Prom Queen of Disaster

by Joseph James Hunt

  Ava pulled me aside. “Did something happen between you and Kaleb?”

  “No, why?” I asked, adjusting the straps on my gym bag.

  “He said he didn’t feel comfortable.”

  “Getting used to having a guy in the house is strange,” I said.

  Ava laughed. “Is it the bathroom thing? I hate that.”

  It wasn’t the toilet thing. I hadn’t noticed that. It was the unwanted kiss, knowing he wasn’t innocent or as nice as everyone else made him out to be. Now, nobody would believe me if I said anything, all because I didn’t say anything after it happened. “Yeah,” I agreed. “Like, why can’t they just put the seat down.”

  The bus was huge, and it didn’t smell like old people or cat urine, both of which I’d experienced before. I carried my smaller bag onto the bus with food my mom had packed.

  Dylan grabbed me by the waist, pretending to gnaw on the side of my neck. “Cannot wait to see you in that outfit,” he said. “I’ve heard good things.”

  “Well.” I kissed him. “I might have a picture.”

  We took seats at the back of the coach. I needed the window seat, mainly because six-hour journeys made me motion sick. There were six seats on the back, with the row in front having five seats; three on one side, two on the other.

  By the time Char was ready, everyone was already on the coach waiting. Mr. June stood by the door, waving her in. “C’mon Charlotte,” he called out. “We’re waiting on you now.”

  “So you should be,” she said. “I’m the god damn captain.”

  He chuckled, stroking the back of his neck as he followed Char. “Let’s wrap this up!” he said. He grabbed the microphone from the driver and tapped on it a few times. “So, we have some rules and an itinerary to follow on this trip.”

  Char reached the back of the coach. “Did you see my Instagram?” she said, sitting between Benny and Ava on the back seats. “That’s why I’m late, the outfit is on point, and it needed to be documented.”

  Ava grabbed her phone to search for the image, while Char shoved her phone in my face. “Look,” she said. “You’d betta double tap.” She laughed, although I knew she was serious.

  Mr. June continued through his list of rules. He made us aware we would be stopping only the once and that would be for dinner in 3 hours, probably at a fast food diner, which Char would definitely object to.

  “Hey, Mr. Serious,” Char said, shoving her phone into Kaleb’s face. “Do you even follow me?”

  Kaleb didn’t say a word to me. He laughed at Char. “Wondering if I remembered to bring the pain meds,” he said. “I think Ava’s already followed you for me. Don’t worry.”

  Ava nodded. “I did.”

  I turned to Dylan and punched his arm. “Have you followed her?”

  He laughed. “I probably have now.”

  “So, what games are on there?” I asked, reaching for his iPad.

  “It’s no Angry Cats or Flappy Chicken,” he said. “But that game with boxes, and you have to match three. It’s so hard.”

  “Oh god, that game!” I said. “You know I’m gonna beat your high score.” It was easy enough.

  Before the coach could begin moving, the engine cut out and the door opened. Mr. June waved more people on. I noticed Mr. Brooks, one of my art teachers climb on board, followed by Mrs. Jennings, my English teacher.

  Mr. June took to the microphone once again. “We also have a few more students joining us today on our trip today to Los Angeles.” From behind, Mila, Heather, and Brittany climbed on board the coach.

  Char stood and stomped a foot. “Mr. June! I thought this was for the competition, not some Greyhound.”

  Mr. June shrugged the comments off with a chuckle. “I’ll go through roll call, then we’re off.”

  Before I could occupy myself with the iPad, Char pulled our attention to her. She pointed to the front of the coach. “Did anyone else know about this?” she asked. “If they think of coming to the competition, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

  Libby and Hannah sat the row in front of us. They popped their heads over the seats, one on either row, each with their new boyfriends. “They probably invited themselves,” Hannah said. “We need someone on the student body.”

  “Uh, Han,” Char rolled her eyes. “We tried that already, after they infect the newbies, they don’t want to hang with us. We need to get them first.”

  “What if you ask one of them to come on the squad, next semester,” Libby said.

  “If Sara leaves,” Char said as Sara turned at the mention of her name. “Just discussing what would happen if you left.”

  Sara knelt on her seat. “It’s not set in stone,” she said. “Jeez.”

  “Girls,” Mr. June called. “Take your seats. We need a headcount, and the driver’s not going anywhere until you’re all accounted for.”

  The first hour was loud; with plenty of energy to waste on singing music Char forced the driver to play. Mostly female pop ballads and for 2015, an awful lot of Destiny’s Child.

  Question, played over the stereo. Char jumped out of her seat with an entire choreographed sequence with hand shapes and slow drops.

  The second hour was quieter, people had turned to their phones and headsets for music. Char, still sang aloud to the music playing, thankfully only heard by people who’d forgot to bring headphones with them. By now I’d beat Dylan’s score twice. He’d tried to take the iPad from me to play, but I was on a roll, so I slapped his hands away and let him continue to wrap his arms around me.

  As the end of the third hour approached, Char took to the microphone. It wasn’t the first time she had during the coach journey, but it was the first time she’d made everyone listen.

  “So, cheer squad and those accompanying us, if you don’t fall within this category, please be advised your opinions will not matter,” she said. “Do you want to go for food now? It’s now 6:30 PM or we could wait another hour?”

  Undiscerning mumbles sounded through the coach.

  “Don’t mind,” one of the girls to the front said.

  “We need a decision,” Char said.

  I’d already eaten most of the quiche my mom had packed, and the rest I’d given to Kaleb.

  “You hungry?” Dylan asked.

  “I want fries and a shake,” I said. “But Char would kill me.”

  “She won’t kill me though,” he said, unraveling his arm from around my body. “Yeah. I could go for food.”

  “Right,” Char said with smile. “I CBA with cramps because I ate too late. That’s it settled. What food?”

  Quickly deciding with a firm push from Mr. June, although we’d have to eat somewhere without fast food in the title. We finally pulled to a stop in a small town between San Rafael and Los Angeles, I didn’t see any signs, but there was an oversized parking lot used by truck drivers, and it was fairly close to the restaurant we’d decided on

  A server at the door greeted us. “Welcome to The Glanville Family Restaurant, how many people are in your party today?” More bodies piled through the door. She nodded her head, taking a mental note. “I’ll grab you a few tables,” she chuckled to herself. “I’ll be right back.”

  The restaurant wasn’t empty, which was a pleasant surprise for a place dealing mainly with travelling business people and truck drivers.

  We took seats and placed our orders, I was conscious about what Char would say to fries and a shake, that’s all I wanted. She looked at me, expecting a response.

  “It sounds good,” Char said.

  “I hope so.” I clenched Dylan’s hand. “What did you order?”

  “Caprese salad,” she said. “My mom told me about going no-carb, flatten the stomach. So I’m giving it a try.”

  “You don’t need it,” I laughed, looking at her thin spaghetti arms. “You look perfect.”

  “Oh, I know.”

  It was nothing new. When I joined the cheer squad, my mom told me not to get involved with drugs or let the gir
ls tell me I was less than beautiful. That was the day my mom knew I was becoming a woman, or at least more mature.

  “What even is a caprese salad?” Dylan whispered.

  I shrugged. “Salad?” I wasn’t far wrong, there was cheese and herbs. It came with stale croutons, untouched on the side of her plate.

  My strawberry shake and fries made its way over. I dipped the fries in the shake before I ate them, much to Dylan’s disgust. He shuddered beside me, slicing into the steak he’d ordered.

  Whatever we didn’t finish was put into go containers. As per the strict schedule, we had minutes to eat before we were back on the road. It was already 7:15 PM.

  Once back on the coach, I leant against Dylan, I was now wearing his oversized hoodie. I tried to stop myself from sleeping on him, but the drumming sound of the engine and the warmth of his body welcomed me.

  I woke to Dylan’s face in mine, repeating my name.

  “Yeah?” I said, frowning in the bright lighting.

  “We’re here,” he said. “We need to check in, then you can go back to sleep.”

  The coach wasn’t sticking around for the weekend, so we needed to take everything off. We were in a large parking lot with several other coaches parked up beside each other. I climbed off the coach to see Char trying to get a look at whether or not they were competition.

  “Checking in is separate,” Mr. June said. “The cheer squad, I’ll have your room keys, everyone else who choose to come on this trip, you’ll need to check yourself in. Don’t get yourselves into any trouble, and we’ll have a nice weekend. Okay?”

  A chorus of oddly timed okays broke out.

  “And those wishing to watch the competition tomorrow, I have extra entry bands,” he finished, leading the way to the hotel.

  We made our way to the electric doors of the hotel, leading through to the reception desk. The pristine white tiles were too bright. I hauled my bag on a shoulder and shaded my eyes.

  Mr. June collected several room keys before handing them out. It was three to a room. I was sharing with Char and Ava. The only rule was no boys in the girls’ rooms, and no girls in the boy’s room. Mrs. Jennings made notes of who was sharing rooms.

  Before we could make our way to the rooms, they gathered us in the lobby. Everyone who wasn’t in the cheer squad was able to leave, but they tried to stress that we still weren’t able to go into different rooms.

  “Tomorrow, I want everyone to be here at 8 AM, I want everyone to have been showered. Please wear your uniform, or something to practice in for the first couple of hours, we will be going to the convention center around 8:30 AM, to get a feel for the routine space,” Mr. June said. “It’s only a few blocks, so we’ll be going on foot, sorry to disappoint.”

  I could feel myself sighing, louder than I’d thought. Char nudged me and laughed. “What about breakfast?” I asked.

  “Breakfast will be served at the convention center,” Mr. June said, taking a nod. “It’s a healthy breakfast buffet, I wouldn’t advise of the vending machines, we want everyone to be at peak performance.” If there was something he knew, it was giving a talk about nothing. My face yawned into a seizure of half-smiling and half-yawning. “Now, off to your rooms.”

  Char hooked her arm around me. “Let’s get to our room then,” she said, nudging Ava with her foot.

  “Ow, you—” Ava turned, frowning. “Oh my god.” She took a deep breath and pulled her gym bag up on an arm.

  “We don’t want to injure a flyer,” I said, “and nobody really wants to be pushing Ava around in a wheelchair.”

  Ava gasped. “If my calves weren’t half as strong, I would be in a wheelchair.”

  “Over it,” Char said, walking on, hauling me on the side of her arm.

  There were two elevators, and lines to both of them. Char bypassed everyone, telling them they didn’t want their captain to be tired for the morning. We could’ve waited the extra couple of minutes while people used them, they had a limit of five people, not because of weight, but because of how compact they were.

  Room 909. Most of us were on separate floors. Importantly, the teachers who were chaperoning were on a different floor. The hotel room was large, we had a huge glass window overlooking Los Angeles.

  There were two king-size beds to share. “I want to live here,” Char said, jumping from one to the other before bouncing back. She laid, looking up at the ceiling. “Forever.”

  “In this room?” I asked.

  “This city.”

  “Isn’t your mom always here anyway,” Ava asked in a yawn.

  Char hummed and threw a hand to her face.

  “Why don’t you move here?” I asked.

  She laughed at the question. “I need to follow in my mom’s footsteps,” she said. “I need to be prom queen, it’s everything I’ve grown up to want.”

  It was everything I’d ever wanted. I didn’t care about anyone; all I wanted was to feel the crown in my hair and to find myself center of attention with Dylan. It was also the night I’d been thinking of for a long time.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Alarms sounded at 7 AM. I’d been awake for 5 minutes lost in thought before the alarms began; an alarm from my phone, a second from Char’s phone, and the loudest from Ava. I stayed still as they groaned. Ava was at my side, and Char had a king bed all to herself. They fidgeted with their legs and arms, reaching out to slap their phones.

  “Getting a shower first.” I threw myself out of bed.

  They jolted upright. “But I need to do my hair!” Char said.

  I grabbed my open gym bag and rushed to the bathroom. Flicking the light switch on. The bathroom was bright, it stung the corners of my eyes. I undressed and turned the shower on to find the perfect balance of hot and cold

  “You’ve got 5 minutes,” Char shouted.

  “Right, whatever,” I laughed, “I’ll leave the shower running.”

  I’d only washed my hair the night before, it took way too long to dry, and we didn’t have enough flat irons to go around.

  My phone buzzed on the counter. It was either my mom or Dylan, probably both. I towel dried as I read the supportive texts on my phone.

  Char knocked on the door. “Move it.”

  I grabbed my belongings and walked out with a towel wrapped around my body. Ava sat on the end of a bed in a bath robe, waiting for her turn.

  “How are you doing your hair?” I asked. “I’m thinking of pulling mine all back in a ponytail.”

  Ava rolled her eyes. “Boring. I have my curling iron.”

  “In a ponytail still?”

  “That could work.”

  The bathroom door swung open. “What could?” Char asked, smoothing lotion into her arms.

  “Curling Zo’s hair,” Ava said.

  “I want loose curls, nobody with flat hair.”

  “Flat hair, flat performance,” I said, repeating something Char once said.

  I dressed in sweatpants and a red crop top with the school logo for practice. I packed my outfit on a hanger inside a garment bag. Ava wore hers but Char was worried she’d spill something on hers at breakfast.

  Char applied a light concealer and foundation to my face. “I only bought four lipsticks. So once we’ve eaten we can wear it.”

  Everyone was already in the lobby. Dylan pulled me into his arms by my waist. “You look amazing,” he said.

  “I’m starving.” I said, kissing his neck.

  Half the girls were in their outfits, the other half in their practice clothes. Before Mr. June could announce anything, Char took center stage. “I have a matte red lipstick, and all the girls will be wearing this after breakfast. The guys, well you’re doing your own thing anyway,” she said. “Oh, and loose curls.”

  Monique laughed. She had a thick black afro of curls, alongside Damaris, they were as diverse as our squad got. “You know I love curls,” Monique said.

  “You’re on curling iron duty then?” Char said.

  “Happily!”
r />   The competition was in a convention center 5 minutes from the hotel. We walked, the morning sun shining and the breeze snipping at us. We were used to it, northern Cali wasn’t always the warmest, but better than the four seasons everywhere else went through each day.

  Two-time Olympic world medalist and cheer champion, Alexa Bergdorf was one of the organizers and the face of the Golden State Cheer Championship. She was thirty, but you couldn’t tell by looking at her, only from her Wikipedia page. She welcomed each group into the convention individually.

  I left Dylan with a kiss. They weren’t allowed in unless they were part of the team, so they went out for breakfast. We were shown to a room with MARIN PANDAS plastered on the door and told to wait for Alexa’s arrival. I bit the inside of my lip in anticipation, I’d only ever watched her on YouTube videos.

  There was a knock at the door as she walked in, tall and slim in her fitted red dress. “Good Morning Marin Pandas!”

  “Morning!” We said back, almost like pre-school kids at roll call.

  “You all look so refreshed and beautiful,” she said, closing the door. “Have you all eaten breakfast?” she asked.

  “We were told to wait for you,” Mr. June said.

  “That’s silly.” She waved her hands in large gestures. “I don’t know why they told you that, we have a huge breakfast on down in the hall. You’ll get to meet a few other cheerleaders you’ll be competing against this afternoon too.”

  “What food?” Mrs. Jennings asked. “Because I’m starving!”

  Alexis stifled a laugh with her perfectly manicured hand. I glanced at my own, they were second-rate compared to Char’s. “It’s all high energy and high protein,” she said. “So, who’s the captain? Who will be leading your squad to victory today?”

  Char stepped forward. “Me,” she said. “I’m the captain, and I—we’ve been preparing since the start of the semester for this competition. We’re more than ready.”

  Of course, she told every squad they’d be winning today, and she was probably right, about one team at least. But she had me believing that of all the cheer squads here, we would take away the prize. We were only competing in the senior category.