Page 2 of Pinkie Promise

And if we don’t go to Elite then I won’t be able to get the sports grant to fund my Master’s.

I nod in understanding and give her one of my crazy cheer smiles, making a laugh burst out of her as she elbows my waist.

“We just need to survive a couple more sessions with her,” she says easily as we make our way to the rest of the girls. “You can do this, Fallon. You’ve gone through worse.”

We share a secret look of support and solidarity sparkles in my chest.

Aisling is the only girl who I’ve gotten close to since starting Carter U and our bond is based on similar childhood distrust. The O’Malleys are one of the richest real estate families in the entire country, meaning that Aisling’s formative years were full of the anxiety of not knowing whether someone really liked her for her, or if they were using her for money and status.

The song that we’ve had blaring on loop starts up again and I re-tie my ponytail, getting myself in the mood.

I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.

I cartwheel my way into my start position in order to get my inner-rhythm flowing, and when I get to my spot in front of Blair I give her a cheeryyou’ve got thissmile, even though I don’t quite believe it myself.

Regardless of the hurt that I experienced as a semi-pro child athlete with ruthless Olympian parents, I’m not a hater. If Blair wants to be on the comp team, and especially if she’s going to be one of the girls keeping me suspended in the air, then I’m goingto give her all of the support that I never had when I was starting out.

Even if I would secretly much prefer it if she wasn’t one of the girls holding onto my ankles.

She gives me a wobbly smile in return, which is not exactly reassuring, but I swish around without delay and we start up our routine again.

At the second chorus, when the tempo has drowned out all of the thoughts in my brain apart from what my next move is about to be, I’m tossed back onto the higher pyramid, so that Blair and Whitney can secure my ankles.

Or at least they’re supposed to secure my ankles, but Blair is having trouble maintaining her own balance as it is.

There are three pyramids in our formation and ours is the only one that’s starting to go sideways.

“Blair?” I shout again as I feel her fingers clamouring desperately around one of my cheer socks.

It’s funny what you focus on when the world slows down in front of you.

We haven’t got this year’s competition outfits yet because we knew that we would have a couple of new girls on the team, and we need everyone’s measurements before we send off for the pieces. Being in charge of everything, Ash already knows what colours we’re having this year, but one of my favourite things about being a cheerleader has always been getting my new bow.

For two years in a row we wore our Carter U colours – a stand-out blue, with red and white accents – and today for practice I decided to wear that particular comp outfit, so that the new girls could get a feel for how things tend to start looking when tournament season is upon us.

So now, as Blair’s slippery hands grapple desperately around my ankle, all that I can think about is how much I enjoyed wearing this particular outfit at that particular tournament. Thesock goes to just beneath my knee and the body of it is blue, with red and white sparkling diamantes wrapped around the rim in two thick stripes.

It’s a shame that it’s about to be ripped clean off my body.

I know that there’s no way that Blair is going to catch me after they shove me into the highest flip in our entire routine, but I do the flip anyway because this is what I’ve been trained to do. I tuck and spin before landing back in Whitney’s awaiting hands, but Blair’s hands?

They’re nowhere to be seen.

“Blair!”I scream, shooting my arms out as I try to regain my balance, but as I look down into her eyes it’s way too late.

I’m already falling.

Whitney screams a second later because, although Whitney is strong, she’s not strong enough to keep me from falling all on her own, and in a matter of moments my leg shoots straight past the place where Blair’s hands were supposed to be, gravity yanks me down, and after less than three beats the world goes black.

Chapter 1

Fallon

Two weeks later

“They’ve arrived!” my roommate Aisling says excitedly, pink hearts shimmering in her eyes as she hip-bumps the front door to the condo closed, setting the inconspicuous brown box down on top of the coffee table in front of me.

I slide my eyes over from the screen of my laptop, allowing myself to soak in the sight of the little package, as if I didn’t specifically orchestrate this uncharacteristically early morning study session for this very precise purpose.

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