Chapter 4: the Aftermath - Lala

I’m running late this morning and hoping that Spin has forgotten about me already. But as I’m slipping my boots on, I get a text telling me he’s outside. Well, I guess my hair is staying down today!

He’s parked right outside the door in his flashy sports car, and I’m thankful that he stays in it and that my foster parents left for work thirty minutes ago! When I get in, I’m hit with the pleasant scent of his cologne. I know it’s Very Sexy by Victoria's Secret, which is odd for the biker king, but I say nothing!

He’s wearing dark denim jeans and a black tee under his leather jacket. As I settle into the seat he says, “morning beautiful”. I tried my best to ignore him while trying to figure out how to get the seat of his fancy car to lay back a little. “Tired”?!

I nod and admit, “I need caffeine”! He pulls into the Starbucks and sweeps his hand in front of him indicating for me to order. I lean across him to make sure they can hear me and order my Trenta Mango Dragon Fruit… That should be enough to keep me going for a few hours! He orders an Americano, boring! I tell him “thanks”, as he hands me my drink, then I chug it down greedily. He pulls the drink back from me and takes a sip from it. I glared at him. Don’t ever separate this girl from her caffeine, even if you paid for it!

“Pretty good”, he admits as he hands it back. Jerk! When we pull up to the school parking lot, he pulls into a spot and gets out. What the fuck?! He opens the car door for me and helps me out from the low seated position, and everyone is watching us as we walk toward the school with his arm draped over me. Meme catches up and loops her arm with mine, as Travis stares me down from where his car is parked… The nerve of him to be angry right now. You created life with someone and had it killed. I’m just walking here!

The closer we get to the school building, the bigger the crowd around me has gotten. There are now four guys wearing the same jackets as Spin standing around us. When we’re just outside the rear entrance, he grabs my chin and turns my gaze to him, “what time are you out of here”?

“Four, I have cheer practice after school”, I tell him.

“If I’m not here, Gabe drives you home”, he says as he points to the guy next to me whose jacket says Prince on the back of it between the shoulder blades.

“Meme can take me”, I reminded him.

“I take care of what’s mine”, he says before pecking me in front of everyone watching. Did he really just kiss me?! Ooo’s and awww’s can be heard in the background, and I pushed his hand away in embarrassment. I continue inside with the four guys surrounding Meme and me, and the crowd before us parts effortlessly, letting us through without a fuss. What kind of odd black magic do these strange individuals wield?!

I had no idea that I had at least one of these guys in every single class. Whoever has the next class takes my books from the previous guy, and they sit down next to me in the classroom each time! In the few classes I have with Travis, he tries to get near me but gets thwarted by whichever of the four guys is in the room with me.

Three of the four guys have the same lunch, so they squeeze in around me between the other cheerleaders I sit with. The girls are uncomfortable at first, but by the middle of the lunch period, they’re all laughing and getting along. Gabe accompanied me to the line, and this is where Travis decides to corner me.

“You slept with him?”, he barks in the middle of the cafeteria.

“Slept with who? I’ve never had sex before, remember?” I retorted back. Meme gets out of her seat and approaches me with the other two guys, Chris and Mike, at least that's what I think their names are.

“The biker king, he said you slept together Friday night. You're telling me he’s lying”, he shouts as my face reddens. “Oh, so it’s okay for you to whore it up to a convicted felon you just met, but not your boyfriend”!

I start to tremble with anger and Gabe takes my tray from me. I think I see him pocket my receipt, but who cares! I step forward, getting closer to Travis, and say, “first of all, I've never had sex with Spin nor anyone else. Yes, I slept in his bed Friday night after almost drowning and he jumped into a freezing cold lake to save my life! Meme was there, asleep in the room too, nothing happened”. His face relaxed at my words, “don’t you dare for one second think that just because what really happened is not what you thought happened, that somehow means I still want to be with you! You and I, Travis Baker, are over, so you can continue dipping your joy toy, as you call it, into whomever you want to. Oh, and the abortion your parents forced some poor girl into, so I wouldn’t find out about it, guess what?! I know about it”!

“Who told you?”, he asks, not even trying to deny it!

“What does it matter?” I asked him. “You’re a fucking pig and have the audacity to try and confront me about sleeping in someone else’s bed after nearly drowning when you’re the one actually screwing around”?

“So that’s it then? You want to be a biker bimbo”, he retorts, causing me to lose all self-control and smack him across the face before walking away.

“By the way”, I hear Gabe tell him as Travis caresses his slapped cheek. “She is not being primed to be a broad, she is going to be our queen”! What the fuck did he just say? I glare back at Gabe, who shrugs before putting my tray down.

I eat my lunch, avoiding the gazes of everyone as they continue carrying on with the biker boys surrounding me. Meme squeezes my knee under the table and I nod, letting her know I’m fine… And I am, I think!

The remainder of the day continues in the same way. The guys carrying my stuff, sitting next to me, blocking anyone from speaking to me! When the day ends, I find relief in the girl’s locker room, where they can’t go! I’m sitting on the floor with my back up against the cool tile wall when Jessica, the other co-captain, squats down in front of me. “You okay?”, she asks and I just nod. “I’m happy for you, getting away from that clown! We all tried to tell you, so I’m glad that whoever got through to you finally got through to you”.

She stands up and offers me her hand to help lift me back to my feet. I take it, and I’m pulled up in one smooth thrust. “That’s all good and everything, but cheer girls belong with the jocks. Couldn’t you have just picked another one, even on a different team?” Diana asks me.

“You know, I was never into anyone else before Travis. I thought he was different. Maybe that’s the problem, they aren’t, so I have to pick something different”, I defend!

“So you pick a criminal?”, asks Jennifer.

“What makes him a criminal?” I asked her.

“He just got out of jail last year for armed robbery I think”, she retorts. “Do you seriously not know anything about him”?

“I just met him Friday night, and he jumped into a freezing lake to save me from drowning. I hardly think someone willing to do that could really be that bad”, I answered.

“I guess not, but one good deed doesn’t undo the many wrong ones he’s done before you”, she tells me. Well, she’s got a point there… One point for Jennifer, zero for Lala!

“Guys”, says Meme. “It’s really none of our business! You don’t hear Lala judging how at every away game we get invited to, you sneak into a different jock’s room for the night, Jennifer. Nor do you hear her talking about your thing for giving the winning team’s captain a blowjob Dia. And I fuck anything with a hard dick, so I really have no room to judge”, she says while they all stare back at her. “It’s time for practice, so let’s get done what we came here to do”!

“I was just saying she could have picked anyone other than a grease monkey”, says Jessica under her breath.

“Not for nothing, that grease monkey dropped her off in a million dollar car”, says Diana. “Maybe she has a good point! I get that sports stars make paper and drive fancy cars, but damn”!

We walked out of the locker room to the boys waiting just outside the door. Great, they’ve heard everything too! Gabe glances at me, assessing my mood, and I just shrug. The rest of practice goes by uneventfully, and when coach Mays blows the whistle dismissing us, I spot Spin sitting on the grass with the boys watching us. I dunno why this makes me so angry as I storm back into the locker room with the squad!

I changed quietly, and none of the girls said anything further about the biker king. I walked out the main door to Gabe and Mikey waiting. As we walked back to the parking lot, the other two guys joined us along with Spin. “Let’s get this over with”, I told him as I walked back to the car with him.

Gabe and the other three guys pile into a black SUV, then follow behind the car we’re in. “I need another shot of caffeine if I’m going to make it through my assignments tonight. Can you stop at Ready Coffee?” I asked him.

“Anything you want, beautiful”, he says and I scoff at him. “You doubt me”?

“Yep”, and I do doubt him.

“Try me”, he says.

“The freedom to choose whom I’m in a relationship with”, I say. He looks down with a pout on his face, my words effectively silencing him!

He pulls into the drive-through at the coffee stand and orders another boring-ass Americano and I order my iced Game On energy drink. “Do you even drink coffee?”, he asks curiously.

I shrug and say, “sometimes! But I only like the white chocolate peppermint mocha, which is a seasonal drink apparently”!

When we are back on the road he asks, “care to tell me about your change of heart”?

“Nope”, I tell him as I sip my drink. “It was hard enough living through my life the first time around, I don’t need to rehash the pain another time around while I explain it to you”. He stops in front of the door to my house and I tell him, “thanks for the caffeine boost”. I mean it, I can’t usually afford these luxuries! I gather my things and climb out of the car.

“Same time tomorrow beautiful”, he says as I wave him away when I really wanna flash him the finger. Annoying prick that he is!

I head right to my room and dive into my homework, sipping away at my drink. It’s nearly ten, and I haven’t heard from Travis or Spin. Maybe he had forgotten about me already! I have a message from Meme asking if I want to go to a sleepover with her on Friday… She sees the mess I’m in, really Meme?! I tell her to let me think about it, but it’s likely going to be a no. I can’t even get driven to school by her, so unless Spin is backing off, then I doubt it!

I finished my schoolwork and showered. My foster mother drops my laundry basket on my desk and tells me to put it away tomorrow, that it’s more important for a young girl to get her rest. When I sigh, she asks if anything is wrong and I deny that there is. She looks me over but doesn’t press the matter any further. I dress in comfy pajama pants and a tank top, then climb into bed and let exhaustion take over!