Chapter 3 No.3

I tap my foot impatiently as I continue to practically spam my mom in hopes of her answering.

Spoiler alert.

She doesn't answer.

"Do you need a lift?" I hear someone ask as they pull up in front of me

I look up from my phone only for my eyes to meet an amazing pair of green eyes.

Belonging to none other than Belleza.

I smile slightly as I walk up to her opened window.

"Are you stalking me?" I question with a teasing tone

First the hallway incident and now this.

"No, I just happen to be in the right place at the right time" she says with a shrug as she continues to beam at me

I contemplate her offer.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

But my mom told me to never take a ride from strangers.

But she's technically not a stranger, plus she's my idol.

"Okay, I do need a lift" I reply to her previous question

"Great" She says as she unlocks her car doors

I walk back over to my stuff and quickly grab it before opening her backdoor and placing my bags on the seat.

I quickly close the door and hop into the passenger seat before anyone sees me.

I don't want anyone to take a photo of us.

It'll be taken out of context which will be spread worldwide.

And since she's currently at the top of the charts the paparazzi's will probably swarm me any chance that they get just so they could make a quick buck.

"Here, wear this" she says as she hands me a black baseball cap and a pair of wide sunglasses

I quickly put them on as she pulls away from the curb.

As soon as we exit our school's gate I'm blinded by the bright flashes of the cameras.

I feel my head start to ache as dots dance in my vision.

My breathing also starts to accelerate as some of them knock on the car's windows.

I hear faint yells of Belleza's name accompanied by 'who is she?'.

Before Belleza pulls out into the streets I hear someone yell something that causes my heart rate to drastically speed up

"Does our favorite actress have a secret lover?"

Oh god.

This is bad.

At least they don't know what I look like.

-

I gave her directions to my house as soon as we lost the paparazzi.

I was silent during the car ride as I let my mind wonder.

Is it always like that for her?

She always seems so levelheaded, I would've never noticed.

"Is this the right house?" She suddenly asks which causes me to jump

I quickly glance over towards her window only to find out that she's in front of my house.

When did we get here?

"Uh, yeah" I say as I shake my head to rid my mind of any bad thoughts

I unbuckle my seatbelt and get out of her car before opening the backdoor and grabbing all my bags.

Would it be weird to invite her into my house?

No, not like that.

Like as a thanks for her driving me home.

I nervously close the door before I walk up to her opened window.

"Would you like to come inside for lunch?" I ask her

She looks at me with curiosity which causes me to blush as I look down at my shoes with nervousness.

"Thank you, but I don't want to intrude" she says politely with a smile

"No, you wouldn't be intruding," I say as I look up to meet her eyes

"Think of it as a thanks for driving me home" I persuade

She looks like she's contemplating my offer by the way she's biting her lower lip.

Im not going to lie.

I'd be lying if I were to say that my lower regions didn't start to tingle.

"Okay" she says

I beam brightly as she kills the engine and quickly hops out of her car.

I slowly lead her towards my house since my bags are slowing me down.

As soon as I reach my front door I twist the doorknob and push it open.

I place my cheer bag down near the front door before leading Belleza into our kitchen where my mom is cutting up a ball of lettuce.

"Hey mom, I invited a friend over, I hope you don't mind" I say as I place my backpack down and grab a bottle of water

"No, not at al-" she starts to say but stops when her eyes land on Belleza

"Charlotte?" She questions with a shocked expression on her face

I look at my mom with a confused look as Belleza's face remains neutral.

She's not giving anything away.

"Mom, this is Belleza" I say as I continue to give her a confused look

"The celebrity that you have a crush on?" My mom reveals with obvious confusion

I feel my cheeks start to heat up with embarrassment.

"I don't have a crush on her" I say with wide eyes as if I'm silently telling her to 'shut up '

Belleza watches me with an amused expression as she raises her eyebrow at me.

"We'll be upstairs, call us down when the food is ready" I say quickly before grabbing Belleza's wrist

I ignore the tingles that start to erupt throughout my arm as I quickly drag her upstairs before my mom can embarrass me any further.

When we enter my bedroom I sigh in relief as I let go of Belleza's wrist.

"Wow" Belleza says in shock as she intently observes my bedroom from ceiling to floor

Shit.

I just pulled a celebrity into my room.

I just pulled a celebrity into my room!

Why did I do that?!

She shifts her bright eyes from my dresser to my bed.

Her eyes linger on my bed a little longer than they did anywhere else as she bites her lower lip.

I see her irises darken a little but shake my head as realize that I'm just hallucinating.

"You can sit on it, if you want" I say as I motion towards my bed

Her eyes glance up at me before she walks towards my bed and takes a seat on my neatly laid comforter.

I go to sit beside her but get stopped by my phone going off.

I quickly pull my phone out of the waistband of my spandex and check my notifications.

I notice that I have a text message from Avery.

I quickly open it only for my eyes to widen.

Avery- Aspen and Belleza sitting in a tree

I quickly type my response out before setting my phone down on my dresser and walking over to Belleza.

Aspen- Stop it, you already know that I like Charlotte

I try to hide my blush as I sit down beside her.

"Are you okay?" Belleza asks with a slight worried tone

Oh god.

I hope I'm not scaring her.

"Yeah, I'm okay" I say as I look up to meet her curious green eyes

She gently places her hand on my upper arm as she slowly starts to lean in.

Her eyes never leave mine as she continues to observe me intently.

My heart starts to speed up as she stops a few centimeters away from my face.

My breathing quickly starts to become heavy as she smirks at me.

What the hell is happening?!

And why am I not stopping it?!

"Girls, the food is ready" my mom yells from downstairs

I practically jump away from her in surprise.

She stares at me with the same smirk on her face as I blush. I quickly exit my room and make my way towards the kitchen.

Okay, what was that, Aspen?

She could've kissed you.

But she didn't.

That means something, right?

I'm so confused.

-

Charlotte's POV

I've been thinking about Aspen becoming a cheerleader all day.

I originally planned to tryout for the volleyball team but when I found out that Aspen was going to tryout for cheer I instantly became ecstatic.

Why?

Because during our homecoming game we give one of our volleyball jerseys to anyone of our choosing.

I feel like it would be a simple but effective way to tell people that Aspen belongs to me.

"Charlotte, how long are you going to keep this from her?" Avery asks as she leans against a brick wall

Practice is going to start in a couple of minutes.

We are trying out outside while the cheerleaders are trying out inside.

"When the time is right" I say with a tone of persuasion

You sound like you're trying to persuade yourself rather than her.

Be quiet.

"Make sure you do it soon. She'd rather find out from you than the paparazzi" Avery says with a slight scolding tone

I nod my head as if I'm silently telling her that I'll do it.

"Okay, soon" I say

"Great, I'll see you tomorrow" she says with a smile before turning around and heading towards the gym.

I quickly walk towards the double doors and open them to reveal the football field which has a portable volleyball net in the center.

We all changed into our proper attire in the second gym before coming out here.

As soon as I start my path towards the field every stops and stares at me as they continue their conversations.

This has been happening all day.

I would've probably became frustrated at some point if it wasn't for Aspen.

Aspen helps keep me grounded.

In this industry I've seen many people start humbly and become a whole different person.

Just the thought of Aspen had me feeling like a preteen with a crush on a boy band member.

"Belleza, it's so nice to have an addition to our team" the coach says with a bright smile

I smile back politely but remind myself to speak to her at the end of practice.

-

"Great job, girls, the roster will be posted tonight" our coach says before she walks towards the double doors

As soon as she leaves a few girls walk up to me and ask my to sign something for them.

I agree since I don't want to come off as rude.

When I'm finished signing items for them I walk towards the double doors so that I can talk to our coach.

As I enter the building I notice the cheerleaders going into the locker rooms, we'll all of them except Avery and Aspen.

I wonder what they're talking about?

I quickly grab my bag from the second gym before walking towards our coaches office and knocking on the door.

"Come in" I hear her faintly say from behind the thick door

I twist the door knob as I push the door forward which reveals my coach sitting behind her small desk.

"Belleza, is there a problem?" She says with a worried tone

"No, not at all. I just want to inform you of something" I say

She nods her head as if silently telling me to continue.

"If it's not much trouble, could you possibly treat me the same way that you treat the other girls" I request politely

I don't want to be favored just because of my status.

"Yes, of course. Is that all?" She asks with a smile

"Yeah" I say with a head nod

"Great, I'll see you tomorrow" she says which causes me to nod my head in response before I exit her office.