The Flynn Effect

40 | mission accomplished

Jo

"IT'S FUCKING LOUD in here," I say to myself, looking round and interlacing my fingers together. Flynn was right. It's freezing and it's so loud but his hoodie is so warm and comfortable and I don't regret putting it on.

Amanda rushes back with two buckets of popcorn and two milkshakes. She breathes out and scowls. "This is one of the reasons why I hate game days. The queue is always so freaking long."

She hands mine to me and brushes her hair away from her face. Her braids are out so she's sporting her natural curls and it looks so good on her.

"Thanks," I say, sipping from the straw and sighing in delight.

"Come on," she says, pulling my hand. "Cass kept two seats for us."

I follow her and ignore the stares that are blatantly directed my way as we head over to the bleachers. The girls who stare at me don't even bother to hide it and once we spot Cass' dark waves, I speed walk to our seats and scowl.

"God, can they just stop staring? It's annoying." They've been at it since Amanda dragged me away from Flynn when we arrived at the parking lot while he went in to cheer his best friend up. And well, dress up.

"You look stunning," Cass says with a grin. "Plus, the owner of that hoodie is pretty obvious. It's only natural they stare."

"Same thing I said," Amanda laughs and then she forces my lips into an awkward grin with her fingers. "Ignore them and enjoy the game. It's going to be fun."

That's when I notice how oddly excited she looks. I turn to Cass who has a knowing look on her face and raise a brow. "What's up with her?"

"One of the guys asked for her number last week after lunch." Cass blurts. "Tony or something."

"You broke up with Jude?" I ask, referring to her long distance boyfriend and she nods.

"Two weeks ago. We both knew it wasn't working out anymore," she says and sighs. "Distance is a bitch. It ruins things."

Distance is a bitch.

"And besides," she continues, feigning a clueless expression. "With Tony, it's nothing serious. Innocent phone calls and all."

"Sure," Cass and I say at the same time and then we burst into laughter. She scoffs and sinks further into her chair before shooting us a fake glare.

There's a pep rally going on so it's loud and students are hollering and cheering and it even gets louder when the cheerleaders sashay in with their pom poms and the school's cheerleading outfit. When I see a flash of striking red hair, I unconsciously sit straighter in my seat and a frown mars my face.

"I didn't know Semia was a cheerleader now," Amanda says, echoing my thoughts and Cass nods.

"I heard she joined last week or so. She seems pretty good."

She does. The more I stare at her, the more I see how beautiful she is. Her skin is flawless and her curls keep bouncing gracefully with every move she makes. She's not the star cheerleader but she's the only one my focus is on. When I turn to the side, I see some boys ogling her and I'm suddenly not surprised that Flynn liked her in the first place. The mascot runs out in a red and black bulldog costume when he joins the rally, the show the cheerleaders are putting on slowly comes to an end.