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Em and I laughed at her argument.

“People only value things when it's interesting to them.” Emily added and I couldn't agree with her more.

“We're just hot, not sporty for most people.” I commented, leaning forward so as not to miss my white eyeliner under my black eyeliner.

“That is, of course, until you tell them to do what we do…” Em mocked. “They wouldn’t handle.”

And the three of us burst out laughing.

The atmosphere in the room was light and pleasant. I loved being surrounded by those girls at that moment, so my mind didn't allow me space for self-pity or sadness. Because the cruel truth was that not liking someone wasn't like a switch you just flipped to stop doing it, and as bad as it was, the fact that Martin had leaked my photos — Belinda's sheriff's station ended up tracking the posters IP and proving it — it made things a little easier.

I didn't love him anymore, I knew that. I felt nostalgic, because that was what you got after years of being in a relationship, but it was all.

“Are you nervous to cheer against your brother today?” Troian questioned as soon as I finished applying glitter on my cheeks.

“A little..., but I think I'm more nervous not to celebrate his team more than ours, I'll probably make that mistake.” I admitted.

With everyone ready, we grabbed our bags and went to the gym, where Karlee would finally give us the Venenum team uniform.

I was looking forward to it!

It would be the first time since we arrived at college that we would wear the uniforms and I felt like it would be really important for all the new guys.

A good part of the team was already at the training center when we arrived, some people had even changed their clothes. And as simple as it was, after all, those clothes weren't ours and had belonged to people from previous years, it was incredible to see that green and that pink shine under the light.

“Troian, Emily and Veronica!” Karlee called us, breaking me out of my trance. Our coach was sitting on a chair with a large plastic box in front of her. She took three packages from there and handed one to each of them. “The sizes were the same as those you filled out on the form.” We nodded and thanked her. “I love the shimmer…” Karlee pointed to her face, but I knew she was talking about the extra glitter I had put on.

“Thank you, coach.”

And I went towards the restroom to change clothes with my roommates.

I threw my bag on the bathroom floor and started taking off my leggings and sweatshirt, after all, it was the only thing I was wearing besides my top and panties. But of course, all I captured was the figure of Kendra adjusting her false eyelashes in front of the mirror while her lips with a strong lipstick, in a dark pink tone bordering on burgundy, colored that part.

She didn't seem to notice me there, or didn't care, while I was paying too much attention to her at that moment.

Her perky ass showed a little more flesh than it normally would and, slightly enviously, I realized that it was a nice ass.

“Want a photo, Torres?” She provoked and I felt my skin tingling with embarrassment.

“No, but thanks,love…” I replied with the same intensity.

This time making her blush a little. But this was Kendra Winfrey we were talking about, she might feel a little ashamed, but she would never sustain it for long. Then her attention soon turned to the mirror while I was putting on my uniform.

I put on the skirt that had tights underneath, covering everything I needed, and the cropped top with long, shiny uniform sleeves, which imitated snake skin in a stupendous green.

I felt like I was a Power Ranger who had just morphed into a super incredible costume. I felt confident and powerful with the team name glowing pink beneath my chest.

I smiled alone. Ignoring the rest of the world for a moment, feeling very accomplished.

The excitement inside the bus continued until we reached the other town, where my brother lived and where the game would take place. I was very nervous about seeing him, but much more nervous about the game. I hated lacrosse, I thought it was too violent. A bit of an ignorant game really, but it was Derek's passion. And about feeling passion for a sport, I could understand a thing or two.

When we arrived at the field where the game would take place, we all went down excited with pompoms and the biggest smiles we could put on our faces.

Belinda's team passed by us screaming and some boys even dared to give us malicious looks, but we all seemed to ignore it as Salomon, Becker, and Logan’s chaotic energy led them to tease the boys, pretending to flirt with them. It was a fun arrival, until my eyes caught Derek on the other side, talking to his coach.

I waved to him, and it took him a few seconds before he managed to spot me there, on the other side, at the edge of the lawn. My brother just smiled weakly and turned his attention to his own team. I turned then to Emily, however, one of Belinda's boys came up to me, grabbing me by the arm, turning my body against my will towards him.

“Hey!” I protested. “What do you think you're doing?”