Rachel took one look at me and began laughing uncontrollably. “I’ve got to hand it to you, Scarlett. I didn’t think you could do it, but you rocked it.”
I scoffed at her, mouth hanging open and eyes wide.
That just made her laugh harder. “You look like a deer in headlights…but worse.”
“You didn’t think I could do it?” I demanded.
She shrugged. “I thought there was a good chance you would do okay. But you surprised me. You’re a natural flyer.”
I scoffed again. “You call that being a natural? I thought I was going to die!”
Mrs. Collins came over. “You didn’t tell me you had experience in cheer.”
Staring at her in disbelief, I managed to utter, “I don’t.”
Now it was Mrs. Collins’s turn to be a little speechless. “Well, then,” she replied. She jotted something down on her clipboard and left.
I turned back to Rachel. “This is not what I thought tryouts were going to be like.”
She gave me a knowing smile. “Did I not mention that we’re one of the best squads around here?” She winked and began sauntering off.
I noticed several boys coming in from the football field.
“By the way,” Rachel said, turning back. Her voice came out low. “Ben over there? He couldn’t keep his eyes off of you the whole time you were up there.” With a wide grin, she continued walking. “You’re welcome.”
I could’ve bottled up the confidence Rachel gave off. That’s the type of girl she was. She reminded me of Anne in a lot of ways. How much she made me laugh and smile for one.
But her comment about Ben? Yeah, right.
Making my way to the locker room after everyone else, I eyed the boys milling about the gym.
They looked like they weren’t done with practice yet. More like on a break from the heat, and from the looks of it, a grueling practice outside.
My gaze found Ben. He was downing a long swig of water from one of those green plastic Gatorade bottles. Another staple of American high schools everywhere.
He brought the bottle back down and wiped at his mouth with his arm. Then his eyes met mine.
Just like that, I was back to being a giant mess, even from across the gym.
And I couldn’t look away. What was wrong with me?
After a couple of seconds, he looked away first, glancing down before his friend came over with something to say.
I grabbed my sweater and continued walking, gaze forward this time, wondering if Ben now thought I was a complete weirdo.
Because around him, I definitely morphed into one.
Ugh.
4
Rachel sat down with a big grin at lunch, setting her tray down loudly on the table. She looked at me immediately. “Did you check yet?”
“Check what?” I asked, paying more attention to the slice of pepperoni pizza in front of me.
She gave me an exasperated sigh. Nora’s mouth turned up at the corner before she went back to checking her phone, and Audrey leaned in, clearly also wondering what Rachel was talking about.
Rachel raised a brow, still staring at me. “Cheer, hello? Mrs. Collins sent out emails at noon?”
Oh yeah.
I pulled out my phone and looked for the email. “I completely forgot. I mean, I didn’t want to get my hopes up or anything. With you guys being one of the best squads around and freakin’ Rachel here doing about a dozen backflips at tryouts…” My voice faded into nothing as I opened the email and read it.
Why did I see a knowing—and widening—smile on Rachel’s face out of the corner of my eye?
I raised my head slowly. After blinking several times and figuring out how to breathe again, I said, “Shut. Up.”
Nora snorted. “Okay, Princess Diaries. I’ll bite. What’s going on?”
I showed her the email, and at the same time, Rachel began screaming.
For some reason, I began screaming too, and then Audrey joined in.
Nora looked at the email. We waited for her to join us, but no go.
She covered her ears. “Yeah, no,” she said. “I don’t do the girly screams. I’m with you in spirit, though, Scarlett,” she finished with a chuckle.
I turned back to Rachel. “I honestly can’t even right now. I did not make the squad…”
She nodded. “You totally did! And girl, I’m surprised that you’re surprised. I mean, for someone with zero cheer experience…I mean, even for someone with cheer experience, you killed it yesterday! Lily said Mrs. Collins couldn’t stop talking about you. She thinks you have a lot of potential, and we could use more fliers.”
Me, a flier?
My stomach began doing this weird roiling thing at the thought of that. “I don’t know, Rachel. It must have been some sort of a fluke because I’d never been more scared in my life. The more I think about it, the more I realize how lucky I am to not have broken my neck.”
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Doubt yourself all you want, but I see how amazing you are. You don’t even know it.” She smiled, and I couldn’t help but do the same.
“You really think so?” I asked.
“I know so,” she replied right away. “First football game’s in two weeks. Which means we’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m not kidding when I say we’re the best. People go crazy for our half-time routine as much as the football game. Practice starts today after school.”
The nerves and worry crept back in. What had I gotten myself into? Then again, I was no stranger to hours of practice. But cheer? This was new territory, and I still wasn’t sure how I felt about it.
“Believe me, football games are so much more fun from down in the field than up in the stands.” She began eating again.
Nora tossed her hair back. “Yeah, I’ll stick to my drums and my fellow band geeks. You guys have fun, though.”
Audrey laughed. “I’ll stick to the stands and enjoy both of your performances.”
Rachel put down her sandwich. “Oh, and one more thing. You’ll be assigned a football player by Mrs. Collins. We bake cookies, write encouraging notes on their lockers on game day, that kind of thing.”
I eyed Ben across the cafeteria. Say what?
Rachel nudged me with a laugh and went back to her lunch.
Audrey glanced at Ben too. “Sounds like you joined the right extracurricular activity.”
I shook my head. “No way.”
But the truth was, I couldn’t wait to see Ben Garcia in his football uniform underneath the Friday night lights.
And it sounded like I would have a great view.
5
I scooped up some fried rice and vegetables onto a paper plate and joined Mom on the couch.
These kinds of nights were my absolute favorite.
Chinese on the couch in front of the TV.
Catching up on each other’s day while watching a classic. Tonight it was Crazy Stupid Love.
It didn’t get better than this.
“Mm,” Mom said, devouring her dinner. “We should totally re-watch The Office again. I miss Jim.”
Mom was completely obsessed with Jim, especially in the later seasons once it was obvious that the actor had started working out.
Couldn’t blame her.
“I miss Dwight,” I added with a grin.
Ah, Dwight.
I appreciated TV that made me laugh, brought a smile to my face on the lonely days. Like the ones where Mom worked late and came home at bedtime.
“So how’s the new job?” I asked.
She nodded and kept her eyes on the TV. “It’s good. I like it. The people are nice. The boss isn’t a jerk. And I like what I’m doing. A lot, actually.”
She turned and gave me a quick smile. “How’s school so far? Are you settling in?”
“School’s good. I met three girls. Rachel, Audrey, and Nora. They’re cool,” I said, grabbing some more rice.
“Three friends already?” Mom asked. “Look at you. And your teachers? You like them?
”
“Yeah, they’re great,” I went on. You always had a teacher who was kind of boring and all they did was lecture. Definitely had one of those. Plus the super strict teacher. But that was high school. “My favorite is Mrs. Collins. She teaches Human Anatomy & Physiology. She’s fun. Plus she coaches cheer.”
Mom seemed a little surprised. “Brains and brawn. Cool.”
She had a point. “Totally. You’d like her.”
Mom had done cheer in high school, and she’d always wished I would fall in love with it too. She’d given up years ago, though, when I’d fallen for dance instead.
I’d been wanting to share the news with her the past couple of days, knowing how crazy excited she’d be. Another reason I’d gone to tryouts. “So… Jefferson doesn’t have a dance team,” I began.
She gave me a sad look. “Oh, honey, that’s too bad. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I went on. “Rachel actually does cheer. They had tryouts the other day…” I took a deep breath, getting ready for what was coming.
But Mom was too busy paying attention to Ryan Gosling on the giant screen in front of us. “I decided to go and… I actually made the squad.” I couldn’t help but give a little laugh, mostly from disbelief.
I waited for Mom to leap from the couch, scream, hug me, something.
But she’d gotten engrossed in the part with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling at his apartment or whatever. Doing a stunt of their own.
I turned back to the TV and smiled, waiting for the news to hit her.
In the middle of Emma jumping into Ryan’s arms, it hit. “WAIT, WHAT?” she screamed, setting her plate down on the coffee table.
Already taken aback from her reaction, I shut my eyes and braced for the worst to come.
“YOU MADE THE CHEER SQUAD?” she screamed. I peeked at her. Were those actual tears in her eyes? I had definitely underestimated her reaction because… “But that means…YOU TRIED OUT FOR THE CHEER SQUAD?”
The tears came on full-force then. Shock, disbelief, pride, who knew.
Then came the hug, tight enough to hear a few ribs crack. “Oh, honey, I’m so proud of youuuuuu,” she cried into my hair. “I always wondered if you had cheer in your blood like me, and you do.”
Uh, I didn’t know about that.
I made a mental note to stop being such a people-pleaser, but the truth was that cheer did seem kind of exciting.
Being up in the air like that at tryouts...it had been terrifying, but also exhilarating.
And the thought of cheering on Ben—I mean the varsity football team? It sounded like a lot of fun. Something to do other than sit around waiting for Mom to come home from a long day at work.
The more I thought about it, the more I wanted the full high school experience. Friday night football games, cheesy dances in the gym, all of it. I didn’t want those experiences to pass me by while I sat at home.
Mom finally let me go. “I can’t believe this,” she said, her eyes still glittering with tears. “Oh, I can’t wait to watch you cheer from the stands. I’m going to have to give you some pointers.”
I giggled, trying to picture Mom cheering me on instead of the football team.
That would be her. I made another mental note, one to check any kind of signage she created.
It wouldn’t be the first time she did something pretty embarrassing, even if she did have good intentions.
“And we’re going to have to celebrate,” she went on, the movie now completely forgotten. She began pacing. “I’m thinking mani-pedis, a blowout on the day of your first game, the entire works.” She looked at me, grabbed some of my hair. “Oh, I have so much to teach you.”
“Mom, it’s the cheer squad, not a cult,” I joked.
She pursed her lips. “Honey, take it from a cheer veteran. You have no idea,” she replied. She gave me one more smile and hug. “Now, tell me exactly how tryouts went.”
I told her all of it, how I got picked to be a flyer even though I had no idea what I was doing.
Mom gave a little scream. “I knew it! I was the best flyer on my team. It’s in the genes, I’m telling you.”
Almost an hour later, Mom began telling me more about what was going on at work.
And it started with her looking kind of nervous. Most of our dinner lay on the coffee table, cold and forgotten. “So the senior vice president really liked the work I did at the previous branch. Apparently, my old boss put in a really good word for me, which is…amazing. Anyway, I’ve been chosen to lead this super important project. One of our biggest clients. I’m talking a nice enough bonus if it goes well that maybe we can finally take one of our trips?” she finished, still seeming a little on edge.
Now it was my turn to squeeze her non-stop. “Mom, that’s great! I can’t believe it. It sounds like an incredible opportunity.”
“It really is, Scarlett,” she went on. “The only catch is that it’ll mean quite a few late nights, maybe a few weekends at the office while we take on this project. I mean, it’s gotta be our best work. And it’s a demanding client. But who knows? In a year or two, I could be a senior manager. Get a really nice pay raise, enough to take lots of our trips. But the next few months might be kinda rough.”
I opened my mouth to say something, anything.
Wow, that had been a lot. “The next few months?” I managed.
She scooted closer. “Yeah, honey. Which is why it’s perfect that you decided to join cheer. That’ll keep you busy, and you’ll have time with your friends. And I’m gonna let you pick what trip we take first. How does that sound?”
One of the things we used to do with Dad was take trips around the country, visit historical sites, that kind of thing.
Ever since he’d passed away a couple of years ago, we hadn’t done anything like that. But eventually, we’d come up with a vision board, one full of trips Mom and I wanted to take while I was still in high school and college.
Trips to Europe, Asia, Australia, South America. We’d been gathering pictures of places and things we’d wear, the kinds of hotels we’d stay at.
It was another one of our things, a hope that kept us going through dark times.
There had been a lot of dark times. It was part of the reason we’d moved here. For more sunshine. Literally and metaphorically.
A new start, away from the memories that continued to haunt us. As hard as it was to move away from Dad and where he rested, Mom had convinced me that we needed this.
But more than anything, I could see that she did.
Mom scooted a little closer to me on the couch. “Say something, Scarlett.” Her voice came out small and a little scared.
Right away, I gave her a smile. “Yeah—it’s fine. It’ll be fine. I’m really excited for you, Mom.”
I wrapped her in a hug. I really was happy for her, but more than anything, I didn’t want her to see how crushed a big part of me was. She was everything to me.
More than friends ever could be, and it was hard when it was just me. Home alone with only silence.
The silence brought a lot of sadness and grief with it, even now, no matter how loud I played The Office.
Mom pulled back and met my eyes. “I promise I will always be there for you. I’ll make it to at least some of your games. This is just temporary, okay?”
I nodded and pasted on another smile. “I know. I’m not worried. Just promise me you’ll kick butt, okay?”
She hugged me again. “Promise.”
And I swallowed the frog in my throat.
6
Jefferson went from new and unfamiliar to slowly becoming normal and routine.
First period, second, then third. Lunch. Another three periods until the final bell and then cheer practice. Every afternoon, the girls marched into the gym to practice stunts and dance routines while the boys went down to the football field to run through plays and prepare for their first game of the season.
With plenty of encouragement from Rachel and Mrs. Collins, I
got better at flying. The dance part of the routine was easy enough, but learning to nail a flip in the air?
I landed in a basket toss for the tenth time that afternoon, which meant I was seeing three of Rachel for a second or two.
She grinned. “That one was perfect. Do it just like that.”
I stood up. “Thanks. I’m just glad I went with a light lunch today.”
Mrs. Collins gave me a pat on the shoulder as she walked by. “Good work today, Scarlett. After just a week’s work, you can pass for a complete pro.”
Rachel bumped my hip with hers. “What’d I tell you? We are not going to be one of the best this year. We are going to be THE best.”
Mrs. Collins blew her whistle, signaling the end of practice, but before I could drag my sweaty self to the locker room, she called us all to her. “Good job today, ladies. First game is days away, but I think we’ll be ready to knock everyone’s socks off by then.”
Lily and a few of the other girls clapped and cheered.
I focused on standing steady.
Mrs. Collins went on. “One more thing and then you’re dismissed. Lily has your football player assignments. Each of you will receive the name of a varsity football players. Most of you know the drill, but Lily will explain. Have a good night.”
With that, she was off to her office, already making notes and who knows what else on that clipboard of hers. I’d never seen anyone quite as dedicated as Mrs. Collins. It was easy to see how the cheer squad at Jefferson High had evolved into one of the best in the state. Mrs. Collins didn’t play. According to Rachel, she’d cheered most of her life. Was practically a legend.
I turned back to Lily, who held a stack of small strips of paper in her hand.
One by one, she began calling out names.
I looked around at the anxious and excited faces. Was it me or was this a big deal?
Rachel went up for her sheet then joined me. “Everyone always hopes to get their crush or at least a cute senior.” She looked at the name on her paper. “Not bad.”
I glanced at it.
Aaron Garcia.
Falling for Ben & Other Impossible Things (Garcia Brothers Book 1) Page 3