Chapter Twenty #2
I watch him for a few seconds, barely recognizing the boy who sits before me. Since when has he gotten so…grown up? So deep and observant and kind? I thought all he cared about was himself.
“You’re looking at me funny. Is there a bug on my face or something?”
“You’ve changed,” I say.
“Of course. I got more handsome.” He tucks his fingers under his chin and bats his eyelashes. “And I’ve got muscles.” He flexes.
“Never mind,” I say with an eye roll. “You’re still the same annoying person.”
“But more handsome, right?”
“Meh.”
“ Meh ?”
“Yep.”
He clutches his chest. “That stabbed me right through the heart.”
“Ryder, Carly? You kids plan to get off the bus or hang out here all day?” Moreno asks.
I survey the area and realize that we’re the only kids left on the bus.
“Sorry.” I stand and grab my backpack. “We were, um…”
“Just leaving.” Ryder gets up and throws his backpack over his shoulder. “After you, ma’am. I am a gentleman, after all.”
With another eye roll and fighting a smile, I make my way off the bus and outside, where the rest of the team is waiting. Naya and Addie are grinning as they glance from me to Ryder. I join them and fold my arms over my chest. “Before you guys say anything, nothing happened,” I mutter.”
“It sounded like you were having fun,” Addie points out with a knowing smile.
“He’s more tolerable now. But still annoying. How are you guys doing? Are you nervous, Naya?”
“Totally! But I’m so pumped, too. I think we’ll be amazing out there.”
“We sure as heck will be,” I say. “What about you, Addie? You good?”
“I’m oddly calmer than I thought I’d be. I think it’s because we know the routine inside out. As long as we keep calm, there’s no reason why we should choke.”
After Moreno makes sure we’re all set, we enter the building and head to where the competition will take place. The area is swarming with so many dancers. Ryder was right—their uniforms are amazing. But like him, I love ours best.
“Oh my gosh,” Naya gasps.
We all turn to her.
“It’s my mom! She’s here. She said she wasn’t sure she could make it, which is usually code for she won’t be coming. But she’s here! Mom!” She waves.
The woman, who is on her way to where the audience is seated, spins around. She waves and blows a kiss to her daughter.
Naya’s eyes shine in a way I’ve never seen before. “She does care,” she says in a low voice.
I wrap my arm around her. “How can anyone not care about you? You’re awesome.”
“You’re the awesome one, Carly. Because of you, my mom is here. Now I know that she does support me. She does care about what I love.”
We won’t be performing for at least half an hour, so we hang out backstage, practicing our routine and chatting with the other teams. And of course we watch the other performances.
They all have such mind-blowing routines.
Each and every one of them is good enough for first place.
It makes me a little nervous—okay, a lot—but I know we have a solid routine, too.
There’s no reason we can’t reach the top.
After a bit, Addie and I sneak off to peek into the audience to look for our families.
“Yay, he’s here!” Addie says. “My grandfather’s here. I’m surprised he’s not impatient. I thought he would get bored and bribe the people in charge to let our team go first.”
“He’s changed since you entered his life,” I tell her. “Funny how much of an impact a person can have on someone’s life, right?”
“Like you and Ryder?”
I throw my hands on my hips. “Why do you always swing everything to Ryder?”
“Because it’s fun?”
“Ugh.”
I scan the audience and locate my family, too, including Blake. And of course Sophie and Raven are here as well. I can’t wait to show them all what we’ve got. It’s much more intense than our halftime performance, and I know they’ll love every second of it.
Coach Moreno informs us that we’ll be performing soon, so Addie and I quickly return to the others and start stretching. My heart hammers again, but I’m not as nervous as I was on the bus. I think it’s because of my family and friends. Their support fills me with so much confidence.
Ryder is also stretching, surrounded by many girls. He doesn’t seem nervous for the performance, but I know he likes to put up a calm demeanor. When his eyes meet mine, he throws me a smile as he continues to stretch. I return it.
I don’t know why, but whenever I look away from him and focus on my stretching or chatting with Addie and Naya, my gaze creeps back to Ryder.
And every time? I find his eyes pasted on me with another smile.
It causes my stomach muscles to tighten and my face to feel warm.
It feels like he and I have been transported to another world, where we are the only inhabitants and nothing else matters.
Addie grabs my arm and hauls me to an empty area, where not a single soul is present. Her eyes are full of intrigue and curiosity as she gushes, “What is going on between you and Ryder?”
I raise a brow. “What do you mean?”
“You think I don’t see you two making googly-eyes at each other?”
I give her a look. “Googly eyes?”
“ Yes . He can’t keep his eyes off you.”
“Because I’m awesome.”
“And you can’t keep your eyes off him.”
“Bull.”
“Not bull! It seemed like you guys had lots to talk about on the bus.”
I fold my arms over my chest. “What are you talking about? We barely talked at all.”
“Uh huh.”
“Well, he did finally apologize and asked me to forgive him.”
“And?” she presses.
“I forgave him.”
She jumps and claps her hands. “Oh my gosh, really? That’s awesome. I’m shocked, Carly. I thought you would have resisted more, maybe made him grovel.”
I shrug. “There was no reason to torture him like that. I’m not sure how much of a good guy he is, but he’s definitely not as bad as when he was younger.”
“So he’s no longer a cretin?” she asks with a wry smile.
“Oh, he’s a cretin all right. But he’s my cretin.”
My eyes widen to epic proportions when I hear what just left my mouth. “I mean—”
Addie releases a gasp as she grabs hold of my arm. She’s about to say something, but the announcer calls our team’s name.
“Oh my gosh, we’re up!” I say, my heart nearly catapulting out of my chest.
Addie and I race to the stage.