Gravity

Chapter 12 - February 2004

It was cold.

Ridiculously cold.

Even for February, this was unusually freezing, but then sitting in a football stadium that wasn't even half full while the wind blew through your bones like a tornado was a recipe for disaster really.

Michael was at Pittodrie stadium, the home of Aberdeen Football Club, with his dad watching their local team take on Dunfermline, a team from a few hours south. The home team in all red were playing as well as could be expected, given that they really weren't all that great. They tried hard at least. That had to count for something right?

Half time arrived and things were going as good as could be expected but Mike still wasn't exactly excited. Sometimes watching Aberdeen could be a chore, and every week was getting tougher and tougher for him to handle. These days, he spent most of the time watching what looked like a million seagulls flying around the grey skies high above the stadium. The risks of having it near the North Sea. It bothered a lot of people but Mike's only concern was the cold.

Suddenly, a nudge to the ribs broke his concentration and he turned to face his assailant, his father.

"Here's your favourite part," Mr. Ashford joked.

Michael looked to the boggy pitch and rolled his eyes as he saw the cheerleaders running out, pom-poms waving around excitedly. Or blowing crazily in the wind, he couldn't really tell.

It's not that he wasn't interested in them; it was that he honestly could never see them properly. He was always sitting too far away to really enjoy whatever show they put on, plus it was kinda weird sitting watching girls in short skirts dance around when you were sitting next to your dad.

This week though, the father and son were in different seats, much closer to the pitch than usual so his view was amplified.

Another of the lies that Mike's TV screen told him was that cheerleaders were common practice in high schools. Though his school had a football team, there was no such thing as a cheerleading squad. There was obviously some way to get involved in the activity though, as the evidence was right there in front of him.

It wasn't something that he'd know a whole lot about anyway. Evelyn Harper was his only female friend and she wasn't exactly the cheerleading type.

Despite telling his dad once more that he wasn't interested, he leaned his elbows on his knees and perched forward, examining the girls who were now standing still, waiting for the music to start playing for their upcoming routine.

He stared forward, looking but not really seeing. It was only when he glanced over to one of the girls near the front of the formation that he perked up.

She looked like Stacy.

She was Stacy!

"You've got to be kidding me," he whispered to himself.

The universe had already conspired to dangle this unbelievable looking carrot in front of his face every day but now it was showing him that she was a cheerleader too! Could this possibly get any worse?

He stared straight at her, hoping to somehow telepathically let her know that he was there, pining for her, though she was probably just trying to ignore the cold weather that had undoubtedly hit her like a tonne of ice.

Stacy stared straight back in his direction, not at him specifically but at the crowd in general. How could he expect her to pick his acne-clad face out of the sea of thousands more?

She was in the zone. 

That didn't stop him pretending though. Pretending that she was looking straight into his soul. Is this what it would look like if she did? If she were ever to look longingly into his blue eyes, would her face be the same as it was now? He knew he'd never know, but imagination is a powerful thing.

It seemed to Michael that this situation was like everything else in his life. A metaphor of being the needle in every haystack. First, lost in the shuffle at school and then now being just another anonymous face to her in this flat crowd.

The music finally began playing and the girls completed their two-and-a-half minute routine, with Mike watching Stacy's every move. He wasn't sure what made a good cheerleader but he was convinced she was doing it right. She could probably make playing chess look exciting.

Once the dance ended, he joined in the half-hearted applause but kept a watchful eye on Stacy in her red and black outfit as she ran with her teammates across the pitch and down the tunnel into the inner sanctum of the stadium.

And that was it.

Such a fleeting moment, yet somehow it felt like so much more than that. Was this what hopelessness felt like?

"I'm going to go and buy a pie before the second half. You want one?" Mike's dad asked, once again breaking his clouded thoughts.

"Yeah, sure. Why not?" he mumbled back, shifting his legs to the side to let his father past. He then returned his eyes to where Stacy had been standing just minutes before; not really registering what he was looking at.

Yet another depressing day.

At least Aberdeen won 2-0 though. It wasn't all doom and gloom.

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And so ends the last of the super short chapters! This one was one I'd thought of ages ago but for some reason I couldn't really find a place for it until now. I feel like it connects well to the end of the last chapter.

Anyway, not a lot happens but I actually really like the writing in this chapter. The actual words are really good to me. Hopefully to a reader too. And don't worry, this is the last chapter where we focus on how hopeless Mike feels his situation is. I know you get it now!

I also wanted to address something else too. Unlike a lot of works of fiction, not all cheerleaders are evil bitches! We've met Stacy now, at least for a little bit, and I hope we are finding her pretty likeable. I feel like cheerleaders sometimes get a raw deal so lets show them some love for once! We know you're nice!

As usual, thanks for reading and any votes and comments are much appreciated. Now, lets go to Stacy's party!