Once we get here, the first person I spot is Sofia. Since Moe is sure Danny has a crush on her, I decided to go and talk to her. But before I can do anything, Emily grabs my arm and that makes me turn around.

She gives me a defying look. "Don't even think about it." she hisses.

"Oh, come on, Danny needs a little push-up" I say, smirking.

Before she can say anything else, I feel a presence next to me. When I turn around, I hesitate on laughing at Emily : Sofia is the one coming to us. She greets us with a shy smile and a quick embrace each. I know her and Emily sometimes work together, since they have classes together in science.

Sofia is wearing her cheerleader uniform, looking pretty good in it.

"Hey, 'sup ?" I ask, trying my best to be friendly.

"Nothing much. How are you guys ?"

"Good" Emily says, cutting me before I can say anything. "I didn't know you guys were supporting the older team"

Sofia nods. "They deserve it, I mean, they are killing it !" She then turns to face me. "I heard your sister is on the team ?"

"Yup. The blonde over there" I say, pointing at Allie.

"Yah, Danny told me" she says, smiling.

"Danny, uhn ?" I let out, rolling my eyes.

She totally is blushing. I see her look at me, then at Emily, and back at me, and back at Emily again. She is frowning.

"What is this supposed to mean ?" Sofia asks, confused.

"Nothing" Emily hurries to say, afraid that I would mess things up. "We just thought she'd already be here by now. Have you seen her ?"

Sofia looks at me again. I know she isn't fooled by Emily's speech, as convincing as she thinks it is. That makes me smile, and Sofia just frowns. Before she can even answer, I can suddenly feel her body tensing up, and her eyes locked on another target than me. When I turn around, I can see Danny and Dahlkemper, walking side by side, out of breath. I am surprised not to see Sam here too, since she's following her little defender everywhere she goes. When I look back at the cheerleader, she looks like she's having a stroke or something.

When my teammates finally got to us, they greet Emily and I by the team's handshake, before her eyes meet Sofia's. She immediately is in 'freak out mode' and tries to keep her composure. I mean, that's so funny to watch.

"H-hey" Danny lets out, blushing.

It takes Sofia several seconds to answer a weak 'yes'. Then, Emily just starts talking about defensive stuff with the two girls. I choose this moment to turn around and face Abby, who seems to have seen a ghost. Just to be clear, I've never disliked her. That's quite the opposite, actually : she plays like a beast, even though she's one year younger than everyone, is funny, kind, well-driven... Anyway, back to the point, I get why Sam likes her. The only thing I am afraid of is her reputation : everybody on campus say she always ends up with different guys during parties, and sometimes uses people for sex only. I know that rumors can't be trusted, but I don't want Sam to get hurt.

The blonde just looks back at me, trying to figure out why I am looking at her so intensively. In the end, I just crack a smile.

"So, you didn't bring Sam with you ?" I ask, trying to be soft on her.

She throws daggers at me. "If you have something to say, just, say it, Lindsey."

"I don't like the idea of you around Samuel, that's it." I let out in a very calm voice, that seems to surprise Abby more than my actual words. "But I still think you're a very good defender and teammate."

She rolls her eyes. "Mine and Sam's friendship is none of your business, Linds. I don't get why you're always on our backs."

"Because Sam likes you more than a friend, but you're too fucking blind to see it. So this is just her going to get hurt when she'll realize you'll never like her back" I quickly explain, trying to keep cool.

She seems surprised for a second, but then her resting bitch face comes back. That makes me smirk : she's in denial mode.

"Of course I know that ! She's kissed me one week ago" Abby whispers, so that only I can hear her.

"Please, tell me you kissed her back, otherwise I will kick your blondie ass" I angrily hiss, while she is just rolling her eyes.

"I did." She sighs. "But then I freaked out and left. I know it sounds stupid, but somehow I know what you've been saying those past months is true : I'm not good enough for her. I don't want to hurt her."

I frown. "That's why you missed one week of training and class ? Just to run away from your problems ?"

She rolls her eyes. "I wanted to put some distance between us, because that's the best thing I can do for her safety."

After that being said, we don't have the opportunity to talk, because Emily and Danny are back, while Sofia is running on the side-line. My brunette friend is just following her with her intense gaze, until she disappears.

The game is about to begin.

**

We are now on our street, just the two of us. Danny has gone her own way, while Abby just went to see her big brother.

She seems elsewhere. I playfully mess with her, but her face is inexpressive. She's looking at the window. When I lift my eyes, I immediately see them : those two piercing eyes. Her mom. I know exactly what Emily is thinking, so I stand on her way.

"There's no way I let you get beat up again" I hiss.

She shakes her head. "I need to fix things by myself."

"But..." I say, grabbing her arm.

She immediately reacts by taking her arm away from my hand, and I can see in her eyes that she's scared, but also very angry at me.

"Lindsey ! I said I'm good !" She then looks at me in the eyes. "Why don't you just let go ?"

Truly surprised, I start frowning. "Emily..."

"You don't know the first thing about my mom, you don't fucking know what's going on, so just leave me be ! You're just harassing me at this point !" she yells.

"I know enough to know you're a mess !" I yell back, immediately regretting it.

I can see that she is shocked by my words, but also sadden. Her eyes are just turned off, and I can see that she is trying her best to control her facial expression. She's on the verge of tears, trying to pull it together. I feel terrible now : I don't want to hurt her, especially not with stupid words.

As I am about to apologize, she takes the lead and asks :

"I'm damaged ? Is that what you think of me ?"

Her voice shows her disappointment. She throws a last glare at me, and starts walking away. I try to pull it together.

"Emily..." I try to say, but she's already gone.

Shit.