Silence fluttered through the air as I hugged my knees to my chest, staring down at the floor. "Meta?" a muffled voice called, breaking the silence. I sighed, pushing myself up, I placed my sunglasses on my face and answered the door, crossing my arms, "Yeah?" I asked, staring at the Soon-to-be-King, and four newbies. "I wanted to introduce you to our newest students." Ben smiled, motioning to the four, "Guys, this is Meta Nalani, Dawn and Dusk's cousin." he began, "Meta, meet Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos De Vil." "Nice to meet you." I said, sparing a smile, "Same to you." Mal replied, "Go on ahead to your rooms, I've gotta talk to Meta real quick." Ben said, the four nodded and started off while Ben turned to me. 

"Hey..." he spoke softly, "Mm?" I hummed, "You're awfully quiet today.. something bothering you?" he asked, looking concerned, I shrugged, "I'm just tired." "You sure?" he asked, I nodded, "I'm fine, promise." "Alright, I'll see you later." he sighed, I smiled, "See ya."

As soon as I shut the door, my smile dropped, "Perfectly fine." I muttered, sighing heavily, I decided to take a shower and go to bed early.

*************

The next day I woke to my alarm blaring Monster by Skillet, tiredly, I pushed myself out of bed, grabbing my clothes for the day, I took a quick shower, dried, then dressed in a black tank, blue leather vest top, black jean shorts, black combat boots, and black arm warmers. I combed my fire-themed hair, put my sunglasses on, and left the dorms.

"Meta!" two voices called, I looked towards the source, seeing Dawn, Dusk, and the V.K.'s sitting at a table eating breakfast, I walked over, "Morning." I greeted, sitting across from Dawn, beside Carlos, "Morning." they greeted back, "Not gonna eat?" Dusk asked, "I ate before my morning run." I answered, he nodded, "I see." "I heard from Audrey that you're quitting cheer and committing to gymnastics." Dawn piped up, I nodded, "Yeah.. cheer's not my thing, and I've got a lot of practice if I'm gonna win nationals." "What's nationals?" Mal asked, all four V.K.'s looking confused, "Oh.. Nationals is a huge competition where the best of the best go to compete for the Title of Best Gymnast of the Year." Dawn explained, Dusk nodded, "It's gonna be Meta's tenth time winning this year." "If I win." I replied, the Dusk gave me a look, "When you win, you're like the best gymnast out there." he said, I shrugged, "I dunno, there's gonna be a lot of competition, over 400,000 gymnasts made it into nationals this year." "You're gonna do you're best, that's all that matters." Dawn assured, I spared a small smile, "I've got practice, see ya later."

*************

"One more round, Meta." Coach Jennings shouted, I nodded, taking a deep breath, finding the courage to attempt part of my planned routine, a part that I'm barely pulling off, which is 1.5 twisting krovacs + the full twisting triple back-flip off high bar. "Gonna make me wait all day?" Coach asked, "Sorry coach." I sighed, "You can do it, Meta!" a familiar voice shouted, Couch and I looked over, seeing Ben, Mal, Evie, Jay, Dusk, Dawn, and Carlos, a smile found it's way onto my lips, "Ready?" Couch asked, I nodded, "Ready." she blew her whistle, I bolted down the mat, jumping onto the high bar and pulling off the first half, next thing I know, I'm flipping through the air, and sticking the landing. My chest rattled as I grinned, "That's all for the day, great job Meta." Couch chuckled, "That.. was... awesome!" Dusk beamed, scooping me up and spinning me around, I laughed as he set me down, "You're definitely gonna win this year too." Ben smiled, patting my damp hair, "That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" Carlos grinned, bouncing up and down in excitement, "Thanks guys." I smiled, a warm feeling bubbling in my chest, "I'm gonna go shower." "We'll meet you in the dining hall." Dawn said, I nodded and headed to the girls locker room.

[Jay's P.O.V.]

"You alright there, Jay?" that beautifully soft voice asked, I pulled my beanie up, "Yep, just waiting for you, beautiful." I smirked, she kept a blank expression, "Uh-huh.. let's head to dinner." she said, holding out a hand, I grasped it, letting her help me up. I realized how much taller I am compared to her, she pulled away and picked up a black and purple backpack.

"So.. why'd you wait?" she asked, fixing her sunglasses as she slung the bag over her shoulder, "Need some advice." I answered, she raised a brow, "On what?" "I've got a friend who's got a crush on a guy, and he needs some relationship advice. Since I'm more of a ladies man, I figured I could get some help from you." I explained, she nodded, "Alright, who's the guy?" "Dawn." I answered, she hummed, "Well... Dawn is a closeted bisexual, and he's pretty sensitive due to unpleasant past relations." "What do you mean?" I asked, she frowned, "One of his ex's was pretty abusive, verbally, physically... sexually..." she trailed, her hair and eyes bursting into flames, "...Let's just say they weren't together much longer after I found out." "I don't blame you." I replied, feeling pissed off myself.

"My advice, just be patient with him, he's insecure, and often apologizes when he thinks he fucked up. He's going through a lot of stuff. If he's acting off, cuddles, a warm blanket, and chocolate chip cookies often do the trick in calming him down and getting him to talk to you." I nodded, "I know you're not a bad guy, Jay, and I know you'll treat him right, but I can't help but being protective, I am Dawn's older cousin, so.. if you hurt him..." she trailed, sparing a scarily sweet smile, "It won't end well." I tensed, shivers ran down my spine, "U-Understood." I stuttered out, she nodded contently, "Well then, I give you my blessing."

The two of us walked into the loud dining hall, finding my cousins, Ben, and the other V.K.'s sitting at a table. Jay and I walked over after getting our own food, Jay sat beside Dawn while I sat beside Evie. Awkward silence filled the air as everyone stared at Jay and I, "What?" Jay asked, I tilted my head in confusion, "Nothing~" Dusk and Mal sang, Evie tapped my shoulder, "Could I talk to you for a moment?" she asked, I nodded, "Sure." she smiled and got up, motioning me to follow, confusion bubbled in my chest as I caught a glimpse of nearly everyone at the table smiling a weird way, saving Jay and Dawn who looked confused.

Evie shut the door behind us and smiled warmly, "I was wondering.. if you wanted to go out sometime, like a date?" she asked, pink dusting her cheeks. I tilted my head, taking a moment to process the question, as soon as it clicked, my entire face was bright red, "It's okay if you don't have an answer for me yet, you can just forget it if you want to." she said, starting to go into the cafeteria once more. Without thinking, I grasped her sleeve, she looked down at me, "I-I'm sorry.. I'd love to g-go out on a date with you." I stuttered, more heat rising to my face as I looked down, "Are you free Saturday?" she asked, I nodded, not trusting my nervous voice, she chuckled and kissed the top of my head, "Shall we go back and finish dinner?" she asked, I mumbled out a "Y-Yeah."

Ben, Dusk, and Mal smirked as we sat back down at the table, "What did you talk about?" Dusk mused, leaning forwards, "Gymnastics." Evie lied, taking a sip of water, I nodded in agreement, sinking my teeth into a piece of cherry cake. They're gonna tease the hell outta us.