THE CURE ▶ NATHAN SCOTT [1]

EIGHT

all that you can't leave behind pt.2

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Carly's nimble fingers knotted her shoelaces tightly. She watched the basketball players warm-up while she sat and waited for Brooke to arrive at cheer practice. 

Peyton approach the girl who sat on the floor. Carly took her sullen expression as a sign of mourning her mother.

"I'm not feeling it today either, Pey. Stay strong, things will get better." Carly patted the girl's leg. Peyton gave her a weak smile. Carly's eyes drifted over to Nathan who was talking with Tim over on the sidelines.

"When are you going to tell him?" Peyton asked, interrupting Carly's train of thought. Carly gave her blonde haired friend a sideways glance.

"What do you mean? Who?" Carly questioned. Peyton chuckled and pointed in the direction of Nathan.

"Nate, you idiot. When are you going to tell him that you love him?" Carly took a deep breath. She had certainly thought of telling Nathan how she really felt towards him but it always seemed like the wrong time.

"It all seems too good to be true, you know? Nathan and I being single at the same time. Something is going to screw it up sooner or later." Carly sighed. Brooke had walked into the gym and threw her stuff down.

"Alright ladies! We're gonna practice a new cheer today so stretch out and be limber!" Brooke shouted frantically. Carly and Peyton stood up from the ground.

The two friends stood up from stretching. Peyton's expression had grown grim once more and Carly couldn't help but frown at the girl. Carly had urged the girl to quit cheering because it seemed to make her unhappy but Peyton refused. She was sensing that this was the calm before the storm.

After Brooke ran through the cheer with the squad she decided it would be good to practice it multiple times until it was perfect. This would have been okay if they hadn't practiced the cheer at least 30 times while Brooke nitpicked their entire movements.

"Here we go! Ravens let's score!" They tried once more. Brooke huffed and walked towards Peyton. "Wait, hold on. Peyton, you got the arms wrong." Peyton rolled her eyes. The team crowded around the two girls, sensing a confrontation.

"It's not brain surgery, Brooke." Peyton scoffed. Carly attempted to cut in before the argument escalated but was cut off by Brooke's finger in her face, signaling her to wait.

"Okay, what's with the attitude?" Brooke asked, earning the attention of some basketball players.

"What's with your life? Aren't you embarrassed the most important thing in your world is some stupid cheer?" Peyton pushed. Carly heaved a sigh and walked away from the two girls, realizing herself getting involved would only make matters worse.

"Look, I'm really sorry things didn't work out with you and Nathan, but don't go all Mariah on me, okay?" Brooke reasoned. Carly resisted the urge to slap her forehead. For how close Peyton and Brooke claimed to be, they really knew nothing about each other's lives.