Dark Love

by Olivia M. Howe

  I see in movies how girls pop their leg up when they get an amazing kiss by the man of their dreams. Well, this is that moment for me, but eliminate the leg popping part.

  His lips leave mine and my eyes open. "Good night and sweet dreams, beautiful," he says with amazement written all over his face. I think he's feeling the same sensation through his body as I am.

  "Good night," I say back. I'm still standing there, numb. That was absolutely fascinating. I want to run up to him and kiss him, again. I want to feel that sensation that electrified my body at the touch of our lips again.

  He gets into his car and I watch as he drives away.

  I open my front door and walk in and close it behind me. I put my back against the door and lean on it. All I can think about is Andrew. There's something about him. He seems so different from all of the other guys here in Scarlett Hills. I want to know more about him. He just amazes me. I haven’t really been into the whole relationship thing after my dad passed away. I have only dated one guy in the past. I was a freshman at Scarlett Hills High School. His name was Peter. He had shaggy brown hair and blue eyes. He was a great guy. We were together for a few months up until he had to move away. I guess his dad received a tremendously good job in Chicago. Peter told me he loved me, but I didn’t say it back. I’ve never been in love before. With Peter, I knew we weren't meant to be together, I felt it inside my heart.

  I'm now wearing a smile on my face that's real. I feel too many butterflies in my stomach at the thought of Andrew. Is love at first sight real?

  CHAPTER 8

  Cheerleading Practice

  Dear Diary,

  My first date with Andrew was more than incredible. He's such a gentleman and a sweetheart. I really am starting to catch a lot of feelings for him and fast. It's actually scaring me quite a bit. He's the first guy that has given me these unexplainable butterflies in my stomach.

  Andrew is the first person I think about when I go to sleep each night and when I wake up each morning. He makes me feel good about myself and actually listens to what I say and remembers.

  Love, Nina

  * * * *

  Sydney calls me today and tells me that I don't have to come into work after school. So, I promise Caroline that I will attend her cheerleading practice and see how good she's been doing. I'm just glad she has found a hobby that makes her so happy.

  I walk downstairs for breakfast before school. Caroline's sitting at the kitchen table eating and talking to Ali. I hear her mention something about William. I barge into their conversation only because curiosity takes over me. "What about William?"

  "He called me last night and he's coming to my cheerleading practice so Alex can see if she likes it enough to join," she pauses for a moment and takes a breath. "And he wants to take me out on a date tonight!" She starts smiling ear to ear.

  "Aw! Well, I'm happy for you Lynns!" I say.

  "We're both going to be dating the Madsen brothers! YAAAAY!" She starts screaming.

  It's more than bizarre that us sisters are going to be dating two brothers. "Weird," I say with a hesitant giggle.

  "I know, right!" She says. She seems way too excited today. It's actually hilarious, but odd. She's already starting to act like Kali.

  * * * *

  I pull up to the parking lot at school and park my car. Caroline and I start walking toward the front doors at school and there they are. The Madsen brothers, both standing there. I think they might be waiting for us. "Hello, Mckay sisters," William says.

  I think this is the first time I have actually seen him in school. "Hello, Madsen brothers," Caroline says back.

  I walk over to Andrew. "Hey!" I smile and lean in to give him a hug. He puts his arms around me easily.

  "Good morning, beautiful," he says as he's still wrapping his arms around me.

  The bell rings at just the wrong moment. I want to continue to stand here in the warmth of the sun with Andrew's arms around me. "Come on. I'll walk you to class," he says as he lets go. Stupid bell. Andrew grabs my hand and we begin to head to class. My first class is Biology. I don't mind it because Mr. Jackson isn't a bad teacher. He just talks our ears off throughout the whole class and lectures us a lot.

  "I'll meet you right here when the bell rings." He lets go of my hand and gives me a hug.

  "See you then," I say and start walking into my class. I go and sit next to Kali. She's sitting there with her purse up on the desk, texting inside of it so the teacher doesn't catch her. Smart. It's so early in the morning and she's already texting people. That's Kali for you.

  "Andrew's sister is going to your practice today and she's going to decide then if she wants to join."

  "YAAAAY!" She yells and the whole class begins to stare at the both of us. "No way! Thank you so much, Nini!" Kali says as if a big burden has just slid right off of her shoulders. I'm glad I could help, but the screaming was not necessary.

  * * * *

  The bell rings, finally. I position my bag over my shoulder and pick up my books and head for the door. Andrew's standing right there just like he said he would. "Let me take those for you," he insists. He grabs my books out of my hands.

  "Thank you," I say. Andrew slides his hand into mine and carries my books with his free hand.

  We're walking down the hallway and some of the girls that walk by us are giving us these dirty looks, like they're jealous. Everyone else is just staring because now they have gossip to talk about. Nina and Andrew are dating. The emotionally fragile girl and the incredibly handsome guy. That will be spread throughout the whole school by the end of the day. I bet money on that.

  We get into the breakfast line and I grab an orange juice and a breakfast bar. I walk up to the cash register to pay for my breakfast and Andrew hands the cashier lady money to pay for my food. "You didn't have to do that," I announce. I did appreciate him paying for my breakfast, but I don't want him to feel the obligation to pay for it.

  "I know. I wanted to though." Andrew smiles that heart-melting smile. I thank him and we find a table in the cafeteria.

  William walks over and sits next to us. "Look at you two love birds," he says.

  Andrew and I just look at him, smile and nod. William just has to come and make things awkward. "Where's your sister?" William asks.

  "She should be in here somewhere." I have no idea where she is. I haven't seen her yet.

  "There she is," he says under his breath. He gets up and runs to the cash register and hands the lady some money and points to Caroline. I think he's paying for her breakfast. They're both gentlemen. That was sweet of him to run over there and do that for her. William comes back over and sits with us. "I couldn't let her pay for her own breakfast."

  "That's nice of you. Andrew insisted on paying for mine too. It's sweet," I say. I look at him with a smile. There I go again, blushing.

  Caroline walks over to us, "Did you pay for my breakfast?" she asks William.

  "Of course I did. I can't let a pretty lady like you pay for your own breakfast," he says in a charming way.

  "Aw! Thank you so much, William!" Lynns says as her face begins to blush just like mine. At least I'm not the only one with a bright red face.

  The Madsen brothers are beyond sweet and charming. Andrew and William look just alike and they act the same in some ways. Andrew's more sensitive than William. William seems like he has more of a bad boy side then Andrew does. Other than that, they're pretty much identical twins.

  * * * *

  It's time for Caroline's cheerleading practice. I walk into the gymnasium and sit on the bleachers. All of the cheerleaders are stretching on the floor. Caroline's showing me how she can do a split. I would most definitely hurt myself badly if I even tried to attempt a split.

  Kali starts telling the girls to get in their stunt groups because they're practicing easy stunts like preps and extensions. Kali picks Caroline to be a flyer. Lynns has the words 'nervous, scared, and shy' written all over her face.

  Kali starts tea
ching Lynns and her stunt group all of the basics of making a stunt absolutely perfect. "Never take your eye off of your flyer, basses, and never ever let your flyer hit the ground!" The four girls stand there shaking their heads. They better not drop my sister. "The counts are going to go, ready set," Kali demonstrates with her hands what the flyer is going to be doing during the counts. "One, two, three, four, flyer up on five, six, flyer hits high v on seven, eight." That sounds complicated. They still better not drop her.

  The stunt group gets in position and lifts Caroline into the air as Kali's counting. Caroline's standing very tight in the air with her arms raised into a high v. Then, here comes Andrew, William, and Alex. "WOO, Caroline!" William yells. Lynns waves to him with a big smile on her face. I think she might have forgotten that she's extremely high up in the air. She's not staying tight anymore. She's wiggling around up there trying to keep her balance, swinging her arms everywhere. The four girls underneath of her are struggling to hold onto her. "My bad," William admits.

  "Bring her down! Right now!" Kali yells. They get Caroline safely to the ground. Kali looks at William and starts yelling, "You can't yell to her like that when she's up in the air. This is a very serious matter. She's a beginner! You can't do that!" She seems extremely frantic!

  "Like I know all of the dos and don'ts of cheerleading!" He yells back at her.

  "Just don't do it again! I'm serious!" Kali yells as she shakes her head and stomps back to the stunt group. I've never seen her so uptight like this. I guess she really does take cheerleading seriously, but I don't blame her because she has to. She can't have anyone getting hurt.

  "Yes, ma'am," William says and solutes her. Kali rolls her eyes at him and gets back to teaching the stunt groups. She's probably mad because William doesn't seem like he's taking this very serious.

  Andrew walks over and sits by me, trying not to laugh. "Hello, beautiful."

  "Hey, Andrew!" I say. He wraps his hands around me and it feels so right. It feels like his hands are meant to be around me. Andrew stares at me with his beautiful, big, dark eyes. He moves a strand of my hair that's in my face and places it behind my ear. Then, he kisses me on my red, blushing cheek with his soft gentle lips.

  "I can't get over how absolutely delightful you look," he says with so much sincerity. I flash him a nervous smile. I'm not used to all of these compliments from a guy.

  I look over at William and Alex. William looks interested in Caroline. Alex looks like she wants to jump in with the other girls and start cheering. She's sitting on the edge of the bleachers. I think she has decided already to join the squad and become a flyer. Alex looks like the type of girl that would enjoy everything about cheerleading. I think she would be really good at it and will definitely catch on quickly.

  Kali starts yelling so all of the girls can hear her. "Water break and then line up for sideline cheers! We have to make them perfect because our first football game is on Friday!" The girls take a water break and Caroline comes over to talk to us for a minute.

  "You look good out there doing your cheer stuff," William says like he has no idea about anything that has to do with the sport.

  "Thank you. Even though I almost broke my neck trying to wave to you." Caroline winks at him and moves her side bangs out of her face.

  "I couldn't help myself," William admits.

  Kali interrupts their little moment. "Line up girls!" All of the girls on the squad line up. Kali starts talking to them about all of the cheers and how it's important that they all do the motions at the same time or it will just look sloppy. They begin their first cheer, "Let's go, Titans. I said, Let's go, Titans." They repeat that three times. The cheer and motions are simple, but delightful. Caroline looks like she has been participating in cheerleading for years. All of her motions are tight and perfect. I'm so proud of my little sister.

  The whole cheerleading practice Andrew has a gentle grip around my waist. I lean against him and put my head on his shoulder. I want this moment to last forever.

  After practice Kali comes over to introduce herself to Alex. Alex announces that she wants to join the squad. Kali starts doing the 'Kali scream' she does, jumping around in excitement. "Welcome to the squad Alex!" The team is not going to be cut now by the school board. I'm very happy for Kali and my sister. Kali seems like she would be lost without cheerleading. I feel like it's her whole life because her life revolves around cheering. She's so passionate and very impressive at it too. She lives, breaths, sleeps, eats, cheerleading.

  Caroline and William leave to go on their first date. William won't tell Caroline where they're going because he wants to surprise her. It must be somewhere unexpected if he's surprising her with it. Maybe they're going to a fancy restaurant.

  William grabs her hand as they walk out of the gym. Lynns is glowing like a light bulb. She has never been on a date before. This is her first one.

  Alex leaves with Kali. Kali's going to teach her some basic techniques for cheerleading.

  That leaves Andrew and I sitting here all by ourselves. His arms are still wrapped right around me. I don't think he wants this moment to end either.

  "I want to show you something," Andrew says. He stands up and waits for me with his hand out toward me. I grab my purse and we walk hand in hand out of the gym.

  I wonder where he's taking me.

  * * * *

  Andrew pulls onto a dirt, rocky road. We're surrounded by trees. I look out the side of my window and the sky is clear and the sun is about to start coming down. Andrew pulls over on the side of the road and shuts his car off.

  "Are we here?" I ask with my eyebrows lifted and my forehead scrunched up. Is this what he's trying to show me, the forest?

  "Almost. Now we walk." He gets out of his Volvo and walks over toward my side. I stay in my seat because I know the routine. Andrew's going to come over and open the door for me.

  I'm right because Andrew opens up the door and takes my hand. He leads the way through this open hole in the forest. There's a path already made. He must come here a lot or other people must come here.

  We walk for about ten minutes and I finally see an opening ahead of me. "We're here," Andrew announces. I'm in pretty good shape, but he's just way to fast for me. I've been huffing for air to enter my lungs.

  We walk through the opening to exit the forest. I stop right when I see the view.

  There's a few rocks on top of a really steap cliff. Our view is now the whole encircling forest. The sun is starting to set and the appearance of the sky looks more than beautiful. The fresh air is filling my nostrils and entering my lungs. It even smells wonderful here. "This is," I break off in mid-sentence to look around, "beautiful!"

  "I come here a lot," he announces. "When I'm mad, sad, stressed out or just need time for myself to think and clear my head, I always seem to end up here."

  "It's wonderful," I say with so much amazement in my voice.

  "You're the first person I've brought here," he admits.

  "The sun is setting," I say. I'm still in shock with how amazing this place is.

  "I was hoping to sit on the rocks with you and watch the sun disappear."

  "I would love that, Andrew," I say.

  We climb up on the rock. Andrew helps me, of course. He wraps his muscular hands around my waist. We begin to watch the sunset disappear in the midst of the sky.

  I rest my head on his shoulder and perceive with my eyes, the most beautiful sunset of all time.

  CHAPTER 9

  Football Game

  Dear Diary,

  I woke up today and I felt like I could breath so much better than I could before. The sadness isn't completely gone, but it's starting to fade more and more each day. The reason behind it must be very obvious, Andrew. I can't explain to you why or how he makes me feel the happiness that I feel. He just does. It's really simple actually. When Andrew is in my presence, he makes the whole world not exist. He makes every worry or fear drift away into the wind. All he has to do is look at m
e with those dark eyes and the world vanishes. In that perticular moment, nothing else matters, but him.

  Love, Nina

  * * * *

  I walk into the school and it's like a mad house. The big football game is tonight. The whole entire school is decorated in school colors. The cheerleaders are wearing their uniforms, the football players are wearing their jerseys, all of the students are wearing school colors, some students have half of their face painted red and the other half painted gold. The hallways have signs everywhere saying, "Go Titans" and "Go red and gold." I'm assuming the cheerleaders painted those. There are also streamers and ballons everywhere.

  I walk by our mascot and he's running through the hallway like a lunatic and jumping around everywhere, screaming "WOO" at everyone. It's actually hilarious. Our school has too much school spirit. Kali must have something to do with this school being a mad house. She's one bubbly cheerleader with enough of spirit to share with an entire country. She's also very persuasive. So she can definitely convince anyone that it's only right for them to dress up in school colors. Speaking of Kali, here she comes in her red and gold uniform with pom poms in her hands. She's probably going to try to paint my face and dress me up because I'm just wearing jeans and a plain shirt.

  I try to dodge her and walk fast in the opposite direction. "Nini Mckay!" She yells. She catches me.

  I turn around like I'm surprised to see her. "Hey, Kali!"

  "Let's go to the bathroom," Kali says as she's connecting her arm in mine.

  "I don't need to use the bathroom. I really have to get to class." I try to be sarcastic.

  She stops me in the middle of the hallway and looks me straight in my eyes. "Nina, you're one of my best friends. How would it look on me, as cheer captain, if my best friend isn't dressed in school colors showing her school spirit?" She asks in a non humorous way.