"You ready for today?" Camilla asked André before they ran out on the field to start the football game.
It was another Friday night game, this one an away game against Collinsville High School. It was André's first game with Edwardsville, and she had heard everyone hyping up how talented he was.
"Definitely," he stated with certainty.
"Good luck, André," she said, leaning towards him and planting a kiss on his cheek.
His face heated up and an uncontrollable smile crept onto his lips, but Camilla turned away as if the gesture was nothing more than friendly. She didn't doubt some of the other cheerleaders had seen it, so Michelle would soon be fangirling, but she knew for certain that Jared had seen it. From the corner of here eye, she had caught sight of his shocked expression.
The game hadn't even started yet, and there was about to be some conflict.
The football players ran out, the crowd cheering them on, and the cheerleaders did their routine as they passed. André flashed a grin Camilla's way, but Jared didn't even look at her.
The cheerleaders went to the track in front of the visitor side and cheered as usual while the game went on. Our team got touchdown after touchdown, André's name being announced most times from the announcer, and the game was flying by.
During the halftime show, though, the cheer captain, Caroline, had to leave the track. Ava and another senior followed her as she left to go where Camilla assumed was the bathroom. She looked pale.
"What's wrong with Carol?" Camilla asked Meagan.
"She said she felt sick," Meagan answered. "She'd been feeling that way on the trip over here, but I guess it just got to be too much."
Camilla paused but eventually inquired, "Do you think she'll be able to stay?"
"Doubt it. Did you see how sick she looked? It's like a 20 minute drive, though, so she should be fine to leave."
Camilla nodded, deciding to push her curiosity away. To everyone else, it would appear to be concern.
A several minutes passed, and the girls finally came back. Carol was hunched over and holding her stomach, still pale but seeming more stable than before. They spoke with the coach for a bit before Carol left the stadium and the other seniors rejoined the team.
The coach approached Camilla, and she already knew what to expect. "I'm sure you heard already," the coach muttered once she was close enough, "but Carol is sick and had to leave. As the assistant captain, you're going to be in charge while she's out. That means you'll have to keep everyone in check and ensure that the teammates all leave safely after we get back."
"I understand, coach," Camilla responded. "I won't let you down."
She smiled. "I know you won't."
The rest of the game passed in what felt like seconds. Edwardsville kept scoring until the crowd on the home side was sparse. Even some people on the visitor side had left because the outcome was clear, but most stayed to cheer on the players—or rather, to cheer on André.
The game ended, 65-13, cheers erupting from Edwardsville and disappointed silence from Collinsville.
As the football players and cheerleaders left the field, Camilla caught sight of André. She was beyond shocked by his skill. It seemed that the rumors were true; André was meant to be a football star.
She tugged on the back of his jersey to grab his attention, and when he turned around and saw her, he instantly pulled her into a hug. Camilla didn't expect it, but he started laughing, so she had to join in.
"Did you hear all the touchdowns?" André asked excitedly.
"Of course I did," she replied, playfully punching his chest. "They were hard to ignore." He chuckled again, his bright smile completely stuck on his face.
"You did amazing, just like I knew you would," she said.
He shrugged and responded, saying, "I try. Nah, I'm just joking. Thanks, Camilla."
His deep brown irises locked onto Camilla's blue eyes, but she broke away after a moment of staring. She tried to find Jared too, but he was already gone.
Back in the bus, Michelle gushes about Camilla and André. She must have seen or heard about them earlier.
Then, they were back at Edwardsville High School, and Camilla took over the role of cheer captain. Everyone changed, packed, cleaned, and left. One by one, the remaining teammates dwindled down until everyone was gone except one person.
Ava.
She was still packing up her things. Had she only just finished changing? Had she even cleaned yet? Camilla had no idea, but she chose to let it go because she felt like she was already on thin ice with Ava. Sure, she seemed like the kind of person that would have a list of people on her bad side, but Camilla hadn't done anything to her.
"Almost ready?" Camilla asked when Ava finally seemed to be finishing up.
She eyed Camilla from the corner of her eye as she zipped up her bag and threw it over her shoulders, but she said nothing.
"Everything okay?" Camilla asked slowly.
Ava rolled her eyes and scoffed, snapping, "Just shut up."
Camilla was taken aback. Of all the people to talk back to her, the new girl wasn't expected, especially since Camilla had done nothing against her.
"Why are you speaking to me like that?" Camilla responded, trying to keep a cool head, but Ava was really pushing it.
"Oh, don't act so innocent and clueless. You know what you've done."
Camilla's blood ran cold. She must have heard about Amanda. But Camilla didn't understand why Ava wasn't on her side. After all, Ava was surrounded by other cheerleaders that supported her.
All Camilla could do was try to convince Ava to be on her side. She had no weapon to take Ava out with, nor would she get away with it because everyone would have known that Camilla was with her last.
"If you're talking about the incidents, you've got it all wrong," Camilla reasoned. "I really didn't do any of that. I promise."
Ava watched me with a black expression. "Maybe I was wrong. You are clueless. So much for being top of your class."
Camilla sighed. "I've had enough of this. I don't know what your problem is, but I'm exhausted and have work tomorrow. Just leave already."
Camilla pulled out her phone and called André to request for him to walk her to her car since it was so late. As she did, Ava shuffled with her bag.
As his phone was ringing, Camilla looked up and saw Ava holding a syringe with a mysterious liquid inside. She took a step towards Camilla, positioning the needle at her and back her against the wall.
Camilla sucked in a breath before hearing a voice say, "Hello?"
Ava froze. The voice came from Camilla's phone.
"Oh, hey André," Camilla answered, recovering from her surprise. Ava's eyes looked furious, and she seemed to be weighing the pros and cons of attacking Camilla while she was on the phone.
"I'm waiting in the locker room for Avery Covington to leave." Camilla made sure to mention her name in case something happened.
"Who's that?" he asked.
"She's a new girl on the team, a senior." It didn't hurt to mention a lot of details about her possible attacker. "She's the only person still here and I'm substituting for the captain, so I have to wait on her. Can you come walk me out to my car? It's late at night, so it's best to be safe."
"Yeah, of course."
"Okay, thanks André. I'll be waiting in the hallway with Avery Covington. Bye."
"Bye."
Camilla hung up and didn't take her eyes off of Ava. By then, she had put away the syringe and was still glaring at Camilla.
"I'm top of my class for a reason," Camilla uttered just loudly enough for Ava to hear her. "I'm not an idiot."
Ava still said nothing. Instead, she kept her eyes on Camilla with such a focused death stare that one would think it could kill.
"Get out," Camilla commanded.
They walked out into the hallway, Camilla trailing behind Ava. André wasn't there yet, but Camilla wasn't worried about being attacked. Not only did André know about her being with Ava, but there were cameras in the hallway right where the two of them waited.
They stood in silence for a while, Camilla not taking their eyes off of Ava and Ava looking out the window as if she didn't care anymore.
"What the hell do you have against me?" Camilla finally questioned.
"Figure it out yourself," Ava said, "since you think you're so clever."
"I haven't done anything to you."
Ava let out a humorless chuckle but said nothing more.
Soon enough, André showed up outside the door at the end of the hall. Ava opened the door for him and plastered a fake smile on.
He thanked her and asked Camilla, "So you ready to go?"
"Almost," she said. "Isn't it about time you leave, Ava?"
Ava's mouth twitched, her smile nearly faltering, and the replied, "Well, I was, but I was too afraid to go by myself at night."
André nodded. "Camilla was worried about that too. That's why I came here to walk her out."
"Oh, that's great," Ava said. "Then, could you walk me out too?"
Camilla was inclined to protest, but André—being far too much of a pushover—agreed to do it.
"You can walk out with him first, though," Ava insisted with false kindness. "You asked him first anyway."
"But I can't leave before you do," Camilla reasoned.
"It'll be fine. I'll leave right after, and André can verify that I left."
"You know my name?" he asked.
"Yeah, Camilla told me about you. She said you moved here like two days before me, isn't that crazy?" Ava giggled.
"Okay, that's great and all," Camilla interrupted, "but you need to leave so that I can leave."
"Oh, c'mon Camilla," André said quietly, but it wasn't quiet enough that Ava couldn't hear him. "It'll be fine. Don't make this too difficult."
Camilla's eye twitched in a annoyance, but André went ahead and opened the door for them to leave.
"I'll come back to take you out too," he promised as they left.
Camilla wasn't sure what to say. Should she tell André about what happened? He could be in danger too, not that she really cared about his safety. But if Ava hurt him, Camilla could be blamed, and that's what worried her the most.
Surely Ava planned to attack him. Why else would she have manipulated the situation to have him walk her out with just the two of them. She couldn't kill Camilla, so she was going after André instead. It made perfect sense.
Although it was a bit of a funny coincidence that Ava was trying to attack a murderer. Darkly funny, yes, but still strange. And Camilla still didn't know why.
They got to her car, and Camilla almost left immediately. After the conflict with Ava, she was more than ready to dip, so she completely forgot about André.
"You're not even gonna say goodbye?" he inquired when she had sat in the driver's seat. She thought her forgetfulness had amused him, but he seemed hurt.
"Oh, sorry," she apologized, stepping out of the car. "I was just lost in thought."
He let out a breath but didn't speak. It was dark and cool in the midnight autumn air. Crickets chirped from the grass between each segment of the parking lot. The nearly full moon added some illumination to our faces, so even in the dark Camilla could see his features, such as his dark eyes reflecting the moon's light.
After a few seconds of silently gazing into each other's eyes, her arms snaked around his neck, and he wrapped his arms around her waist. They pulled each other close—far too close to be considered friendly—and she rested her chin on his shoulder. They swayed back and forth for a bit, lost in their own world. Or, at least, André was.
But Camilla pulled away first and noted, "You should probably go get Ava."
"Already?" he asked with a groan.
She laughed. "Yes, André. She's probably sick of waiting by now."
"Fine."
Camilla opened her door, but before she could get inside, André grabbed her head and planted a kiss on the top of her hair. Feigning embarrassment, she avoided meeting his eyes and smiled bashfully.
"Goodbye, Camilla."
"Bye, André."