Fall Out Girl

Practice was a little stressful. Our timing was off and some of them didn’t want to give it their all. “Cait, Roseanne! So some enthusiasm! We’ll never win with frowns!” Coach Hollins yelled. “From the top. I want to see everyone smiling and having the time of their lives! Happy people win trophies!” We got back in our original places. Coach started the music again. We did the routine flawlessly. “Eh, that’s as good as it’s gonna get today. Ok, squad, huddle up.” We jogged to the middle of them gym and sat in a circle. “You’re good, I’ll admit that. But you have the potential to do great. Practice in your own spare time. Jared, Chase, Shawn, stop looking at each other for your cues. Practice tomorrow better be fucking amazing. You can go.”

I got up and walked over to the bleachers. I grabbed my towel and wiped the sweat of my face and arms.

“Ew, Emmy’s sweaty!” Jared cooed from beside me.

“Ew, Jared’s sweaty!” I mimicked. He lightly pushed me to the side.

“Emmy! I need to see you in my office, now!”

“Ooh, the dragon-lady’s gonna kill you!”

“Shut up.” I said playfully as I shouldered my bag and walked into her office. “Yes, Coach Hollins?”

She waved me to sit down. “I need to know that you’re going to be dedicated this year.”

“Of course I will, Coach.”

“It’s just that you have so much responsibility and other commitments. I need to know where cheerleading ranks.”

“Right after my academics and my office, of course. But all of that is so blurred and over laps.”

She sighed and set back in her chair. “You’re good, Emmy. You’re really good, but that’s not going to help you if your heart’s not in it. Remember that. You’re dismissed.”

I stood up slowly and walked out of her office. I met Parker out by his Camero. He was talking to a few of his friends. I smiled and walked up to him. He greeted me with a kiss and slid his arm around my waist. I engaged in their conversation. Smiling and talking. Laughing at the right times for their lame jokes. I was lying to myself, but I wouldn’t admit it. I didn’t want to, because then that means that my world would come crashing down.

When we got home, Parker gave me a kiss and drove away. I picked up the mail from the mailbox, knowing full well that Pat hadn’t bothered to check it. I sorted through it and separated it into three piles. My fingers gripped a particularly large envelope. With shaky hands, I ripped it open. The top third was torn off. I quickly picked it up and held it against the rest of the letter. I let out a loud squeal and barreled across the house to the basement door, where I jumped the steps. I ran straight toward Pat. I knocked him down, taking his drums with him, when our bodies collided.

“Em, what the fuck?”

“I got in!” I yelled in his ear.

His smile grew as he pushed my off of him. When we were standing, he pulled me into a massive hug. He picked me up and spun me around a few times, squealing the entire time. “I can’t believe this! My lil brain surgeon got into her first choice!”

I spotted Joe and jumped on him. “I got into Dartmouth! Can you believe it?! I’m one step closer to my dream!” Joe chuckled and gave me a big squeeze before setting me down. I bounced over to Chris and hugged him, too.

I smiled over to Pete. “Um, congrats?” he said, shuffling nervously on his feet. I laughed and hugged him, too.

“Quit being so shy! Just think of me as one of the guys.” I smiled and lightly punched his arm.

“Ok. To celebrate dear Emmy’s acceptance, I think we should break the rules for once and let her listen to the new song.”

“Sounds great!” the others echoed his words. “Okay, Emmy, sit down on that couch and prepare to be amazed.” I laughed, but did as I was told. “Ok, now it’s only a rough draft and still needs a few adjustments, but this is “The World’s Not Waiting.” We hope you like it.”

I smiled and rolled my eyes as the song began:
This might just be a waste of time
there's no one I'd rather waste
My time with than all my best friends
So start the car up

We'll all take turns not for the worst
We're all "hasbeens" and "never-were's"
And we're all in the back singing "Roxanne"
Just watching life pass us by
Pass us by

As if we cared
Enough to try to catch up
Enough to make up for lost time
Enough to make up for lost time, yeah

We've been down
We've been out
We've been hanging 'round
Tip our glasses to no direction, yeah
Start the van
Get me out of this one horse town
Waste this night

We've been down
We've been out
We've been hanging 'round
Tip our glasses to no direction, yeah
Start the van
Get me out of this one horse town
Waste this night
Waste this night

We've been down
We've been out
We've been hanging 'round
Tip our glasses to no direction, yeah
Start the van
Get me out of this one horse town
Waste this night

“That was great!” I squealed, launching onto the nearest member, who so happened to be Chris.

“Ok, Em, lay off the junk food.” I was surprised he only took a step back. I kissed his cheek before jumping off and running upstairs.

“Where ya going, sis?” I heard Pat call.

“To tell Parker, of course!” I yelled back before slamming the door shut. I ran the three blocks to his house.

“Emmy, what are you doing here?” He answered the door with an amused expression.

I smiled and kissed him, making him back up into the house. I shut the door and ended the kiss.

“Hello, I love you, too. What was all that about?” he asked with a small smile, his arms snaking their way around my small waist.

“Guess what? I got into Dartmouth. Isn’t that exciting?! I’m going to an Ivey League school!”

His smile faltered a little. “That’s great! I can’t believe it!” he wrapped me in his arms.

“What about you? Any acceptance letters yet? I bet you’re going to get a ton of athletic scholarships.”

“I got accepted into the University of Chicago.”

My smile broadened. “That’s great! Both of us got into our dream schools.”

He smiled back at me.

“What are you thinking? I know that look and nothing good ever comes of it.”

He smiled back and grabbed a football off the living room table. “Wanna help me practice?”

I smiled back at him. “Depends. Are you actually going to play and not let me win, like you always do?”

“Are you going to let me pick the movie after?”

I smiled and pecked his lips before stealing the ball and running through his house to the back door.

“Oh, you are so going down, Amelia Stump!”

Thirty minutes later, we were still playing in the back yard. His mom came home and started filming us.

“BOO-FRICKIN-YEA!!!” I screamed after “scoring.” Parker laughed at me before picking me up from behind. I doubled over and kept the ball secure against my chest.

“Give me the damn ball! It’s my turn!” He screamed at me. I could feel the smile on his face.

“Never!” somehow, I squirmed out of his grip (he most likely let go) and ran. He tackled me to the ground two seconds later. I flipped over somehow as he was still on top of me. He smiled back at me and ran his fingers through my hair. I got lost in his touch.

“Emmy, are you having dinner with us?!” Mrs. Lewis called. Parker groaned and got off of me.

“Only if there’s enough.” I yelled back to her. I noticed that she didn’t have the camcorder anymore.

“Of course there is! Come on, dinner will be ready in a few minutes.” She smiled quickly at us before going back in the house.

“Now, where were we?”

I turned to see Parker smiling down at me. I smiled back and put my arms around his neck before engaging in an innocent kiss. I scrunched my nose when we separated. “So, what movie are we going to watch this fine evening?”

He shrugged and laced our fingers together. “I don’t know. We’ll figure that out later. Shouldn’t you call your mom?”

“Yea, thanks.”

A week later, Coach Hollins and I had another nice chat in her office after practice. She threatened me with a one week suspension if I didn’t get my priorities straight. ‘How could something so good, become so bad in a matter of weeks?’ I just grinned and bared it. She dismissed me with a wave of her hand.

I found Parker talking to his usual friends. Smiling, I walked up to them and joined in, as I always did. Parker pecked my cheek and held me to him with his arm. It was the usual routine. Find them. Smile. Kiss. Let him wrap his arms around me. Talk. Go home. It was always the same. This time wasn’t any different.

“Well. We gotta go. See you guys later.” Parker said, like always, grabbing my bag and putting it in his trunk.“Sorry about that. How was practice?” He was so considerate…always.

“Good. What about football?”

“It was great! We’re going to be a force to reckon with!” He smiled and grabbed my hand over the center console.

“That’s great! I can’t wait for the game tomorrow.”

I could see his face fall out of the corner of my eye. He cast me a worried glance. “What’s wrong, Sweetheart?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

“No you’re not.”

“Can we just drop this?” I snapped. I didn’t look at him, just stared at the window.

“Ok.” He said in a hurt tone as he pulled into my driveway. I leaned in and pecked his lips. He grabbed the back of my head and deepened the kiss. I smiled into it. When we pulled apart, we rested our foreheads together. “You’re gonna have to tell me eventually.”

“I know.” I whispered. “But not now. Let me figure it out first?”

He nodded his head. I smiled and pecked his lips.

“Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.” We got out of the car. He popped his trunk and pulled out my bag. As I was about to walk away, he laced his fingers with mine and gave me a mind-blowing kiss that left me breathless.

“I love you.” He whispered, our noses touching.

“Love you, too.” I smiled, de-tangling my fingers and walking into the house.

Oh, what a lovely way to burn.