Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

" I don't feel so good," Serenity mumbles, and I glance at her. She's watching The Scorpion's routine, and yeah, she does look a little pale. Damn, I hope she doesn't puke, because it'll create a chain reaction.

"We've got this. We have been practicing non-stop," I remind her and she nods, taking a deep breath.

Rylee is bouncing up and down, as if she's about to enter a fight. "What about you, killer?" I joke. Looking at me over her shoulder, you can see the excitement shining in her eyes.

"I have always wanted to do this. Growing up, I watched all the Bring It On movies, and so this is just a dream come true."

Len moves closer to us, waving the tub of vaseline around. I scowl and he laughs. "Teo, you know the drill. Don't make Colt restrain you again."

"Why do you have that?" Ry asks and Ren laughs.

"Vaseline on our teeth makes us smile. It's totally gross, but effective." Rylee nods, and like the badass chick she is, walks over to Lennox and gives him a super wide smile. He rubs some of that whale fat on her teeth and I cringe.

Talk about wanting to vomit. "Fuck, just get it over with," I grumble, gagging when he's done. That shit is so nasty.

"Remember, we go on third. Let's have high energy, and a little flirting doesn't hurt," Colt says, holding his tablet so he can watch our last practice.

"Are you ready for this?" I ask the team as we all get into a circle, holding hands.

"Um, should we pray or something?" Felicia asks, and Ursula scoffs.

"No time," Len mutters. "We're up next. Black Widows on three. One. Two. Three."

"Black Widows," we all cheer at the same time.

I pull Ry in for a quick good luck kiss, then Len. He smiles and winks before taking off.

Moving onto the mats, we wave to the crowd and I try not to scowl. Facial presentation is a big part of our routine.

Judges dock points for everything.

Lennox stands next to me and I extend my left leg at the knee as he does the opposite with his right.

Rylee moves between us and places a hand on each of our shoulders. We wait for the music to begin, then she jumps and stands on our thighs as we hold her ankles tight.

Re-doing this routine without Missi wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be, and Ry has been a champ with the late night practices.

Felicia moves behind Rylee when we toss her into the air, jumping up into position, and we catch her in a cradle, at the same time Colt and Donny catch Ursula.

Yes, we nailed the first part . I can't remove my focus from Rylee, and the dance moves we are all doing in synchronization, but I notice that Donny is lagging.

Shit. I hope we make it through this.

Rylee sashays in front of Len and I, as her and Ren do toe touches before landing and going right into a back handspring double hit.

I continue to move to the beat until I'm at the side of the mat, waiting for my cue.

We have a few more tosses with Rylee still, but right now, Colt and I need to do some tumbles.

My ankle aches when I land, but I ignore the pain. I'll just ice it later.

I could re-murder my uncle for putting me back in the fighting ring so close to our competition, but at least he's gone now.

We nail the rest of our routine, and when the music stops, the crowd goes wild. Rylee and Ren hug each other tight, and Len lifts up Colton.

"Thank you, Solidarity Academy Black Widows. Great job!" the announcer says, running out onto the mat with her microphone. The cameras zoom in on our faces, and I wave to my mom and Nando.

I know they are watching with big smiles on their faces.

We exit the mats and Donny stumbles. He's yawning and mumbling. I'm glad our routine is over. He almost fucking dropped Fatima in the middle section.

Colton runs off to where the bags are, then returns with his blanket and a candy bar.

"Come on, Don, let's go rest for a bit," Colt mutters softly. He leads Donny over to the wall where he can watch the other teams compete, but can also rest if he wants to.

"I think it's time," I tell Len and he nods.

"I'll stay and watch him."

The girls are critiquing the next team, and Rylee is getting mad at how cruel Ursula is. I know she's about to throw down with her, so it's the perfect time for us to chat.

Catching Rylee's attention, I nod over to the side door and she follows me, huffing.

"Can you believe her?! She is such a bitch. Not as psycho as Missi, but damn, can we kick her off the team too? Please," she whines, then looks up at me, batting her eyelashes.

I laugh and cross my arms.

"No, if Colt has to redo another routine, he may just quit, and we have enough shit going on as is."

Donny is getting worse and worse. Despondent, broken. We need to get him help. Colt, Len, and I talked about this last night, and it's time.

I lead Ry over to a picnic bench and take a seat. She knows something is going on and stands in front of me, pursing her lips, giving me a mean glare.

"Sit, baby girl, we need to talk."

"Is this the third act break-up scene?" she mumbles and I raise a brow at her.

"What?"

"In a book… Never mind." Sitting, she turns to me and I can tell she's nervous. I lean over and grab the back of her neck, pulling her into a heated kiss.

"You're mine, baby, and I'm never letting you go," I growl and she sighs. "There is nothing I'd like more than for us to go back to the hotel, but first, we need to talk about something. So, behave," I grunt and she nods.

Looking into her eyes, I take a deep breath, then begin.

"Donny's grandfather was a sick man. I don't know all of the details, but when his parents died in that car crash, he was sent to live with his grandparents. I never met them. His grandmother died a few years ago, and his grandfather has cancer or something.

"Donny has never confronted his past, but I think it may be time. After we hear the results, we are leaving Vegas. I'm plan on taking him to see someone he can talk to. I think you should be there with us. He trusts you and loves you. I know he wants to open up to you, but he's scared of losing you."

"Are we not taking the bus home?"

"No, Lennox's mom is letting us use the private jet."

"Fucking rich people," she mumbles, then nods. "Of course I want to be there."

I figured as much, but I didn't want to force her. I know she was excited about going to the pool with Ren.

"We will come back here another time. We can bring Alex, Ren and even Trev."

Turning, she rests her head on my shoulder. "I'm worried about him, Teo. I just want my golden retriever back."

"Yeah, we all do, but I'm starting to think that maybe this is the true Donny, and the goofball was just his way of masking his pain. I get angry and hit shit. Colt hyper fixates on stuff, and Len writes poems. We all deal differently."

I stand and offer her my hand. She wipes under her eyes and looks up at me. "The demons you battle and trauma that you hide, or wear on your sleeves, are one of the things I love most about you all."

Fuck, this girl owns me. She has all of us by the balls.

Taking my hand, I pull her into my arms and hold her tight. I don't want to let her go. the sound of someone screaming pulls us apart, and then we see paramedics rushing toward the arena.

My heart races and I pray it's not Donny, or someone from our team.

Pushing through the crowd, we meet up with Colt and Len.

"What happened?"

"Her flier didn't catch her and she landed on her hip. I think someone said it's a shattered pelvis," Len replies as we watch a girl in a black and yellow uniform being placed on a spinal board on her back with a collar on her neck.

"Shit. And this is why I get pissed when people say cheerleading isn't a sport," Serenity begins to rant, and Rylee chimes in when appropriate.

"I hope she's okay," Ry mutters as Colt pulls her in for a hug.

"How much longer until they announce the winners?" Felicia asks, rubbing her stomach. "I skipped breakfast because I was too nervous. Now I'm starving."

"That was the last team, so now the judges just need to tally their points and then they will make an announcement," Len mumbles, then sighs.

I glance back at Donny, and he's curled up on the floor asleep. All this commotion and he's not even fussed.

"Is Rylee coming with us after this?" Len asks me and I grunt, nodding. He reaches for my hand and squeezes it.

"Good. This is what we need to do. I hope Donny understands."