Overcome [n.m]

Eighteen

When we got home, I told my mother about the game. She gave me a hug and told me she was sorry and that we would do better next year. I stalked up to my room, let my cheer bag slip off my shoulder onto the floor like the season had, and flopped on my bed. I let out a sigh and brought my phone to my face, "Brandon is feeling better; You want to hang out?" Nick's message read.

I texted back a "sure," changed my clothes and headed to Addie's room. I imagined she had already heard from Brandon, because she was changed and ready to go as well.

We drove to the boy's apartment and lightly knocked on the door. "Hey, ladies," Brandon said as he opened the door. Addie's smile reflected Brandon's like a mirror. We walked in and slumped on the couch. It had been a long day for all of us.

Nick walked down the hall and greeted us as well. "You did such a good job today, Nick," I said while giving him a sly smile and continued, "I actually got to see you play!" Nick's smile grew as he sat down and tossed his arm around me, squeezing me slightly.

We sat and conversated for a few minutes. "You ladies want to go to a haunted house tonight?" Brandon asked.

I turned to the window noticing the sun fading away. "I would love to," I replied suddenly getting excited.

"Kass loves haunted houses," Addie turned to Brandon.

Nick smiled and walked to his room. "Let me put my shoes on and we can go!" he yelled from down the hall. I wondered if the houses in Atlanta were any different from the ones we had in Texas. We didn't really celebrate it much in Texas, but no matter how far a house was from our town, we would always make sure to make time to go and adventure to houses no matter how far.

We picked up something to eat on the way. About fifteen minutes later we pulled into a parking lot on the edge of a wooded area. The sign read, 'Haunted Trail of Atlanta.'

"We came here last year, and it was pretty good," Nick said and opened my door for me. I left my crutches in the Jeep and followed the boys to a small hut near the entrance of the woods. Almost a week later and my ankle felt fine enough to walk on it without the help of my crutches.

The venue looked kind of sketchy, but the parking lot was packed and there were numerous people everywhere. We paid for our tickets and the admissions guy told us to wait with the group of people standing to our left, and that a truck was going to pick us up and take us to the beginning of the trail.

As we waited for what seemed like forty minutes, our group was finally called. They were getting pretty busy. Nick got on first and held his hand out for mine. I graciously took it and climbed onto the trailer filled with hay. I stared through the empty woods as we made our way up to what looked like the entrance of the trail.

When the trailer came to a stop, we all got off and listened to a brief back story. I guess they included this to add a little bit more excitement. As I was listening, I noticed a group of three or four boys talking. I was getting annoyed when I couldn't seem to pay attention to the story anymore due to their uncontrollable laughter. I rolled my eyes and moved closer to the speaker. I managed to hear the last few words, "Good luck." I was upset I hadn't got to hear the whole story, but it was fine. I wasn't about to make a big deal out of nothing. I figured it was just me being cranky because I hadn't been getting enough sleep lately. I have Thomas to thank for that.

The boy's kind of reminded me of Thomas and how he used to act when we were in public. The second year we were together, he would always crack mean jokes at me. His laugher would boom throughout whatever room or business we were in. Even though his jokes were incredibly rude, he never said sorry once. In the instant I would get an apology from him, I was filled with animosity and sarcasm. This is probably the reason it is bothering me so much now and not the others.