Cheerleading High 4

Before I begin and before the disclaimers, I would like to thank some people who have been helping me with this story:

I would like to say a big thank you to Jeremy for helping me with the moves Justin and the squads do in this chapter. Without his help, I wouldn't have a Chapter 4.

I would also like to thank, Ron, Shannon and Chris for helping me by proofreading my story and giving me their reactions.

I would also like to thank everyone else who has emailed me. I have tried to get back to you but my time has been taken up with getting ready for my holiday.

Here we go, the boring but essential bit: I ask you if you are too young, if this sort of material is illegal where you live, or if you are upset by homosexual material, then please leave now.

Other great stories on Nifty: I am a big fan of the boy band section on the archive and I just thought I would list a few of my favorite stories:

"TimeWeave" and "Powers That Be" by Tim: Great stories, really enjoyable.

"'N Sync and the Vamps" by Foxglove Manor: Absolutely great story. I enjoyed every minute of it and cannot wait to read the rest.

"My New Life" by James: Great story. Long, but you get into it and can't stop reading.

And "Power of Six" by SLUboy18: Good story, can't wait till the rest is written.

Well, enough about them. On with this one.

Chapter Four: Just What We Need

I watched as Amber dragged the girl who had spoken to her to the side. I could hear Amber's high pitched voice yelling at the poor girl. Once Amber was gone, I noticed that Sarah, Amanda, Tim, Ricky and most of the other Griffin cheerleaders were now in conversation with the Leopard team. I stood off to the side watching Amanda closely as she chatted with a few of the girls. I was starting to zone out again into my own world when I heard a strong deep voice speaking to me. "Hello, I'm Leo, one of the Leopards." He extended his hand after he finished speaking.

"Hi, I'm Justin, one of Amanda's slaves," I replied, shaking his hand.

He laughed a little at my comment. "Come on, she isn't that bad. Although she can be a Grade A bitch sometimes," he said quietly, not noticing that Amanda was standing right behind him. She happily slapped the back of his head for the comment.

"Hey, I didn't mean it," he whined, rubbing the back of his head and looking sadly at Amanda. "I'm beginning to think you don't like me," he said in a fake sad voice, causing me and Amanda to laugh.

Amanda put her arm around him. "You forget, Leo, I don't like you," she coldly stated as she slapped him on the back of the head again. She tried keeping the act up, but burst out laughing as she saw the annoyance on my face. "I was only joking, Justin. You look like you're about to lunge at me."

"Whatever," I replied, giving her a death stare. "He's right though, you can be a total bitch," I remarked and quickly ran away so I wouldn't get a slap.

As I ran, I could hear her scream following me. "I'll get you for that."

After I was sure I was safe, I stopped running and looked around me. Seeing I was a good distance away from Amanda, I sat down on a small blue chair and waited for us to be called. As I sat alone, Leo come and sat down next to me. "Hey, Justin, before I forget, Amanda wanted me to give you this," he said as he slapped the back of my head.

"HEY!!" I screamed as I slapped him back. "Only Amanda can slap me, I'm her bitch exclusively," I replied, breaking into fits of giggles. Leo quickly followed.

"Leo, what's up with your Amber? I mean she was totally bitchy with us for no reason," I asked, my voice changing from my joking tone to my serious one.

He just shook his head and answered, "Well, she's been captain of the Leopards for a while and under her reign we've never been beaten. She's developed a superiority complex. The rest of us like you guys. I've been friends with Amanda forever, since we were about 8, and she hasn't changed much," he informed me, giggling.

I smiled and nodded. "I've only just met her. She's some girl, always the leader and a Grade A bitch when she needs to be," I commented, getting a nod from Leo.

He stared at me for a few moments before he spoke again. "So which of the girls is yours?" he asked. He seemed to be really interested in my answer. Every second I took to answer seemed to increase his attention.

"Well, err, none of them," I quickly replied, hoping he wouldn't question me further.

"Same here, my last love interest was a right bastard," he replied, looking sadly around the room.

"Bastard??" I half stated, half asked, wondering why he referred to a girl as a bastard.

He took a few minutes to reply. He wiped a tear from his eye and his voice sounded shaky. I could tell he was about to cry. "Yeah, he was a right bastard, I found him in bed with my best friend." As he spoke, the tears started to fall and his body was shaking a little.

I watched this good-looking guy break down in front of me. It upset me that anyone could hurt such a nice guy. I put my arm around him to comfort him. "You're better off without him," I stated, trying to keep all emotion out of my voice.

It was hard to do though. I had only known this guy for a few minutes and already knew he was gay, which made me happy as he was hot and he seemed interested in me. But I didn't want to try anything in case I was wrong. I was also shocked at how sad he seemed, not only when he talked about his ex-boyfriend but even when he was joking with us. He seemed lonely and unhappy. He tried hiding it, but it was visible in his eyes if you concentrated on them.

For ten minutes or so, we continued to discuss what had happened and what he did after he found his boyfriend and best friend together. Even listening to the story made me upset inside. I knew if it were me, I would have gone to pieces. He told me he had broken down. Apparently he hadn't come out of his house for a few days. He had just sat on his bed crying over a picture of himself and his ex, Zack. But, as usual, after the sadness came the anger. He started by getting rid of everything Zack had ever given him. Then he confronted Zack in the middle of the street and told him he was "a lying bastard" and that he deserved "to burn in hell" for what he had done to him.

Just as I was about to comfort him, I heard the call. "Could the Garno High Griffins get ready to do their routine?" a female voice shouted out of the speakers.

I hugged him slightly. "Leo, I have to go now, but here is my home number. Maybe we could hang out?" I asked, hoping we could talk more. He was so easy to talk to.

"Sure," he replied, his eyes lighting up at my question. "I'll ring you after Regionals?" he asked. I nodded my reply and ran to join Amanda and the rest of my squad.

Well, here was the moment of truth. We stood at the side of the stage behind one of the huge boards. As we waited, I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. My hands were shaking at the thought of what I was about to do. After a few seconds, which felt like years, the squad on stage finished and ran off. Amanda grinned at us. "Come on, everyone, let's do it," she shouted as we ran on stage jumping and screaming.

We settled down and got into our positions, waiting for the music to start. As soon as it began, I started my part of the routine by doing a back tuck, landing at the same time the other guys did. Sarah was already in front of me and without even thinking much about it, I had her in the air at arm's length. Although she looks light, I must admit she is pretty heavy. She got down and did a cartwheel away from me. Tim and I faced each other and linked our hands, allowing us to toss Amanda in the air when she came over. We caught her and then started some quick dance moves. They only lasted a few seconds, then I did a back flip followed by a few more dance moves. Then I had to lift Sarah up again which I knew meant the end of the routine, so I put on my biggest smile as I lifted her up. "We're so good we should do this for a living," she said as the music signaled the end of our routine.

Sarah dropped down from where she was sitting on my hands and looked at me grinning. Then she ran offstage followed by me and the rest of the squad. That had been the most exciting and nerve-racking two minutes of my life. Even though I had concentrated on the music, I still felt the rush of performing our routine in front of a crowd of people. Now I was off stage and Sarah was hugging me to death. "You were great, Justin. Are you sure this was your first Regional?" she quizzed me, making my ego inflate even more. "That was awesome, everyone. I couldn't have asked for anything less" Amanda stated, the pride and happiness evident on her face. "All we need now is for the Leopards to mess up," she said jokingly as we watched the Leopards take the stage.

The music started and I felt myself start to dance along, getting a few laughs from Adam and Sarah. I watched the routine intently. It was great, but my attention wasn't really on the whole team, just Leo. I watched as he lifted one of the girls up and I couldn't help but wish it were me he was lifting. His brown eyes shone. He was focused on the routine. He seemed to have gotten his self-control back, the tears had stopped falling and his body was no longer shaking. He looked like he was enjoying himself. I knew how he felt. As soon as I step onto the stage and start the routine, I feel like that's the only place for me to be. I feel so happy and content that I don't want to stop, but like everything it has to come to an end. I was so wrapped up in watching Leo doing a back flip and in my own thoughts that I didn't notice Amber crashing to the floor after being lifted up by one of the other guys. The first I knew of it was the crowd's gasps as she was carried offstage by two of her squad. "Are you ok?" Sarah asked Amber whose nose was bleeding slightly.

"Do I look ok, idiot?" she replied, getting a death stare from most of the Griffins.

I shook my head and approached Amanda. "Well, looks like you got your wish," I stated sadly as I put my arm round her and walked her away from the squad.

When I was sure we wouldn't be overheard I stopped and looked at Amanda who was wondering why I wanted to speak to her alone. I looked at her for a few moments trying to figure out what exactly to ask. "Amanda, that thing you said a while ago at Sarah's, does it have something to do with Leo?"

At the mention of his name, her sad look was replaced with a beaming smile. "Yeah it was, so what you think? You like him, don't you?" The last question was asked in a sort of hopeful voice.

I just smiled at her questions. "Look at the guy, of course I like him. He's hot and seems like a nice guy. What I really wanted to ask was could you tell me a bit about him?" I knew I should have asked him about himself, but I wanted to get someone else's opinion of what he's like.

Her smile got wider and she was almost jumping with joy. "He's a great guy. I've known him since I was eight and, ever since, we've been best friends even though we're on rival teams. He's always been there to help me when I've needed it, but recently I`ve noticed he hasn't been very happy. I know he's been feeling lonely." She watched me as she spoke. "Justin, we should get back to the team, but before we do, promise me that if you do start any type of relationship with Leo that you will treat him right." Her voice was filled with emotion.

"Amanda, I admit I like him but I don't know if anything will come of it. If it does, I would never ever think of hurting him. Even if we're only friends, I would not treat him badly. I would never treat any friend or boyfriend badly," I stated honestly. She nodded and hugged me for a few seconds before leading me back to the team.

When we got back to the team, I noticed Leo was talking to Sarah. As soon as they saw me, they stopped talking. Sarah walked over to Amanda smiling and Leo approached me. "Your routine was great, shame we messed ours up."

I just nodded at his comment, my mind wondering what he and Sarah had been talking about. "Thank you, Leo," I said, looking over at Sarah and Amanda. I turned back to see Leo staring at me. I could tell he was trying to ask me something. "Leo, you can ask me whatever you want."

His concentration broke and a look of shock appeared on his face. "Well, I was wondering if you want to come round mine. I have to get going and I`m sure your team won't mind." He looked at Amanda, then back to me.

"Sure," I replied, knowing I sounded too eager and getting a smile from Leo. "I just need to go tell my parents," I said quickly as I ran over to the crowd searching for my mum and dad but finding my sister instead. After telling her I was leaving and the normal questions like "where to?" and "when will you be back?" I headed back to Leo who was waiting with a smile on his face.

He led me out of the arena and into the car park. It took him a few moments to remember where he had parked, but we were soon at his blue Ford convertible. "Hey, Justin, I'm pretty hungry. Do you want to grab a pizza on the way back to mine?" he asked, opening the door and getting in.

"Sure, I'm starving," I replied quickly, my stomach making a loud rumbling sound to make the point. Leo started laughing as he turned the key in the ignition and the engine came to life. The radio suddenly started blurting out smoothly as the car slowly pulled out of the car park. Leo put his foot down and the car flew down the freeway, probably breaking the speed limit. After a few minutes, we pulled off the freeway and made our way to a Pizza Hut. We ordered a pepperoni pizza and devoured it within minutes of its arrival at our table. We didn't even speak whilst eating it. Without a word, we headed back to the car and set off to Leo's house. The only sound made was Leo burping and apologizing. The rest of the ride was peaceful. I used the time to think about what Leo had told me about his ex, Zack, and what Amanda had said Leo was like.

I was finally pulled away from my thoughts when the car came to a stop and Leo proudly announced, "We're here," pointing to a large two story house. I looked around and we were in one of the posh areas of town where lawyers, bank managers, doctors and politicians lived. Leo got out of the car and I quickly followed, studying my surroundings. Leo's half-excited voice pulled me back to reality. "So, what do you think?" he asked as he opened the door and summoned me inside.

"It's huge," I stated in awe as I examined the large hall (well, huge compared to my house). Four doors led off from this room and a spiral staircase was in the center of it with paintings and plants scattered around the room.

Leo started walking over to the staircase. "I'll start the tour with the best room in the house, mine," he said, his voice showing how proud he was of the house. I followed him up the stairs and into a large corridor. We walked halfway down the corridor and took the second door on the left. His room was huge. It had a royal blue carpet, meadow green and dark blue walls and a plain white ceiling. The room was pretty big, at least twice the size of my room. There was a king-sized bed in the center of the room with a large poster of `N Sync on the wall behind it. In the far corner of the room was a desk with a PC on it and a huge stack of CDs. There was a bedside table next to his bed with a small lamp and alarm clock on it. He had a sofa next to the door and a hi-fi system opposite it.

There were many more smaller posters of `N Sync and a few of the Backstreet Boyz and another band I haven't seen before. "Who are they?" I asked, pointing at a poster of three women and two men posing on scooters.

He just smiled. "That's Steps, they're an English band. They were Britney's support act for her concert. I have their CD if you want to listen to it?" he asked, getting a nod in response. He walked over to his hi-fi system and pressed play. After a few seconds' delay, the music started up. A medium-paced disco tune started and a woman's voice started singing. "Stomp, Stomp, Stomp, Stomp," the song continued and I couldn't help tapping my feet in time to the music. It was a very catchy song. I looked over at Leo who was doing a weird dance in front of the hi-fi system. I started laughing loudly and he turned round to face me looking rather embarrassed.

After he took a few minutes to explain that it was the dance they did and to teach it to me, we headed downstairs for a drink. I really wanted to finish our discussion from earlier but I wasn't sure he wanted to until he started. "Thank you for listening to me before," he said softly as he took a drink of orange juice.

I put my arm around his shoulder and smiled, "You don't need to thank me for listening. If you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here." I felt his body relax as my arm took its place around his shoulder and he smiled widely at my words.

"Thank you, Justin, you're a great guy. I only wish I had someone as great as you," he replied.

I could hear the longing in his voice and see it in his eyes. I looked down at his relaxed form snuggling closer into my body and smiled widely. "Hey, Leo, anybody would be lucky to have a guy like you. You're so sweet and kind and you're a great guy."

My words made his face light up for a few moments. "I wish gay guys thought of me like that," he replied. His voice filled with sadness almost breaking my heart.

I held him tighter. "Leo, I didn't have time to tell you before. I'm gay as well and I was wondering if you would go on a date with me." My voice nearly stopped halfway through my sentence. He just stared at me, no readable signs on his face.

Well there it is: Chapter 4. Hope you liked it. It took me a while to do it because of the size and a bit of writer's block. Please email me with comments at Liquid_Dreams@Evil.co.uk or leave a msg in my guestbook on my website at http://Nightstar.freehomepage.com/ant.htm.