Secrets of a High School Quarterback

Secrets Revealed

At the end of practice, the cheer squad entered their locker room. As the majority of the girls started to change, Layla stayed at the door out of the way. She waited to make sure that no one was looking so that she could head to the bathroom area. Once the coast was clear, she dashed as quickly as possible to the bathroom.

Unfortunately, the girls saw her, like they usually do. Carletta and Ramona, once finished getting dressed, stood next to each other with their arms crossed. The two glanced at each other with suspicious looks on their faces.

"She always does this." Carletta said.

"I know." Stated Ramona.

"Why can't she just change in here with the rest of us?"

"Maybe she's hiding something that's she doesn't want us to see."

"She could be, but I'm more concerned on what Joey said to her earlier."

Ramona was shocked. "What? Joey talked to her? When did this happen and how do you know?"

"I saw the two of them talking as the rest of us walked back to practice. She also hugged him."

"Wow."

"And the two of them kept on smiling and giggling at each other during the rest of practice."

"It's not fair!" Shouted an upset Ramona as she stomped her foot. "I should be the one that Joey should be giggled with!"

With that, all the girls in the room turned to Ramona with angry faces. One girl stepped out from the mixture.

"Well, I think that you don't have potential for the amazing Joey Hill!" Exclaimed Stella. "You don't even have big boobs! That's what he really loves!"

"Mine are bigger than yours, Stella!" Shouted Flora.

All of a sudden, the girls had a huge argument over what Joey liked and why they should be they one to date him. They even had moments when they would shove one another onto the lockers and pull hair.

In the bathroom, Layla was leaning over a sink, hands clenched onto the sides, and looked straight at her reflection. She breathed heavily as she started rolling up the bottom of her cheer skirt.

She looked down as she saw all the cuts that she made to herself on the top part of her legs. She started picking at them, which caused them to bleed a little.

She stayed strong as she didn't cry. She was used to cutting herself whenever she would disappoint someone. The feeling of the knife across her skin felt like the only way to cope with the pain of letting people down.

Nobody knew about this, not even her best friend, Dillon. It would break his heart if he knew, and it would probably upset her to do something drastic to herself. She couldn't bare with herself to tell anybody her secret because they would probably be worried about her and give their attention to her. She never liked being the center of people's attention.

She soon stopped and began getting dressed into her regular clothes. The reason that she kept on changing in the bathroom is to hide her scars.

When she finished, grabbed her stuff and exited into the locker room. The room was clear off all the girls, but they left a mess. Clothes were scattered all around the room and pieces of hair were attached to locker doors.

As Layla walked out, she noticed the football boys exiting their locker room. All of them were extra excited for no apparent reason.

She watched from the sidewalk and waited on Joey to pass by. After a few minutes of not seeing him, she became sad and slowly made her way home.

Before she made a few steps, she felt a soft hand on her shoulder. She turned and instantly became happy when she saw Joey.

"Were you seriously going to leave without the ice cream date we made?" Joey jokingly asked.

Layla panicked because she thought she had upset him. "No! I was just heading that way."

Joey saw how upset she was being. "Layla, how about when we get there, I'll buy you whatever you want."

"That's nice of you, but I don't want you wasting your money on me."

"It's not a problem. It's my way of treating you nicely after seeing all those girls pick on you. I figure you need someone nice on your life."

Layla smiled. She felt good on the inside knowing that she has another person that'll treat her nicely.

"Joey, is it alright if my best friend Dillon comes with us? He helps comfort me and makes me happy."

"Of course. The more the merrier."

On their way, Layla texted Dillon to meet up with them. Layla finally had a chance of making more friends now that Joey is being nice to her.

Dillon was hanging up posters at the ice cream shop when Joey and Layla walked in. He waved at Layla, but became confused when he saw Joey with her.

He sat next Layla in the booth she had picked out. He was nervous sitting next the Joey Hill. He has always had a crush on the star quarterback. Now he wondered why he was here with Layla.

"How are things in drama going?" Joey asked Dillon.

Dillon's mouth hung open. He was completely shocked that someone on football cared about drama enough to asked about it.

"It's going well." Dillon answered. "We're getting ready for competition that's in two weeks."

"I'm hoping that you win. And I already got my ticket for the home performance. I've always loved acting and drama."

"Really." Dillon said excitedly. He never knew that Joey liked drama.

"Absolutely. I've been too scared to audition for any of the shows in fear that I'm not good enough, so I stuck with football."

"You might actually be a great actor if you try. You never know."

The two boys laughed.

"Layla, you know what you want?" Joey asked.

Layla thought for a second. "How about just the regular root beer float."

"Good choice."

As the three ate, they talked about what they enjoyed. They realized that they all have more in common than they thought. Joey gave the two of them his number so they all can chat whenever.

When they finished, they walked through the park and watched the starry night. They pointed out constellations and told jokes. The night ended with each of them throwing a penny into the fountain and making a wish.

When Dillon reached his house, his phone went off. He looked at it and saw that he had gotten a text from Joey.

Hey, I had a pretty fun time tonight. Hope I can spend some more time with you, and only you. - Joey

Dillon smiled a little bit. Maybe Joey wants to be friends and learn more about drama. Only time will tell.