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I sat there looking at Vanessa with my mouth agape. Surely I heard her wrong. There is no way she just said what I think she said.“I scare her? How in the world do I scare Cecilia Marshall?”“You want nothing from Owen but his love. You’re not in the relationship for his money. You can’t be bought or sold. You have a pure heart and no plans to manipulate him or the situation in any way. Listen, once Owen broke free and finally grew a backbone after he ended it with Chloe, she has had a very strained relationship with her son.”“Yeah, he mentioned that. Said he wasn’t letting her decide what he could do with his life anymore.”“Exactly. Now, he is dating this young woman that she knows absolutely nothing about. Listen, I heard enough that night at dinner to know that she is intimidated by you because she cannot figure you out.”“What do you mean?”“She was mostly talking to Mom but I was there the entire time because they kept interrogating me and Owen was nowhere around to save me. S
Vanessa and I made our way down the hall and were inside the Photo Lab with the door closed and the light on before either of us spoke another word.“He seemed really nice.” I said as I turned the computer back on.“Yeah, he did. I’ve seen him before but never spoken with him. It makes me feel better with him in the building with us, ya know.”“I know exactly what you mean. I was feeling the same way. This building is just creepy at night but I’ve been on edge tonight anyhow.”“What do you mean?”“It’s gonna sound silly but there were a couple times tonight that I had this feeling like I was being watched.”“Really? Usually those feelings are legit, Aurora. That gut feeling or intuition is part of the body’s natural defense system. I always listen to whatever my gut is telling me.”“Me too but it would come and go. The first time I felt it and it wouldn’t go away, I actually took photos of the crowd. Like the entire crowd. I made it look casual and random but I wanted to get those pho
Once I was back on the track, I grabbed my stuff from the girls, thanking them for watching it for me and telling them about the strange interaction in the bathroom. Vanessa asked me to point her out but when I looked over at their squad, I didn’t see her.“Hmm, that’s weird. She came out of the bathroom before I did but I don’t see her over there.”“She’s not worth it anyhow.” Vanessa stated with a roll of her eyes. “That whole Mecan squad are nothing but petty, jealous bitches. Always have been.”Courtney and Bethany both shook their heads in agreement.“Wait until we travel there.” Courtney offered. “Do NOT go to the restroom alone. Those girls like to try to pick fights and they don’t fight fair. I’m actually surprised she was up there at the restroom by herself tonight. Must’ve been because all of us were down here and they didn’t see anyone to follow and target.”“Wow, they seem really fun to be around. I will heed that warning.”“Like Vanessa said, they are just jealous.” Betha
The band was loud, the crowd at peak excitement, the air was charged and I was a nervous wreck. My heart thumped loudly in my chest as I waited with baited anticipation for the moment Owen would come busting through that banner, followed by the rest of the team.From my experience last time with Jacob, I could see them rushing toward the sign by their cleats underneath but would only have a fews seconds of warning before the barrier was ripped apart as they burst forward and poured onto the field.I had positioned myself just off to the side enough to capture them and make it look like they were running right at me as I leaned over to grab the shots but in reality, they would be running right past me. Hopefully. If any of them were not paying attention, there was the small risk of getting trampled in the stampede so I knew I needed to be paying attention while trying to simultaneously photograph everything happening around me.The cheerleaders started jumping up and down and encouragin
Owen and I parted ways after eating and finding a few minutes alone, tucked off to the side of the concession stand. He had pulled me aside for some fervent kisses, the kind that took my breath away and left my toes tingling. He said he needed them for good luck and to make it through until he could kiss me again. That worked for me as I knew I would be missing his lips, too. When we finally could manage to pull ourselves away from one another, he headed to the clubhouse to join the guys in the locker room and I took my equipment and beelined it for the track.I managed to secure many great shots of the cheerleaders during the second part of the halftime routine. As much as I tried to be fair and capture the entire squad, it was obvious that my girls were my favorites. I continued to snap shots until their routine had ended. I even managed a few more playful, laidback shots when they were taking their break before the second half began.Much to my disappointment, Owen did not return a
As soon as my knees hit the turf and the announcer introduced the team, it was like I shifted and transformed into this totally different person where nothing else mattered but getting the perfect shot. Yes, I was somewhat hyperfocused on Owen and Nate whenever a moment allowed but even those shots were done with the utmost care to quality and style.Just in that small space of time, I had managed to take over sixty photos. As we all came back off of the field, I handed the camera back to Owen and took Nate’s hand to walk him back to Phil and Sherry.“Did you have fun out there, Little Man?” I asked him as I looked down at him walking beside me.“Yep. So much fun!” His eyes were twinkling from the excitement.“I am so glad that you did. Have you and Daddy been having fun together?” I was curious to see how it was going without an all out interrogation.“Yep. Daddy says he’s gonna get me a TV for my room so I can watch it in there when he is watching it in the living room.”I wanted to