The Way With You (The Way #2) (5 page)

"So. You want
to be cheerleaders."

I look at Raven and nod. Raven is everything I'm not. She's tall with the perfect figure. She's gorgeous with her naturally tan skin, dark brown eyes, and long, silky black hair. I'd kill for that hair.

"We do," Alexa answers.

"You'll have to go through tryouts. There are three spots on the team this year. The competition isn't too bad, so if you're willing to work hard and take this seriously, that'll show during your routine," Raven tells us. She's super serious and it makes me wonder if I'm doing the right thing. Do I want to have something consume my life that much?

Yes. I do. And this time, cheerleading will be for
me.
I'll actually get to enjoy it because I'm going to
want
to do it. I won't be as intense as Cam is with football, but I won't do a half-assed job either. I'll do the happy medium.

"Beginning tryouts are Monday afternoon at five. We'll show you a routine and give you until Thursday to learn and practice on your own. If you need help or want to work on it with some of the girls on the squad, just say the word. That's what we're here for," she finishes.

"Sounds good," I answer, not knowing what else to say.

"Now that the business is out of the way," Raven begins, "tell me how you wrangled Cameron Stone, self-declared bachelor for life."

I've been getting this question—a lot and I hate the attention. I like to blend into the background a bit when I can, but those days are gone. As Cameron Stone's girlfriend, I'm constantly in the spotlight.

"I don't know. It just happened," is my lame response.

"We all grew up in the same town," Lex adds.

"Ah, so you knew each other before," Raven deduces.

"Yes, but we didn't like each other," I admit and immediately wish I could take it back when I see Raven's friend standing behind her with excitement in her eyes. Great. I just gave the gossipmongers more to gossip about.

"So it's one of those love/hate things. That's so hot," Raven tells me.

I just shrug. Not so hot when I was on the receiving end of the 'hate' part.

I look at the clock and curse under my breath. I'm going to be late if I don't hurry.

"Time to go or I'm going to be late."

Lex nods.

"We'll see you on Monday," Raven chirps. I lift my hand in a wave and that's when I see her. Alison. She's standing there with that smug smirk on her lips again—the one I'd love to slap off her face.

Alexa looks over at me. "What's wrong?"

I just sigh and turn to leave. "Alison."

Lex looks over. "What the hell? She's got a serious problem."

"I know."

"It's creepy."

"And then some."

"Does it scare you?" Lex asks.

"Honestly? A little, yeah. She's crazy," I whisper.

I make it to my appointment
just in time. Everyone thinks I have a class right now. I don't know why I'm hiding this from my friends—my family knows. This is something I need to do to get past—things.

"Olivia?" Dr. Wheeler says softly, a smile on his face. I know him well enough by now to know that it's not fake—the smile and kind voice. It's who he is. I got lucky when I randomly picked a name.

"Hi doc," I reply walking into his office. He closes the door behind me and I take a seat on the sofa across from his chair. It's a lovely wingback chair I'd love to have in my home some day. I'm a fan of wingback chairs—don't ask me why because I don't know the answer.

"What's been going on this week, Olivia?" he begins.

I start fidgeting, picking at my cuticles. "More of the same. School and homework."

He nods. "Any social activities?"

I nod. "I hang out with Lex and Bash, as you know."

"Bash?" he questions.

I smile. "Yeah. I hate having to say Sebastian all the time, and I am
not
calling him Seb or Sebby. Those nicknames don't fit him. Bash seemed to fit."

He nods and writes something down.

"Anything else?"

"We went to a party last weekend. I didn't drink but everyone else did," I tell him reluctantly.

"Why do you say it like that?"

"Well," more fidgeting, "as you know, Cam's been really busy with football and I hardly ever see him."

I pause.

"Go on. What you say here, stays here."

"I just wish that he wasn't drunk during the little time we do have together." I sigh.

"How does it make you feel when he's drinking and partying when you'd rather be alone?"

"Hurt. Angry. Disappointed. Mostly disappointed. I get it. I do. It's important. It's his future, but…" I trail off, picking at the invisible lint on my leggings.

"But you should be important too," he finishes for me.

I nod, breathing deeply past the disappointment and hurt filling my heart. "I don't know how long it will last."

Admitting that rips the tear in my heart a little more.

"You think it will last longer than just the season?"

"Yep. He already told me about some camps and things his coach has lined up for him—which is good," I say, trying not to cry.

"It's good for
him
, that's true. But what about you, Olivia?" he asks, pinning me to the wall with the question I've tossed around in my mind the last three weeks—since Cam all but disappeared from my life.

"What about me?"

"What's good for
you
? Is waiting around for Cam good for you? This may go on indefinitely."

I look up at the doc. "What are you trying to say? You don't have to hedge. Lay it out there."

"All right. This is ultimately your decision as it's your life. But, you don't know how long Cam's vacancy in your life is going to last—if it ever ends. This could very well be permanent with his career goals," he tells me, a touch of sympathy coating his voice.

"I know. And we've only been together a few months." Thinking about it, how it all came into play, I start to get angry. "Do you know he didn't even tell me he wasn't going to be around? He promised phone calls and texts. Those don't happen much at all now. He just kinda faded away."

"You did mention that."

"I only see him Friday and Saturday night—if I'm lucky. And if I'm
really
lucky, he's not drinking and he'll want to spend time with me. Too bad I have shit luck, huh, doc?" I question, the defeat weighing on me heavily.

"Have you discussed any of this with Cam?"

"I tried."

"What happened?"

"The same thing that happened when I tried to tell him about psycho Alison and her bullying—nothing. He blew it off—he blew
me
off. He told me it wouldn't be so bad and that it was just for a little while… but I'm not sure I believe him anymore," I confess.

"It seems you have a decision to make. I can see the unhappiness growing each time you come see me, but this week it's been so pronounced it's worrisome. You can't continue to live in limbo."

"I know. I just… what really pisses me off, doc, is that he doesn't take the bullying Alison has been doing seriously. It's like I'm inconveniencing him when I talk to him about anything other than football." I gasp and put my hand to my mouth, my eyes wide as I realize what I've just said.

"It helps to talk it out, Olivia. You discover things you didn't know were bothering you. This bullying isn't something that sits well with me. Something needs to be done to stop it," Dr. Wheeler tells me.

"There's not much I
can
do about her. She told everyone she goes to school here but that's a total lie. She's just here because of her cousin, Brittany—another of my bullies—well, that and the fact she doesn't want to go home and face her father."

"Why's that?"

"I guess she got kicked out of Boston because she took her bullying a little too far one night at her sorority. One of the girls was forced to drink too much and ended up having to have her stomach pumped. Another girl got hurt. She said Alison pushed her down the stairs but no one saw it so it was Alison's word against a freshman pledge," I inform him.

"What injuries did she sustain?" he asks, his brow furrowed with concern.

"Broken arm and some major bruises from what I've heard. This is all second-hand information so it could be a bunch of BS. All I know is she is
everywhere
. It's creepy and I don't even have my boyfriend to talk to about it. He could talk to her, ask her to back off—not that it would do any good, but he could try.
But
he's not here," I bite out.

"Have you discussed this with your friends? Alexa? Sebastian?"

I nod. "I have. They know what's going on—well, Sebastian does now. He found out last night."

"What did he say about it?"

"Let's just say he wasn't too happy he didn't know it was still going on." I shift on the couch, then get up and start pacing. "I just didn't want to bother him, you know? He's my friend, yes, but I've laid so much at his feet since we've met—it's just not fair. This friendship seems one-sided and I don't like it," I tell him.

"Doesn't he lean on you, as friends do? About classes or his family?"

"Well, yeah, but I dumped the accident on him right after we met. He's helped me cope with the loss of my friends and face the fact they're not coming back. Then factor in Cam and Alison," I sigh. "I admit, he makes it easier for me. The thing is, his problems are nowhere near as heavy as mine. Mine are like lead while his are like feathers."

"It may not feel like that to him. What you feel are feathers might feel like lead to him," he informs me.

"I guess," I agree, sitting back on the couch.

"If it's that concerning to you, discuss it with him, and with Alexa. Communication is the key to every relationship."

I nod. "It's just not easy sometimes, that level of communication."

"No, it's not. It puts you in a vulnerable place and no one enjoys that, but if they are truly your friends, they won't take advantage of that. Instead, they'll ease those insecurities and help you if they are able. You know all of this, Olivia. Is there something more going on?" he asks, seeing more than I want him to.

"No. I just don't want to be anyone's burden."

"Do you trust your friends?" he asks.

"Of course."

"Then why are you hesitating?"

Good question. "I trust them. It's my own insecurities… and you just said they'll help me with those."

"I did. So what are you going to do?" he asks, tapping his pen on his thigh.

"I'll talk to them tonight. Oh, it's Friday… Cam…" Screw that. "He can wait. I doubt he'd even notice I wasn't there."

"Olivia, I know yours and Cameron's relationship is new, but I see it weighing on you and you're beginning to resent him."

"What?" I ask, stunned.

"Think of what you just said to me. 'He can wait. I doubt he'd even notice I wasn't there'."

"Oh," I whisper.

"Resentment and anger aren't good tools for any relationship, but more importantly a new one."

"What should I do?" I ask quietly. "What
can
I do? I don't see things getting better anytime soon. Do I break up with him? I can't even believe I'm saying that," I admit, wiping a tear from my cheek.

"Don't think of it as breaking up so much as taking a break to see how things go. If you still feel the same about him when things with football slow down again, then you can try to start again."

He says it so reasonably, so logically. It hurts to think about it.

"I don't know. I need to think about that."

He nods. "You've told me in the past that when you had issues you'd go to your friends, the Fab Five, for advice. What do you think they'd say about all of this?"

"Wow. I don't know—well, I do. You just caught me off guard." I miss them so much right now. They'd know what to do and they wouldn't be shy about telling me either—especially Simon. Tears begin to fall and I reach for the tissue box.

"I think Simon and Danny would tell me to dump Cam—then Phil would agree and so would Cassidy," I admit.

"But?" he asks.

"But it's not that easy. I don't know if I can do it. I love him. How can I be without him?" I ask.

"Right now you're not really with him, though, are you?"

Everything's a question. I want to stomp my foot and demand he tell me what he's getting at without making me say it for him.

"Yes… and no. More no than yes."

He nods and just watches me.

"I know what I have to do but I'm not ready to do it."

"Only you can decide what you want to do. You've made so much progress since you started coming here all those months ago. I don't want to see it undone for, yet, another reason," he advises.

I nod. "Okay."

"Now let's talk about Alison."