"Are you sure she's not at home or with your mom?" I questioned for the umpteenth time as I pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store.

I could hear Evan's worrisome voice say yes to my question and I groaned, leaning against the leather seat of my car as I looked around. It was so uncharacteristic of Erin to just suddenly disappear without telling anyone, and even if she did, shouldn't she have her phone with her?

"Well, I'll keep an eye out," I told him, grabbing the phone that was placed down when my hands were still occupied with the wheel, "I'll call if you something happens."

Who would have thought that the way for me to get his number was to lose his sister?

Staring at the 7-11 in front of me, I unbuckled my seatbelt, turned off the engine, and got out of vehicle. I stretched out since my muscles were aching, half because I was cramped in that car for some time now and half because I was still tired from practice.

Grabbing my phone and wallet from the inside, I closed the door and locked it before walking into the store. Looking around, I was greeted by the bored teenager standing at the counter as I breezed through him to go straight to the beverages.

The gears in my head were turning as I tried to think of a logical explanation to this. I scratched my head as I stared intensely at the lines of cold drinks currently hanging around in the fridge, the glass door providing me a good view.

Let's reevaluate the situation here – she was gone after gym. I checked up on her after I accidentally sent her to the ground and she seemed just fine. She was just casually talking to Gray like it was no problem.

Wait a minute, I left her with Gray and after that, no one has seen a glimpse of her. Now that I think of it, I haven't seen Gray for the rest of the school day as well.

"Oh my gosh!" I unintentionally yelled at the sudden realization moment, taking a step back.

A girl stepped in front of me and opened the fridge, grabbing one lemon flavor Arizona iced tea, "I know," she said as she closed it and turned to me, "I can't believe they're out of the green tea ones."

Forget the tea, I think I have a pretty good idea where to look for her now.

Gray, if I find out that you're sneaking off with that lamb, I'll freaking get my shotgun and hunt you down myself. I'm not going to weep and cry, if that's what you're thinking.

As the reason for my arrival here slipped out of my mind, I marched back into my car before pulling out of this parking lot. And now, I have solved the mystery of why she wasn't picking up her phone.

Before I started searching once again, I drove back to the school. Thankfully, the sun was still out there in the sky, giving me the assurance that I still have a bit of time. Running inside the building, I went straight to the gym before entering the student's locker room.

This place had a different locker room for ordinary students who has gym period and those who are part of the sports teams. The ones for general use didn't have a lock on them so their real purpose was just a place to keep your clothes in while you sweat out there.

I scanned each locker before my eyes darted on one that had a dark purple backpack in it. Reaching for it, I unzipped one of the pockets in search for an identification of whose is this.

Just like I suspected, one of the binders had the name Erin Matthews printed at the bottom right corner. I started rummaging through it and as I felt up a cold metal device, I pulled it out and examined her phone.

Should I?

When did I care whether I should or not?

Pressing the home button, it lit up and showed up her lockscreen. As I swiped it right, I cursed under my breath to see that it was locked.

I tried the usual ones: age, names, and such. Unfortunately, I got zero luck.

With a huff, I stuffed the phone back into the bag before I swung it over my shoulder and going back out. Alright, now we have her phone and other things – we can safely assume that she snuck out at the middle of a school day.

At the start, I was asking myself why in the hell am I putting so much effort into this? I mean, I'm supposed to be the blonde cheerleader who has this unexplainable hatred over her. But now, I have a reason. The thought that she's with Gray is just making a thousand unpleasant ideas run into my head.

And besides, that distraught expression of Evan's was engraved in my head. He was absolutely crestfallen, as he attempted to calm himself down as he explained the situation to me. His eyes were showing panic yet he willed himself to stand straight with a relaxed posture.

I don't know why in the world he's like that. Sure, they're siblings but I have always thought that they're closer than the norm. Nonetheless, I felt how much he cared and my heart swelled at the thought to the point that I couldn't just let him suffer alone.

He has a good relationship with her, something I can't have with any of my family members.

Just as I was about to call Evan about the backpack, I jolted in shock to see that he beat me to it. My phone started ringing and I saw his name flashed on my screen.

"She's back," he informed just as I slid inside the driver's seat.

Well, that was fast.

"That's great, but I have her bag that she left at school," I said, turning to buckle my seatbelt, "I can pass by your house if you want to."

"Oh yeah," he spoke, "She mentioned that she left her back with her phone in school that's why she couldn't be reached."

He gave me directions towards his house and as I went through the different stops and turns to their address, my head was already running wild again. I tried to repress those ideas until I can hear an explanation from them.

When a large house came into view, my eyebrows shot up. Sure, it's not as big as mine, but you could tell that they were well off. I then remembered, they were neighbors with that guy from the football team – and everybody knew he had the money.

From the looks of this neighborhood, practically everyone here has it and the Matthews are not an exception. One question though, from the night I met them, they said that they just moved here. Why?

Did their mom get a job transfer? Or is it something else?

Because I don't know about you, but I wouldn't move at the middle of the school year for nothing.

As I step in front of their front door, I rang the doorbell and waited patiently as her bag was hanging just a few inches of the floor as my hand lazily held it up.

"Clara!" Evan greeted the moment he opened the door. Bending down, he grabbed the bag from my hands and stepped aside to let me in, "Let us at least get you something to drink as a thank you."

"No need," I shook my head, "But I do think I want the whole story."

He nudged his head towards the inside, "Come in then."

Giving him a skeptical look, I stepped passed him and into their home. I glanced around, taking in the interior and observing my surroundings. Evan pointed me to the living room while he went upstairs to get his sister, the one girl I wanted to ask a million questions.

The living room was as normal as it can get – a fireplace with a flat screen hanging above it, several couches and seats placed in a way that they were close to each other and occupied a big area in the room, yet it still gave you space to move around, and of course, the massive collection of framed portraits scattered all around the room.

My gaze traveled through them and I found nothing out of the ordinary. There were pictures of the two siblings when they were still young, one with the two with their mother, and some other photos that showed their growth. My eyes then settled on a picture of a young Evan being carried by a man – someone who I presumed was his father.

There were several more photos of the two of them and some with the man and his mother. Just this fact made me create a theory in my brain, there was an abundance of the three, but not one of those family pictures with Erin. I don't want to assume about it right now though, not until I hear it from his own mouth. For now, I'll just bury the little thoughts inside my head until I find an appropriate time to mention it to him.

I heard footsteps from outside the room and I straightened up, waiting for them to enter through the doorway. When they did, I gave a curt nod to Evan before I noticed Erin's protective stance.

Body language, my dear, is everything.

He gestured for me to sit on the couch and I did, falling onto the pile of cushions, making me slightly sink into it. Evan sat one on of the other cushioned chairs as he made Erin sit right beside me.

Even though she looked hesitant, she muttered her words of gratitude, "Thank you so much for helping my friends and I'm sorry that I made you worry."

"I wasn't worried about you," I told her straight, crossing my legs, "I just gave your brother a helping hand."

She quickly glanced towards her brother who only shrugged in response, urging her to continue. She sighed before slumping down, "Anyways, after I went to the clinic, the nurse told me to go home. I was so focused on getting back that I forgot to get my bag. While I was here, I decided to do a quick run to the grocery store and that was when Evan came home with me outside."

So that's the whole story. Quite plausible, but I'm not entirely convinced, "What happened at the clinic?"

Her eyes widened as if she was a deer caught in the headlights, but she quickly shook her head before speaking, "I came in and the nurse gave me some medicine before letting me go."

"That's all?" my tone was starting to serve away from the civil one I was thinking of and it took every willpower in my body not to stand up and accuse her.

When she nodded her head rapidly, I got my answer. She refused to tell me that she bumped into Gray while she was in there, and for me, that was the thing that made her story of disappearance a lie.

Well, not totally, but it could be.

"I see..." I trailed, making sure my voice indicated that I was far from pleased with her explanation. Shooting up from my seat, I dusted off the imaginary dirt from my skirt and gave out an obviously fake smile, "I better go now. I have a date with my bathtub, my body's aching."

"Thank you again," Erin attempted once again to get back into my good graces, but right now, she's currently hanging by a thread when it comes to my civility in my attitude with her.

"Like I said, I didn't do it for you," I reminded before I walked out.

Just as I was, I could hear Evan's voice saying to his sister, "I'm telling you, she's not bad."

Honestly, the whole world can turn to me and I would still be happy as long as there's at least one person who believes in me.

And for now, I have two.

Do I consider Evan as a friend? Yes, because he believes me when I say that not everything that I do is out of evil.

Evan quickly caught up to me and he politely walked me back to me my car, sneaking a peek behind him, I checked if Erin was there and when I saw she wasn't, I looked back to Evan, "She's not really fond of me, isn't she?"

"I could say the same for you," he said, "I saw that glare."

I was expecting him to tell me off or something, but to my complete surprise, he reached down and opened the car door for me before speaking, "Give her a chance, her mind's really flooded right now."

That makes the two of us.

Getting inside, I waited for him to close the door but before he did, he bent down and offered me an assuring expression, "By the way, don't force yourself to do that flip."

"What?"

"If you keep falling, it's not because you're not skilled enough, but because your goal isn't in the right place," he told me, "You're thinking too much, shouldn't performing like that be natural?"

Pressing my cheek against my hand as I leaned onto the steering wheel, I gave him a smug smile, "When did the smartass know exactly what I needed to hear?"

Shrugging in response, he took a step back and closed the door.

Maybe he was right, I needed to relax because the more I pressured myself into doing it, the more I couldn't move on. While I was in the air, I overthink everything – will make it or not?

I was so concentrated on proving Vivian wrong that I pushed myself to practice every day in order to execute that triple flip successfully. If on the actual performance, I knew that I couldn't do it, I'll just do a double flip. If I can perfect it, the judges wouldn't know a thing.

But before all that, we have Gray's game. All eyes are going to be on the captain and I need to pull out all of my energy to keep the crowd going. First game of the season and this cheerleader is ready for it.

Though, he's still not entirely off the hook because of the happenings this day.

------------------

Happy advanced Valentine's Day, my loves. As someone who writes romance as a main hobby, I should say that this is a day to celebrate the sweet joy and happiness that love bring... but who are we kidding? Valentine's Day is just another shitty excuse for girls to demand over-expensive gifts from their boyfriends as the guys think it's a freaking competition to see who can get their girlfriend the most extravagant gift.

Yes, I'm cynical. 

But oh well, at least I got you guys.

Question: What will happen at the game?

If you follow me on twitter, you would know I started writing this at evening after a long school day and I left myself a note that went like this:

Oh the joy. Well, see you guys very soon. I love you all, don't forget to leave a comment, vote, and follow -- I'll think of them as the roses and chocolates from you guys haha. 

P.S. Like the new cover? Fits Clara more, don't you think?