It's been a few days since the cheerleading tryouts. Jack and I have had practice every night this week. The soccer team had a game this Friday and the whole squad was working round the clock to help all the new members prepare.

I was sitting at my desk, books and notebooks spread out all over, trying to concentrate on these Biology chapters. It wasn't going so well.

Ever since Vic gave me his number on Monday, we have been texting all day and night. And let me tell you, he was a very big distraction.

Vic was hilarious. He knew how to make me bust out laughing even with just text on a screen. We talked about how our days were going, the music we liked, the movies and shows we were watching, and just everything in between.

Talking to Vic was effortless. Talking to Vic was easy. However, the few times I'd seen him on campus I tended to shy away.

Even though we had gotten friendly with one another over text, there was something different about seeing him in person. He was just so gorgeous and I still felt like I didn't deserve to be talking to him. He always was surrounded by people, his laugh and personality were infectious, and clearly the entire campus was sick with infatuation with Vic.

And then there was the incident.

Over the phone, I could be my goofy and highly self. But in person, I was terrified that Vic would see past the smile in my eyes and right into my brain. And then he would try to bring up what had happened. Vic had kept his promise about not bringing it up during our texting conversation but I haven't allowed myself to speak with him in person yet. Who knows what he'd say?

When you're in front of someone, everything seems more real.

My phone dinged and I threw it on my bed, out of reach, so I could concentrate on my schoolwork.

I put my finger on the start of the paragraph and started the assigned reading.

My phone vibrated again.

I ignored it and continued through the chapter. Not even three words in my phone vibrated again. And again.

I groaned and stood up, reaching across my mattress, feeling around for where I tossed my phone. I finally found it and clicked the screen on.

4 Texts From Vic:

Hey Kellin, what's happening?

Kellin! Quick! What are your top 5 A Day To Remember songs? Ready, set, GO!!

3

2... 1... TIMES UP!

I rolled my eyes while feeling a smile creep onto my face, my fingers starting to punch away across my phones keypad.

I plopped back down in my desk chair and hit "send."

Me: Well I was trying to actually study for the thousandth time today until you decided to blow up my phone.

Vic: Excuse me for just trying to conduct a musical experiment for science.

Me: Yeah well I have my own science experiments to conduct. I have 10 pages of Biology reading to get done by tomorrow and you're distracting me.

Vic: Just tell your professor that you had extra cheerleading practice tonight to prepare for the game tomorrow. That always works for me.

Me: Mhm, unfortunately I don't think the professor will care that the newbie cheerleader who doesn't even know how they made the team, needed more practice time instead of doing their homework.

Vic: Hey! I for one am looking forward to seeing you cheer for us tomorrow.

I felt nerves starting to rumble in the pit of my stomach as I read Vic's text.

Me: Oh yeah? You're setting yourself up for disappointment. I don't even hold a candle to Jack.

Vic: Psh you have more rhythm than Jack. Plus, you two are the first boys to ever make the squad. It's cool.

Me: Ah yes, publicly humiliating myself in front of the entire school will definitely be cool.

Vic: Stop it you'll be great!

Me: I appreciate your confidence in me but I really do have to get back to studying.

Vic: Booooooooooo

Vic: Alright alright I'll leave you alone. See you tomorrow.

I set my phone down and ran my fingers through my dirty black hair. I had done a pretty good job at avoiding Vic this week but I won't be able to hide from him tomorrow. I quickly sat up and grabbed my phone.

Me: Oh and for science purposes...

1. If It Means A lot To You

2. The Downfall of Us All

3. Homesick (acoustic)

4. All Signs Point to Lauderdale

5. All I Want

Vic: 😍🙏🏻

I audibly groaned and tossed my phone back onto my bed. Jack sat up from his bean bag chair and looked over at me.

"I know what that groan means." Jack said.

"Oh you do? Enlighten me." I dropped my head onto my desk, my face squished against my book in defeat.

"That groan has Vic written all over it." Jack replied.

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner." I muttered against the book, my voice coming out all muffled.

"What did he do this time?" Jack asked, tossing a hacky sack back and forth.

"He's just adorable and funny and uses goddamn heart eye emoji's. And I know the heart eye emoji's are just being used to enhance the context of his text messages, but they make me feel a type of way and I don't like it." I rambled.

"Wow, I didn't know someone could be so passionate and so angry at the same time about heart eye emoji's." Jack laughed.

"God I want Vic to look at me with heart eyes." I grumbled against the textbook that my face was still squished up against.

"Well I would bet my entire CD collection, that Vic will give you all the heart eyes after the soccer game tomorrow." Jack said.

"Yeah totally. Vic is going to see me in my ridiculous cheerleading outfit from across the stadium...then he'll leave his gorgeous and tall blonde love interest for me as he dashes across the field into my arms." I groaned with sarcasm.

"Not with that attitude he won't. Also, you look hot in your cheerleading outfit so don't even start with me." Jack answered.

I pushed the chair back from the desk and stood up. I started rummaging through my dresser drawers before fishing out a dark green and silver glittery outfit.

"Glitter Jack! I can't pull off glitter." I exclaimed and held the outfit up against my torso.

The tank top was a dark hunter green with silver accents and had a huge rhinestone covered "M" emblazoned across the chest. The shorts had the same color scheme and design as the top. The hem of the shorts were a different story; they hit above my thighs just barely covering my butt.

"And why did you have to cut the shorts?" I said to Jack.

"Because they were way too long! They looked like something out of the 1800's, like pioneer men or some shit. We didn't join the squad for fun, we joined it for the gay community and we can't let the community down by wearing ugly shorts. That isn't helping anyone." Jack rattled off.

"But If I bend over, my entire butt will be exposed!" I tossed the outfit back in my dresser drawer.

"Yeah and then Vic's jaw will be on the floor in awe." Jack retorted.

"More like disgust." I snapped and jumped up on my bed.

"Kellin! What did I say about that self deprecating energy?" Jack exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes, "You said to stop doing it."

"Exactly. There is no reason why Vic wouldn't like you. So there is no point in saying negative things about yourself. And if for some reason Vic doesn't like you, then I will kick his ass." Jack said proudly.

I laughed and smiled at him, "Thanks for having my back Jack, you're a real friend. But I'm going to hold you to that tomorrow, you gotta have my back if I fall on my face during our cheer routine."

"It would be my pleasure, my dude." Jack responded and pulled the covers up over himself.

Jack reached over and clicked off the lamp on his bedside table.

"Goodnight Kellin! Tomorrow is going to be THE best day." Jack smiled and rolled over, facing the wall.

"Night Jack." I replied before laying back on my pillow.

I was absolutely dreading having to finally face Vic tomorrow. And in that god awful cheerleading uniform to top it all off. I clicked on my phone to set my alarm and saw that I had a new text from Vic.

Vic: I hope you were able to finish your Biology homework. Also, If It Means A Lot To You is my favorite ADTR song too. Night Kellin! :)

Why do you have to be so cute Vic? I thought to myself before shoving my earbuds in and searching for "If It Means A Lot To You" before drifting off to sleep.

////////

My classes went by in a complete blur. I was stuck in my own head the entire day, my nerves growing as each hour ticked by, getting closer to the big game. Jenna and Oli were just as excited as Jack was. At lunch they showed us the huge banner they made with our names and faces on it, they planned on waving around during the game.

I appreciated how supportive my friends were but as their excitement grew for tonight, mine diminished. The thought of performing a cheerleading routine in front of the entire school made me sick. The thought of seeing Vic see me make a fool out of myself, made me want to lock myself in my room and never come out.

I trudged through the dorm and slipped off my shoes, dropping my backpack to the ground. I glanced at the clock and noticed I only had about thirty minutes to get changed before I had to be at the soccer stadium.

All of a sudden the door whipped open as Jack waltzed in wearing just his towel.

"Ay Kellin! Are you ready to rumble?!" Jack yelled into his fist pretending it was a microphone.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I gave Jack a half smile.

Jack grabbed the crumpled up uniform from my drawer and threw it at me.

"Put this on and let's get going! We're going to become heartthrobs tonight!" Jack grinned.

I turned around to face the wall as I reluctantly began undressing to pull on the ridiculous cheerleading uniform. I looked in my mirror and felt my face scrunch up as I took in the sight before me.

I swiveled on my heels back and forth in the mirror. The structured tank top hugged my chest in a decently looking way. The shorts were pretty short, if I bent over too far I'd definitely flash the crowd. However, if I kept myself standing up straight, the outfit actually didn't look that bad. I tucked a strand of dark hair, the blonde finally completely gone, behind my ear.

Jack walked into my view as he stood beside me, looking into the mirror. He was wearing the same uniform as me except he rolled up the hem of his tank top so his hips and belly button were showing. He pulled a green sweatband from his back pocket and pulled it down over his messy brown and blonde hair.

"We got this bro. Say it with me... 'I am an icon.'" Jack smiled and shook me by my shoulders.

"I am an icon." I muttered quietly.

"I can't hear you..." Jack replied in a sing song tone.

"I am an icon!" I said a little louder and forced a smile.

"That a boy! Let's go!" Jack grabbed my arm pulling me through the door as he grabbed our sets of pom poms off his desk and tossed mine at me.

We made our way to the soccer stadium's locker rooms and greeted our fellow squad members, while Cami and Amanda went over how tonight was going to go.

Once the stadium was full of students, families, and faculty, we were to assemble in the center of the field in two rows. When the team came out, they were going to run in between us as we shook our pom poms, cheering them on. Then we'd take our place in the center of the field in front of the Home bleachers, where we'll go through the rotations of our cheers.

I heard the announcer's voice boom as he began to introduce the coaches and the statistics of both teams.

"Alright squad! The time is now! Remember, keep those pom pom shaking and those smiles beaming! You're all going to make Amanda and I proud!" Camile squeaked in excitement as she began to lead us from the locker rooms.

I fell in line behind Jack, as our new friends Austin, Justin, and Tay followed in suit.

As we entered the field, the stadium lights blasted my eyes with the most intense brightness I had ever felt. The crowd cheered and cheered for us as we walked towards the center. My eyes scanned the bleachers until they found Oli and Jenna waving the banner they had made and screaming mine and Jacks names. I waved back at them and smiled. Feeling suddenly a lot calmer.

The rest of the cheerleaders lined up across one another in two straight lines. I stood beside Jack feeling my legs starting to turn the jello. The music roared and the announcer began listing off the names of the players one by one.

As the first few players came running out, the squad started cheering and yelling in support, twirling their pom poms and jumping up and down. I felt my nerves start to melt away as each player emerged and I began to get in my own groove.

That was until I heard the announcer start to speak that one name that hadn't left my brain all week.

"And now..... our star player....our team captain....VIC FUENTES!" The announcer yelled and the crowd went absolutely nuts.

I felt my heart flutter the moment I saw Vic emerge from the dark tunnel. I watched his eyes as they adjusted to the bright light. He waved to the crowd and started jogging towards the rows of cheerleaders. His eyes instantly locked with mine and his mouth turned into the biggest smile. His smile was even brighter than the stadium lights as he jogged through the row towards me.

I held my breath as I felt myself starting to smile back at him.

He walked directly up to me and stopped, raising his eyebrows as I felt his eyes scan me up and down. I couldn't breathe as Vic looked into my eyes and gave me a little bow before running over to join his teammates.

I watched him put his arms around his teammates shoulders as they gathered into a huddle.

Jack nudged me and started pretending to swoon and fan himself, clearly indicating he saw the exchange between Vic and I.

I rolled my eyes and glanced back over to Vic. He peeked over his shoulder and shot me another heart melting smile. I bit my lip and smiled back at him, giving him a small wave before I felt Jack pull me towards the sidelines.

"Was that not a heart melting smile or what?" Jack whispered.

"Psh no, we're friends." I shrugged it off even though the feeling in my stomach was saying something much different.

The squad started breaking into one of our signature cheers as the game began, snapping me from my thoughts.

As I went through the motions of the cheers, my eyes subconsciously tried to find Vic during the entire game. It was nearing the end and we were down by only one point.

I watched Vic as he dashed down the field, stealing the ball from one of the other teams players. I shot up and started cheering even louder for him, shouting his name in unison with the rest of the squad.

Vic stopped with his foot on the ball and was about to line his shot when he must've heard me cheering for him because he paused, and smiled right at me.

I was about to grin back when another teams' player came out of nowhere and rammed into Vic's legs, knocking him onto the ground. I gasped and had to stop this impulse of running onto the field to help him.

I watched Alex run over to Vic and help pull him up off the ground. Alex put his arm around Vic's shoulder as he walked Vic from the field, Vic struggling to walk as he limped away.

Before I could even process what happened, the crowd erupted into screams as Jaime shot and scored the winning goal for our team. The entire squad started jumping up and down celebrating our win.

I looked at Jack and he nodded in agreement. He knew where I wanted to go.

I took off towards the soccer locker rooms to try and find Vic. I don't know why I felt so strongly about finding him but when I watched him fall and get hurt, something inside of me went off. I needed to make sure he was ok.

I felt the heavy grass underneath my feet and I ran across the field and into the boys' locker room.

"Vic? Alex? Are you guys in here?" I called out.

"Kellin is that you? We're over here." I heard Alex's voice sounding surprised.

I turned the corner and found Vic laying on a gurney as a nurse was finishing bandaging his leg. I felt my body tense up as I looked at his hurt leg. He sat up immediately when he saw me enter the room and smiled at me.

"The first night of you absolutely killing it on the cheerleading squad and I completely wipe out." Vic laughed.

I felt my breathing starting to get back to normal as Vic spoke, knowing that he was in fact ok.

"Hey, you were doing great until that asshole hit you for no reason." I spoke.

"Eh it was my own fault for letting myself get distracted." Vic's tone suddenly softened as I watched him look down at his hands.

I glanced over at Alex and watched him look to Vic, then back at me, then back at Vic. I watched his eyes lit up as if something clicked in his mind.

"Ahh. I'm going to head back to our room. Kellin, do you mind making sure Vic gets home alright?" Alex asked.

"Uh, uh yes. Yes, of course I can do that." I answered and gave Alex a small nod as he grinned at me and gave me a thumbs up before slipping out of the room.

I sat on the bench next to Vic and looked up at him.

"I'm really glad you're alright. Is it broken?" I asked, gesturing towards his leg.

"It's not broken thankfully, but that means I can't wear a cast so it'll probably take longer to heal. And I'll need to use crutches." Vic spoke.

"Does it hurt?" I whispered, looking up at him.

The look on Vic's face said it all and I felt horrible.

"Yeah it does. But seriously, I'll be ok. It was worth it." Vic shrugged, looking away from me.

"What was worth it?" I asked, confused.

"Seeing you in that uniform, smiling at me from across the field. Seeing you smile is worth all the broken bones in my body." Vic whispered shyly and met my eyes.

I felt my heart stop. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I didn't know what to say to the second part of his sentence so I focused on the first.

"Oh god... this uniform...I feel ridiculous in it." I brushed it off and rolled my eyes.

"You absolutely do not look ridiculous." Vic answered almost immediately.

"You look better in your uniform." I said boldly as I looked directly at him.

I watched Vic as his eyes searched mine. His mouth turned up in a small corner smile and he shook his head gently.

"What?" I asked, noticing his slight head shake. Vic paused before answering.

"You just... you're something special, Kellin." Vic answered before sitting up and slowly swinging his legs over the side of the gurney.

I looked up at him speechless.

"Could you maybe help me walk home?" Vic asked.

"Oh. Yes! Duh. Let me get your crutches." I answered, grabbing the crutches that were resting against the wall behind me.

I handed them to Vic who grabbed ahold of the handles. I put his arm around my shoulder, my breath hitching at our sudden closeness. I let him lean his weight on mine as I helped him steady his balance on his good foot, helping him slide off the gurney.

I put my arm around Vic's waist as I helped him take a few steps out of the locker room. I kept my grip tight, guiding him along the cement pathway until he became comfortable with how to use the crutches.

As we made our way towards our dorm building Vic stopped and looked at me.

"Do you want to come over tomorrow?" He asked.

"Like to hangout? Maybe watch a movie, listen to music?" He added.

I stared back at his big, warm chocolate brown eyes as the cold autumn breeze made his cheeks pink.

"Yes." I answered, putting my arm back around his waist as I helped him jump up the two steps that lead to our building's front door.

"I'll text you tomorrow morning." Vic smiled another huge smile before turning slowly on his one good foot and hobbling off down the hall.

"I can't wait!" I called out softly and turned towards my door, closing it behind me and falling on my bed in a bundle of absolute excitement, nerves, disbelief, and butterflies.

Not even caring that I had just fallen asleep still in my cheerleading uniform.

For now, I one hundred percent adored this uniform.

________Author's Note_____________

Eeeee how're we feeling about this chapter?

I can't stop gushing over how cute and sweet Vic is to Kellin.

Are we excited about their first hangout session?!

Also I can totally picture Vic being horrible at walking with crutches for some reason. I hope everyone is having a lovely evening and I hope this chapter was worth the wait.

Reminder to pleaseeee vote for this chapter if you enjoyed it! Thanks friends!