Sweet Southern Thing

“You’re late.” I rolled my eyes and continued to pull my hair up into a high pony, ignoring the shrill voice of my captain as I stepped by her and onto our half of the practice field.

It was Wednesday, which meant practice outside so Sarah could shake her butt and hope that Liam was paying any attention at all to her. She’d spend the whole practice acting all high and mighty and thinking that her bossy attitude would convince the All-star football captain that she was perfect for him. He wouldn’t pay any attention to her at all. Instead, Liam would continue to focus on football practice so that he could perfect for Friday’s game. After practice, he’d get some water, change from his practice uniform, and then wait with his tailgate down for Paisley so he could take her home.

It was a routine we’d all been practicing for three years now. You’d think Sarah would learn her lesson our senior year, but there she was standing in front of us in her blinding white cheer shoes, tight cotton shorts rolled one too many times, bleached blonde hair straightened to perfection pulled up into a high pony, and aviator sunglasses perched on her nose.

“You’re late.” I glanced over to see my exact mirror image stretching in front of me with a disapproving look on her face.

“It’s Wednesday isn’t it?” I cocked an eyebrow at Blaine as I dropped onto the ground and began to stretch myself. “It’s like you’re surprised or something.” I grinned back at my sister who only rolled her eyes and continued to stretch in silence.

“You know if you keep showing up to practice late because you’re making out with Alex behind the gym, Sarah’s gonna give me your spot on the pyramid.” My best friend in the world, Paisley Carter grinned wickedly at me as she walked over with a water bottle.

I reached up and took the cold bottle from her. I unscrewed the lap and took a few generous gulps of water and sighed in relief when I pulled it away from my mouth.

“Like hell, everyone knows Bly is the tiniest girl on the squad.” Reagan Jones, Sarah’s second in command, stated as she too walked over to our small group. “Besides, I’d never let her do it. You don’t smile enough for the top spot, Pay.” Reagan winked before turning to talk to Blaine about some kind of formation for a new routine.

“Who said I was making out with Alex anyway?” I asked as I leaned forward and touched the bottom of my shoe, successfully stretching out my leg.

Blaine chuckled and rolled her eyes, “It’s Wednesday isn’t it?” she asked with a smirk.

I grinned at my sister and then stood to stretch my arms.

August in Tennessee wasn’t very forgiving. I’d been outside all of five minutes and I could already feel the sweet starting to pool on the base of my neck. I wiped at it with the back of my hand and then leaned forward to touch the ground. I braced myself for the annoying cat-calls and whistles that were sure to follow.

The Barksdale Wolverines didn’t disappoint. Within a few seconds I could hear all of the offensive line yelling at me from their side of the practice field. I stood after finishing my stretch, turned, and gave them a gesture I’m sure my mother would never appreciate. They only laughed in return and turned back to their practice.

“Blythe.” I looked up to see Sarah looking at me. She nodded towards the track. I turned to the girls with a big smirk.

“You know what the means ladies!” I grinned gleefully as the others girls groaned and started to line up in front of me. “Keep up and if I see any of you lazy bitches walking I’ll personally kick your ass.” I turned around. “Let’s go!”

I began running around the track at a quick pace, knowing that there was no way any of the girls could ever pass me. I wasn’t being conceited; in the three years since we’d all formed the squad no girl had ever been able to pass me when we ran, even after we added new girls. My long blonde hair swung back and forth on my back as I kept up a steady pace around the corner closest to the team. They cheered as we passed much to the annoyance of their coach.

Dad only rolled his eyes, he’d gotten used to the players getting distracted on Wednesdays.

“Hi daddy!” I yelled as I passed him. He waved me off and turned back to a discussion with Liam, probably over some new play he’d invented.

We did four laps and then regrouped back on our side of the practice field. After the run we practiced a few cheers, we didn’t need much practice with them after continuously doing them all summer at a plethora of different cheer camps all across the southern United States. We practiced a few stunts with different groups and different flyers. Each stunt had a different load and a different dismount that needed to be precise if we were going to avoid injuries. Finally, we finished with going over the three different routines we’d learned that summer.

“Alright girls, great practice. You’re free to go.” Reagan dismissed us all from her spot in front. I sighed in relief and dropped down to the ground.

I stared up at the sky, turned a pinkish orange hue due to the setting sun. I felt two bodies land on the ground near me; I didn’t have to turn my head to know that it was Paisley and Blaine. Another head was nearly touching mine, meaning someone was next to Paisley on my right. Reagan walked over, smirking and fell down on Blaine’s other side.

“We’re seniors.” I murmured a few silent moments later. I didn’t turn to look at any of the other girls; instead I kept my gaze fixated up on the sky. “Doesn’t that feel weird to y’all?” I asked.

Blaine’s hand reached over and connected with my own, “Not as weird as I thought it would be.” She replied.

“Yeah, I thought I’d have some big epiphany when I walked through the doors, but I just got extremely exhausted.” I chuckled at Reagan’s remark.

“Not to burst your bubbles, but we’ve been seniors for like three weeks now.” Paisley replied with a smirk evident in her voice.

“Let us have a moment, Pay.” Eleanor, Reagan’s cousin and the newest edition to our close knit group spoke up from beside Paisley.

Eleanor’s mom and Reagan’s dad were brother and sister, she passed away when El was really young, so she didn’t remember her too much. Her dad was in the military and had been shipped off to Iraq at the beginning of the summer. Reagan’s parents took her in so that she didn’t have to go live with some other random relative. She was originally from Manhattan, so Barksdale had been a major culture shock for her. Over the summer we’d slowly gotten her out of her shell and more accustomed to the small southern town lifestyle.

“Hey ladies, I know that you’re doing some kind of weird girl bonding thing, but we need to mow the field.” I sat up and cocked an eyebrow at the blonde boy standing in front of me. His arms were crossed and he wore a smirk that even my grandmother would’ve swooned over.

Niall Horan had been going to school with me for as long as I can remember. My dad had been trying to recruit him to the football team since freshman year, but he was a strictly baseball guy. He lived on a farm on the edge of town and was constantly working in the fields or with the animals. If he wasn’t at baseball practice, or school, or on the farm, he helped his uncle with his landscaping business. Seeing that it was the only one in town, they also got the absolute pleasure of taking care of the fields at the high school which included the one my friends and I were currently laid out on.

He was everything any self-respecting southern girl would want. He was also everything any over protective father would hate. He was sweet, down to earth, respectful, but not likely to ever leave Barksdale. He cared way too much about his family’s farm to ever leave it, not to mention his dad was a bit of a drunk and required a lot of attention.

The other girls began standing up and gathering their stuff, apologizing to Niall and his uncle as they walked by. I hadn’t moved nor had I stopped making eye contact with Niall from across the field. He leaned against the fence and stared right back at me, smirking and daring me to make the first move.

A few minutes later he rolled his eyes, clearing giving up on our little game and walked over to sit on the green lawnmower. He stared the engine and began driving it around the field in a back and forth pattern.

“Blythe!” I glanced up to see my sister on the other side of the fence glaring at me. “Let’s go! Mom is gonna be pissed if we’re not home soon!” she shouted.

I stood slowly, making sure to stare back at Niall the entire time. I smirked slowly and grabbed my bag.

“See you around, Berry.” Niall shouted from across the field, smiling at me from the lawnmower.

“Bye, Horan.” I replied cheekily with a wide grin. I walked backwards for a few steps before turning around and running over to join my sister.
I climbed into the passenger seat of our shared Jeep Wrangler and rolled my eyes at the look Blaine was giving me. She giggled and turned the Jeep on. Blake Shelton’s voice blared from the speakers almost immediately. I sighed happily and leaned back as the wind whipped through my hair. We got home a few minutes later and both climbed out of the Jeep without using the doors. We grabbed our bags from the backseat and then walked inside.

“Mom?” I called out into the house as I walked through the living room, dropping my cheer bag and my backpack as I went.

“Kitchen!” my mother responded. I followed her voice to the big kitchen in the back of the house. “How was practice?” she asked as she dried her hands on a yellow kitchen towel.

“Fine. “ I replied as I climbed onto one of the three bar stools at the island countertop. “Sarah was the devil as usual.”

“It’s Wednesday, y’all were outside today, right?” my mom asked as she turned and tended something on the stove.

“Yep.” I threw a red grape into my mouth after grabbing a handful from the bowl in front of me. “Which means she was ogling Daddy’s quarterback again.”

“Poor Liam.” My mom chuckled and shook her head. “His Mama worries that he doesn’t have a girlfriend, says he’s too focused on football.”

I smirked, there were plenty of girls at Barksdale High School totally willing to be Liam Payne’s girlfriend, he need only ask. Liam and I had been diaper buddies from a very young age. Our mothers were sisters in their sorority at UT and were delighted when they had kids the same year. Blaine, Liam, and I became the best of friends and spent all of our time together. In fact, I’m pretty sure Liam used to take baths with Blaine and me. My mom had been trying to set him up with both of us as soon as we all hit puberty, her long time wish that she and her sister from college would become real life sisters. It was never gonna happen. You don’t bathe with a boy all your life and then all of a sudden fall in love with him. Plus, I’m convinced he and Reagan need to get together to form some kind of super couple. The students at BHS just aren’t prepared for their incredible chemistry yet.

“And there is absolutely nothin’ wrong with that.” I heard my dad before I saw him. He stepped into the kitchen from the door leading to the garage.

I grinned at my dad as he came over and kissed my head. He walked over and wrapped his arms around mom’s waist, grinning down at her. Mom only rolled her eyes and shooed him away.

“So, Scout, how’s the team looking this season?” Dad asked as he took a seat next to me.

For as long as I can remember I’ve been a Daddy’s girl. My older brother, Cade, and I spent every waking moment with our dad. We’d follow him to practice even before we were in high school, immersing ourselves in all things football from a young age. He’d called me Scout since I was a baby. Apparently, Blythe was too feminine and ladylike. It was my grandmother’s name and she was the perfect example of a Southern Belle. I, however, was not.

“Pretty good.” I replied. “I ran into Niall Horan after practice, shame you couldn’t get him his senior year.” I grinned.

Dad rolled his eyes and shoved me from the stool. He bent over and held his stomach laughing when I actually fell onto the floor. Mom turned quickly with wide eyes and scolded my father, but did nothing to help me. I groaned and stood up from the floor, wiping my butt of even dust that may have collected.

“Your Uncle Keith is very smug about that.”

Dad’s brother, Keith, was the coach for the baseball team. At every family function he made sure to brag about his amazing pitcher and how much he loved having him on the time.

“Blythe would rather he play baseball anyway.” Blaine said as she walked into the kitchen. “What were your words?” she pondered for a moment. “Oh yeah, ‘his butt looks like a gift in those pants and I just can’t wait to unwra-“ I cut her off quickly, throwing my hand over her mouth.

Blaine’s tongue slid out of her mouth and across my palm. I quickly removed my hand from her mouth and glared at her.

“Girls!” we both turned to see our mother with her back still turned towards the stove. “Behave.” I stared wide-eyed at her, wondering just how she’d managed to scold us without even turning to see us.

The magical ways of a southern woman. The world may never know her secrets.