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Her hands began to shake a little, restless and nervous.

“Just don't tell Karlee, please. I beg you…” She grabbed my hand. “Please, Veronica. Don't...”

Footsteps echoed, and soon Troian's voice cut through the air:

“Again, Emily?” She laughed with a hint of scorn.

“You know what? Screw it! Who are you to judge me? Nobody. Just keep your mouth shut. I need to be at Belinda, I need to win at Daytona, and the rest is none of your damn business.” Emily was furious.

“None of our business?” Troian stepped closer, and I quickly stood, placing myself between them.

“If the cops show up here, do you think you’ll be the only one in trouble, Emily? Are you seriously that naive?!”

They were on the verge of exploding at each other, and I felt the urge to punch some sense into both of them—to keep Troian calm and convince Emily that this behavior could bury her future in any sport.

“Em, we may not have drug testing in cheerleading, but if you show up to the training center in this state and someone gets hurt because of you, it will haunt you for the rest of your life. Cocaine is a drug, and whatever you think you’re doing, it’s wrong!” My voice came out hoarse as I tried to keep it low. “You’ve got one week to get rid of this crap and clean yourself up. Otherwise, I swear to God, Karlee will know, and so will the entire damn team.”

Troian placed her hands on my shoulders, and only then did I realize I was trembling all over. A few tears blurred my vision, but I ignored them. It was heartbreaking to see someone as talented as Emily messing up like this, and even harder to feel so helpless.

The last time I encountered something like this was when my parents died, the night they left home for the last time, with a group of friends, when they left me alone with Derek.

My aunt Isabel was always more of a mother than my real mother was to me, since the woman who brought me into the world was too busy being drunk as a skunk to keep a job for more than a week, and my father... Well, he had always been a lost cause. He lived a relatively long life for someone who did the amount of shit he did.

The situation with Emily only took me back to the past. That damn tiny trailer, the dust all over the counter and the bottles all over the floor.

There was no way the sport that saved me was leading someone else to make all the wrong choices.

“Is that a threat?” Emily growled.

“Yes, it's a threat!” I replied, wiping away the tears that rolled down my face.

I turned my back on her and left the room. I felt sick, dizzy.

It had been a long time since I’d even thought about Daniel and Gabriela Torres. They were a damned part of the past I was determined to forget—just like Derek was. I worked so hard to erase them from my memory that I ended up rewriting the truth in my mind, lying to myself over and over about how it all happened. But now, the truth could no longer be ignored: there had never been a car accident. My brother and I went through hell before those two died in the after a bar fight. They got into trouble and were shot as they left. I never believed they deserved the ending they got, but after everything that happened, my life changed—for the better.

I took several deep breaths, one after another. My chest felt tight, compressed, and no matter how much air I tried to take in, it felt like it wasn’t enough. I stepped out of the room, sliding down the wall until I was sitting on the floor. I knew how to deal with violence, with pain, with disappointment, but I would never know how to deal with a person who chose, of their own free will, to take drugs. There was no plausible excuse for shit like that.

“Roni?” I had the feeling that someone called me, but I didn't move. I continued with my face buried between my knees, crying. “Veronica, hey...” The touch made me look for those blue eyes. Kendra’s eyes. “Why are you crying like that? Who did this to you, Roni?”

I shook my head and simply leaned in until I could wrap my arms around her. The pain still pulsed inside me, and all Iwanted was the comfort that only Kendra's embrace had given me over the past few days. I felt at peace there, and even though our history carried a bittersweet nostalgia, it was far better than the bitterness of my past with my parents.

“I'm here, my love…” She whispered, stroking my hair. “I'm here...”

The minutes continued, until people began to leave their rooms and take to the corridors.

“C-can we go to y-your room?” I asked, still sniffling and stuttering from nervousness and crying.

“Obviously.”

Kendra got up and helped me do the same. In silence, she guided me. Sid and Jaz were already standing and had sincere smiles when they saw me, which diminished, but they soon offered to get us both coffee to give us some privacy.

We went to Kendra's room and I looked at the time, it was an hour before practice. And missing it was not an option.

“I ne-ed to... calm d-down.”

“They'll get some tea, don't worry. And there's water here...” She went to the minibar there and came back with a bottle. “This will soon pass, love.”

I smiled and leaned in to kiss her, finding a sense of calm in that moment. I wanted to lose myself in Kendra and forget all my problems, but I knew I couldn’t. As soon as I walked away, she asked: