Chapter Thirty Nothing At All

Hailey called me early in the morning, informing me she wanted to have a morning practice. We were supposed to have it last week but after Chance's mother died, Hailey decided to postpone it.

So, here we were in the gym, stretching our limbs. Cassidy sat beside me, twisting her back.

"How did your talk go with Jayce?"

It's been two days since I last talked to Jayce. He told me his side of the story but he didn't remember the second half. And I decided not to tell him about it because I wasn't sure how he would react to it. We weren't friends or anything and if I were to show or tell him about the video it would just be awkward for the both of us.

Cassidy didn't even know about it and I definitely wasn't telling her. She was kind of rooting for Jayce and I to be together or at least be how we used to be.

"How'd you know I spoke to him?" I asked her instead of answering her question.

"Jayce told me but he didn't tell me how it went."

I raised an eyebrow. "What did he say?"

"He said 'she talked to me but it wasn't how I wanted it to go.'"

Not how he wanted to go? How did he want it to go? I hope he wasn't expecting us to be best friends again. He still hadn't told me everything and I didn't think he would.

I nodded. "He told me his side and that was it. I'm moving on."

"So you forgave him?"

"Yeah. You know I'm not the type of person to hold much of a grudge."

"Unless it's Arianna." She added.

When Cassidy said her name, my eyes travelled over to her. She was on the far left side of me, talking to Rose. The last time I saw Arianna was when she accused me of ruining her relationship with Jayce.

I didn't know why Jayce broke up with her but Arianna and Cassidy both felt like I was the reason why Jayce decided to call it quits.

I wasn't very fond of Arianna and we were never ever be friends but I wouldn't ruin her relationship. Jayce and Arianna would never be the perfect couple. They didn't belong together. They were both too wild to be tame. They both loved to party and they needed someone to hold them down. That definitely wasn't each other and it never would be.

I looked away before she saw me looking at her.

"Alright, guys." Hailey said as she clapped once. "Let's get into formation."

We worked on our entrance and decided on what stunts and jumps worked in our favor. We left the tumbling for another day. Cass had finished the music but Hailey didn't want to use it yet. She wanted us to learn by counts.

It didn't really matter to me which way she taught it because I caught on dance moves easily.

After practice ended, Cass and I grabbed a late breakfast before heading over to my house. Dad's car wasn't in the driveway so I knew he was working. Mom was here babysitting my two wonderful babies. (Don't let anyone tell you anything differently.)

We walked inside and Mom was coming from the backyard.

"Hi, Mom." Cass greeted her with a smile.

"Hello, Cassidy." Mom said. "What are you two doing?"

I shrugged. "Nothing. We just finished cheer practice not too long ago."

Mom nodded. "Nationals are coming up pretty quick. How's practice going?"

Cass and I exchanged glances before looking at my mom.

"I'll take that it's not going that well."

I shook my head. "No. It's not that bad but there are some parts most people are struggling with."

"Mom, she's lying." Cassidy said. "They act like they never did a cheer routine before. It looks horrible. I get that it's was just the first practice but they should be use to it."

Cassidy was honestly brutal. She really didn't care about hurting your feelings. She said what she felt and she might not take it back. I kind of wished I was like her.

"You could do better than them." Cass added.

Mom laughed. "I probably looked worse than them. I haven't cheered in so long."

Cass smiled. "You don't cheer for Richard while you're-"

"Okaayy." I interrupted her. "I'm shutting that down right now."

Mom looked confused and I didn't want to be near her when she figured out what Cassidy was going to say. I grabbed Cass by her arm and yanked her to my room.

Shutting the door, I asked her. "Were you seriously about to ask my mom that?"

She shrugged as she sat on my bed. "It was just a question. She's probably still flexible."

"Moving on." I said, changing the subject off my mom. "What are you doing tonight?"

"I haven't thought about it but since you brought it up, I think I'll go out."

"Of course you are."

"You should too."

I shook my head. "No. Not again."

"C'mon, Cole. When's the last time we went to a club?"

I frowned. "Umm..."

"See it's been too long. It's official we're going out. I promise tonight we'll be drama free."

"I don't know Cass..." I said.

"We don't have homework. We don't have classes tomorrow or work so what's the problem?"

She was right and I didn't have an excuse this time. I mean it wasn't like my other excuses were good but they got me off the hook.

Cass and I hadn't have a girls' night out in forever. Maybe this night would take my mind off a certain somebody.

"Nothing. You might be right. We might need to go out."

Cassidy grinned. "Did you just say I was right? I think that's the first time you'd ever said that."

"I said might be right."

She shrugged. "Close enough." She looked at me. "Are we seriously going out tonight?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Sure."

She sprung up. "I need to find something to wear."

I frowned in confusion. "You have like four hours before you have to get ready."

"Yeah but it's gonna take me three hours to find something worthy of this body." She trailed her hands down the side of her body.

She opened my door and we walked out. Heading down the stairs, Cassidy informed my mom about our plans.

"We're going out tonight, Mom."

Mom met us at the front door.

"You're going out?" She repeated and we nodded. "Please don't do anything stupid or reckless."

"Promise." Cassidy said. "I'll make sure to keep this one." She grabbed me. "in one piece."

I rolled my eyes. "More like the other way around."

"Just be careful and make sure your brother goes with you." She told me.

"It's a girls' night out and I don't think Levi would appreciate you calling him a girl."

"Just take him with you."

"Okay fine." I said.

"Bye, Mom." Cassidy said, walking out the door.

We hopped into the car and I texted Levi informing him he had to go out with us. He wasn't too happy Mom was making him come with him but he needed the stress reliever. I invited Hailey to come with us and she happily agreed to it. I even texted Sabrina, Anthony's girlfriend.

She was going to be around us most of the time so I figured we might as well get to know her and vise versa.

We went to to the room and Cass began to search through her closet for something to wear as I laid on my bed.

As I was scrolling through my phone, I saw Chance's name. I hadn't spoke to him in awhile. I clicked on his name and typed out a message.

How are you doing today?-C

He didn't respond right away but when he did, he wanted to know if I would go with him somewhere. Of course I agreed to it and he told me he was on his way to pick me up.

"Cass?"

"Yeah."

"I'll be right back. Chance wants to take me somewhere."

She nodded. "Okay. I'll still be here, looking for the perfect outfit."

I walked out the room and took the stairs instead of the elevator. I waited outside for Chance to pull up. I didn't have to wait very long. I got inside the car and hugged him.

"Hey."

"Hi." He said.

I leaned back. "So, where are we going?" I asked, putting on my seatbelt.

He didn't say anything but I figured it out on the way there. He stopped the car and looked out the window.

"My sisters came here three times. Even my dad stopped by but I can't do it. I tell myself today I will be man enough to visit her but I never make it pass here. I stay in my car for hours before driving away." He looked at me. "My sisters invite me every time they come but I couldn't do it. It still doesn't seem real. But I want to do this. I need to."

I touched his hand. "It's okay. I'm here for you. You can do this."

I opened the door slowly and got out. He didn't open his door so I opened it for him. I held out my hand for him to take and he grabbed it.

We walked over to Rhesa's grave and he stared at her engraved name. I saw the tears forming in his eyes and I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Mom." He said, softly. "I'm so sorry, I haven't visit. I just miss you. I want you to came back."

I blinked my eyes rapidly so I wouldn't cry. I missed Rhesa, too. I remembered her words also.

He doesn't handle sadness very well.

He had every right to grief but I didn't want him to grief alone. His sisters left and his dad was busy working. He had his friends but I doubt they were much use. He needed to be vulnerable.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, looking at Rhesa's grave. It was what he needed.

He cleared his throat. "Did you watch the video?"

He asked me the same question he did they day of Rhesa's funeral. My answer was different than it was that day.

"Yeah. I have." I looked at him. "I don't know how I should feel about it."

He nodded. "Did you talk to him?"

I nodded. "Yeah but he doesn't remember anything."

"Trust me, he does. It's in his mind and he won't ever forget about loving you. I mean how could he?"

"I think he wants us to be friends."

"Why do you say that?"

"He told Cassidy, after we talked, it wasn't how he wanted it go. I forgave him but I didn't tell him or even hinted we could go back to how we once were."

"I think and I could be wrong but I think, he would rather be your friend than nothing at all. You two have so much history. I doubt he would want to throw all that away." He said. "You don't want that either."

We did share a lot of history. Some of my best and worse memories I had was with Jayce. I did miss how we used to be but I didn't know how to start heading back that way.

Everything was uncomfortable and awkward between us now. I was still embarrassed of what I did to him. It was kind of hard to look him in his eyes.

"What if you're right? What if I didn't want to throw it all away?"

He smiled, slightly. "I think you already know the answer to that." He looked away.

"Do you have anything planned tonight?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Not that I know of. Why?"

"Well I was planning on having a girls' night out but since Levi is coming it isn't much of a girls' night. So I wanted you come with us."

He seemed to be thinking about it.

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No. I'll come. I need to get out anyway. Mom would be disappointed if I were to turn down your offer."

I smiled. "Yay! We're going to have so much fun."

"With your group of friends, I don't doubt it."

I laughed as we walked back to the car. Chance took one more glance at his mother's grave before driving away, making her headstone grow smaller and smaller until it disappeared from our veiw.