“The music’s loud; maybe he can’t hear it. Try calling,” I suggested.
Nick hit the send button and waited. A ringer went off in the distance. “Do you hear that?” I asked.
Nick held the phone away from his ear. “Yes.” The sound was coming from the end of the hall by the stairwell. The ringing stopped suddenly, and Nick looked down at the screen on his phone. His call had been sent to voice mail. He snickered. “I have a feeling that if we go down there, we might see more than we bargained for.”
I gasped. “No! There’s no way Stacie would hook up with Sean.” I paused to consider my claim. “At least, I don’t think she would.”
Nick laughed and started down the hall. “Don’t underestimate Sean’s power over girls. I don’t know how, but sometimes he’s able to charm even the most resistant ones.”
We approached quietly, and when we got close, we could hear faint kissing sounds. I looked at Nick and my jaw dropped, mouthing a scream. He bent over in silent laughter before clearing his throat. “I have no clue where Sean and Stacie went,” he said in a loud and exaggerated fashion.
“Maybe they found a dark corner to make out in,” I replied, equally as melodramatic.
We snuck up on the stairwell, and Nick jumped around the corner. “Boo!”
“Whatcha guys doing?” I asked in a singsong voice. They were sitting on the stairs with a foot between them, but both had swollen lips and glassy eyes. Stacie’s lipstick was smeared.
“Talking. It was too hot in the gym,” Sean responded with a guilty tone.
“I think it might have been a little hot in the hall, too…” Nick teased.
“We were just about to come find you.” Stacie ignored his jab. She stood, and that’s when she noticed that Nick and I were holding hands. “What’s this?” She sat back down and waved her finger between us.
I gathered all my nerves and replied with as much gusto as I could. “This is me telling you that your no dating rule is dumb. I quit.”
Sean laughed. Stacie raised her eyebrows. “And what exactly does that mean?”
I held my chin high. “It means that Nick and I have been an official couple for a week.”
Sean snorted and turned to Stacie. “Told you. We should have bet money.”
It was Nick’s turn to be surprised. “You knew?”
“Do you think we’re blind?” Sean countered incredulously.
I gaped at Stacie. “You knew, too?”
“Of course I knew. I just wasn’t sure how long it’d been going on. I was thinking a couple weeks, but Sean had it nailed down to last Friday or Saturday.”
“What?” I blinked rapidly
“How’d you figure it out?” Nick asked.
“Well.” Stacie started ticking things off. “You guys were really flirty from the second Nick joined the team. And he was always hugging and touching you, even though he wasn’t like that with any of the other girls. You kept meeting him at his locker or saving him seats at lunch, pairing off with him in practice. Then, this week you put the brakes on all of that. It’s like you were trying too hard not to interact. That’s when I asked Sean if he knew anything.”
Sean grinned at Nick. “Sorry, bro, I ratted you out. I told her that you’d been in love with Mia for as long as I’d known you.” Nick blushed.
“We made a bet on how long you guys had been hiding a relationship. So, when exactly did it start?” Stacie asked.
“Saturday,” Nick answered. I was still too shocked to say anything.
“Boom!” Sean yelled, making guns with his fingers and shooting at Stacie. His gloating was downright gleeful. “Girl, you owe me dinner.” Stacie grimaced.
Nick kicked Sean in the leg. “What gave me away?”
“Well, I had my suspicions when you bailed on watching the Penn State game with me Saturday afternoon, even though we’d just talked about it the day before. The only reason you’d cancel is if you were sick or with a girl. And you didn’t sound sick. At least not in the physical sense. I knew for sure when you started driving Mia home this week but dropping me off first.”
I shook my head at Stacie. “If you knew and you didn’t care, why didn’t you say something?”
She shrugged. “I wanted to see if you’d come clean on your own terms.”
I ducked my head. “Are you mad at me?”
“Psh, no, I’m not mad. Honestly, I’m kind of proud. I thought you’d try keeping it a secret until the end of the football season. I definitely didn’t think you’d spill the beans after a week.”
Nick poked me in the side, and I squirmed. “She wanted to, but I’m so irresistible that she couldn’t take it anymore,” he bragged.
Sean jerked his chin at me. “Your parents know, don’t they?”
“Yeah.” I laughed. “I asked them not to say anything. But apparently my Dad sucks at keeping his mouth shut.”
Sean grinned. “I like your dad. He’s pretty cool for such a nerdy-looking dude.”
“I guess you aren’t banned from my house. But I reserve the right to boot you out any time you gang up on me.”
He cocked his head toward Stacie. “I’ll just bring her when I come. Then I won’t need to make fun of you.” Stacie rolled her eyes.
Nick smirked. “By the way, don’t think you’re off the hook. We know exactly what you two were doing when we walked up.” He looked at me. “I’ve heard Sean’s a noisy kisser.”
Stacie shot up. “Oh, would you look at the time! There’s only forty-five minutes left, and I’ve barely danced.” She took off without waiting for Sean.
He grinned at both of us. “FYI, I’m not the noisy kisser.” He ran after Stacie and disappeared into the gym.
I laughed, nodding toward them. “You think that’ll actually go anywhere?” I asked.
“I have no clue.” Nick chuckled. He swept me into his arms and gave me a longing glance before kissing me. Then he set me on my feet and took my hand. “But I know we will.”
Chapter 25
“I think I’m going to throw up,” I said. I’d developed a bad habit of getting sick before an important performance, which meant today I was on the verge of barfing and passing out at the same time.
Mia grabbed me by the cheeks and looked me in the eye. “Don’t be nervous. You’ve got this.”
Sean leaned over her shoulder. “And if you don’t, it’s no big deal. You’ll just drop your girlfriend, break her legs, and lose out on a college scholarship.”
I glared at him. “Not helping.”
“Go away!” Mia hissed. “Stacie, give Sean something to do. He’s bugging us.”
“He always bugs me, and you guys never help,” she countered.
Sean grabbed her around the middle and started tickling. “That’s because you like it.”
“Says you.” She elbowed him in the gut but not hard enough to hurt. Stacie thrust a caddy of empty water bottles at him. “Go fill these up.”
He took them from her and looked at us. “What she meant to say was, Sean, you sexy beast, be a doll and fill these water bottles, please. I’ll shower you with kisses and love you forever.”
Stacie bit back a smile and replied sarcastically, “Yeah, that’s totally what I meant. Now go do it.”
He grinned and puckered his lips. “I need payment up front.”
“Fine, I’ll do it.” She snatched the caddy back and started to walk away.
“All right, all right,” he called, jogging after her. “I’ll take payment upon completion.”
It’d been five months since Homecoming. Stacie and Sean spent the whole time in this limbo area, not claiming to be together but not dating other people. The whole squad knew they were a couple, whether they admitted it or not.
I finally convinced Sean to join the cheer team. He and four other guys came on for the winter season. I didn’t know any of them before, but we were all tight now. And, unlike Sean, none of them joined just for the girls. Three of them were awesome dancers, and the last guy c
ould hold his own with the tumbling.
The team did a fundraiser back in November so we could attend a cheer camp over Christmas break. That’s right, I said cheer camp. And yes, it was as girly as it sounds. We did learn a lot about stunting, though, which was the whole point. Roosevelt’s program had never done much in the past, but with all the added muscle, there was no reason not to now.
Mia was talking, but I’d zoned out. “…not worried at all. I trust you completely.”
“Thanks.” I grabbed her and kissed the top of her head.
She hugged me around the middle. “Seriously, you have nothing to stress about. Just be you, and it’ll be perfect.”
My mom called her old gymnastics coach from Penn State, who in turn cashed in a favor with the current coach and got me an audition two weeks ago. Their program was insanely good. The coach said I wasn’t as strong in some areas as he’d like, but that my floor skills were outstanding, and I had a lot of potential.
He also said that he probably couldn’t offer me a scholarship so late in the recruiting season, but that if I was interested, there might be a spot on the team. He gave me his business card and said he’d be in touch. I almost had a heart attack when he walked into the gym fifteen minutes ago with some woman I didn’t recognize. She was also wearing a Penn State polo.
Stacie and Sean returned. “Okay, everyone, it’s showtime.” Stacie smiled at me. “Nick has a special visitor, so try to make him look good.”
It was the last basketball game of the regular season, so we had a big routine put together with a few complicated stunts woven into our dance. As always, I had a couple tumbling solos. The announcer introduced us, and we made our way to center court. Mia took her spot in front of me. “Just breathe,” she whispered as she passed. I closed my eyes and drew a deep breath. When the music pumped through the speakers, I pushed everything else out of my mind.
Five whirlwind minutes later, Mia was on my shoulders, shaking her poms, and I was panting to catch my breath. The crowd broke into applause. I set her down, and she turned around, then lunged into my arms. “I told you you’d kill it.”
“I guess I should have listened.” I hugged her back and we walked over to get a drink. I had my mouth full of water when I saw Coach Wheeler approaching with the random lady.
“Hello, Nick.”
I swallowed quickly and held out my hand. “Hey, Coach. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
We shook. “Sorry I didn’t give you a heads-up. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it until this afternoon.” He nodded to the woman. “This is Beverly Meyer. She’s one of the cheer coaches at Penn State.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Nick.”
“Likewise.” I shook her hand, too. What in the heck was going on?
“Beverly and I were talking the other day, and she mentioned that she had a recruit who decided to accept an offer from another school.”
The woman jumped in. “Dave told me about how good you were at gymnastics. But when he said you were on your school’s cheer team, too, my ears really perked up. Most of our male athletes have a lot more formal cheer experience.” She grinned. “But most of them can’t do what you can do on the floor, either. Would you be interested in coming to a practice with us?”
“Uh.” I was speechless. I didn’t get any words out until Mia clenched my hand. I’d forgotten she was standing there. “Sure. I mean, yes, I’d love that.” I looked at Coach Wheeler. “Except, would that exclude me from a spot with the gymnastics team?”
He laughed. “Not unless you hurt yourself before you get to me. They’re different seasons. If you can handle the overlap in training, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
I stood there like a mute idiot. “I know it’s a lot to take in,” Beverly said. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself, because I still want you to come over and see how we run our program. But I think you’d be a good fit. I also think that between Coach Wheeler and me, we might be able to scrape up a small scholarship. Potentially half tuition.”
“Wow.” I stammered. “I don’t know what to say.”
“How about okay?” Mia bumped me in the shoulder.
“Right, yes. Okay. That would be awesome.”
Beverly reached into her bag and handed me a business card. She smiled. “Stick mine next to his. I’ll call you after I have a chance to look at my schedule, and we’ll set something up.”
I shook each of their hands one more time. “You looked great tonight,” Coach Meyer said. She glanced at Mia and added, “Both of you.”
Now it was Mia’s turn to stammer like a fool. “Thanks,” she finally got out.
“The cheer team always holds an open tryout at the end of the summer. We usually get a walk-on or two.” She winked at Mia. “You guys have a nice night.”
We said good-bye and watched until they’d made it out of the gym. When they were gone, Mia pushed me out the side door toward the locker rooms. She let out a little scream and jumped on me, wrapping her legs around my stomach and her arms around my neck. Then she peppered me with kisses on my cheeks.
“I can’t believe that just happened! Both teams? A double scholarship?” Her excitement was uncontainable.
“A partial scholarship,” I corrected, trying to downplay it as I pried her away.
“My boyfriend. A college athlete. You heard Coach Meyer refer to her team as athletes, right? If anyone ever teases you about being a cheerleader again, you can tell them to go suck on your big, fat college scholarship.”
“So vulgar.” I laughed. I’d spent lots of time at Mia’s house and been working on my own impersonation of her mom. “A lady never says the word suck.”
“A lady would never do this, either, but I’m going to anyway.” She kissed me again, this time on the mouth. We may or may not have been breaking her dad’s tongue rule.
My grandpa and my father had always dreamed of me following in their footsteps. Well, I’d gotten close. Right school, wrong part of the field. But that’s okay, because sometimes dreams come true. And sometimes reality is better than you could ever dream.
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One of the Girls (Friendzone #1) Page 23