Cheer tryouts are on the field right near the football team, they are all lined up when Shae and I get to the field after school. My palms are sweaty and my hands shake. She taught me some of the moves yesterday that I needed to know for tryouts. According to her, coach Hayes is amazing and will not fault me for not cheering for the past few years.

My cell goes off and I tell Shae to go ahead that I'd catch up. I stand just behind the bleachers where she and I practiced yesterday to answer the phone; it's mom.

"Hey, I'm just about to head to tryouts," I tell her.

"Oh, I'm sorry baby. Are you coming home right away?" she asks.

Mom sounds nervous. Her voice shakes with a tone I haven't heard since we were stalked by people who blamed us for my father's mistake.

"Everything okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, it's fine. I just wanted to know."

She's lying, I can tell just by the sound of her voice.

"I'm doing a project with that boy I told you about, I don't know when I'll be home," I say.

"Oh. Okay, good. Have fun, and good luck at tryouts."

"Are you sure everything is okay?"

I'm hoping that maybe she'll tell me, but I already know she won't.

"Yes of course,"

I decide not to call her out and leave it alone. When she's ready she'll tell me. That's just the way mom works.

I hang up and put the phone back in my bag. All the girls are already lined up on the bleachers. I'm the last to settle in and I find myself in direct sight of Angela who is standing next to the coach like she's better than everyone else.

"Good afternoon ladies. It's nice to see some familiar faces and some new ones too. This year is a rebuilding year and I need the strongest girls," she says. "That being said my cheer captain, Angela Holiday is here to help me with decisions. Angela was voted in at the end of last year and has been cheering with this group since the beginning. For all that don't know her, get to know her, because she will be your go to girl if you need anything."

I sigh, and Angela definitely notices. Her eyes shoot over in my direction and I know if she could she would probably have called me out, but she's quiet. Behind her shoulder I'm distracted by Ethan who is looking over at me with a huge smile on his face.

"You got this Morgan!" he yells across the field.

Heat creeps up my neck and the blood rushes to my face. I'm probably beat red by now. Shae giggles beside me and Angela's glare is more a death stare than anything now. Coach thankfully ignores the situation and goes to sit at a table set up on the track beside the bleachers. In the middle of the track is where the football field is and they can see everything happening.

Coach Hayes, Angela and now Tori all sit at the table.

"When I call your name please come forward."

I'm thankful that the boys on the field are now distracted by their coach yelling at them while they do sprints, but that doesn't make me any less nervous. After I'm done with try-outs and Levi finishes with football we are getting out of here and going to the place he told me about. He's been very vague about where he wants to take me. That should make me nervous since I barely know the guy, but if Shae trusts him as a friend then I'm sure I'll be okay.

"Hey, don't look so nervous, you were amazing yesterday," Shae says, climbing the few steps down to where I am.

"I was amazing because it was with you."

I let out a nervous laugh.

"If I didn't have to prove myself in front of Angela this would be so much easier," I say.

"Ignore her, she may be the cheer captain, but that doesn't give her a say in who makes the team. That's the coach's decision. She can give coach Hayes her opinion, but at the end of the day she makes the call."

"And you said coach Hayes is amazing?"

"She's the best."

"Shae Thomas," she calls.

"Well I'm up."

Shae stands and the coach greets her, "Shae, glad to see you coming back out this year."

"Thanks coach."

I watch as Shae does her thing and she is good - no scratch that, she's amazing. Her flips and toe touches are on point.

"Thank you," she tells her. "Perfect as usual."

She calls someone else and I almost wish she had called me next. Shae comes back and digs a water bottle from her blue and white cheer bag. It's really hot today and she nearly dowses herself with the water inside the bottle.

"Morgan Adams?"

My chest tightens and for a moment I'm glued to my seat. Shae gives me a nudge on my back. Out in the field Levi is standing next to the water glancing over in our direction, of course he'd be taking a break at this very moment.

"Hi Ms. Adams, you must be new here," she says to me as I stand in front of the table.

Coach Hayes runs a hand against the top of her head, her dirty blonde hair is tightly pulled back into a high pony. Her eyes seem friendly, but the fact that next to her I'm being given the evil eye by Angela makes it harder to concentrate.

"Yes. I've only been here for a week," I say, trying to only keep my eyes on her.

"Welcome to Sunrise Lake. Have you cheered before?"

I fidget with the edge of my sports tank and nod.

"I used to. I've kept up with dancing and some gymnastics, but I haven't done cheer in a while."

"Well, let's see what you got. Good luck."

I take in a deep breath, I hate that everyone is staring at me. It never used to bother me until people started staring at me because they hated me for something I had no control over. My pulse throbs in my neck as I take an extra second to get myself pumped. The coach stares at me and for a second almost looks annoyed, until I open my mouth with their main chant.

Once I'm done screaming my lungs out; something I forgot how much I actually hated, she turns on the song that everyone has been trying out with to get a feel for our dance moves. I'm a bit rusty on my front handspring, but other than that I'm pretty sure I killed the dance that Shae taught me. Angela crosses her arms at her chest, just as Levi and Ethan both send whistles across the field. Their coach responds by giving them each a smack on the back of the helmet.

"I'm impressed Ms. Adams. Please have a seat," she says, writing something down.

Angela leans over to whisper in her ear. I want to say something, but instead I leave it be. I have enough people in my life that hate me, and I don't want to make things even worse between Angela and myself.

It takes another forty minutes to go through the rest of the girls, and by the time we finish it's already half past four. The boys on the field are running off towards the locker rooms. Coach Hayes calls us over.

I start to head towards the bleachers when a hand reaches out and grabs onto my shoulder. I spin and face Levi. Sweat glistens on his forehead.

"Hey."

His hand falls off my shoulder and his fingers gently graze my arm. I'm not expecting my body to heat up or my heart to skip a beat and I'm taken back by it. So this is what it feels like to be a girl locked under Levi's spell. I snap out of it quickly and wait for him to say something.

"I'll meet you in about fifteen minutes ? Right here on the field. I'm going to hit the showers then we can go," he says.

"Okay," I say, in a high pitched squeal.

Once again I'm the last to sit. Thankfully coach Hayes is busy chatting with Angela and Tori, so she doesn't notice. I take the spot next to Shae. Immediately she pulls my hand in hers, holding on tight.

"We are in this together," she tells me.

I give her a smile and lean in close, as coach Hayes clears her throat. I can't get over how nice it feels to have a friend again, especially one who encourages me and makes me feel good about myself. It's been a long time since I've had someone I could rely on, other than mom.

"Alright girls, thank you for coming out for tryouts today.," she says, looking around at everyone. The sun shines in her face so she squints when she looks out at us.

"The first football game is in two weeks and I want us to be ready. Regionals are in January so we've got a lot of work to do," she says.

She checks her clipboard and as she does I look up at the three of them and Angela is eyeing every single girl sitting there like she's trying to intimidate them.

"Who's ready to find out the results?" she asks.

All the girls start chatting with each other, nodding their heads and staring up at coach Hayes.

"When I call your name please stand."

My heart pounds hard against my ribcage as she starts calling up names, they don't seem to be in any order - just random names. The girls who get called stand and cheer for themselves as we all give each person a round of applause.

"Shae Thomas," she says.

Shae squeezes my hand before letting go and jumping up. She covers her mouth with her hands, like it's the best news she's heard all day. The girl next to me who is in my Spanish class stands and screams, I think her name is Kelly. I swear I hear my name, but it's muffled by Kelly's shouts.

"Morgan!"

Shae looks down at me, her arm extended, "You did it!"

"I what?" I question.

"Your name, she just said your name," she screams.

"Oh my god!"

I jump to my feet as Shae takes both of my hands in hers and we jump in victory together, not caring about how the others are staring us down.

"And that's our team for the year. For all of you who didn't make the cut I encourage you to try again next year. Practice starts Monday three fifteen sharp. See you then ladies, go clean up."

"Oh my god," Shae says, turning to me, "we made it together. I'm so happy to have you on the team."

I'm in awe, in shock, and I'm thinking maybe someone should pinch me. I wish I could go back in time and tell that crushed seventh grader that she would get her chance to cheer again. It would have saved me a lot of heartache through the years. Being told you don't have the body type to cheer would crush anyone's soul.

I start to follow Shae and the rest of the girls to the locker room. Part of me wants to consol the girls who didn't make the team, to tell them I've been there before - only I doubt they'd want to hear it from a new girl who somehow got her spot on the team after not cheering for years.

I'm halfway across the field back to the school when I realize I forgot my bag on the bleachers. I give Shae a heads up and then head back for the bag. I was so excited it must have slipped my mind.

I walk around the backside of the bleachers to make it faster. I'm about to round the corner when I hear Angela and Tori chatting. Angela's voice is like nails on a chalkboard, but I stop to listen anyway.

"Can you believe that girl?" Angela huffs.

In my head I see her crossing her arms and pouting like a child. Immediately, I know she's talking about me, she didn't seem upset about anyone else making the squad.

"She's not even that good, and she will never be a flyer I mean did you see the junk in her trunk?" Tori laughs.

"Her thighs are like tree trunks, imagine lifting that?" Tori says.

The two start giggling like it's the funniest thing they've ever heard. I shouldn't let it get to me, but with all of the abuse I endured in Tulsa I was hoping to not have to deal with it here. I blame myself for going with Ethan to the party that night.

Leaning my head back against the cold metal bleachers and I close my eyes. If their wasn't a stupid knot in my throat I would have already grabbed my bag, and told them off - only that's not the case. I grab at my throat to stop the sob building up in my chest.

"Not only does she have Levi and Ethan's attention, but now she's got coaches' attention. She can't just come here from whatever corn field she rolled out of and expect to just take over our lives. Seriously she needs to learn...."

"Hey, there you are," Levi says, jogging over, from the opposite direction.

He's changed into tight jeans and a sky blue t-shirt. His hair is still wet from his shower and the scent of fresh soap wafts in my nose as he stops in front of me. Immediately he drops his duffle bag at his feet and reaches out towards me. I back up forgetting the bleachers behind me and my head clinks against the metal. I go to rub the back of my head, but the feeling of his skin against mine causes my body to freeze. His thumb gently wipes at my cheek and when he pulls it away there's wetness there.

Levi's eyes grow wide when he hears Angela's voice.

"Ang, I don't think you need to worry about Levi or Ethan. You are so much hotter than her, plus your ass doesn't jiggle when you walk."

They giggle like it's the funniest thing they've ever heard. The tears start falling. I can't control them. I should know after all of these years I shouldn't worry about what other people say. I'm just tired of being made fun of and I would be lying if I said it didn't hurt.

Without even thinking Levi steps forward and circles his arms around me pulling me into his broad chest. I rest my cheek up against the fabric of his shirt and listen to his heart beating briskly.

"Are you ready to get out of here?" he questions.

I never expected him to rush out and start telling the girls off. They are his friends and I'm just the new girl, so he would probably take their side over mine any day. Although, part of me was hoping he'd set them straight.

"I don't really think I'm..."

"Morgan," he says, cutting me off, "don't let those girls get to you. Angela and I have a complicated relationship and her jealousy and unfaithfulness is what turns me off the most, but she's my friend so I'm nice to her, but avoid her at the same time."

I pull away and wipe some more tears that fall, "maybe us doing this project together is a bad idea. I should probably ask Ms..."

"It's fine. She's not the boss of me. If she says anything further I'll tell her off. I swear it," he says.

I find myself looking up into his eyes and the hidden Levi returns for a second. He reaches over again and helps me wipe the rest of the tears away. My eyes hurt as the sun beats down on us. I'm not quite sure how to react when he's like this, and not sure I believe it either. I sigh, knowing the only reason I'm about to go through with today is because I care about my grades.

"Fine," I say. "I just need to change. Can I meet you at your car?" I ask.

"Yeah, that's cool."

He shrugs, and the small glimpse into hidden kind Levi is gone. I start to move to get my bag when Levi's hand brushes gently against mine. I crane my neck to look at him, his eyes tight with worry.

"Morgan, I'm serious, don't listen to their bullshit. Okay? You're fine just the way you are and as cheesy as that sounds I mean it."

I spin, his hand stills in mine. I let my eyes find his, and suck in a deep breath, "I'm not quite sure how to read you Levi Harmon," I say.

A smile tugs on his lips, "where would the fun be if I left it all out in the open?"

I roll my eyes and somehow already feel a little better.

"See I got you smiling already. Mission accomplished."

"Don't get cocky," I fight back.

"Me, cocky? Never!"

I chuckle, "give me five minutes, okay?"

"Of course."

Twenty minutes later we are in his ridiculously fancy blue mustang driving towards our unknown destination. I can tell he's trying hard not to scare the crap out of me by driving recklessly, although it doesn't really make me feel any better. I'm half terrified that he's taking me to a make out spot and half terrified that I'm going somewhere unknown with a total stranger. There's something deep inside of me that says Levi is actually a good guy putting on an act just to fit into this crazy world. I think that's the only thing keeping me from being on the verge of a panic attack.

"You look terrified," he chuckles.

My hands hurt and I stare down realizing that I've been gripping black leather seat with so much force that my knuckles have turned white.

"I hardly know you and you're driving me to some unknown place, so I have every right to be nervous."

"I promise I'm not trying to make out with you," he says, wiggling his brows.

I roll my eyes, "those words come out of your mouth a lot don't they?"

His laughter fills the car, "I mean unless you want to, because I'd totally be down for...."

I smack him hard in the arm, he groans like I really hurt him but his smile never falters. I find that my lips want to defy me and they curl up to smile back.

"You said that you like adventures, so I'm taking you on one."

With his eyes on the road he uses his memory to reach for the radio, "it isn't a road trip without road trip music," he says, fiddling with the dial.

I'm impressed by his choice of music, I expected him to throw on some kind of hip hop or music with a dance beat, but he doesn't. I think he's even more shocked when I start singing along to Linkin Park.

The sun isn't fully setting yet, it's only five and there's still about two more hours of daylight; but even so the orange glow in the sky is absolutely gorgeous. Levi pulls into a parking lot that's almost vacant.

"The gardens here are pretty awesome and I think I know of a perfect spot for me to draw you."

I step out of the car and the scent of flowers and fresh cut grass surround us. He steps around the front end of his car and leans against it taking it all in himself. I come around and stand beside him.

"It's gorgeous," I say.

"C'mon I think you're going to love this."

After paying an entrance fee, we head inside. Levi being Levi hadn't warned me and now I feel like I owe him ten dollars for coming here. The gardens are beautiful and I'm absolutely in love with the Japanese one that we pass along the way. I'd love to stay and have time to process it all, but they close at sundown and that doesn't leave us much time to draw.

I'm surprised how chilly it is over in this part of the garden, sure summer is slowly coming to an end but the heat of the day makes you forget how chilly it can be when the sun starts to go down. Levi stops in front of old stone steps with green ivy leaves tangled and twisted around them.

"Sit right there," he says, pointing to a perch on the left side of the stairs.

I hesitate for a minute and stare at the step.

"Go on, before they forget we are here and we're stuck here all night," he says.

"That only happens in the movie's Levi," I say rolling my eyes.

He chuckles, "sometimes I wish my life really was a movie, because then all the drama would just be pretend and I could move on with my life," he says.

For a moment, the serious version of Levi returns, but seconds later the normal one emerges and acts like he never said that. He starts pulling out his sketchpad and finds a huge rock to sit on top of just a few feet away from the steps.

I sit with my legs crossed in front of me, my arms at my chest because I'm freezing.

"You look angry, uncross your arms," he tells me.

"I'm cold."

Levi hops down from the rock, leaving his papers. They blow in the light breeze. He unzips his gray sweatshirt and throws it at me. It lands over my head and messes up my already crazy hair from cheer practice.

"How is me wearing an oversize sweatshirt going to help make a nice picture."

"Oh just put it on. Would you like me to imagine what's under there so I can..."

"Levi, oh-my-god seriously?"

He chuckles and hops back onto the rock. I watch as he gets out his pencils and lays them beside him. There isn't anyone really here, when we arrived the parking lot was practically empty, so it's mostly quiet. I don't know where I'm supposed to look and I most certainly don't want to look directly at him.

Instead of looking at him I take in my surroundings without moving my head of course. When I listen close enough I can hear the sound of crickets chirping, birds fluttering by all trying to finish what they are doing before the sun sets.

I direct my attention over to Levi, his lips are pressed together and he's focusing on the task at hand. It's kind of weird having him not make some sort of crude comment.

The area darkens as soft white clouds move in front of the sun. Being under a whole bunch of tree cover makes it almost seem like it's later than it really is. In fact I don't quite know how long I've been sitting here, but my ass is starting to go numb and if I don't stretch my legs soon they may fall off.

"Stay still I swear I'm almost done," he says. "I just have to get one thing..." he stops himself and continues to sketch.

I watch as a strand of his hair falls forward in the front, but doesn't quite reach his eyes. His lips are still forced in a straight line as he tilts his head and moves the paper trying to get the drawing perfect.

"Folks we're going to be closing up soon."

A man in a brown security uniform comes walking through.

"We're almost done," Levi says, his hands moving quickly on the paper.

The man nods his head and moves forward through the area to look for more guests still wandering the grounds. Quiet falls between us again and then minutes later he closes his book and starts shoving it into his bag.

"Hey, do I get to see what I look like?"

"Not yet," he says.

"What do you mean?" I ask, hopping down and heading over to him.

"I mean you can't see it yet," he snaps.

"Okay, jeez," I say, backing away my hands in the air.

I realize that's not the only time he's gotten defensive over his art. When I saw the artwork in his room he wasn't too thrilled at me looking at it either. I shouldn't wonder why, but I do.

"We should go," he says, nostrils flaring like he's angry.

"Fine," I say, sighing and throwing my hands up.

I walk ahead of him towards the lot, somehow remembering where it is. He doesn't say anything, even as we get into the car and he cranks the engine it's nothing but silence between us.

"Take me home," I finally say after ten minutes of driving.

"What about you drawing me?"

"We have time. I want to go home."

"Okay, I'll take you home."

Aside from staying quiet, the entire ride home I don't even look at him. I'm not sure what I did.

A little while later we pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex. It's dark now and the only lights around are the few ones overhead to light up the small lot.

I start to get out and he grabs hold of my wrist, his grasp is warm and he definitely doesn't seem upset anymore.

"Hey, I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," I say.

I'm trying not to look at him again, so I keep my eyes focused on the radio dials.

"No. I do," he says looking down, his thumb glides gently over the back of my hand.

"Can I show you my drawing on Monday?"

He looks up and his eyes are digging into me, screaming for me to look up at him. The only thing I can focus on is the way his fingertips feel on my bare skin.

"Yeah sure that's cool...."

"Morgan," he says, stopping me.

"What?" I ask.

"I'm not ready to explain, but just know it's nothing you did. I just have a hard time..."

"I said it's fine. I should really go," I say.

He leans over the center and his mouth is so close that I can almost taste what it would feel like to kiss him. I shake the stupid thought from my brain and pull my hand away.

"Goodnight," I say.

I get out of the car and don't bother to watch him pull away. My stomach grumbles and I realize I haven't eaten anything since lunch. I start up the stairs towards the apartment.

"Hey."

I turn to see Ethan sitting in the steps.

"I'm sorry," he says, looking up with a smile, "Did you have fun with Levi?"

I laugh, and at first it comes out as a snort, but then a few seconds later I sound like a crazy person.

"I'll take that as a no?"

I tone down the laughter and he scoots over, patting the spot next to him on the top step. I squeeze in our legs and sides touching, the spot is a bit snug, but it doesn't feel weird either.

"It wasn't awful, but we got weird when I asked him to see the drawing he did of me..."

Ethan's eyes widen.

"No, not like that you perv," I laugh, bumping him into him with my shoulder.

He chuckles, "Levi is complicated..."

"So I've heard, there are a lot of complicated things when it comes to him," I say.

"I probably should let him tell you..."

"It's just an art project," I tell him, "it's not like we are friends or anything or trying to be anything... I swear I'm not like that..."

"Hey," he says, putting a hand on my knee. "I know."

My stomach growls again this time so loud I'm pretty sure Ethan can hear it. He looks over at me and chuckles.

"You want to go grab some drive through food?"

"I could go for a big mac right about now," I joke.

"Micky D's it is. Will your mom be okay with it?"

"I was supposed to be out with Levi still, so it'll be fine."

He smiles and stands holding his hand for me to take. I reach up to grab hold and he pulls me up with him. He stares at me with a look on his face that almost kind of looks like jealousy, in fact I've noticed it since the moment I realized he was here. I don't let it get to me, because like I said I'm not the kind of person who flirts with two guys, let alone flirt with guys at all. New town, new me, I guess.

"Come on slowpoke before they start serving breakfast."

I hadn't realized he'd let go and was already standing at the base of the steps waiting. I smirk, "Haha, very funny," I call back.