Mag-log inAvery's POVThe days between the semi final and the championship went faster than any week had gone all year, practice stacking on practice, the whole squad and team moving toward giving their best that day Vega ran us through full routines every day, not letting up, and by Thursday, even Mia admitted she was starting to feel the nerves kick in even though she was just the cheerleader."I keep running the formations in my head at night," she said, stretching out her calves after practice."Same," I said. "I woke up at three this morning convinced I had forgotten the third transition.""Had you?" she asked in partial panic."No," I said. "I just needed to check."We laughed about it. "I can only imagine the nerves the guys are having right now," she said. "Training like their lives depend on it."“I really hope they win though.” I added."Do you feel bad for Colton, about him being stripped off his captain patch? You know he was once your man," she asked."A little," I said. "But most
Liam's POVI took the screenshots to Coach Reyes in the morning, laying them out on his desk one at a time, the account, the post, the timestamp that placed Brandon Cole exactly where the messages had come from. Reyes did not say anything at first, just picked up each printout in order, reading them the way you read something you knew was damaging and did not want it to be true."This is the account that sent Avery those messages," I said. "Back when the videos of her at that club were still coming apart in pieces. Brandon has no connection to her at all. Colton does. And we both know who Brandon is loyal to."Reyes studied the screenshots without saying anything, turning each one over slowly."You are telling me Colton used Brandon to go after your girlfriend," he said."Yes coach. That's what I believe." I said. "He has humiliated her several times because she is also his ex-girlfriend.""And the plays," Reyes said. "Last week's game. The ones that nearly cost us the win, you also
Avery's POVI met Jade for coffee on Sunday, and she talked for ten straight minutes about Carter, about how strange it still was to actually like spending time with him. She was telling me about a conversation they had had over breakfast that morning that had made her laugh.She looked really happy and excited to be talking about him."I think I am actually glad my mom married him," she said, sounding faintly surprised at her own words. "I did not expect to ever say that out loud in my entire life about any man.""I am glad you finally accepted him," I replied smiling."It took long enough," she said. "But I think that is fine. Some things are supposed to take a while.""Does your mom know how far you have come with him," I asked."I told her last week," Jade said. "She cried a little. I think she had been waiting a long time to hear it.""That is sweet," I said."It is," Jade said. "I am glad I finally got there."I saw my mom that evening, home early from her second bookkeeping cla
Avery's POVA new day started with the alarm going off at seven, and I lay in my bed briefly before getting up, appreciating the luxury of a morning that did not begin with dread already sitting in my chest, just the ordinary weight of a day that needed nothing more from me than showing up and doing the things already on my list.I went to the athletics office for my shift at nine, and Denise had a new set of posts waiting for me, something about the upcoming basketball fixtures. I spent the morning drafting captions and scheduling them properly, the work settling into a rhythm now that felt entirely mine. Owen had brought biscuits, unprompted, and left three on my desk without saying anything about it, which was a clear sign of a healthy working environment."You are getting faster," Denise said, checking my drafts. "Barely any corrections needed today.""I am starting to actually understand what you want," I said."That is usually how it works," she said. "Give it another month and
Avery's POVLiam and I started doing things together again as boyfriend and girlfriend. At dinner on a certain night, he mentioned something random very casually.It was just the two of us and a takeaway we had not bothered to plate properly, the kind of evening that had become normal between us over the past few days. Carter, his dad, was out somewhere with Linda, Jade's mom, and my mom was out with a few friends. We were home alone."Zoey is transferring," he said, not looking up from his food, saying it the way you mentioned something that had stopped mattering to you."When did you hear that?" I asked."She told me herself, actually," he said. "I ran into her outside the library yesterday. She said it simply, no drama attached to it, like she was done being obsessed with trying to get me back. She is leaving at the end of the semester, and moving somewhere closer to her family. She said it had been on her mind for a while, even before any of this.""How did that feel," I asked. "k
Avery's POVI wasn't happy about the way Jade barged in and laid accusations on me. I really missed my best friend and I was working towards making things work again between us. Despite that, I understood her pain. She used to always be the first to know everything that happened in my life, but now is seemed like I kept a lot of things to myself. I decided to give her some space again, knowing fully well that we can't stay apart from each other for too long. She came back to my house on the fourth evening. We had an awkward cheerleading practice just that afternoon and I guess she could not bear the silence anymore.I heard the knock and opened the door and she was standing there looking like someone who had come over to vent."I hate that I cannot stay angry at you," she said immediately as I opened the door. "I tried. I gave it four days. I meant every word I said, and I still mean most of it. But I do not have it in me to keep this up any longer, and I am tired of pretending I d
Avery's POV"I was wondering when you were going to pick up," Colton said.His voice was calm, without any ounce of guilt present there. He didn't even sound particularly apologetic. Just smooth and measured and rehearsed, the voice of someone who had spent the last several hours deciding exactly h
Avery's POVI couldn't move.I just stood there on the front step staring at him like an absolute idiot, and he stared back at me with no recognition whatsoever on his face, which made sense, because the last time he saw me I had a full face of stage makeup, a black wig down to my shoulders and a r
Avery's POV My mum thought I was waitressing at a bar somewhere downtown. It was a perfect alibi for my late nights and the decent tips I brought home on work nights. There was absolutely nothing to worry about. I had kept that story clean for months and I had no plans to change it."Busy night,"
Avery's POVThe first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was the dim light.It was creeping in through the gap in the curtain, pale and grey, the kind of light that meant it was not quite morning yet but getting close. The kind that meant I had stayed way too long.The second thing I noticed was







