by Sherri Renee
I choked at that and had to stop walking until I could catch my breath. I guess before I got to know Matt, I could have assumed he might be in a gang. Now that I knew him, I knew how farfetched that was.
George patted my back until I stopped coughing.
“He’s fine,” I said lightly. “He’s my neighbor. Our parents are friends.”
I almost wanted George to explode, to give me a reason to break up with him once and for all, but of course, that would have been too simple. “I just worry about you.” He ran a hand through my hair. “You’re so beautiful. A creep like that could try to take advantage of you.”
His concern was sweet. In a way. For the most part, his words just turned me off. I knew right then that I was over him. Yes, we’d had something once and yes, I felt sorry for him, but that wasn’t something to base a relationship on. No matter what happened with Matt, I knew I had to end things with George for my own sake, no matter how nice he was being right now.
He’d already made it clear he wasn’t going to just let me walk away. I needed a plan. Something that would make him think he was the one doing the breaking up.
We stopped at my class and George gave me a quick kiss. PDA wasn’t allowed at Forest Ridge High, but as long as no teachers were around it happened. I fought the urge to wipe the kiss from my lips.
“I’ll see you at the pep rally,” he said. He strode down the hall to his class next door and waved before he went in.
“Michelle.” I fell into my seat beside her. “I need your help.”
“What’s up?”
“I’ve gotten myself into a huge mess.” And if that wasn’t a textbook definition of an understatement, I didn’t know what was.
“An even bigger mess than yesterday?” Her brow arched.
“Yes!” I screeched quietly. “Much bigger.” I rubbed my face. “I told George I’d give him another chance.” She frowned at me. “And I broke things off with Matt.” Her frown deepened.
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked.
“I don’t know! And even worse, Matt wouldn’t let me break things off, and I’ve realized I don’t have any feelings for George anymore.”
Michelle stared at me before she tossed her head back and started to laugh.
“Thanks a lot,” I grumbled, crossing my arms. Her laughter was contagious, though and pretty soon I was chuckling along. My situation was pretty crazy.
“Just break up with George like a normal teenager and move on. It’s not like you’re married or anything.”
I kept my voice low, so no one would overhear me. “George told me things are really rough for him right now and he needs me. I can’t just turn my back on him, can I?” I added that last part almost hopefully.
“Is he still planning to get revenge on the little fish if you break up with him?”
“Oh my gosh.” I tilted my head back, closed my eyes, and rubbed my temples. “I don’t know,” I whined without opening my eyes.
“He said he’d try to be nice, but that was if I was dating him.” I didn’t want to think that my taste in guys was so poor I’d chosen someone who would actually beat up a little kid, but maybe I had.
“Look,” Michelle turned to face the front of the room when our teacher started class but whispered back to me. “Let’s get through the game tonight, and tomorrow we’ll have a girl’s day and figure this out. Find you the perfect dress and maybe get our nails done?” She wiggled her long nails at me over her shoulder.
“Yeah, okay,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I just have to get through the game for now,” I repeated to myself. That shouldn’t be too bad.
The game itself wasn’t so bad, but the pep rally before it was almost a disaster. All the cheerleaders and dance team got to the gym early to hang posters and arrange a few chairs for a game we had planned for football players. I made sure the music was set at the right place so our coach, Ms. Riley, could just hit play when it was time for the dance routine.
After the early release bell, the bleachers quickly filled with students. I helped the other girls finish getting everything ready, but my eyes kept straying to the doors looking for Matt. I didn’t see him, but I couldn’t miss George watching me from the hallway with a goofy grin.
Great.
Once everyone was settled, our principal, Mr. Hoffman, opened the pep rally with announcements. The football team was introduced and the guys, led by George ran into the gym among a lot of yelling and cheering. I shook my pom poms in the air with the rest of the squad and once the guys settled into their seats we started our first cheer.
I knew the cheer backward and forwards and upside down. I kept my smile in place and cheered to the crowd while I felt George boring holes through me with his eyes.
Everything was going fine until the cheer had us turn to the rear of the gym before spinning back to the front. I caught a glimpse of Matt standing in the doorway watching me.
I did something then I couldn’t ever remember doing before. I missed a step. When everyone else’s pom poms went up mine went down, and when I tried to catch up with the others I ended up with my pom poms in the air while everyone else held theirs at their sides.
Michelle caught my eye and frowned. I simply shook my head. I was team captain, and I was making the entire squad look bad. Not the biggest deal in life, but we all worked really hard at what we did. When one of us messed up we all looked bad.
I gave the girls a quick apologetic glance before starting the next cheer. I gave it my full focus, determined not to let Matt distract me. I made the mistake of glancing at George and saw him frowning at me, probably wondering what had gotten into me to make me mess up on a cheer.
Without thinking I looked back over to see if Matt was still watching. He was, but it didn’t throw me off this time. I kept the beat and held my smile until my eyes landed on George again. He must have followed my look to see what was causing me to mess up because now he was glowering at Matt across the gym.
I flashed a helpless look at Michelle to see if she’d caught what was happening. She had but she was as helpless as I was to do anything about it. I forced myself to focus on the cheer and nodded to our coach to start the music for our big dance.
Head down, I nodded with the music, focusing on my feet. The first few seconds went smoothly, and I thought I was in the clear. I couldn’t help taking a peek at George to see what he was doing now.
Then I wished I hadn’t. George and the guys sitting closest to him were openly glaring at the doorway where I assumed Matt still stood. And that’s when my feet decided to improvise.
Chapter 17
I tripped over my own shoe and bumped into Kara, knocking her into Lisa. The momentum threw Lisa into Michelle and before I knew it half our squad was down. Cat calls came from the bleachers and there was as much booing as there was clapping.
My face burned and my hands shook. I couldn’t remember ever being so embarrassed. Glancing at the stands I was met with hundreds of laughing faces. People pointed.
I wanted to run out of the gym and hide, but I rallied like any good cheerleader and jumped back into the dance as soon as I could. The other girls joined me, and we finished the dance like the professionals we were, acting as if nothing at all had gone wrong.
I avoided looking at both Matt and George after that. With my smile plastered on at full wattage, I took the microphone and led the musical chairs type game we had planned for the football team. Everything else went smoothly. My heart never did settle back down to a normal pace though.
The pep rally ended and the gym started to clear out. I stacked chairs and did my best to avoid meeting anyone’s eye. I guess that’s why I was so surprised when a pair of black boots stopped in my line of vision. My eyes climbed from the boots to the jeans to the black jacket before meeting Matt’s worried expression.
I wanted to throw myself into his arms and let him tell me everything would be okay. I settled for giving him a weak smile. “Guess I made quite a mess of thing
s.”
Matt started to reach out to touch me. He looked around and dropped his hand back to his side. “It’s a pep rally. They’ll get over it.”
“Did George, um, say anything to you?” I searched his face, wondering if he’d tell me the truth.
His expression darkened. “I can handle George,” he said. “But can you?”
I bit my lip and shook my head. “I don’t know.”
“Let’s go, Kristen,” Michelle called, and I saw everyone else had already left.
“I don’t know what to do about anything right now,” I mumbled. “I have to go,” I said louder and jogged over to Michelle, leaving Matt standing there watching me as I hurried away.
Michelle grabbed my arm and leaned in close. “What was that?” she asked as we quickly walked through the almost deserted halls towards the parking lot.
“Which part?” I asked with fake innocence. “The part where I accidentally made George jealous. The part where I thought George and Matt were going to get into it right in the middle of the pep rally.” I put a finger to my lips. “Oh, or maybe you mean the part where I single-handedly destroyed our entire dance.”
“Um-hm,” Michelle said, guiding me out the door and to her car. “What you said.”
I climbed in the passenger seat of her sporty little silver car and buckled up. “Are all the girls mad at me?” I cringed, knowing how many hours of practice we’d all put into that routine.
“If they are they can just get over it. There’s not one of them, including me, who hasn’t messed up at some point. Now forget about that and let’s figure out how to untangle you from the sticky web you’ve ended up in.”
I knew she was being silly, but her words painted a picture of me as a helpless fly trapped in a giant web. George was the spider climbing the silky threads to get me. But where did that leave Matt? Was he another helpless victim like me or was he part of the problem, like George?
We dropped by Michelle’s house for a snack before heading to the game. Michelle dumped chips into one bowl and snack mix into another. I popped a pretzel into my mouth while she went to the kitchen and came back with a bowl of apples and oranges. “What do you think, crackers and cheese or peanut butter.”
I sat down and picked through the snack mix for another pretzel. “Kara’s allergic to peanuts.”
Michelle snapped her fingers in the air. “Dang, I forgot. Cheese it is.” She came back again loaded down with a plate filled with crackers and another with a couple different kinds of cheese.
The doorbell rang. “You get it. I’ll get the drinks.”
I opened the door. Kara and Jules brushed past me.
“Brr. . . it’s freezing out there.” Jules rubbed her hands over her arms and jumped up and down a couple of times. Her blond hair was secured close to her head in french braids but the free ends bounced along with her. Her round cheeks were rosy and her light blue eyes shone.
“You better save that energy for the game.” I grinned. Megan and Laurie pulled into the driveway. I waved for them to hurry up, and they came running in.
We were the seniors on the squad and had started getting together before each home game at the beginning of the year and it had just stuck. We alternated houses. I’d host next time—if we won tonight and there was a next time.
We all headed back to the table. Jules was still complaining about how cold it was and how we were going to freeze our tails off at the game. Michelle had just set some drinks on the table when Kara burst out crying. I stared at her in surprise before looking around to see if anyone knew why she was crying. The other girls looked just as shocked as me.
“Hey,” I sat beside her and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
Her red hair had pulled out of her french braids in places, sticking up in spiky tufts. Black mascara left meandering trails down her pale cheeks. She sniffled and covered her eyes. “I ru-ruined everything today. I can’t believe I fell during the routine. And in front of the entire school.” She let out another loud sob. I squeezed her shoulder while guilt squeezed my chest.
“You weren’t exactly alone on the floor out there,” Michelle stated matter-of-factly with a pointed look.
“No,” Kara babbled. “But I was the fi-first to fall.”
I felt bad enough before, but now I really felt bad. “Hey,” I grabbed her chin so she’d look at me. “That whole mess was my fault. I’m so sorry,” I included everyone in my apology. “I feel terrible. We all worked so hard to perfect it, and I went and blew everything. I got distracted and tripped over my own feet.”
I was quickly forgiven. Michelle was right. I wasn’t the first to blow a routine, and thankfully my friends remembered that. It took a little longer for Kara’s tears to dry up though.
She sniffed again. “I guess I feel worse because I really wanted to impress Bobby and then I landed on my butt.”
Ugh, just shove the knife in my chest and twist, why don’t ya?
Laurie came to my rescue, her blue eyes wide and earnest. “If he really likes you this won’t be a thing. Of course, if he only likes you because you’re a cheerleader it might be a bigger deal to him. But girl,” she picked up an apple slice and pointed at Kara with it. “If that is the only reason he likes you it’s better you find out now so you can dump him and move on.”
Kara sniffed again but nodded. I found a box of tissues in the bathroom and set them on the table beside her. “You’re right.” She blew her nose and crumpled the tissue. “I just pictured things turning out a little differently.”
I snorted and everyone laughed. “I’m pretty sure we all had a different picture of the pep rally in mind. If the guys win, we’ll have another one next week, and I promise,” I swiped my finger over my heart in an X, “I won’t mess up again.”
Kara’s smile was watery, but at least it was a smile. The worst of the breakdown was over.
“Let’s touch up your makeup.” Michelle took her arm and led her upstairs to her room.
Laurie sliced some cheese and piled it on crackers. “What did happen out there today?” she asked me before taking a bite. “‘Tripping over your own feet’ isn’t something I’ve ever seen you do.”
“Bad day I guess.” I wasn’t ready to share my messed up life with everyone.
Jules didn’t have my same concerns. She huffed out a snort and raised her brow. “Bad day my foot. Having two of the hottest guys in school fighting for you equates to a great day in my book.”
I gave her a blank look, and she smiled coyly in return. “Oh, yeah. I wasn’t the only one who witnessed the stare off between George and the new guy. Umm. . .” She drew out the sound.
“I’ve been having little fantasies all afternoon that all that drama was over me. My biggest dilemma is who to choose. Blond football star and class favorite or dark and mysterious, sexy biker dude?”
“What?” Laurie shrieked, her dark blond hair flew as she swung her head back and forth between me and Jules.
I stared at Jules in horror. Other people had witnessed the exchange. I don’t know why I thought no one would notice two guys blasting holes through each other with their eyes. Maybe I was an eternal optimist. Unfortunately, optimism wasn’t getting me anywhere.
“People noticed that?” My voice sounded tinny, and a loud buzzing sound filled my ears. I had to sit down.
“Oh, yeah,” Jules said, either not noticing or ignoring the fact I was teetering on the edge of a breakdown. “That’s all the girls talked about after the pep rally.”
“Great,” I muttered. “At least it kept them from focusing on our routine disaster,” I said the words still looking for a bright side, but while that might be an upside for the squad, it was a disaster for me.
“So,” Jules wasn’t ready to let the subject rest. “Are you really going to dump George for the new guy.”
“Matt,” I said. I picked up an orange but instead of peeling it I just held it. Jules was intent on building another crack
er and cheese sandwich, but Laurie watched me with an almost frightening intensity. She held an apple slice, apparently forgotten, and I couldn’t be real sure she was even breathing. “You okay?” I asked, honestly concerned.
She quickly dropped her eyes and bit into her apple. “Um-hm,” she answered. She flicked her blond hair over her shoulder in a nervous gesture, though, that made me question if she really was all right.
When she glanced up and saw I was still watching her she let out what sounded like a forced laugh. “That’s just a lot of drama,” she said. “I was caught up in it. So,” she swallowed, “are you breaking up with George?”
Was I imagining things or did she sound hopeful? Was it possible she’d had an eye on George? Good heavens, if that was the case I sure wished I could put a ribbon on him and hand him over to her.
She was really pretty with her shiny blond hair and blue eyes. She was taller than me and noticeably curvier. She and George would make a good fit.
She stared at me intently as if what I said next would be life-changing. I opened my mouth on the verge of confiding everything when Michelle and Kara came running down the stairs. I set the orange down and picked up a cracker to nibble on instead. Kara plopped into the chair beside me.
“Sorry for the waterworks. I’m better now.” Michelle had her all fixed up. Her makeup was redone and her hair was contained in the braids. Best of all she wore a real smile.
“I talked to Bobby,” she said and a faint blush stained her cheeks. “He was sympathetic about the pep rally, but it didn’t put him off at all.”
She looked over at Jules and her smile grew wider. “Maybe he really does like me.”
“Of course he likes you. What’s not to like?” Michelle stated matter of factly. Her green eyes locked with mine. “When you find the right guy, nothing should keep you apart.”