Cherry - S01 E24

Story 1 year ago

Cherry - S01 E24

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 24

I looked over at Cherry and she had a slightly worried look on her face and the other girl's were talking to her. It looked like she was reassuring them and they were one by one giving her some space.

Then the guy I made the bet with said, "Maybe she's not feeling well. She's holding her stomach."

The moment he said that, knew what was on her mind. She was worried about doing something that might jeopardize her possible pregnancy. It was only then that I realized she had been holding her stomach in idle moments since she took the field. Like an idiot, I'd thought she was simply adjusting her uniform before.

The guy next to me said he'd be back after he went to use the bathroom and while he was gone, I motioned to Cherry to ask if she was 'ok. She ran over to me to see what I wanted to say.

I asked, "Are you ok?"

She said, "Yeah, why?"

I explained, "Well, the guy that was here a minute ago sald you weren't doing something that you normally do when they score. And I saw you holding your stomach, so..."

Cherry said, "No, I'm fine. I just don't want to...risk anything. You know?"

I motioned for her to come closer and I whispered in her ear, "Babe: you don't have to worry about that. If it's true, it's nothing more than a single, fertilized cell. You can't hurt it by anything you could do out there-believe me-it is safel"

She asked, "Are you sure? What if-" I said, "I'm 100% positive. You could go racing dirt bikes over large rocks and not hurt anything at this stage!"

She said, "Ok; if you are sure," and turned to rejoin her squad. Before she got far, I called her back and said, "Do me a favor? When the guy that was here before comes back, pretend we are strangers and play hard to get with me but then give me your number before the game is over?"

Cherry looked at me strangely for a second and asked rhetorically, "What HAVE you two been talking about?"

As she turned to skip back to the rest of the squad, I said, "Thanks,

Babe! Love you!" She turned around and stopped at the same time and puckered

her lips at me before joining her friends. Two minutes later, my

'buddy' was back.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked.

I lied and said, "Nope, not a thing."

After our little talk, Cherry's self consciousness seemed to vanish entirely. She was no longer holding her stomach, at least. About ten minutes later, any question I may have had about where her mind was melted when our team scored again. I was looking towards the end zone to see who scored when the guy next to me said, "Oh! There she goes!"

I turned my attention immediately back to where Cherry had been, only to find she was running at full speed towards the end zone. I knew instantly that, in a race, there was NO chance of me keeping up with her! I had no idea what she was doing, but didn't have to wait long to find out. When she was near the 30 yard line, she took a long skip through the air and came down into a perfect cartwheel which tumed into at least two or three more, followed by a no-hands cartwheel, rotating in mid air, and she began doing so many fast, back hand springs that I couldn't count them if I was watching her in slow motion! On the last back hand spring, she LAUNCHED into the air and did at least two flips and who knows how many twists before executing a perfect landing facing back towards the stands. The crowd went nuts!!!

I stood there like I was brain-dead, mouth hung open, unable to believe what I just saw. The rest of the squad was still running after her and periodically jumping and doing splits in the air as she skipped her way back to them.

As the volume of the fans returned to normal levels, the guy next to me said, "Can you believe that shit? THAT is talent!"

I just shook my head to the first question before nodding to the second

He continued, "And look at that ass! Damn, what I wouldn't do for a piece of that!" I wasn't sure if I should have been proud or pissed at that point.

But I played it down by saying, "Take it easy: that's my girlfriend

you're talking about." Not realizing I was telling the truth, he said, "Your girlfriend? Hell, she's my future wife; I saw her first!"

I looked at him for a second and said, "You can't call 'dibs' on a girl you have never talked to. I'm getting that number tonight, so you're shit-out of luck."

He laughed so hard he almost fell down. "You think you are getting HER number?! You belong in the nut house-no offense!"

Without looking away from Cherry I said, "Double or nothing I get her phone number tonight."

He was shaking with laughter and said, "Four dollars? Ok; I'll even give you 10 to one odds!"

I looked at him and he continued, "You pull that redhead's number and I'll give you forty bucks. You fall like know you will, you owe me four dollars."

We shook on his 'sucker's bet' and I had to bite my tongue to keep my composure.

After Cherry's gymnastic tumble, she didn't look in my direction very much; clearly playing 'hard to get like I asked her to do. My buddy kept laughing about how I was 'never getting that number and that I should just go ahead and hand over the four dollars. Every once in a while she would look in our direction and I'd motion for her, but she would just look away like she either didn't see or wasn't interested. Each time 'buddy' would start laughing at me again.

It was late in the fourth quarter and the home team had long since secured the win. Thinking of a way to signal Cherry that it was time for her to come and help me complete my charade with this guy, I reached into my wallet and pulled out a random business card and held it up for her to see. I think the card was for a car wash place, but it didn't matter. Cherry got permission from Olivia to come over and when she reached the fence in front of me, buddy was paying close attention.

Cherry said, "Yes?" as she took the card. Before I could say anything, she handed me the card back and asked, "What's this?" Taking the card back I said, "This? This was just to get you come over here."

She asked, "Why?"

I said, "I needed to put a voice to the woman."

Cherry said, "Oh, please-cari't you do better than that?"

She turned to leave and I said, "Wait! You're right; that was stupid to use a cheesy pick up line on you. I'm sorry. The truth is..."

Cherry looked at me like was a stranger and she was ready to shoot me down once and for all.

I continued, "The truth is: you captivated me tonight. And while you are very beautiful and talented, it wasn't even that which captured my eye. It is how full of life and how spirited you are."

Cherry replied, "Well, I AM a cheerleader..."

I said, "No: those girls over there are cheerleaders. You are more than just a cheerleader. There is something special about you that I've never seen in another person. guess I was just hoping maybe

we could meet for coffee or something and talk; get to know each other...no pressure."

She was quiet for a moment and said, "Ok. Sure. What the hell?" I said, "If you feel uncomfortable with giving me your number, I can give you mine so we can set up a time and place."

Cherry smiled and said, "Such a gentleman-it's ok-hand me your phone and I'll add it to your contacts."