Wanting You (Book 1)

Pick Up The Pace

Astrid's POV

"WRONG! I swear.. if y'all embarrass me on the day of the competition, I'll have each of your heads! FROM THE TOP AND GET IT RIGHT THIS TIME!" Annalise yelled at us. It was obvious that we were all exhausted. We had been at this for over an hour. My feet ached, my hands felt like they wanted to fall off at any given moment, my back screamed at me when I straightened my posture, and my chest heaved in and out from my heavy breathing.

The high school cheer competition was rapidly approaching, and Annalise was already in panic mode, which was somewhat unlike her. She knew she was the best of what she did. Her routines were spectacular, and the team was one of the strongest in the entire country.

"Hey Annalise, if you ask me for the harsh truth, some of us weren't cut out for the competition level. Some of us can't even step left to save our lives, and some of us would mess up on the competition day so badly that we wouldn't even get to the finals!" Denise Stoneridge said, directing her words and stance at me.

"Every error is my fault?" I asked her.

"All I see is you messing up per usual!" Denise yelled.

"Then you need to have a better look at yourself," I responded to my own surprise.

"What the hell did you just say to me?" Denise asked and made an approach in my direction.

"Stop right there!" Annalise's voice sliced through the air, "The hell do you think you're doing?"

"This nerd needs to be put in her place," Denise answered Annalise, turning to face her instead.

"I'm not going to have any of my cheerleaders mauling at each other, especially when the cheer competition is less than three weeks away. You're to control yourselves. And that goes for each and every single one of you! I need you working together as a team and nailing this routine to the "T".. am I understood?" Annalise finished with a question.

"Yes, Annalise," we answered and got back into the routine for the umpteenth time that day.

~

Sore was an understatement to describe how my body felt. I wobbled to Keri's car. She laughed lightly as I sat in the front seat.

"Feeling like you got hit by a car?"

"A truck more like."

"I'm so sorry."

"All of this is your fault. I can't wait for you to repay me."

"I owe you, bestie. I owe you," she said back. She started her car and drove me to the ice-cream parlor for my afternoon shift.

~

The next day after school, we were back at the routine. Stormi was showing Annalise several older clips from the previous cheerleading competitions and had advised her to add a final stunt to the routine.

"Annalise, with this, it would eat the judges up, and we would go down in cheer history at this school on our senior year. You've always wanted to leave your "mark," This is the perfect opportunity for that," I heard Stormi say.

"Hmm. It could be dangerous, especially for the flyers. I don't want to put anyone at risk at this point in time," Annalise said to her.

"Look, as your co-captain, you ought to know I wouldn't want to put anyone at risk too, but we have to make a statement, and I think we should really do this, Annalise."

"Okay. We'll try this."

And just like that, the stunt was added. It was called The Towers, and Annalise added her zest to enhance it to her liking.

The foundation started with the boys. They huddled together and allowed two cheerleaders onto their backs, then another two onto those cheerleaders' backs, then another according to weight and size until the squad was towered in the air.

I couldn't believe it, but there I was, like the very last top tier, at the top of the tower, Keri next to me. To disassemble, we would have to roll off and have someone catch each one below, and it had to be done quickly.

It went without a hiccup, and we group hugged and cheered for ourselves to accomplish something of such a great magnitude.

"We'll dominate the competition," Annalise said, satisfaction reigning on her face so much so that practice was over earlier than expected.

~

At home, mom was getting ready for another date. Her mood was happier than usual. Her steps had more life to them, and she more conscious of her appearance than ever before.

"Who's the guy?" I asked her, leaning on the frame of the bedroom door.

"What guy..what makes you think there's a guy?" she asked while looking for her pair of favorite heels.

"I'm not blind nor am I stupid," I responded.

"Of course you're not. Okay, if you must know, I do have a date tonight. He's an incredible person, and I really want to see where this goes, Astrid."

"Okay. Are you going to tell me who he is?"

"No. Not yet."

After her poor answer, I sent Keri a quick text message. Mom left shortly after, and so did I.

"What's going on?" Keri asked.

"Follow my mother," I answered.

"Spying on your mother.. whatever for?"

"She's dating, and I want to know with whom," I answered, "Follow her quickly. You're letting her get away!"

"Okay, okay. Geezz!"

She started her car and stepped on the accelerator, maneuvering through the traffic until we were behind my mom's car. We followed her to a restaurant.

"Okay, are we even able to get in here? This looks like an upscale restaurant," Keri observed and googled the name of the restaurant.

"I don't care. I'm getting in there one way or another," I answered and made a beeline for the entrance. Keri followed behind. We looked around, searching for any sight of my mother but I couldn't find her.

"Do you two have a reservation?" the receptionist noticed and asked us.

"We do," Keri lied.

"Names?"

"The Lee's," Keri answered.

"I'm sorry, but we don't have a reservation for The Lee's. I'm asking you kindly to leave the restaurant," the receptionist responded like a hiss.

Keri rolled her eyes at her, took my hand, and we exited.

"Damn it!" I cussed.

"Plan B," Keri said. She went to the back entrance and I followed behind her next. The back entrance was also guarded but with a friendlier looking receptionist who looked easy to fool or lied to.

Keri worked on distracting her by providing her with false names to input and search on her computer while I snuck into the restaurant.

~

Everyone and everything looked expensive. I looked around in awe, taking in the scenery, vibe, and atmosphere until my distraction led me to stumble into a waitress.

The tray of drinks fell from her hands and hit the floor, causing a splatter.

"Ohh nooo... I'm so so sorry," I deeply apologized.

The commotion caught the attention of my mother, where ever she was sitting.

"Astrid Anika Beltown! Just what are you doing here?" She asked with frustration. She left her table and walked in my direction.

"I... uh...I umm...," I stuttered.

"Following me?" she input.

"Yeahh..."

"And putting me in an expense!" she rose her voice again, taking in the tray of spilled drinks and broken glasses.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen," I apologized to her.

"You never do," she sliced.

"Hi. Excuse me, is everything okay?" a gentleman asked her.

"Yes. No, not exactly. My daughter just made a mess of this restaurant," mom answered, running her hands down her face.

"Oh, this is your daughter? It's nice to meet you, I'm Timothy. Tim for short. I'm your mom's date," he introduced himself and held his hand out for a shake.

He was a tall, gym muscular, handsome with blue eyes man.

"I'm so sorry..I'll pay for this and..," mom was saying but Timothy didn't let her finish.

"No need. I own this restaurant."