Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Zoe, Layla and Alison were sitting in the middle of the gym audience cheering for Rob. Together with the other players, they passed and dribbled the ball to one another and finally one player attempted to shoot into the ring earning another score for Fairview High, the crowd cheered as their school basketball team earned another point with the current score of 55 to 41. They were playing against another local school, Westin High. Rob was one of the most valuable players in the team, with him earning numerous points from his countless shots. During half time, the cheerleaders were doing their routine cheering for their respective schools. Once the half time was over, the cheerleaders cleared back to their seats, Alison noticed two cheerleaders walked towards Jason who was seated in the front row together with his football teammates. One of the girls sat closely beside Jason and leaned in even closer whispering something in his ears who seemed not to mind the close proximity between them which made Alison perplexed at the scene. She could hardly focus on the game when there sat a girl in her mini skirt cheerleading outfit, flirting, touching, laughing with Jason right in front of her and he even seemed to enjoy her company, laughing along with her.

Ugh! What do you expect, Alison? He's obviously just like any other guys. Why should you feel the slightest bit of content thinking that he'd treat you anything special! It's just a meaningless kiss! Stupid!

Alison scowled without realizing that Layla noticed where her attention was directed. Unable to withstand the sickening sight, she decided to leave the gym in the middle of an on-going game where Layla followed right behind her. Jason noticed the two girls who stood, excusing their way out from the disturbed and annoyed audience. Layla caught up with Alison and tried to confront her in the empty hallway.

"What's wrong?" Layla asked.

"Nothing. Just need to go to the bathroom."

"I saw the look on your face the way you're looking at Jason and the girl back there." Layla added but Alison stayed quiet, not knowing how to respond.

"You like him." She stated.

"I don't... like him, Layla. He's... Jason."

"If you say so. You know... I've known him for a long time and he's actually a great guy, really, he just... have gone through some difficult stuff, I guess." Layla uttered concerning both Jason and Alison.

"Yeah? Well, he is a nice person and we're just friends." Alison emphasized and walked towards the bathroom. Layla and Alison went back to the gym and without realizing Alison stole another glimpse towards Jason, noticing the two cheerleaders were not there anymore. Thankfully, she could continue to focus on the game, gave her full support to Rob. The game ended with Fairview High earning the trophy.

"Congrats Rob! You were great!" Everyone praised him.

"Congratulations! You were amazing! I knew you'd win the game." Loraine gave him a peck on the lips and held his hands. They continued to celebrate the win over ice cream which was located near the school.

"I feel that  you guys deserve an ice cream, for the football win, for Jason's rock climbing and for Rob's basketball win. I didn't know I have such amazing athlete friends. Cheers guys!" Layla raised her ice cream in the air after her mini speech.

"Yeah thanks for the treat Cuz! Your focus determines your reality as Master Qui-Gon would say." Corey held a triple scoop of mint, Belgian chocolate and mocha ice cream on the cone.

"Seriously Corey, triple scoop? You're so cheap." Zoe commented holding a cone of double scoop strawberry and mango sorbet ice cream.

"Greed can be a very powerful ally." Shane replied also holding a triple scoop of ice cream.

"Seriously, what's with the quotes? Where do you quote it from anyway?" Zoe exasperated not having a clue on what they were talking about.

"Star Wars. Don't you guys watch it? It's like one of the best movie series ever!" Alison added holding a single scoop of cookies and cream ice cream. They ate and debated which movie series were better, Star Wars, Harry Potter or Avengers which was still open for discussions.

"Christmas is around the corner. Do you guys have any plan for the holiday?" Layla asked.

"I'll be going to my grandparents' house." Zoe sighed.

"Back to Indonesia?" Layla asked.

"Nope. Time to visit my mom's side of the family. Gosh I miss Martabak." She sighed.

"You'll survive. I'll be going to my grandparents' house too, but I'll be back before New Year's Eve." Rob said.

"I'll be busy working. I already promised my mom that I'll try to start... to be a good daughter and earn money." Alison paused involuntarily and continued when Jason gave her a questioning look.

"Where'd you be working?" Jason asked a simple yet difficult and too complicated to answer.

"Studio. Just helping around. What about you?" She quickly diverted.

"Just here. Dad will be going away so it's just you and me, huh?" Jason replied nodding at Loraine who pouted.

"Well, you guys can come to my place for Christmas dinner if you want. My parents usually have open house during Christmas for friends and families. You're more than welcome to join since it might just be me and my parents here, this year." Alison offered to the group.

The last day of school finally arrived, Alison was glad that she had survived halfway through the year in this new school, without much hassle, surviving high school and even made a few great friends along the way. She was most proud that she was able to help Anna get through the days as well. The least she could do was standing up for her, at least she owes it to herself. Although sometimes she still had her doubt and anxiety from her past, she tried her best to move on, as long as the past remained in the past.

"I'm going to miss you! Don't have too much fun when I'm not around, you hear me!" Zoe exclaimed hugging Layla and Alison dreading to leave them to visit her grandparents.

"Don't need to pout. Who knows you might meet handsome new neighbor or a certain hunk from your cousin's friend? Endless possibilities my friend." Layla tried to cheer her sulking friend.

"Just like the movies, huh? I don't think so. We're living in the real world here. But just in case, I'll still bring cute clothes though." She smug.

"Stop!" Anna yelled from afar picking up the papers that were scattered on the floor. The Bratz were clearly there. Ivy pointing and berating her intensely while Amber and Mia watched.

"Hey!" Alison yelled from where she was, rushing towards them. They looked up and cursed once they saw who had called out.

"What do you think you're doing!" Alison berated, furious to why they would not stop bothering this girl.

"We're just wishing her happy holiday but she's so clumsy to drop her papers." Ivy explained innocently.

"I don't need anything from you." Anna responded, she finally fought back and stood for herself. Alison was proud.

"Neither do I, Anna. What you need is to help your daddy in jail. He must be going crazy from the drawback where his whole body tremble with the addiction. Have you visited him? Does he feel paranoid or does he became enraged all the time? You will need all the strength that you can get." Ivy stated looking down at Anna.

"That's enough. What her parents did does not imply what she is as a person. Everyone has their own battle. Have some respect, Ivy." Alison said firmly seeing her friend's face, red with anger while trying to stay composed.

"Of course, I do understand that and nobody's blaming her for it, just that, we must always be prepared for the worst possibilities. Not that I'd want that for anyone." Mia curled her lips.

"However, I think you should focus on your own problem first. Didn't you had a panic attack the other day? Did you experience something traumatic? Did something trigger in your brain? You do realize that you'll need professional help, right? Do you have anyone to care for you? I can't imagine how your parents must've felt having to deal with all these. I'd like to help but-" She explicated sympathetically.

"Oh, I've got to go, I've a plane to catch. I wish you all happy holiday." She added flipping her blonde hair to the side and left with a nefarious plan up her sleeves.

"Are you alright, Anna? What happened?" Layla asked.

"That was awkward." Zoe noticed.

"What was? I know Ivy's got a sharp tongue." Layla wondered.

"No, I was talking about Mia. We all know that Ivy's a bitch." Zoe replied.

"Really? I felt that she was worried about Anna and Alison." Layla replied while the other girls stared back in confusion.

"Were you listening to the way she said? She was being sarcastic." Zoe stated.

"Right?! You noticed, thank goodness." Alison exasperated as they continued to elaborate on their own opinions while helping Anna with her scattered papers. The last day of school always leaves an impression, supposedly something to remember when they return back to school.