Avalana Skylar Valerie Mom had left to the dining room, she had to be by dad's side to greet the guests. It was now only Laura, Gabriel, and I in the room. "Oh, baby, it's okay," Laura tries to comfort me. "No, it's not," I say, my voice hoarse from crying. Gabriel took out a blue handkerchief from his black suit before giving it to me. Gratefully, I use the handkerchief to clean the mess on my face. "Dad is always so controlling over everything, I'm so sorry," Gabriel tells me sincerely, while Laura consoles me by rubbing my back. "You have to take a deep breath and relax. Just imagine everything is going to be fine," she smiles at me. "Come on, they're waiting for us," Gabriel said, then leads us into the dining room. Laura puts her arm around me. I try my best not to cry. I hope it is going to be just fine, like what Laura had told me. We got into the dining room, the lights of the dining room are brighter than usual, and food filled the long dining table. I look around, and my eyes suddenly land on a familiar figure with dark blue eyes and a strong jaw. He's wearing a long sleeve, black shirt. His dark brown hair is combed perfectly, and he looks different. However this is him, the one and only Apollo Hamilton. Please don't tell me this is the guy that I'm getting engaged to. I'd rather go to hell that get married to him. He's just another heartless person I know, after my dad. Apollo's surprise was clear on his face, as was mine. "Philip, this is Avalana, my daughter. Avalana this is my good friend, Philip Hamilton," my dad says. I try my best to give him a polite smile. Shit, it's true. I'm going to be engaged to the one and only Apollo Hamilton, the school's heartless football captain, tonight. I was close to getting down on my knees and begging my dad not to make me marry him. I haven't even thought about having a relationship with someone especially him! He's cold-hearted, and heartless! I don't even know if he can talk, my life would be so boring. "Avalana, this is my wife Daisy, and my only son Apollo," Philip says to me, and I continue to give a fake smile. "It's nice to meet you, Avalana," The lady with a warm yellow dress says to me politely, as I take a seat next to Laura. Dad began to introduce us one by one. He talks about Laura's pregnancy, and both of Apollo's parents looked so interested. The maid serves us the food, and everyone's excited to eat their food. However, I am not. The thought of being engaged to Apollo, was the last thing I'd ever thought would happen to me. The parents start to talk about business, things that I don't understand. My dad starts to include Gabriel into their conversation. I'm not interested in that whatsoever. "So, have you thought about the baby's name, Laura," I ask Laura, while everyone else talks about other things. Laura smiles and nods, "We're still looking for a good name though, maybe you can give us a suggestion," she says to me. "Another Valeria generation?" I suggest. "So about the engagement," My dad cuts in to mine an Laura's conversation. "Apollo has agreed to the engagement," Philip says to my father. Really? I can't believe it. "So has Avalana," My dad lies to him. Laura suddenley put her hand on my thigh, trying to comfort me. She holds my hand and rubs her thumb across the back of it, while I listened to whatever the adults are saying. "Now, we want you to get to know each other," My dad says to us. "You don't have to get engaged tonight, we just want you to know more about one another first," Philip says, which relieves me knowing that I don't have to get engaged today. Apollo's parents seem super kind and sweet, pretty far from my father, who wants this to run well just like every other crazy plans he has made. The conversation about the engagement lasts until nine o'clock, and the Hamiltons finally head home. Apollo hadn't said a word the entire time. I can't imagine meeting him in school, and I couldn't imagine how every girl in the school was going to react. Gabriel and Laura excuse themselves to go home, and I promise Laura to visit her soon to discuss about the baby's name and help her to do the baby shopping. I remember how it was when Gabriel and Laura got married. Their faces were everywhere on magazines and tabloids. Their wedding was like a wedding dream. It was beautiful and full of love. I wish I could marry someone that I love one day. The man that can protect me, and understand me. ~ It's finally Monday, that means it's game day. I haven't told anyone about the arrangement because I don't think he is going to tell anyone either. I don't think he wants thing going out, and honestly, neither do I. Therefore, I have decided to keep it to myself. I park my car in my usual spot, and lock it. Everyone around is wearing a white, red, and navy blue outfit because it reflects our school colors. Everyone got into the school as usual like it was a normal day for them, but not for me I knew I didn't have the power to talked to him or even looked at him. The opponents for the games are coming from another school, and I'm a bit nervous. I walk inside the school and walk through the crowd to find Sarah and Floyd. I find them walking up the main lobby stairs. "Avalana," Sarah calls to me. "Hey Sarah," I greet with a smile and she gives me a hug. "Let's go to the others. They're at the cafeteria enjoying the free breakfast," Floyd says to us. Every game day the cafeteria serves free breakfast. I make sure to not eat breakfast at home during game days. We make out way to cafeteria to see the others. We receive stares as we walk down the hall. We always get stared at, everytime we walked down the hall. Some of them whisper, and some of the smile. Although, it is clear that many of the we caused by hatred. People are so weird. "How was the party on Friday?" I ask them. "It was great, Justin got so many girls," Sarah says, making Floyd laugh. "It wasn't so fun, since you and Apollo weren't there," Floyd admits. "Apollo didn't come?" I acted up. "No, he didn't." Floyd said. "You and Apollo are the craziest people I know when it comes to partying," Floyd says. "Diana is crazier," Sarah says. "True," I admit. We arrive to the cafeteria and head to the line to grab our breakfast. We then walk to the where the other's were sitting. "Diana, you look gorgeous," Sarah says to her, taking a seat next to her. Diana's wearing Ezra's jersey, with his last name "Brooks" on the back. "Aw, you too babe," Diana replies and continued to eat her breakfast. Apollo is seated at the other side of the table. Both of us exchanged a glare, then began to ignore each other. We have a silent agreement to pretend like nothing happened on Friday. I start to eat while listening to the random conversations the table was having. Jace talks about his plans for the future, and Ezra talks about how the other school played. We finish eating and we walk to the court to watch the basketball game. I liked to watch the basketball players play, they were all hot. "Do you think the basketball players are hotter than the football players?" Sarah whispers to me. "Yeah, I do," I giggle. The volleyball game is right after the basketball game, so as soon as it's the middle of third quarter, the volleyball players walk out of the court and into the locker room. I pull my shirt off over my head, and put on my jersey. The players walked out one by one, and start to warm up before the game. Everyone starts to cheer for us, my face breaks out a grin, but my heart is beating super fast due to how nervous I am. I hear my name being called, and I don't have to look to know that it's coming from Diana and Sarah. I used to play volleyball and I practiced a few times before today, so I'm hoping that we win. My eye catches Jace holding a camera while giving me a thumbs up. He always brings his camera to game day. After a few minutes of my nervousness eating me up, the game finally starts. My team makes the first point, and everyone cheers for us. The opponent begins to serve the ball, and I get a chance to jump and spike the ball onto the floor where they couldn't reach. I hear Diana and Sarah shouting my name, making me smiles. I love them so much, everyone can see how supportive my best friends are. A quarter passes, and we lead the game. The crowd is so focused in on the game, and I'm glad that I get to make a few points for my team. Diana gives me a towel to wipe my sweat with, and then hands me a cold bottle of water. Before leaving, she says, "Good luck Lana, you look good! Keep going!" The second quarter starts as soon as all the players get back to the court. The other team starts to catch up for a second, but we come back with two spikes to the ground. I loved hearing the crowd roar, cheering for us when we made a point. I give my teammate a high five after I make a point. The referee blows his whistle, signalling that the game is finally over. I look at the scoreboard, to see that we won. "We won!" Everyone in team exclaimed. I ran into the girls and we share a group hug. After the mini celebration, I find Sarah standing in the side lines with a bottle of water and towel on her hands. "Congrats babe, you were amazing," She tells me. "Thank you," I reply before taking a sip out of my water. The cold beverage running down my throat was refreshing after a long game. "Diana is getting ready for the game, she'll meet you later," she informs me. I nod in response. "Thank you. Sarah, you can go the field, I'll meet you there but I want to take a quick shower first," I tell her. "Okay, I'll meet you at the front row." I ran into the locker room and remove my clothes to hop into the shower. After my shower, I change into fresh clothes while the other players were still busy celebrating. I run out onto the football field, right to the front row and meet the others. I am greeted my Jace, as he gives me a hug and congratulates me. It is time for Sarah and me to cheer for our best friend Diana. I should probably start cheering Apollo too.