face. The cheering seemed to get louder as he looked up towards the bleachers then turned his head towards the line of Summerland Highs Cheerleaders... Alice could feel it when his gaze landed on her, the hairs on her arms and across the back of her neck stood up on end and she smiled warmly and shook her pom poms a little more to show her support.