Woke

11.)

Chris:

"Oh shit!"

I'd barely caught Kiara by her waist and saved my own footing— her head was just millimeters away from crashing down against the wooden floor. Our Spanish project was due Friday and it was Wednesday, so Kiara and I had finished piecing together our presentation, before intensely going over the dance routine. However, with Kiara's cheer and my basketball conditionings, we were both exhausted. This resulted in dance not going as strong as usual.

"Ow." Kiara groaned, as I helped her on her feet.

"Are you ok? I'm so sorry." I'd accidentally missed a step in the routine, tripping over her foot. Given the fact that I'm bigger than her-- and she wasn't expecting me to mess up-- Kiara tripped and fatigue delayed her recovery time. If I hadn't had caught her, she probably would've suffered from a head injury. The slip up was completely my fault, and I was certain Kiara knew it too.

Instead of yelling at me like she would've three weeks ago, or showing clear irritation like she may have previously, Kiara simply sighed and took off her heels. "It's fine. We know the routine; we're just tired right now. Let's take a break."

I hastily agreed and followed her out of her dance room and down the stairs into the kitchen. She grabbed us each a bottle of water from the fridge and tossed me mine. We drank our beverages in comfortable silence, tension being next to nonexistent.

I really enjoyed hanging out with Kiara. Our time together had been really fun-- especially because it seemed like she and I were genuinely friends. The project's due date so happened to also be the last day she was affiliated with me by requirement. I was curious about what would happen after that. Would she go back to not wanting anything to do with me, or would we continue to work towards growing closer?

I was hoping for the latter, but at the same time I knew I couldn't get my hopes up. Despite us having a good dynamic, I knew I wasn't her type. Yet even as I tried to tell myself this, my mind went back to the week before when we were in her hot tub. Conversation was so easy between the two of us. The way she looked at me... the almost kiss... there was no way in the world Kiara didn't feel at least something. We were so freaking close. I could still sometimes feel the tingle on my lips.

"Why are you staring at me?" My thoughts were interrupted, as I blinked and noticed Kiara giving me a strange but slightly amused expression.

"I was?" She nodded. "Oh, sorry. I was just... thinking."

"About?"

"The month will be up on Friday." I casually noted.

"It will?" She seemed genuinely surprised. "I hadn't really noticed."

"You haven't?"

Kiara reached into a cabinet and pulled out a box of Whales. "Not really, no. I knew it was drawing near, but I kinda stopped paying attention."

"Oh." I was surprised. I figured she had a calendar with X's on each day that was completed. That honestly made me a little happy.

"Your tryouts are tonight too, right?" She asked me, pouring a large quantity of the snack food onto a paper plate.

I thanked her when she slid it to me. "Yeah, at 7:30. You?"

"Same. I'm a little nervous." She admitted.

"Why? You're a great dancer. What do you have to be nervous about?"

She shrugged, "I know a lot about basketball, but I'm not that great of a player."

"You have to play basketball to be a part of the cheerleading team?"

"Yeah," Kiara confirmed. "Coach B is no joke. I didn't care at first, but now I kinda wanna be on the team. I think it'll be fun. My basketball skills are just mediocre."