Mindy just shook her head and looked away.
“Do you know what? I’m tired of putting up with this!” Lynessa jabbed a finger into Elle’s chest.
“What’re you talking about?”
“You have no business being on this squad, much less being the captain. You once accused us of being sub par, but the truth is that you’re the one that’s sub par.”
Rae stepped up to them. “That’s not fair. It’s not Elle’s fault that she was in an accident.”
Elle could feel the tears building behind her eyes. Her anger was the only thing that kept them at bay. She knew Rae was trying to defend her, but she was only making things worse.
“I’m sorry that Elle had an accident, but enough is enough! Must we all suffer because Elle had an accident?” Lynessa looked around. “You know you’re all thinking it, but you’re too chicken to say it! Brooke, tell her what you were just telling me.”
Brooke looked like she might faint. “Lynessa, stop,” she whispered.
“Stop? No, I won’t stop! Someone has to tell the truth!”
Elle’s face fell. “What truth?”
“You don’t deserve to be the captain, and you no longer belong on this squad.”
The world seemed to fall out from under Elle, making her feel lightheaded.
“You don’t mean that.” Rae looked around, trying to rally support from the other girls. “Tell her that we don’t all feel that way.”
They all stood there like a bunch of mutes. Elle’s hands started to shake, and she clutched them together. “I’m sorry that I let you down,” she said quietly. She took a step back from the group and looked down at Mindy. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”
Rae glared at the other girls. “Stop this! Can’t you see what’s happening here?” She turned on Lynessa. “You’ve had it in for Elle from day one. This isn’t about cheerleading, this is about Edward! You’re ticked because you want Edward, and he prefers Elle over you.”
Lynessa laughed. “Oh Rae, what a gullible nincompoop you are. This has absolutely nothing to do with Edward. Can’t you see that Elle’s got you wrapped around her little finger?” She lifted her chin in the air. “I move that Elle be officially removed as our cheerleading captain.”
“And replaced by you I suppose?” Rae shot back.
“Any one of us would be an improvement over her.” She shot Elle a scathing look.
It was in that moment that everything suddenly became clear. Elle looked across the field to where the football players were practicing. She caught a glimpse of Edward, throwing a perfect spiral to one of his teammates. As much as she hated to admit it, Lynessa was right. She squared her shoulders, hoping that she could keep the quiver out of her voice. “A vote won’t be necessary.” She looked Lynessa in the eye. “You are mean and spiteful, but you are right about a couple of things.” She looked at the cheerleaders. “I’m stepping down as captain.”
The girls just stood there, refusing to look her in the eye.
“But you can’t,” Rae said. “I won’t let Lynessa do this to you.”
“She’s not. I’m doing it to myself.” Elle shrugged. “I’m tired of pretending to be someone I’m not. I don’t know what I said or did before the accident, but I do know what I’m saying now. I’m quitting the squad,” she finished resolutely.
“Elle, don’t be so dramatic. No one’s asking you to quit the squad.” Brooke rolled her eyes. “We just don’t think you’re qualified to be the captain, that’s all.”
“You can’t quit!” The words echoed through the group.
“Thanks for that little assessment of my qualifications, but I’m not asking for your permission, Brooke. Or the permission of anyone else, for that matter.” She took a long look at the cheerleaders, these girls that had supposedly been her closest friends. With the exception of Rae, she didn’t feel even the slightest tinge of warmth toward them. Her eyes rested on Rae, and she gave her a slight smile.
Rae searched her face. “So this is how it ends?”
“Yep, this is how it ends.” She turned to Lynessa. “Congratulations, you finally got what you wanted. Enjoy it while you can because this is the last time you’ll ever get the upper hand over me. I can promise you that.” She paused long enough to relish the horrified look on Lynessa’s face. Then without another word, she turned on her heel and walked away, not looking back.
* * *
The tears came when she got a couple of blocks away from the field. Her backpack was starting to feel heavy on her shoulders, and she shifted it back and forth, trying to find a comfortable spot. Sera was scheduled to pick her up at five o’clock after cheerleading practice, and it was now only three-thirty. She could’ve called and asked Sera to pick her up early but then she would have to explain that she’d quit the squad. Of course, Sera would find out tomorrow night anyway when Elle didn’t cheer, but at least she wouldn’t have to face her today. Besides, she only lived a few miles from the school, and it felt good to walk. Even the tears felt good. It felt good to release her frustration. She tried to sort through her conflicting emotions about what had just happened. While she did feel some remorse over leaving the squad, she mostly felt relieved. The truth was that, ever since the accident, she’d hated every minute of being on that stupid team. The pretense. The backstabbing. It was exhausting, and she had enough drama in her life without adding that to it. Maybe if she ever got her memories back, she would regret it, but at the moment, she was glad. Now she could focus on trying to relearn how to play the bass guitar. Contrary to what she’d said in her fit of anger, she wasn’t quitting the band. The band was the only part of her life that felt right. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt comfortable around Rae, Rush, and Jack, and she wasn’t willing to give that up. They were the only people that accepted her as she was. Her thoughts went to Rush, and she felt conflicting emotions, as always. Whatever ended up happening between them, Rush would have to eventually accept that she was part of the band and therefore a part of his life.
She didn’t hear the car until it was beside her. The driver rolled down the window of the black sedan. “Hey, you need a ride?”
She looked over, not recognizing at first the guy driving the car. Then she remembered that she’d seen him sitting near Edward in a few of his classes. He was on the football team—a big guy that stood a head taller than most of the other players. A couple of days ago, she’d felt his eyes on her when she was walking down the hall at school. There was something about him that made her uncomfortable. Something she didn’t like. She wondered fleetingly why he wasn’t at practice with the other players. Had he watched her leave the field and then gone after her? A chill went down her spine.
“No, that’s okay. I’m enjoying the walk.” There was no one else out walking and no other cars. She’d been enjoying the solitude before, but now she felt uneasy.
He pulled the car over closer. “You look upset. Did something happen at cheerleading practice?”
Embarrassment flooded over her, and she shook her head. “I’m fine, thanks.” She began walking faster.
He gave her a friendly smile. “Come on, Elle. Let me offer you a ride. Your house is a good two miles away. And that backpack looks heavy.”
Two things struck her simultaneously—he knew her name, and he knew where she lived. The hair on her neck stood on end. She looked around, hoping to see another person, but she was alone with the guy in the car. “I don’t need a ride,” she said tersely.
“Why, because Edward wouldn’t like it?”
Her breath caught. This guy knew a lot about her. She glared at him, trying to feign a confidence she didn’t feel. Her knees were beginning to feel weak, and her stomach was doing flips. “No, because I wouldn’t like it,” she said, fighting to keep her voice even.
He laughed. His eyes took on a peculiar light as they trailed down her body. She felt petrified. “You’re a real man killer, aren’t you?”
Run! her mind screamed. But run where? He was
in a car, for goodness sakes! And she would see him again at school. It was time to put a stop to this once and for all.
“That’s right, Elle, a hot-blooded man killer.”
She spun around and put a hand on her hip. “Well, there must not be any real men around here because I certainly don’t see anybody dead!”
His eyes went wide and then he laughed. “This is going to be more fun than I thought.”
Elle’s heart nearly dropped when she realized that he was going to stop the car and get out. She was preparing to make a run for it, but then a woman came out of a nearby house, holding a baby. She made a beeline across the yard in the woman’s direction.
“This isn’t over, Elle,” she heard him say as he spun off.
* * *
Elle pushed her hair out of her eyes and let out a groan. She’d been following along with a tutorial on YouTube that was supposed to demonstrate how to switch cords smoothly on the bass guitar, but the process was tedious. She’d been practicing for over an hour and didn’t feel like she was any better off than she was when she first started. What she wanted to do was to throw the guitar across the room, but instead she paused the video and laid the guitar on the bed. She stood and stretched her legs. The breeze coming in through the window felt good. She fleetingly wondered if Rush were home or if he’d gone to the game.
She caught a glance of herself in the mirror and quickly looked away. After her last experience with that wretched mirror, she avoided it like the plague. No reasonable person would’ve seen the things she’d seen. She especially didn’t want to look into it now, while she was alone in the house. Even so, it seemed to be calling to her, and she had the unreasonable urge to look into it. Goosebumps rose over her arms, and she rubbed them down. She grabbed the towel that was laying across the back of the chair and threw it over the mirror. There, she felt better. She didn’t need to look in the mirror to know she looked as lost as she felt. Trying to carve out a new life was proving to be incredibly difficult.
She’d eaten dinner earlier but had the munchies. A root beer and chips were sounding good right about now. She walked out of her room, down the steps, and into the kitchen. The house was peacefully quiet. No Sera to harp on her and no Josselyn giving snide remarks. It felt good to have the house to herself for once—another benefit of quitting the cheerleading squad. Her dad was out of town on a business trip, and Sera and Josselyn had gone to the football game.
Telling Sera and Josselyn that she’d quit the squad was just as difficult as she knew it would be. Talking about rubbing salt into a wound. Sera had given her a smirk and said, “Well, I’m not surprised. Not everyone is cut out for cheerleading, Elle. It takes a certain kind of girl to juggle school, work, and other demands. You haven’t been the same since the accident, and that’s okay. You’re a different person now, and you’ve learned to accept your limitations. Good for you.”
Josselyn had seemed almost giddy over the news. She’d slapped her on the back and said, “No more high and mighty cheerleading captain, now you get to see how the other half lives, sis.” Elle rolled her eyes. She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out how the other half lived. It seemed that her life had been pretty blessed before the accident.
She grabbed a root beer out of the fridge, trying to squelch the loneliness that was settling over her. For a fleeting second, she regretted not going to the game, but sitting on the bleachers and watching the cheerleaders perform without her would’ve been too painful. Going to the pep rally this afternoon had been hard enough.
Edward was disappointed when he heard the news. “Are you sure you want to quit?” he asked. “You love cheerleading.”
She tried to explain to him that the old Elle had loved cheerleading and that she’d changed. The new Elle—the freak she’d become—felt differently about things. But her explanation fell on deaf ears. Edward was determined to keep things the way they’d always been. “Who’s going to decorate my locker during spirit week or make me cookies?” he wanted to know.
“I quit the squad, Edward, I’m not dead! I can still do those things.”
“No, you can’t,” he insisted. “You’re not a cheerleader anymore.”
She’d wanted to wring his neck. Her world was falling apart, and all Edward cared about was his stupid locker and cookies! The whole thing was so absurd that she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She blew out a breath and tried to push aside the negative thoughts. Her dad was coming home tomorrow, so that meant she wouldn’t have to spend the entire weekend alone with Sera and Josselyn—aka the dragon lady and her demon daughter. And she was going to work at The Chocolate Fountain tomorrow during the day. More and more, she was starting to think of The Chocolate Fountain as a refuge from her crazy life. It surprised her when she realized that she was actually looking forward to spending time with Adele. She chuckled. That was a little concerning—considering how kooky Adele was. Her spirits lifted a little at the thought.
Tomorrow night was the get-together at Edward’s house. At this point, she wasn’t even sure she wanted to go, but she’d promised Edward that she would. Things were tense enough between them as it was without adding additional stress to the situation. She’d almost told him about the creepy guy in the car to get his take, but when he acted so putout by the cheerleading thing, she decided to save her breath. If the guy gave her anymore problems then she would deal with it then.
She walked up the steps and back into her room. She stopped short and nearly spilled the root beer down the front of her shirt when she saw him sitting on the bed, strumming her bass guitar. Her pulse bumped up a notch. “Rush, what’re you doing here?”
He motioned toward the open window. “I hope you don’t mind. I let myself in. I couldn’t stand it any longer.”
“Stand what?”
He gave her a crooked smile. “You really don’t remember how to play at all, do you? That sounded terrible.”
She smirked. “Why don’t you tell me what you really think?”
He shrugged. “I always do.”
She sat down in the chair beside her bed. “I’m not sure how I feel about you barging into my room. What if I had been changing … or something.”
“That would’ve been tragic,” he mused. His eyes met hers, and the space between them seemed to shrink. The room seemed smaller, somehow, now that he was in it. How could she be so aware of him? Today, in English she could hardly concentrate with him sitting right in front of her. That proximity had felt too close, and now he was here in her room, and they were alone. Her cheeks went hot. She swallowed hard and tried to think clearly. What was it about him that made her so crazy? It irked her when she realized that he was watching her with an amused expression on his face. He was enjoying watching her squirm.
He motioned. “Don’t let me keep you from eating.”
She looked down at the root beer and bag of chips. She’d nearly forgotten that she was holding them. “Oh.” She held out the bag. “Would you like one?” There, that had come out sounding casual enough. At least she could pretend that she was unaffected by him.
He shook his head. “No thanks.” Effortlessly, he began playing the song that she’d spent the whole afternoon trying to learn. In his capable hands, it looked so simple—so easy. She sat there watching him, all the while trying to think of something to say. Even though she was no longer in the mood to eat, she forced herself to chomp down a couple of chips and a few sips of root beer. After all, she’d gone all the way down to the kitchen to get the food. Just because Rush was here, in her bedroom, didn’t mean that she had to completely turn to mush. “You really know how to put me to shame,” she said when he finished.
He glanced at her and then back at the guitar. “That’s not why I came.”
She cocked her head. “Why did you come?”
He raked a hand through his hair and shook his head. He placed the guitar on the bed. “About the other day …” He reached for something beside him. “I brought a peace offering.”
“Uh huh, she gave them to me. I’ve been saving them for just the right occasion.” He flashed a devilish smile. “I think your aunt likes me.”
“Is that so?”
“Yep, seeing how handsome and irresistible that I am. I think your aunt digs younger guys.”
She gulped and nearly choked on her root beer, and then she started laughing. Rush was always so serious and intense. This was a side of him she hadn’t seen, and she was enjoying it immensely.
He gave her a sly look. “Adele and I had a nice conversation about you.”
Her eyes went wide. “Really? What did you and Adele talk about?”
He shook his head. “Oh, no, I can’t tell you that now.” He made a motion of zipping his lips.
A furrow appeared between her brows. “Why not?”
A ghost of a smile tugged at his lips. “Maybe later.” He lifted the lid of the chocolates. “Want one?”
She lifted her chin in the air. “No thanks. Maybe later,” she sniffed, doing her best to sound aloof. They both started laughing.
He patted the bed beside him. “Come here.”
“What?” Her mouth went dry, and she suddenly felt unsure of herself. Was he wanting to kiss her? Surely not after what happened the other day. A tingle raced down her spine, causing her breath to catch. She thought about how it would feel to have his lips on hers. How it would feel to satisfy this incredible need she obviously had for him.
Amusement danced in his eyes. “I don’t bite, I promise.”
She made a face and put her root beer and chips aside. If he tried anything funny, she’d deck him … or kiss him. Her eyes went to the dark curls on his tanned neck, and she thought about how it would feel to touch them. Stop it! she ordered herself. This was utterly ridiculous! She sat down next to him and felt a twinge of disappointment when he reached for the guitar and placed it in her arms.
Banished: Book 1 of The Grimm Laws Page 20