Page 8 of The Handoff

Chapter 4

Lisa

Icouldn’tbelievethat not only was everyone cheering for me, but the guy I was really going all out for was smiling at me. He made me feel special—they all did—and even Tanya wrapped her arms around me.

“We’d been practicing and practicing, but seeing you just now… Wow, is all I have to say.”

I winked at her. “You weren’t so bad yourself.”

She shook her head. “I wish it came as natural to me as it did to you. I still can’t do a somersault, let alone a handstand with one hand.”

She needed to stop being so hard on herself. We complimented each other, and I decided I would be her ying and she would be my yang. She moved away from me and started to high-five everyone.

Now my confidence was about to do a backflip. The guy I had a major crush on was slowly but surely approaching me. Oh my, I felt like someone who’d never been around men. Sure, I’d kissed one or two back in high school. I wouldn’t say that I was experienced, but I was no way near as experienced as any of the cheerleaders. They had a reputation for a reason, and I heard the girls whispering as we were lining up. Apparently, Penelope—the one who stood up to Fiona—had been with every guy in the team. I loved a woman with confidence. One girl said she’s not even shy about it. I wondered if that meant she had been with Dane. He didn’t seem interested as his eyes fixed on me.

“Damn, girl, you can move!”

I giggled. You know that stupid giggle where you end up sounding as if you’re were five… I did that. I was like one of the typical bimbos who couldn’t speak if a boy came near her. That was me right now, and I didn’t know who I hated more—the silly person who I’d become, or Dane for making me this way. I’m sure he could tell I was a virgin, which I was, but that didn’t mean I wanted everyone else to know it.

I had to woman up, not nearly graduated from high school and just got into college woman up, but more like nearly graduated from college. A senior. Like him. I had to make him think we were on the same level.

Then again, the only person I was kidding, was myself.

The more he opened his mouth to talk, the more I just wanted the ground to take me and swallow me whole, even though I knew it wouldn’t. I’d put myself in a position, something that I couldn’t get out of as I sweat with nerves. No more was I just a girl with so much confidence, but I was one dying to get out of here.

He moved closer to me and I wanted to bridge the gap, but my feet felt as if they were stuck in sand on a cool night. The sand was not sticky, but so deep it was a struggle to walk. I had to lift my legs up, at least to knee level to get out. I was too nervous to even do that. As much as I wanted to lift them up and get as far away from him as possible, I couldn’t.

“So, you’re the famous Lisa Watson. You’ve got some moves. Damn, you made Fiona look basic. And she’s good, but she doesn’t move with ease. Not like you.”

His words were running off his tongue, and I wanted to say something back. Anything, but I began to stutter like a fool. “Yeah, no… Thank… No…”

I smiled at him, but I was sweating buckets. No amount of backflips had made me feel as hot as I was feeling right now. I had so many butterflies in my stomach, I expected to open my mouth and for one of them to fly out.

He held on to me with such a look of concern. I sighed and titled my head to the side. I could stop and stare at him all day long. But with my feet stuck and my face bright red, growing more to the tomato shade by the minute, I didn’t need a mirror to see what was going on—the heat rushing up to my face told me already.

“You okay, Lisa? You’re bright red. You want some water?”

I nodded because that was all I could do. I couldn’t speak; I just stood there and sweated even more.

“I’ll leave you to it then. Hope you feel better, you were amazing.”

The moment was awkward. Maybe he thought I was weird and wanted to get as far away from me as possible. I didn’t blame him. I knew I looked a mess, but there was nothing I could do to change it, and I hated being so emotional.

Penelope shoved a bottle of water in my hand as Dane left, with a big grin on her face. “He’s got a thing for you. Fiona’s gonna be pissed. Not only are you captain, but her man is after you, too. I like you, Lisa. I like you a lot!”

I couldn't believe my ears, I wanted to scream hearing that he was attracted to me. I was so damn excited. It was as if Dane leaving my side had given me the power to do what I should have done when he was near me. My feet moved as I took the bottle and without hesitation, I took off the cap, but I didn’t sip it. No, I shot my head back and downed it in one. My heart rate slowed down, and all the things I was incapable of doing a few seconds ago became a thing of the past.

“Captain too… Shoot, you really made an impression,” Tanya said as she started rambling. I hated the idea I’d somehow scared him away. Maybe he was interested, but I felt he was way out of my league. The only thing he would ever do with someone like me would be to tease me.

I shook my head, remembering who I really was, and to get my head out of the damn clouds and back on Earth. Back to my reality,

I was getting too much attention. I wanted to be on the team, but I didn’t expect to get Fiona off it. The way everyone was cheering made me smile. They’d voted and decided by seeing my routine. My eye caught Fiona, who was at the back of the gym, watching. I could tell by how she cut her eyes at me she would not go quietly. She was going to make sure that she dug dirt on me or prank me. I knew her type, I'd hung around with girls like her back in high school.

I just hoped it was the latter.

***

After a much-needed shower, and a hamburger with fries in which I direly needed, I was in bed. I needed to catch some sleep for my first set of classes and my job at the library. It wasn’t the first job I’d had—not since Dad lost all his money, or rather, other people’s money—but that didn’t stop me from feeling nervous.

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