It Is What It Is

by Nikki Carter

  “I don’t know. But I’m so tired of talking about Homecoming. Since when did my life revolve around Homecoming?”

  “Here comes your boy,” Hope says with a grin.

  I don’t even have to ask who she’s talking about because I hear his smooth voice before I even turn around. It’s my blast from last year, Romeo. I’ve been doing a good job of avoiding him so far this school year. We don’t have any classes together so it hasn’t been that hard.

  Why is he staring at me? Wait, let me just say that today, I do look extra fly. Gwen braided the front of my hair to one side and the back is flowing free. It’s my favorite style. It looks like Romeo is also appreciating Gwen’s hairstyling talents.

  “What’s up, lil’ mama?” Romeo asks.

  I look to the left and to the right. “I know you’re not talking to me,” I say while Hope chuckles.

  Romeo replies, “Don’t be like that, shorty. You’re looking real fresh today, and I just wanted to tell you that Romeo digs it.”

  “Your admiration is an unfortunate byproduct of my fabulosity.”

  “Huh?” he asks with a blank stare.

  Remind me to ask the Lord why he wasted all that fineness on someone with half a brain. But I am dead wrong. I used all of those extra syllables on purpose because I knew that Romeo would be completely clueless.

  Romeo and his crew move on down the hallway almost as if they’re one person. Romeo and his flock of mini-Romeos. That’s just weird.

  Hope looks at me and we both burst into laughter. “I can’t believe you liked him,” she says.

  “I know, right? He is ugh!”

  “He doesn’t have a thing on my boo Ricky,” Hope remarks.

  I roll my eyes yet again. My eyeball sockets are going to go on strike from sheer exhaustion. Between Hope, Valerie, and Candy’s foolishness, they don’t get much of a break.

  My cousin and I start walking toward class. I hope that she doesn’t want to start talking about that epic novel of a letter that she wrote to Ricky. Maybe she came to her senses and burned the thing.

  Valerie, Kelani, and Jewel are walking down the other side of the hallway handing out flyers, which I’m sure are Valerie’s Homecoming court propaganda, because she is dead set on winning this thing. That poor Susan better watch her back. I don’t put anything past Valerie.

  “Ooo-OOO! Good morning, Hi-Stepper!” Valerie says.

  This girl has multiple personalities for real. Does she not remember threatening to have me thrown off the squad? And now she’s Ooo-OOOing me like it never happened at all.

  Valerie grabs my arm and pulls me away from Hope. “I need to borrow your cousin for a second,” she says.

  “What’s up, Valerie?” I ask after shrugging my arm away.

  “Two things. First, I’m having a pre-Homecoming hayride Saturday night. Everyone’s invited.”

  “Even Ricky and Hope?”

  Valerie smiles sweetly. “Of course they’re invited.”

  “Okay, when does Ashton Kutcher jump out from behind a locker?” I so feel like this is a Punk’d episode.

  “I told you I was over Rick. I’m actually going to Homecoming with Romeo. Go figure!”

  “Go figure,” I reply. Yet another cardinal Hi-Stepper rule broken by Valerie.

  “It’s not like you and Romeo actually dated. I mean, you two didn’t hook up or anything ... did you?”

  “Eww! No. You know better than that, Valerie.”

  Valerie throws her head back and laughs. “You’re right. I did know that. But come to the hayride, okay?”

  “Are you coming to the rally girls’ get-together tonight?”

  “I sure am. I have lots of campaigning to do.”

  This is a surprise. “Okay then, Valerie. We’ll be there.”

  When I rejoin Hope she’s got a strange expression on her face. “What?” I ask.

  “That was weird. What did Valerie want?”

  “To invite us to a hayride tomorrow night.”

  Hope laughs. “Yeah, right.”

  “No, seriously. I know it sounds strange, but just roll with it. Valerie throws the bomb parties.”

  “Will Gwen let you go?” Hope asks. This is a very valid question.

  “She’ll let me go as long as you’re going.”

  “That’s the same thing my dad says. He lets me go if you’re going.”

  “Well then, we’re covered.”

  At lunch I tell Ricky and Kevin about Valerie’s hayride. I’m greeted with mixed reactions.

  “I am not going to any party that Valerie’s throwing. I don’t even know why you asked,” Ricky says.

  Kevin says, “It sounds like fun, I’m down.”

  Ricky and I stare at Kevin in shock. Actually it feels like I’m inside of a crazy body-swap science experiment. Someone put my boy Ricky in Kevin’s body.

  “What?” Kevin asks. “I like hayrides.”

  “Since when?” I ask.

  Kevin replies, “Since always. Just because I don’t ever get invited doesn’t mean that I don’t like them.”

  “So you want to go to Valerie’s hayride?” Ricky asks.

  “Sure. There will be cheerleaders, Hi-Steppers, and rally girls, right?”

  I shrug. “Probably.”

  “Well, then I’m there!” Kevin exclaims and takes a huge bite out of his tuna sandwich.

  First and foremost, I don’t know if I can get used to a Kevin who wants to chase any girls other than me. Second, I will not be held responsible for any catastrophies that occur from a hormone-crazed Kevin running wild. Lastly, someone should really tell Kevin that hot boys don’t eat tuna sandwiches for lunch. I’m just saying.

  “If Kevin’s going, you can’t not go,” I say to Ricky.

  “If I go, I’m not talking to Valerie at all,” he responds.

  “I’m sure she won’t mind since her man, Romeo, is gonna be there.”

  Ricky’s eyebrows go up in surprise. “Romeo? Valerie’s dating Romeo now?”

  “Well, I know they’re going to Homecoming together.”

  Ricky asks, “Are you cool with that?”

  “Of course!” I exclaim. “I been over that dude. She can run off and marry him if she wants. I’m done.”

  “Speaking of Homecoming, how’s your campaign going, Ricky?” Kevin asks. “Do you need me to hand out any flyers?”

  Ricky scowls at Kevin. “Why would I be campaigning? I didn’t submit my name.”

  “No one is stopping you from withdrawing,” I remark.

  “I thought about it,” Ricky says, “but then whoever nominated me might be upset.”

  Now Ricky is getting the blank stare. Who does he think he’s fooling? I think Ricky wants to be Homecoming prince, but he doesn’t want us to know he wants it. Was that too much? I’ll wait while you reread that sentence.

  “Okay, Ricky,” I say. “We believe you. Right, Kevin?”

  Kevin winks at me. “Right!”

  Ricky clenches his teeth and rolls his eyes. “Whatever to both of y’all.”

  20

  Tonight, the Longfellow Spartans are facing their worst rival—the Euclid Heights Titans. Euclid Heights has three All-American players on their offensive line and two on the defensive squad. In a word, they are beasts.

  They’ve already sacked Ricky once, and we’re only in the first quarter. Romeo, who plays tailback, is struggling to gain any yardage on the passes that he does catch. I know they’re glad that this isn’t Homecoming week.

  “All right, Hi-Steppers!” yells Valerie from her place in the stands. “It’s time for us to pump our team up.”

  Isn’t this supposed to be the cheerleaders’ job? Not that I’m against school spirit or anything, but dang, can we stay in our own lane?

  Then I see the rally girls out of the corner of my eye. They have a bunch of red and white flags that they’re waving as they chant, “Spartans fight! Spartans fight!”

  Valerie starts a one-two step with the Hi-Steppers, wh
o are now standing. The one-two step ... one-two step, goes in time with the rally girls’ chant.

  As we do our impromptu step, people in the stands join in by stomping out, or clapping out, the one-two step. It actually sounds kind of hot!

  All of the chanting, stepping, clapping, and stomping seems to help the team on the field. In the second quarter, James, a defensive back, intercepts a pass from the Titans quarterback and returns it for a touchdown. The crowd, of course, goes wild.

  We are still pumped as we run onto the field for the halftime show. We totally rock that Kanye West song, and even have the crowd throwing their hands up in the air with us. We don’t do solos, because Mrs. Vaughn doesn’t care for any one person trying to hog the spotlight, but Valerie always does something extra that wasn’t planned in the choreography. This time she does a little Beyoncé booty bounce on her way off the field and the boys cheer like they’ve lost their minds.

  During the second half of the game, Valerie hands out her Homecoming Queen flyers. Honestly, I think she has a better chance of winning than Susan. Susan is not very popular and she isn’t trying hard at all.

  Now there are fourteen seconds left in the game, and the Titans are winning, seventeen to fourteen. We have the ball. Valerie starts our chant again, and the entire crowd joins in.

  After he gets the ball, Ricky shuffles back and forth for a second, looking for a receiver. The only one open is Romeo and he’s near the end zone. It’s a long pass, but Ricky throws it all the way down the field. Romeo just has to catch it.

  And he does! We win the game with zero seconds left on the clock.

  The Hi-Steppers and about half the fans clear the stands and spill out onto the field. I’m so proud of Ricky that I literally jump into his arms and give him a gigantic hug.

  “Whoa!” he says.

  “Good game, Ricky!”

  I think we hold our embrace for just a second too long, because Ricky steps away from me like he’s uncomfortable or something. It’s all good, though. I just got a little carried away in the post-game excitement.

  I’m serious.

  Whatever. I know what you’re thinking and you’re so the opposite of right.

  Hope joins Ricky and me on the field. “You did awesome, Ricky!”

  “The entire team did a good job,” he says.

  To get to FunNStuff, everyone grabs a ride with someone driving, because it’s about twenty minutes away from the school. Of course, we’ve got our normal car group—Ricky, Kevin, Hope, and me. And ... ugh ... Candy.

  Ricky’s changed out of his uniform, and whatever he splashed on in the locker room smells mighty nice. What? I’m just saying. Can I not enjoy pleasant scents?

  Candy says, “Ricky, what did you do, spray on the whole bottle?”

  “You know, people would like you more if you were a little sweeter,” Ricky replies.

  “But then they wouldn’t really like me, right? They’d like some fake person that is not me. I’m just gonna do me. Regardless.”

  Pfft ... Whatever! I’ve never seen more fakeness than when Candy is around Valerie. She gets the boo-I-don’t-believe-you side eye.

  When we get to FunNStuff, there is a small crowd at the front door. I guess just about everyone came over from the game, because I see mostly Longfellow Spartans in the mix.

  As we make it to the front of the line, Ricky taps me on the shoulder. “That’s what’s holding us up.” He points toward the door where Romeo and Valerie stand, handing out flyers.

  “She really wants this Homecoming queen thing bad, doesn’t she?” I ask.

  “Pretty much,” Ricky whispers.

  Valerie smiles at us and hands Ricky a flyer. “Are you gonna vote for me, Rick?” she asks.

  “Uh, I guess,” he replies. Clearly, she caught him off guard.

  “Will you wear a button too?” Valerie asks, her voice sounding like a purr.

  Ricky swallows. “S-sure. I guess so.”

  Valerie steps closer to Ricky. “You guess? I want you to be sure.”

  Ricky shudders when Valerie takes one of her buttons and pins it on his jacket. I’m not sure if the shudder is from fear of being stuck or the fact that Valerie is basically nose to nose with Ricky and she’s wearing that strawberry lip gloss.

  Hope fumes. I think I can literally see the steam coming from the top of her head.

  “I thought you said she was done,” Hope hisses in my ear.

  “Well, she said she was done,” I reply in my defense.

  “I sure can’t tell.”

  Finally, Ricky pulls himself away from Valerie and we go inside. The only lighting inside is coming from the ton of arcade games that are all over the huge loft-like building. Hope sees some of her rally girl friends and waves at them.

  “Ricky, Gia, I’m gonna go say hello to my rally sisters. I’ll be right back, okay?” Hope’s smile is on overdrive, and even though she said my name in that sentence, she is clearly talking to Ricky alone.

  Kevin laughs as Hope jogs away. “Ricky, can you please just be her boyfriend? This is getting kind of old.”

  “True that!” Candy exclaims. “You are spitting truth, Kev.”

  Kevin’s eyes light up. “I am! Awesome!”

  Candy looks Kevin up and down and giggles. “You are just extra excited, aren’t you? My friends are here too, so I’m ready to bounce. Where are we gonna meet when it’s time to go?”

  “Meet me at the door at eleven fifteen,” Ricky says. “That ought to give us enough time to get home by curfew.”

  “Cool!”

  Gwen showed mercy on us tonight and extended curfew to midnight.

  Candy joins Valerie and the rest of the Hi-Steppers. Kevin has the audacity to look disappointed. Boo, Kevin!

  “So y’all wanna play laser tag?” I ask.

  Ricky grins. “I didn’t think you’d want to be punished tonight.”

  “Punished? Boy, I will crush you. Let’s do this!”

  This is the Ricky I know and love. Er ... strongly like. I like when he maintains his homeboy status, and I also love beating him at games. He needs to simmer down with all his girlfriend and Homecoming drama.

  But at this point, it is what it is. I just hope we spend the rest of the school year having more fun and less foolishness!

  21

  “Last night was fun, huh?” Candy asks.

  She’s got her morning breath all up in my personal space and I’m completely unappreciative. I put my pillow over my head.

  Candy is talking about the rally girls’ party. It was fun. Hope and I totally creamed Ricky and Kevin in laser tag.

  “So we’re going to Valerie’s party tonight, right?” Candy clearly doesn’t care that my eyes haven’t yet opened.

  Candy taps the bottom of my foot. “Wake up, Gia! We’ve got to go to the mall and get fly outfits for Valerie’s hayride. What do you wear to a hayride, anyway?”

  This makes me remove my pillow. “Jeans, jean jacket, boots. But I’m not going to the mall with you, Candy. Not today, not ever.”

  “Whatever, Gia! You get on my nerves. I do have money, by the way.”

  I get on her nerves? I’m going to have to say ditto to that emotion. Besides, I’m not the one who plans my own personal cash-free shopping sprees.

  “Even if you do have money, I’m not going. I’ve got to go to the library with Ricky and Kevin to finish our English paper. Sorry.”

  “I’ll just call my friends then. It’s cool.”

  Suddenly, our bedroom door swings open. “Rise and shine, girls! We’re going out for breakfast,” Gwen announces.

  “Where are we going to eat? Is it near the library, because I have to meet Kevin and Ricky there at noon.”

  “We’re going to IHOP, Gia. You’ll get to the library in plenty of time.” Gwen sounds a bit irritated, like I’m trying to rain on her parade or something.

  I ask, “Candy, when are you meeting with your friends at the mall?”

  Gwen narrows her eyes s
uspiciously. “I can take you shopping. What do you need?”

  Candy smiles. “We were going to do more hanging than shopping. If it’s okay with you, I’d rather have my dad drop me off this afternoon.”

  “Fine with me,” Gwen says, “but both of you be ready in thirty minutes. I want some pancakes.”

  When Gwen closes the door, Candy whispers, “I don’t want to go to breakfast with Gwen.”

  I laugh out loud. “It could be worse. She could be trying to make the pancakes herself.”

  Candy is straight killing me. Wasn’t she just calling my mother Mama Gwen a couple of weeks ago? Now that Gwen is on the trail, Candy doesn’t want anything to do with her. Too bad for Candy, Gwen doesn’t give up that easily, and once she decides to catch you in some dirt, you’re pretty much caught.

  We’re sitting in one of IHOP’s booths and I’m reading through the menu like I don’t already know what I want. I’ve been getting the same thing ever since Ricky and I discovered our favorite—big, fluffy pancakes topped with hot apples and whipped cream. Yummy!

  Gwen orders blueberry pancakes and Candy selects an omelet, probably due to Valerie’s ban on carbohydrates. Valerie can fall back with that mess. Nobody is gonna stop me from eating bread products, especially pancakes!

  While we’re waiting on our food, I see Gwen get that mother-daughter talk face. I’m sooo not interested in that this early in the morning!

  “So where are you girls going this evening? Anywhere fun?” Gwen asks.

  I say, “Mom, we’re going to the hayride, remember?”

  “That’s right! Some things never go out of style, I guess. We used to have hayrides when I was in school. They were so much fun, especially for us cheerleaders.”

  “You were a cheerleader, Mama Gwen?” Candy asks. Hush my mouth. She actually sounds interested.

  “Yes, honey! I was the captain of the football and basketball cheerleaders until I got pregnant with Gia my senior year. Then I had to drop everything.”

  Candy looks sad, as if the story touched her. “That’s horrible you had to quit the squad! I bet you cried your eyes out.”

  “I was definitely sad about everything I missed out on during my senior year,” Gwen says with a reflective look on her face. “I learned a good life lesson in it though.”