BRIGHT

Chapter 16- Peyton POV- Pregame

As I walked into the house, I noticed my parents, as usual, were not home. I knew Meredith was planning on going to the game with a group of friends, so I assumed she could just take me. I walked up to my room and began to do my hair as my cheer team had instructed me to. Half-up half-down with a braid going into it. I touched up my makeup and put on my uniform for the first time. It was a little too big, but I just went with it. I stretched out on the floor so I wouldn't pull any muscles or hurt myself. I badly wanted to tell Meredith about what had happened with Matt, but I knew I couldn't. It was too risky, especially that I would have to tell her that Greyson knew. I heard a knock at my door.

"Come on in," I said. Meredith walked into the room. She had on a football jersey with a tutu in our school colors, blue and gold, along with bright gold leggings. I noticed the jersey was too big and that it had to belong to a football player. "Meredith, whose jersey is that?" I asked playfully. She blushed.

"I have had a thing with Josh Simone for a couple of weeks and yesterday he asked if I would wear his jersey to the game," she exclaimed.

"Aw, that's so cute! I like Josh! He's a friend of Greyson and he's in my Calc class," I said.

"Yeah girl, what about you? You don't have to stay down there the whole game, right?" Meredith asked. I pulled out Greyson's jersey from my bag.

"No, I do. But, I'm going to the after party with Grey, so I get to wear it then," I explained.

"Aw! That's so cute!" she exclaimed. I laughed.

"All set!" I pepped. Meredith hugged me excitedly.

"See, I told you moving wouldn't be so bad. We both have friends and boyfriends. We both made the teams we wanted to! Everything is turning out!" she said happily.

"For now," I thought to myself.

"Ready to go?" she asked. I nodded. I reached for my bag and stuffed Grey's jersey into it. We flew down the stairs into the car. As Meredith started it up, I began to get nervous. My arm was pretty sore and I was flying today. I knew I had to pull through.

"Nervous?" she asked me. I nodded. "You'll be fine! I'm excited to see you out there!"

"Thanks, Mer," I said with a smile. She was such a good big sister.

"Look, I also know it's hard that Mom and Dad aren't here, but the good thing is we have each other," Meredith reminded. I nodded. It really bugged me how much they worked, I rarely even saw them anymore.

"I have to tell you something else too," Meredith continued.

"Okay, what is it?" I asked.

"I saw at school there is a powerlifting team. I really wanna do it, but obviously, it's risky. I don't know if it's the best choice," Meredith explained.

"I say go for it, just don't show off your maximum strength, okay?" I said. She nodded. I realized we had reached the high school. Meredith stopped at the front.

"Good luck girl, you got this!" Meredith exclaimed.

"Thanks!" I replied and closed the door. I took hold of my backpack and raced to the sidelines. Erin wasn't there yet, but I noticed Carly, Jessica, and Danielle.

"Hey girl!" Jessica exclaimed.

"Hey!" I pepped back.

"You excited? It's your first game!" Carly asked.

"Totally! I'm stoked!" I replied.

"So, how are things with Greyson?" Danielle asked devilishly.

"Like, really good actually," I said with a smile.

"Aw, you two are so cute together, like total couple goals!" Carly gushed.

"Cam told me how Greyson talks about you all the time," Carly said. She was dating Cameron.

"Matt, says the same, he is never like this," Danielle exclaimed. She was dating Matt and after what had happened today, it really bothered me.

"Aw, that's sweet, he's so cute," I said. We all giggled. Then, Erin rushed in.

"Oh my gosh, sorry I'm late!" she gasped to Coach Quinn.

"Don't let it happen again," Coach Quinn replied icily. She nodded and

I noticed the football players warming up. Matt, Greyson, and three senior guys were warming the team up in a circle. Students were starting to fill in the bleachers. I noticed my sister with her group of friends, all laughing and having a good time.