East to west and north to south

Competitions and collage

"Not only that. I got into Yale. I'm going to be a teacher"he smiles and kisses me
"All right ross and laura can leave but everyone else back to class"everyone groans and ross leads me to his car. We get in and sit there
"This is literally the happiest day ever"I say looking at him
"What about your ur wedding day?"he asks
"That hasn't happened yet"I say then he smirks and starts driving. We drive all the way to his house
"Mom, guys, guess who's back"ross says then I walk in and everyone goes nuts
"Omg laura!"rydel runs over to me and gives me a big hug "this was the longest week ever"I giggle then everyone gives me a group hug
"Laura I never knew you were a cheerleader"ross says smirking
"Oh yeah I am. When I was in eighth grade, someone came to talk to us about high school. They told us that high school doesn't last forever and after it up you are in your own. So right when I became a freshman, I joined cheerleading, violin, the musical, and chess club"everyone's eyes went big
"You did all of that?"riker asks and I nod
"Yeah and vanessa was always mad because I wouldn't get home until late almost every night"their eyes are still wide
"So wait your like freakishly smart to right?"ryland asks
"Yup I've had a 4.0 GPA since 7th grade"I giggle as everyone looks at me like I was crazy
"You should have a day tributed to you"ross says and I walk over to give him a hug
"Did you tell your parents that you remember?"stormie asks. I mentally hit myself
"No I didn't even think of it. Ross drive me?"he nods then we leave. At my house, I get out and run inside
"Mom dad!"I yell waving my letter in the air and they walk in the room with vanessa
"I remember everything and I got a scholarship to Yale"I say excited
"That's great honey but Yale?"my dad grabs the letter "that's in Connecticut"he says and I nod
"I know but this is my dream school. I'll do good there"they sit down
"We know but we can't afford this"he throws the letter on the coffee table
"We can barely keep the ranch"he says and I grab the letter back
"But. This is my dream school"I say trying not to cry
"I'm sorry pumpkin but unless you can pay for it then no"he gets up and walks away. I storm upstairs. Once I'm in my room, I throw the letter on the floor and cry sitting on my window bench. Of course it started raining
The next day I wake up with tear stains on my face. But today is my cheerleading competition then later today we have the play. I sigh and get dressed. I pack my cheerleading outfit because my parents don't allow me to wear it. They don't come to my competitions either but I hope they will today. I walk downstairs to see my parents
"Hey babe ready for school?"my mom says
"Yeah and are you guys coming to my cheerleading competition today then the play later?"i ask and my mom looks at my dad
"We will try"I give a weak smile
"I might go. Maybe I'll bring riker"vanessa says and I smile
"Just don't bring ross. I don't want him to see you in that outfit"I roll my eyes and my dad drives me to school. I get out and the girls greet me
"Hey so I hear you have a busy day today"Demi says as we walk in school
"Yup"I plainly say to them
"We thought you weren't going to show up because you got excepted to collage"makenzie says and I smile
"I did but I'm not finished with high school"we reach my locker
"So what time is your competition?"Bridget asks then spencer comes over
"Um it's at 10:00 and the play is at 5:30"I say grabbing my books at closing my locker
"Don't mind them. Their in love again"Demi whispers and I smirk then Demi makenzie and I quietly leave bridget and spencer
BRIDGET POV
"Hey so are you free tonight?"spencer asks me
"Yeah. Lauras play is at 5:30 so we could go after it"he smiles and I peck his lips
"See you later"I say waking away
ROSS POV
"Wake up guys your going to be late for work"my mom yells and we all go downstairs. Then vanessa walks in
"Hey babe"she walks to riker and they kiss
"Oh laura wants to know if you and I will go to her cheerleading competition?"she asks and I stand up
"Why didn't she ask for me?"I ask her
"Because dad told her that you can't see her in her outfit"I roll my eyes
"Anyway it's at 10:00 and the play is at 5:30"vanessa says
"Sure"riker says then they leave
"I'm so going to her cheeleading competition"I say sitting back down. My mom laughs
"Ok time to leave"she pushes out of the house and we all go to work.
"I'll go to"rydel says
"Whatever"I say and I walk to my office
LAURA POV
Right now I was in science. The competition starts in 30 minutes
"So all cheerleaders are to go to the gym at this time"the intercoms said then I stood up and walked out. In the hallway I saw Selena and ally already in their outfits
"Oh hey laura"ally says and I smile then walk to my locker and get my bag. I grab it and go to the gym. I go in the locker room and change then come back out
"Ok ladies. This is it. If you win this you go onto state competition"the coach gives us a pep talk while I look in the stands. I try finding my parents but yet again they didn't come. I sigh then look back at the coach
"So all the other schools are going first so we are last"we all nod then put our hands in the middle
"On three"the coach says. She counts to three and we all yell and raise our hands. We sit on the bench and wait for our turn. Then first team went and they failed. The soloist fell multiple times and everyone was off. I look back in the stands but my parents still aren't here. I look and see riker and vanessa watching the teams. I smile then in front of them I see Rocky, rydel, ryland, and ross. I smile really big then I see stormie. All I do throughout everyone else's routines is stare at ross. He never looked back but I didn't care. I only cared that he was here
"Ok girls are you ready? Laura?"I nod then we get up and walk to the middle. I look at the lynches and they are going crazy screaming
"All right this is what we've worked for. Are you ready?"I say and everyone nods.(look up extreme senior Las Vegas cheeleading)
When we finished, everyone stood up and cheered. I looked at ross and he was screaming. Now it was time for my solo(Courtney's individual cheer). Once I landed my last flip the music stopped and everyone cheered louder than ever I stood there smiling at everyone cheering then the judge came over
"Wow. Ok let's have all the teams come up front for their awards. My team joins me and we sit and wait
"Our 4th place team is Rocky high school"they stand up and except their award. I clap for them and give them high fives
"Now for our team award 1st place goes to. Marino high school"my whole team stands up and we jump around. The whole crowd screams and confetti falls from the celling as we except our award. I hug the second place winners then we sit down again for the solo awards
"Our third place soloist is. Carly jenerman"she stands up and grabs her award. I look at Ross and he is looking at Carly. He whispers something to Rocky and points to Carly then I hear Rocky whistle. She sits down
"Ok and our first place soloist of the regional cheeleading competition is. Laura marano!"he yells and everyone instantly screams. I go up and grab my trophy. I shake the judges hand then grab my trophy and sit down
"So now if the parents could wait in the stands until their kids come that would be fantastic"the judge leaves and I go change
"Laura you did amazing"Jordan says. A girl on my team
"Thanks so did you"I say then get dressed. As I am I hear ally and Selena talking
"Did you see ross? He was so checking out that Carly chick"Selena says
"Yeah just wait until laura goes off to Yale. I bet you they with get together"I let a tear fall then grab my stuff and walk out. The first thing I see is ross talking to Carly. I sigh then walk closer. Vanessa is the first one to see me
"Laura!"she yells and runs to me
"Congrats!"she says and I force a smile. Everyone comes over and gives me a group hug. Ross then comes over and hugs me. I hug him back but still sad
"Well I better get to class. I have the play at 5:30 and a bunch of stuff I between"I say
"Like what?"rydel asks
"Oh well during lunch which is in like 5 minutes, I am helping serve food then right after school I have chamber. Our concert is in one week so I have to practice. Then obviously the play"I sigh and vanessa gives me a hug
"I'm sorry mom and dad didn't come"she says
"It's ok as long as they come to the play"she shakes her head
"Good luck with that. They hate the city"I sigh again then ross walks back over to Carly. Then back to us
"What was that?"I ask trying not to sound sad
"Oh I gave her my number so we can keep in touch. Don't worry there is no need for you to be jealous"he kisses my forehead making me feel better. I hand vanessa my trophy
"Well I better go"I walk out of the gym and to my locker
"Hey laura congrats on first place"ally and Selena come over to my locker
"Thanks"I say trying to ignore them
"Is Carly still here? I want to congratulate her unless ross already did"I stop and they walk away laughing. I out my bag in my locker then walk to lunch
"Hey Laura thank you so much for helping"Kelsey says. She is the lunch lady here
"No problem"I say grabbing an apron and walking behind the counter. Soon kids start coming in. I scoop food onto their plates then they move down the line. Then ally comes
"No I don't want any"I roll my eyes
"Why are you going through all of this just to be a teacher?"she says and I ignore her
"Well if I were you. I would stop with all this school stuff and focus more on your boyfriend"she walks away and I stop again
"Honey are you ok?"Kelsey walks over to me
"Yeah can I just have some water?"I sit down and she gives me water
"Do you think I'm wasting my life?"I ask and she looks at me like I'm crazy
"Of course not. Why would you ask that?"she sits next to me
"I want to be a teacher but I feel like everything I won't matter on my collage transcript"I look at hr and she rubs my back
"Everything that your doing is great. I am so proud of you. Maybe it won't matter for collage but it will for work. Since your in so many clubs you might be able to go straight to teaching not having a temporary job"I smile
"Thanks Kelsey but I'm going to collage soon. As long as I find money"I sit back
"Wait so your not going to Yale?"she asks
"And after everything I've done. I want to go to Yale. It's what I've wanted since freshman year. But I can't. And my parents don't even care what I do. They don't even care enough to come to my competitions"I take another sip of water
"That's not true"she keeps rubbing my back
"Really? Out of all my concerts and competitions they have been to maybe 3. After everything that I've done at this school, I still feel invisible to all the preps"I glance up at the prep table and see they are laughing and pointing at other people
"What makes them so special? I don't get it"I stand up "thanks for all your help Kelsey but no matter what you do the one thing I want the most is to fit in and that's the one thing I can't do"I walk away with my lunch and sit in the corner by myself. I look at the preps and they are laughing at a kid named Daniel. He is sort of a nerd. I instantly get angry. I stand up and storm over to them
"What are you guys doing?"they all look at me
"What do you want?"ally asks me
"I want you to stop picking on kids"I yell and everyone looks at me
"I don't think this concerns you little miss perfect"Selena says then ally and her high five
"It does concern me because he is just as a part of this school as you guys are. This school is so crap"I yell so everyone can hear
"What makes you guys so special? Why do we have to obey queen ally?"I yell then look at ally who is nervously looking around
"You better shut it marano"she threatens but I keep talking
"Who cares if we're not cheerleaders or football players. Why do we have to wear a letterman jacket and have a boyfriend in order to be popular? What's so great about having all the attention on you?"I ask ally and she glares at me then stands up
"I'm sorry we can't all be perfect like you. We don't all have perfect grades and are in every club. This is what we are. And at least I have a boyfriend. I say why do we have to worship lauras hard work? Maybe this is her way of getting attention"ally yells and everyone cheers I look at bridget, Demi, and makenzie and they look down not making eye contact with me
"Why don't you stop trying so hard? You don't have to be perfect"Selena yells
"Yes I do!"I yell and everything falls silent. Everyone's eyes land on me and I run out of the lunch room. Kelsey runs after me along with bridget, Demi, and makenzie
"Laura, laura stop!"Kelsey yells but I run all the way to the auditorium. I stop on stage. I look out to the seats then fall to my knees crying. Kelsey and the girls come in soon
"Laura"Demi says
"It's ok laura"Bridget says
"No. She's right. But I have to be perfect. If I'm not, then my parents are going to keep me at the ranch"I stand up "I joined all these clubs because I don't want to stay here. I want to leave this city. This state. I don't want to be a cowgirl. I want to be a teacher"I yell
"Why don't you talk to you parents?"Kelsey suggests
"I can't. All we ever talk about is Vanessa's engagement our the fact that ross is a bad person. But maybe he is"makenzie looks at me
"What do you mean? He loves you and you love him"she says and I cry
"Ever since I lost the babies, I always catch him looking at girls and today he was totally flirting with Carly one of the cheerleaders from the other team"I sniffle and wipe my nose
"Can I be alone?"I ask and they nod then the girls walk away
"I'll grab you stuff from all your classes and put them in your locker"Bridget says and they leave. Kelsey looks at me one last time before leaving. Once they are gone I fall back down and cry more. I look over and see a keyboard. I sit next to it and start playing
Say something I'm giving up on you
I'll be the one if you want me to
Anywhere I would have followed you
Say something I'm giving up on you
And I
Am feeling so small
It was over my head
I know nothing at all
And I
Will stumble and fall
I'm still learning to love
Just starting to crawl
Say something I'm giving up on you
I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you
Anywhere I would've followed you
Say something I'm giving up on you
And I
Will swallow my pride
Your the one that I love
And I'm saying goodbye
Say something im giving up on you
Im sorry and I couldn't get to you
Anywhere I would've followed you
Ohhhhhh
Say something I'm giving up on you
Say something I'm giving up on you
Say something