october 12th , split river high school football field , 1983

STACY SAWYER ALWAYS SEEMED to stay in the talking phase with the guys she liked.

Stacy had managed to get herself one boyfriend in her past sixteen years of living. Glen Hunter, a linebacker for the football team. Stacy quickly found out his intentions were foul. She'd broken up with him after three weeks.

And three weeks had also passed since that happened. Now, Stacy was yet again in a painfully sweet talking phase with another boy. Wally Clark, the star football player of Split River High.

It was a little ironic.

Stacy was cheer captain, the very best on the team. And Wally was the very best on his team. It was definitely cliche. They both knew it.

So did everyone else.

Some people though it was sweet and adorable. Some people thought it was typical, and rolled their eyes everytime they saw the cheerleader and the football player smiling and blushing at each other in the hallways.

But no matter their varying opinions on the two, everyone agreed that Stacy Sawyer and Wally Clark were a match made in heaven.

What no one knew was that heaven would come to Stacy and Wally sooner than later.

Stacy sat on the sideline bench, two of her best friends on either side of her.

It was October, the Homecoming football game, and it was freezing. Stacy's skimpy cheer uniform wasn't helping, not even with the added long sleeves. So she and her two friends, Aria and Julianne, and the three of them huddled together on the sideline bench like penguins.

"Is it halftime yet?" Julianne whined.

Stacy glanced up at the scoreboard. "Forty five seconds, Julie, hang in there."

"Okay, okay. Forty five seconds. I can make it." Julianne whispered to herself.

On Stacy's other side, Aria groaned irritably. "I hate the Homecoming games. It's torturous."

"It's only forty seven degrees out here, Aria. It could be worse." Stacy reminded her.

Julianne scoffed. "It's already worse. The football players have too much energy for this weather, they've been jumping around and scream all night. It's making my fuckin' head hurt." Stacy snickered in amusement.

"Y'know, speaking of football players," Aria said. "Wally's been looking over here a lot, in between plays. Now that can't be a coincidence."

Julianne whipped her head to face Aria, her eyes widening. "Wait, what?"

Aria nodded. "Yeah. He did it a few seconds ago."

"Shit!" Julianne let go of her pompoms to reach down in her backpack and pull out a hand mirror. She checked her hair and makeup, making sure everything was still intact.

"Cool your tits, Julie." Aria said, looking over at her friend in an almost disgusted way. "He wasn't looking far enough over to even see you." Aria crossed her arms. "It was obviously me he's fawning over."

Julianne glared at Aria. "Oh, yeah? What makes you so fuckin' sure?"

" 'Cause we made eye contact right after the first quarter."

"I don't believe you."

"You're just jealous that Wally has the hots for me and not you."

"You're a bitch, Aria."

Stacy sat between the two arguing girls, now slumped over, her chin in her left hand, her pompoms hanging loosely in her right, and her small smile now completely wiped off of her face.

Stacy loved Aria and Julianne. They were her bestfriends. But they were incredibly narcissistic and oblivious.

Aria and Julianne both were head over heels for Wally Clark, but what both of them had failed to realize - unlike the rest of the school - was that Stacy and Wally had been flirting with each other for weeks. In their eyes, the cheer captain and football player were just really close friends - and only that.

The whistle blowing indicated the end of the second quarter, and the end of Aria and Julianne's argument.

Stacy sighed and stood up as halftime started and the football players left the feild.

"C'mon, girls!" She called out to the rest of the cheerleaders, who were also beginning to stand up. "Let's get this over with."

The cheer team took to the feild, pompoms in hand, and everyone in the stands clapped, ready to see this years show.

Five minutes into halftime, when the cheer team's show was almost done, everyone in the stadium gasped and covered their ears as scratching microphone feedback blazed through the air. The cheer team almost dropped a flyer.

"What the hell's going on?" Stacy said, taking her hands away from her ears as she broke formation to stand beside Aria and Julianne.

"It's the microphone. Something must be wrong with it." Julianne said, grimacing.

Aria raised an eyebrow, looking past both girls. "More like someone. Look." She pointed up in the stands.

The other two girls furrowed their eyebrows and turned to share Aria's gaze. That's when they saw two of the football players leaving the media box at the top of the stands with the commentator's mircophone in one of their hands. The commentator came out with an angry expression, yelling after the boys, who just snickered to themselves as they hiked it down the stairs to the sidelines.

Stacy's expression fell to one of disappointed expectancy as she saw who the two boys had retrieved the microphone for.

"You've gotta be shitting me." Stacy muttered to herself with a sigh.

Wally Clark fist bumped both of the boys and took the microphone, turning away from the stands so that Stacy could see the grin on his face.

"What the fuck is he doing?" Aria whispered to her two friends.

"Something stupid, probably." Julianne said back with a slight shrug.

By now everyone in the stands were mumbling to each other in confusion as they all watched Wally jog out onto field and stop a few feet in front of the slightly irritated cheerleaders.

"Sorry Mr. Howard!" Wally said into the microphone, looking up at the top of the stands were the commentator was standing shaking his head with a frown. Wally looked back at the cheerleaders behind him. "And apologies to our cheer team, sorry for cutting your show short, but there's something important I have to take care of."

Stacy, Aria and Julianne all exchanged glances, not knowing where this was going as they watched Wally turn back to the stands.

"It's the Homecoming game. First one of the season. And we're winning!" He held a hand out to the scoreboard. The stands cheered. "And do you know what's in two days? The Homecoming dance!" There were more cheers.

Stacy shook her head slightly, her hands getting clammy as she gripped her pompoms anxiously. "I don't like this." She whispered.

Aria, however, was smirking. "I do." She whispered back.

Wally was speaking again. "Most of you probably have dates already. I know all my friends do." He paused a beat. "But I don't. Not yet at least. Because there's a girl I want to ask, but I haven't worked up the courage to do it until about five minutes ago."

"He's finally gonna do it." Aria whispered, her smirk growing bigger. "He's finally gonna ask me."

"So," Wally continued.

Stacy held her breath, but she couldn't tell if it was from anticipation or dread. Wally turned his back on the stands. His eyes settled on the three girls huddled together.

"Shit." Stacy thought to herself. "Shit, shit shit." Her eyes widened in alarm as Wally started walking towards them. "Fuck!"

As Wally approached the three girls, Aria and Julianne fixed their hair and put on their best smiles, while Stacy was petrified in what she could only describe as fear.

Wally stopped a foot in front of them. Aria and Julianne smiled so sweetly and batted their eyelashes, hoping the football player was there for one of them. But Wally looked down at Stacy instead, and smiled before speaking into the microphone for the stands to hear.

"Stacy Sawyer, will you go to the Homecoming dance with me?"

Stacy stared up at Wally, her eyes wide. She could hear people in the stands shouting, and she could hear the other cheerleaders yelling "say yes, stacy! say yes!"

Stacy kind of wanted to say no. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Aria and Julianne staring at her with gaping mouths of shock and anger.

But Stacy stared up at Wally and his smile - his adorable smile that was so, so hard to say no to. Stacy smiled too.

"Yes." Said Stacy, loud enough for the microphone to pick it up.

The stands erupted into cheers at her answer. The cheerleaders around them squealed and clapped, happy for their captain.

Wally and Stacy stared at each other, grinning happily. Then they started laughing as players from the football team ran onto the field, whooping and hollering and slapping Wally on the back when they passed him.

Wally put his arm around Stacy as they faced the stands, both of their faces red and smiling, and he held the microphone up again. "You can have this back, Mr. Howard. Thank you for your cooperation."

The football players and the cheerleaders continued screaming and clapping as they walked back to the sidelines with Stacy and Wally at the center of the cluster.

But Aria and Julianne didn't join them. They stayed on the field, glaring after Stacy's blonde head with betrayal, rage, and a thirst for revenge.

Glen Hunter stood on the sidelines, away from the other screaming teenagers, the same spiteful glare on his face. His fingers gripped his helmet so tightly that his fingers turned white.

Had anybody been paying attention to anything other than the mini celebration taking place on the field, they would have noticed the three outcasts and their anger. Perhaps, they could have stopped what was going to happen to Stacy Swayer within two days and Wally Clark within a year to the exact date.

But who cares about a few pissed kids when the perfect lovestory is about to begin?

Not anyone at Split River High School. That's for sure.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

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plot plot plot plot-