The Perfect Touchdown

I knew it was futile to chase after him, and I was too numb to do that anyway. I stayed in the boys' changing room for what felt like hours and sobbed to myself until Isabelle eventually found me. She said the twins never saw me come back out of the locker room before they went back to their dorm.

She managed to get me out of the room and back to our own dorms, but I was completely numb and was in disbelief for hours after. Everything happened so fast, I had no idea what to do. One side of me wanted to run to him and demand a real answer as to what was going on, while the other side of me was too shocked to do anything at all.

“Rylee, what happened? You gotta talk to me, babe.” Isabelle tried her best to get me to talk but I just didn’t feel like speaking about it yet. If I spoke about it out loud, it would make it all the more real.

She sighed in frustration. “I’m calling Aiden.”

This snapped me out of it. “No, don’t!”

“I knew it, it has something to do with him. What is it? Spill!”

I groaned. “I really don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“Did…did you guys break up?”

I nodded and the tears started to pour down my face. Isabelle wrapped her arms around me and allowed me to sob into her shoulder until there was literally no more fluid left in my body. I sniffled back the leftover snot and tears, then finally pulled away from her.

“Oh, girl. You look terrible, you should go take a shower or a bath, let yourself relax.”

I chuckled, but I couldn’t muster any sense of humour.

“Thanks, but that’s not a terrible idea actually.” The shower could hide my tears and it was much easier to wipe away the snot in the stream of water.

~*~

Winter break was fast approaching, and I did everything I could in the weeks that led up to it to avoid Aiden and my brother. It was easier with the team a lot more serious about their studies and practice, every member wanting to be able to play come their last game. This was the game that would make or break if they qualified for the championships next semester.

It was also rumoured that there was going to be a ton of scouts for both players and cheerleaders at the game. Everyone wanted to stand out.

But all I could think of was how Aiden was doing, and if he was as big of a mess as I was. I tried so hard to stay away and succeeded up until the last week of Uni before we all went away for a few weeks. On the day of the game, I finally got to see him, but he barely spared me any attention and it was hard to admit, but it stung a lot.

“Hey girl, how are you doing?” Kendra asked me.

“About as great as I can be,” I muttered. “Don’t worry, I’ll still be able to perform today.” My tone had come out defensively even though I didn’t intend for it to.

“We don’t care about that, we’re just worried about you,” Kinsley frowned.

I gave them a small smile of appreciation. “Thanks, guys, but it’s going to take a while before I feel okay again, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be the same anyway.”

“No one would expect you to,” Kinsley said.

Kendra nodded. “Even though you guys didn’t date for very long, you’ve had a history of feelings for each other and we could tell that you guys were really in love.”

“Yeah, what happened?” Kendra hit her twin sister.

“It’s fine, it’s been long enough that I shouldn’t be crying over it anymore. I’m not sure what happened, he just didn’t want a girlfriend he couldn’t openly date, I suppose.”

Kinsley scoffed. “I’m sorry, but that sounds ridiculous. He knew going in that this was going to be your relationship unless one of you grows some balls and speaks to your brother about it.”

My mouth dropped open. “Damn, girl.”

“It’s true, though. This whole situation smells suspicious, but I can’t figure out why.”

I shook my head. “I’m done trying to figure out why. I just want to get through this game and go back to the dorms to pack. I need a vacation from this place.”

I could barely focus on the game and did my best to at least focus on my cheer routine so I wouldn’t mess up. Leah was in an extra preppy mood, no doubt she was putting on a show for the scouts, and I should’ve been doing the same, but my spirit was crushed.

I only knew that the game was over when I heard the field erupt in cheers and watched as San Marco dogs piled each other in celebration.

They had finally done it. They were going to be the champions next semester.

I wanted to run over and jump into Aiden’s arms, kiss him and hug him to celebrate the amazing victory that I knew he worked so hard to achieve.

But instead, I watched as Leah took off running – and ran right into Aiden’s arms. I waited with bated breath for him to push her away, but he didn’t. He wrapped an arm around her waist and dipped down to plant a big kiss on her lips.

I cried out and covered my mouth in shock. My cry caught the attention of Kendra and Kinsley and they rushed over.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you okay?” They flustered over me.

I just pointed in Leah and Aiden’s direction. They both looked over and slumped their shoulders.

“Oh, shit…”

“That is cold…”

As if he could feel my gaze, Aiden had looked directly at me from across the field. He stared for a few seconds, then wrapped an arm around Leah and led her off the field quickly. He didn’t once look back.

I crumbled to the ground and for the first time in weeks, I cried once more over this stupid boy.