One

When you fall in love, everything about that person seems perfect. Their eyes, the way they snort when they laugh, the way they play their video games so intently, when they tell you they love you and their nose crinkles, the way they cry secretly because they're too "macho" to cry in front of a girl and the list is endless. You're blinded by the distorted image of this person and your world seems to spin when you're around them. You'd do everything for them and you have no doubt that they'd do everything and anything for you. Until one day you're best isn't good enough, and this distorted image of reality comes slapping you in the face. You feel like you can't breath, you can't speak, you can't face the reality of what's in front of you. You'd rather die. You try to die. Your world comes crashing down...
••• one year ago •••
"Brooke let's go! Were gonna be late!" my best friend Makena screamed from the top of the stairs. Cheer tryouts were today. The day I had dreaded from the second the idea had slipped from Makena's slimy little mouth.
She had been on cheer since our very first year at Hilcrest High. She was captain last year so she was a shoe-in this year and some how I got dragged into trying out.
My forte was volleyball though. I loved the smell of a freshly waxed gym, the sound of skin contacting the leather as the ball sailed across the net, the feeling of pure joy as you celebrated the game winning spike. So how I got dragged into this is beyond me.
"I'm coming," I yelled begrudgingly back as I grabbed the bow off my bed and slapped on a prize winning smile. I crawled the stairs as slow as I could when reality finally hit me that this was happening. What I saw when I emerged was a scene out of a whole new kind of horror movie; my mom in full uniform, camera in hand. "HONEY!" she screeched loud enough for everyone in our neighborhood to hear. "I can't believe this is happening! Makena, look how beautiful my little baby is!" She was sobbing hysterically at this point.
"Mom, I told you I would try out FOR YOU if you let me stay on the volleyball team as well! Remember?" I asked, trying to break up the sobbing. "Oh honey. You don't really wanna stay with dirty, stinky volleyball do you?!" She replied. "Yes I do actually. And if you can't respect that, I will turn around and not go try out at all." She was silent. "Okay," she said after awhile. "I can accept that!" And with that the picture snapping began.
Just as Makena and I were walking out of the door, my dad burst through. He's an orthopedic surgeon- highest rated in western Washington- so he was on call 24/7. "Wow," he exclaimed. "Look at my baby girl all grown up! I can't believe you're a sophomore!" He was fully sobbing now.
After what seemed like a billion pictures, we were finally on our way.
"Dude! Are you so excited or what? You're gonna love it! I promise! When I tried out..." Makena was still yacking, but I had zoned out. She was my best friend but God she could be such an airhead sometimes! The only thing calming my nerves and the desire to throw up, was that I had volleyball practice right after tryouts. Tomorrow was the big game against Dixie High, and I knew that if I could get my 20 kills today in practice that I would be starting. I would be the first sophomore in Hilcrest history to start a varsity game.
I was snapped back to reality when the car jerked to a stop.
"You okay? You've been silent this whole ride." Makena asked.
"Yeah! Sorry just super nervous. Don't know how badly I want to be doing this." I almost scoffed, not offensively but in a questioning way.
"It's in your blood." Makena looped her arm through mine and drug me into the gym.
Why was I here? All these girls were completely different than me. They were the ones that would grow up to have way to much plastic surgery, be the annoying mom at the football games, and spend WAY too much money on their children. Madeline Roberts was the queen of them all, and there she was, in the middle of the gym in all her w***e-ish glory. Her nasally voice penetrated through the murmur of the groups of nervous girls around the gym- "Line up!!"
I hurriedly jumped next to Makena. She grabbed my hand and whispered a good luck. Madeline and Jessica-both secretaries of last years senior captains-passed out numbers and pins to each girl. By some miracle, I got my lucky number, 22. I flashed it at Makena and her smile was infectious.
Suddenly, I almost got excited to be trying out. I was never super popular in school, barely skimming above the radar. I had never had a boyfriend, I had never been to a dance, I had barely been to a party-so how I ended up with a best friend like Makena was unheard of.
I also knew that this was meant to be when I was called to perform the routine with Makena, pretty much assuring I was on the team, since she was a returner and all the other newbies were ended up together.
Standing in the center of the court my adrenaline was running. I swear my heart was about to jump out of my chest. I felt like my mind was going blank. The music blasted and my memory was seemingly jogged. I performed the routine flawlessly and I gave Makena a huge hug as soon as the music stopped. I knew we had nailed it! The applause from the gym echoed from the sudden burst of noise. I turned around to a standing ovation not only from Madeline and Jessica, but also from the woman who's opinion was truly the only opinion- the coach Jennifer Christensen.

Reviews

[MoriartyMesa]

Now I do like the 'leap frog' approch to the subject of happiness. Which as a reader I find this person happy with the mirror image of a perfect life starts to focus of reality while still leaving the reader wanting more. In so many ways this music should accompany it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR3Vdo5etCQ

[Kenzie]

If you view my chapter, please leave a comment. I'm looking for ways to improve my writing and really, anything will help! I know right now it seems shallow and superficial, but the story will get somewhere. I just have to set up the background of the story and set up the characters. Ultimately, it's a "sexual assault survival story"; it's something very near to my heart, and I really want to make this the best I can! If you have questions, comments, ANYTHING feel free to shoot me a message or comment. Anything will help! Thank you for viewing!!