by Taylor Hart
The band guy caught Zoey’s eyes and nodded to her.
Nicholas put his arm around her. His protectiveness made her smile. It did feel like they were in high school.
They got out to the pool, where she noticed several kids swimming, most of the girls in bikinis. Plates of food were strewn across the patio and chairs. In the hot tub, a lot of kids were sitting with their legs in the water—including Tiffany, Karl, and Kira. Zoey could tell that Sammy noticed it too, because she hesitated.
“Hey, Sammy! So you have new friends, I see!” Tiffany called out, standing up in the water and turning to face them. “Why don’t you bring them over here?”
Sammy linked arms with Megan and Zoey. Liz linked up with Megan, and they all walked toward the hot tub like they were in The Wizard of Oz. “It’s okay, we got this,” Sammy said, and they reached Tiffany. “I do have new friends.”
Tiffany screwed up her face and put a finger down her throat, pretending to barf. “Whew, look at our old friend. She’s the new queen of our puppy chow group.”
Zoey ground her teeth. She seriously wanted to punch the girl’s petite little cheekbones.
Sammy glared at her. “I never liked that you treated half the team like they were second rate, and it has to stop.”
Tiffany pointed at her, and her eyes widened. “Oh, wah, get over yourself!”
Megan broke free from Sammy and wagged a finger at Tiffany. “Grow up. We’re done taking your crap! Nobody cares about your stupid drama.”
Frankie burst out laughing, ripping off his shirt and stepping into the hot tub. “Sorry to inform you all, but woof woof!”
Zoey could feel Nicholas tense, and she put her hand on his arm. The look on his face told her he would rip Frankie’s head off.
“Stop,” Karl said. He was the only one in the hot tub who wasn’t laughing.
Sammy’s head jerked to him. For a moment, no one spoke.
“Boo-hoo,” said Tiffany. “Come on, Karl, tell her the truth. Tell her why you dumped her.” She leaned into him, nibbling his ear.
Everyone was frozen. Sammy was frozen.
Karl grunted and turned away from Sammy. “Stop it, Tiffany.”
Tiffany cackled. “C’mon, Karl, tell her what you told me a long time ago.”
Karl rolled his eyes.
Frankie pushed Karl’s shoulder and grinned drunkenly at Sammy. “Aw, Sammy, you know the truth—Karl dumped you because he wanted a girl who would put out.”
Chapter 20
Sammy
Sammy choked on thin air as Frankie’s words stabbed her in the chest like a knife.
“Shut up!” Karl stood, pushing Frankie in the chest.
Frankie guffawed and pointed at Tiffany. “Dude, she’s a slut. You like it.”
Tiffany’s face went red, and she flipped Frankie off. “Forget you, Frankie!”
Karl’s eyes met Sammy’s, and she knew the truth. That was exactly why Karl had picked Tiffany. She swore and took off, not seeing anything or anyone, just searching for an exit. She found the fence and burst through the gate.
Breathe. Run. Pound the pavement. Turning all of her anger at Tiffany and Karl and the others to the road, she sprinted hard. She couldn’t have run faster if she’d been escaping a mugger.
Frankie’s house wasn’t far from the old elementary school they’d all gone to, but it wasn’t convenient to get to. She ran through the city park, then hopped a broken-down fence into the cemetery and kicked it up a notch.
Sammy actually slowed inside the cemetery. She loved it here. When she would cross-train, she liked to come here. The cemetery had the biggest trees—well, the oldest trees—and it had these lavender bushes she loved smelling as she ran past.
Tiffany had told her one time that she was weird for liking the cemetery, but unlike other kids who just wanted to go there when it was late and chant weird stuff to find spirits, she just loved the smell and feel of it. Not that she didn’t believe in evil spirits—she did—but she didn’t like the idea of interrupting the dead. So she never went to the cemetery for spook parties. She just ran here. Suddenly, she remembered the saddest happiest place she’d found in the cemetery while running and smelling lavender. Now, she went to it—a little birdbath. In the morning, it would be bright and lively with hummingbirds hovering near; in the darkness, it looked different and empty.
Sammy bent down and put her hand on top of the slick granite. She felt the grooves of the letters and numbers beneath her fingers. Baby Stowell. 1922–1922.
She sat and thought of Megan trying to stick up for her. Even if Megan and Liz wanted to be her friends now, she didn’t deserve them. She’d been Tiffany’s shadow. Horrible shame burned through her—not for how she’d been treated, but how she’d allowed Tiffany to treat everyone else. She punched the ground and gritted her teeth as the impact shot up her arm. “No!” She’d been awful, and in the safety of the cool group, she’d never had to think about it.
Her phone buzzed, and she knew who it was without looking. There would be five or so DMs waiting for her.
Pulling out her phone, she couldn’t help but laugh at a picture of two cats with their claws out, yanking at each other’s fur.
How’s the catfight going? asked the accompanying DM.
She scrolled through other photos of Hunter and the guys from his fraternity, doing stupid stuff like hula hooping and playing the drums. The last DM said, So are you going to sneak away and go to dinner with me tomorrow after the competition?
She stared at the DM. As hollow as she felt, she longed to reach out, to be something to someone. Why would you want to meet me? I’m horrible. I’ve been calling people the “puppy chow group.”
He sent back a gif that had someone look like they’d been blown away. Ouch.
She sighed. It was nice to have a friend who didn’t know her, at least not all the way, but accepted her nonetheless.
Are you okay?
She stared at the message, wishing things could be so different. I’m horrible.
He sent her a picture of a puppy and a heart. Puppy chow isn’t all bad. You always have me, no matter what.
Tears stung her eyes. It meant so much to hear that right now. Karl only picked Tiffany because I wouldn’t sleep with him.
She thought of what Zoey had told her. Hunter wouldn’t actually sell her for sex. That would be ridiculous.
I’m sorry, baby. Tiffany’s a slut. You’re way better than her.
She smiled a little, remembering that Frankie had called Tiffany a slut, too. She sent Hunter a heart.
He texted a picture of his lips. Just his lips. It wouldn’t be all bad to kiss those lips, would it? Send me a pic of yourself right now.
Her heart rate went up a notch. No, my makeup is all over my face.
I don’t care. I want the real you. I want to see you the way you are. You never have to be ashamed in front of me.
Sammy believed him. Hunter was the only person who never judged her lately.
“Sammy!”
She stopped messaging and looked back, seeing two figures coming toward her in a run—Zoey and Nicholas.
Why had they followed her? She stood, shoving her phone back into her pocket. “Hey.”
When they got to her, they were both gasping for air.
Zoey put her hands on her head, trying to speak through her huffing and puffing. “You shouldn’t have left like that.”
Nicholas shook his head. “You scared us.”
“Sorry.” It felt weird to her that these were her friends now, chasing her down when she had been shamed at a party and following her to the cemetery. She was perplexed. “You guys didn’t have to come. Really.”
Zoey touched Sammy’s arm. “We care about you.”
The intense way she said it gave Sammy pause. For a moment, she thought it might be true. “Uh, thanks.”
Zoey dropped her arm and looked around. “You’re a cemetery kind of girl.”
Sammy shrugged, then sat back dow
n. She put her hand on the little birdbath again. “I’ve always liked the peace here.”
After a beat, Zoey and Nicholas sat next to her.
She traced the stone. “I always wondered why the grave only said ‘Baby Stowell’ on it.”
Zoey tensed. “The baby didn’t get a name?”
Sammy moved her hand to the lettering. It read, Baby Stowell, 1922–1922. “Nope. One time I asked my mom why it was like that, and she said it was because lots of children used to die young long ago, and—and the parents used to wait to name them, to see if they lived.” She shrugged. “It was a rough world back then.”
“No way,” Zoey said, letting out a long breath.
Sammy turned to her. It was the first time she’d really looked at Zoey tonight, and right now she had tears in her eyes. “You okay?”
Zoey gave Nicholas a fierce look, then nodded. “Yep.”
She was trying to hide something, but it didn’t matter. Sammy stared at the birdbath again and sighed. “Maybe I would be better off without a name. Maybe I would be better off without ever being born so I wouldn’t have to be in this stupid cheerleading drama.”
Zoey cursed. “Don’t ever say that.”
Sammy jerked her head to meet Zoey’s eyes again. Zoey was acting too weird.
“It’s okay, Zoey,” Nicholas said.
Zoey pointed at Sammy, all pissed off. “It’s not okay. It’s not okay to not want a name. Because that’s how people strip you of everything.” She rapidly blinked.
“Stop,” Nicholas commanded her, taking her hand.
Zoey held perfectly still.
Sammy didn’t know what was going on, but she stood. She didn’t need this drama, whatever this was. She took off into a jog. “I gotta go home.”
Zoey and Nicholas jumped up and matched her stride. “Wait,” said Zoey, finally catching her breath. “Let’s talk.”
She kept jogging. “We have to focus. The competition is tomorrow.”
They went back through the cemetery, over the fence, and down the street. Megan and Liz were heading their way.
“Hey!” Megan called out, intercepting them to give Sammy a hug. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Liz joined in hugging her, too. “You alright?”
Sammy felt a surge of gratitude. “I am now.”
The girls pulled back.
“That was not okay,” Megan said fiercely. “Tiffany is so awful.”
Liz nodded, still holding to Sammy’s arm. “Don’t worry about those guys.”
She didn’t know what to say. “Why are you guys so…” Tears bubbled into her eyes. “I don’t deserve to have you as friends. I used to be just like that.”
Megan put her hand on Sammy’s shoulder. “But now you know better, so you do better.”
Sammy was humbled by Megan’s goodness. She cried into Megan’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry for how I was to you both.”
Megan and Liz held her again, and Sammy decided she wanted to be better. She wanted to be the kind of girls they were.
Turning, she noticed that Nicholas and Zoey were hanging back. She bit her lip out of guilt for trying to ghost Zoey lately. “Uh, thanks for coming to find me. Thanks for being part of this drama.”
Zoey grinned at her. “Thanks for asking us to be on the cheer team and including us.”
“Yeah,” Nicholas agreed, but he didn’t sound as sincere. “But let’s talk, just for a second, about some things you can do if guys like Frankie say crappy things like that.” Nicholas gestured at Zoey to come closer. “Pretend I’m attacking you. Show them how to fend me off.”
“Our foster dad wanted us all to know how to protect ourselves,” Zoey explained. “Check it out.”
Despite herself, Sammy giggled.
Nicholas tried to grab Zoey, but she jabbed her fingers at his face like she was going to poke his eyes out.
“Ahh.” Megan cringed. “Don’t hurt him.”
Zoey stopped right before her fingers went into his eyes. “This is called sprinkling the pepper.”
Nicholas stepped back and held up his thumb to demonstrate. “But you really go for the eyeball, okay?”
Liz gave them a funny face. “Okay, I don’t think Frankie would ever do that.”
Even though Sammy was confused by all of this, she did find it interesting.
“You never know.” Nicholas tapped his elbow. “All of you, pull up your arm and stick out your elbow.”
All of them attempted to do so.
His eyes got wider. “Your elbow is a huge weapon.”
Zoey nodded, yanking her elbow down quickly. “If you do a diagonal elbow to someone, you’re going to do damage. Just make sure you do it hard and fast.”
“Watch.” Nicholas went for Zoey, and she demonstrated, pretending to strike him in the face.
“So you guys are showing us this just because Frankie’s a jerk?” Sammy asked. It was kinda strange that they were going all combat on them.
“Right. I had a guy try some stuff on me once and I want to make sure others learn these things.” Zoey leaned back and posed. “This is the old Karate Kid movie thing, but what is really happening here is leverage. For women, when we’re not as big, physically, we can really get a good kick in.” She reared back and kicked into the air.
Nicholas grinned at her, then turned to them. “You’re cheerleaders. You should be good at this.”
Sammy frowned, still confused. “Okay, I have to get home.” She began walking toward Frankie’s house.
Zoey caught up with her, putting her arm around her. “I know we’re kind of intense, but listen. Remember there’s always someone who sees the real you, Sammy.”
This caught Sammy’s attention. Hadn’t Hunter just told her that he wanted to see the real her?
“And never forget the real truth,” said Nicholas.
They were back at Frankie’s house. The music still cranked out loudly.
Sammy hesitated. “What is the real truth?”
Zoey put a hand on Nicholas’s arm. “That you’re a child of God. He sees the real you. Sometimes you just have to be willing to open your heart and hear the truth about who the real you is. And He’s always trying to help you.” She tapped on her heart. “And listen to what He’s telling you.”
Megan and Liz stood next to her, looking equally puzzled as to why this had gotten so intense.
“O-kay,” Sammy said.
Nicholas grunted and raised a fist. “Go, Lions!”
“Go, Lions!” they all repeated.
They got into the Mustang, and Sammy wondered about how different Zoey and Nicholas were, talking about God like that right in front of Frankie’s house. She stared out at the sky and wondered what God would really say if He ever really did speak to her.
Chapter 21
Zoey
Zoey stared into the crowded gymnasium in Fort Collins, CO, and wanted to scratch the thick makeup off of her face.
“Chillax,” Nicholas whispered to her.
She glanced at Sammy, who was all dolled up in the makeup and outfit. Even though Sammy stood next to Megan and Liz, her attention was fixed on the phone in her hand. “I’m not worried about the routine.”
Nicholas gave Zoey a knowing glance, and she could see sweat budding on his forehead. “I can honestly tell you this is the hardest mission I’ve ever done.”
She would have laughed if she hadn’t heard the buzzing in her ear.
“You’re fine, Nicholas.” It was Captain Jace on the earpiece.
He and Ralph had driven up to Fort Collins. If anyone asked, the captain was their dad and wanted to be supportive, and Ralph was their uncle in town visiting. Not that anyone even asked, but they had a cover story in case.
She found him and Ralph in the stands and nodded to them. Captain Jace nodded back to her.
Ralph was staring at his phone. “I see you guys, and I’m scouring the gym. I can’t see anyone suspicious.”
Nicholas cursed beneath his breath. “The
guy has to be coming, right?”
Zoey’s gaze darted about the space, and she wondered what the predator would look like.
“The intel between him and Sammy indicates that he would come today and watch her do the competition, but you can never be sure. This one’s slippery.”
“Hey.” Sammy strolled up to her and Nicholas.
Zoey jerked to face her. “Hey.”
Sammy lifted her eyebrows as she regarded them. “You ready?”
“Ready.” Zoey looked her up and down. “You’re so calm, cool, and collected.”
“My parents aren’t even here yet. So they’ll probably miss it, but…” Sammy shrugged, clearly forcing a smile. “I think it’ll be okay.” She scanned the crowd.
“Is someone else coming?” Nicholas asked.
Sammy let out a breath. “Yeah, I just thought a friend of mine was coming, and it turns out he can’t come.”
All sorts of bells went off in Zoey’s head.
Nicholas lifted his eyebrows, and his eyes met Zoey’s. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. I should be used to not having anyone lately.” Sammy looked over at Tiffany, Kira, and several other cheerleaders. They were gathered with Karl and Frankie rather than where the teams were, clearly disobeying the rules.
“You have us.” Zoey smiled.
Sammy reached out and hugged her.
At first Zoey froze, but then she hugged Sammy back.
“Thank you guys for being here,” Sammy said. “Let’s do this!”
“It’s time!” said Ms. Montlake, calling them over. Her makeup was thicker than usual, and her hair was all curled and ratted. Truly, she was pretty, but she was also just a tad old to be doing the whole cheer look. She sat perched on top of a chair. “Remember to smile, remember to have fun, and remember to win it!” She shouted the last part. “Go, Lions!”
“Go, Lions!” they all yelled back.
Chapter 22
Sammy
Pride coursed through Sammy’s veins. She was here! At state!
The team took their positions, and the lights went down. The crowd quieted.