The Runner-ups

Chapter 1

By some immensely unfortunate turn of  events that occurred through absolutely no fault of my own, I managed to find myself in the middle of a warzone. Surrounding me are half naked body's covered in blue and silver paint, packed together in a sweaty mess from the smouldering heat. All I can hear is the deafening sound of a chant ringing throughout the field that everyone except myself seems to know. An army of students situated in the stands with an assortment of streamers, foam fingers, and posters of jersey numbers surrounded by bright red hearts. This is by far, the most terrifying pep rally I had ever been to.

After elbowing  my way through the intimidating crowd I was fortunate enough to find a seat that didn't force me to sit shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of overly enthusiastic high schoolers. However, I still had to face the challenge of the California heat that I wasn't used to yet, and the ratty ball cap I used to knot my blonde hair back was doing little to prevent my face from burning. I couldn't wrap my head around why all the students of my new high school thought that staying out in this heat to watch some dumb pep rally is such a great idea.

I wanted to leave but unfortunately my ride is apart of the festivities. My brother Parker tried out for the baseball team first day of school and not surprisingly he made the team. I wanted to be annoyed with him but the way he was goofing around with his new friends was enough to make me bite my tongue. We were pretty close considering we were basically the same age however not twins, common mistake. He was born in January and myself in December so we started school at the same time.

Parker and the team were all geared up on the field keeping themselves entertained while a giant speaker started blasting music from the dugout. A well built boy with a megaphone was shouting out a chant and the crowd was more than happy to join in. He coupled the school chant with some unmentionable dance moves that gave me second hand embarrassment but it only make the crowd scream louder.

"Collin hurry up! If there aren't any seats for all three of us, I'm forcing you to stand." I turn my attention to a girl with shoulder length straight red hair and bangs that messily covered her forehead. She had dark brown eyeliner that made her eyes pop without being too harsh. I also noticed a small ring hooked into the side of her nose. She was effortlessly carrying a massive duffle bag slung over her shoulder and held a poster in her hand but I couldn't make the writing out. She paused to scan the stands looking for any available seats and I suddenly became very aware of how much extra space I had around me.

A tall brown haired boy awkwardly made his way up the stairs using crutches with a brace covering his knee. "Yeah that makes perfect sense, force the cripple to stand." he called out to the red head.

Following the boy who I assumed was named Collin, was a petite asian girl with her hair pulled back in tight braids. "You always make us late." she said as she passed him on the steps.

Collin gave the girls a toothy smile and sped up. "Oh come on that is so not true." He called out to them.

The asian girl turned around and shot Colling a glare. "Remember when we didn't have any seats last year and we had to stand the entire time? It was the worst hour and a half of my life and do you remember why we had to stand?"

Collin shrugged and shook his head innocently.

"Because someone forgot to grab his jersey and we had to drive all the way back! A waste of gas and time." she shouted back at him only half jokingly.

Collin rolls his eyes. "And you call me a drama queen?"

While the two bickered the redhead who was still searching for an empty spot landed her eyes on me. "Hey new girl." In desperation I looked around to see if there was anyone else she could have been talking to but her eye contact was direct with mine. I tried not to be too offended that she only new me as the new girl. Pulling her bag up higher on her shoulder she made her way over to me. "Mind if we sit with you."