Clash of the Cheerleaders Read online

  “Yeah. I’m kind of nervous about tomorrow.”

  My mom crossed my room and turned on the little lamp beside my bed. Then she laid down next to me. “What’s wrong?”

  “I told Ty I’d be his girlfriend.”

  “Well, that’s nice. He seems like a really great guy.”

  “He is—He’s like the greatest. But Nicole’s going to totally lose it when I tell her.”

  My mom’s eyebrows arched higher. “Why does she care who you’re going out with?”

  My phone buzzed, signaling the arrival of a new text. I didn’t want to answer it with my mom right beside me.

  “You know her reputation’s always on the line with everything, even with what I do, since I’m her best friend.”

  “Hadley, if she’s really your friend, she’ll want you to be happy.”

  Yeah, that did not sound like Nicole. “I know, Mom, but whether she is or not, I don’t want to get cut from the cheer team or the Smokin’ Six.”

  “The Smokin’ Six? What on earth is that?”

  “It’s what Nicole’s been calling us at school. She even made a website for us.”

  My mom’s mouth twitched at the corners. Her face tensed awkwardly.

  “Don’t you dare laugh.”

  “What’s—the web address?” She was totally fighting not to laugh.

  “SmokinSix.com, but don’t make a big deal out of it, okay?”

  She took her phone from her pocket and rolled over on her stomach. Small bursts of humor came from her over and over. “The hottest girls at Silver Wing High? Everyone just wishes they could be one of us? This is ridiculous. Maybe Nicole should have made it the ArrogantSix.com. Does her mother know about this website?”

  “Pretty sure she does.”

  “Listen,” she said, putting her phone back in her pocket. “You’re the one in charge of your life, not Nicole. You absolutely can’t live your life for her. Do what makes you happy, period.”

  “I wish it was that easy.”

  My mom snuggled closer to me. “Remember Nicole’s tenth birthday?”

  “Of course, it was the funnest birthday party of our lives.”

  “I remember. You were the only one who showed up because Cathy Pier had her party the same day at the zoo.”

  “Yeah.” I smiled, remembering back on such a happy day. We had the moon bounce her mom rented, all the princess party favors, and her three-tiered cake all to ourselves. No-one to share it with but each other. No-one to bother us. Just us, having an absolute blast.

  “Maybe Nicole needs to remember what that felt like. You know, real true happiness, without the pressure of high school reputations.”

  “How? And what if there’s no part of that left inside Nicole anymore?”

  “I don’t know, honey, but it sure is sad to think that that little girl doesn’t even exist anymore. Certainly she’s in there somewhere.” My mom hugged me before she got up. “Try not to worry too much about tomorrow. It’ll just be another day in high school, you’ll see. And don’t forget—you’re in charge of your life, not Nicole. I love you.”

  “Love you, too, Mom.”

  She turned off the lamp and left. I got back on my phone right away. Ty had sent the text:

  Having the same problem over here. Can’t wait 2 c ur beautiful face 2moro @ school ♥

  It made me smile, though it honestly did nothing to quiet my nerves. My mom hadn’t done much to help them either. She’d gotten my wheels turning, however.

  I couldn’t imagine there was any way of turning back the clock with Nicole. She wasn’t just going to quit caring about all the things most important to her these days. But what if I could get her to relive some of the wonderful, childhood feelings we shared? Maybe it would soften her heart, just a little.

  I wasn’t plotting a way to make it happen or anything, but it was a good backup plan of sorts, just in case Nicole really truly totally LOST IT when I told her about Ty.

  18

  The sky was a stony gray when we pulled up in front of school the next morning. Sunrise had slept in late, it seemed.

  None of the other cheerleaders had said a word to me about what happened yesterday. I was nervous about facing Blaine or his teammates—like were they all just furious with me? Would they blame me for Blaine getting benched?

  “Have a great day, girls,” Mrs. Hemming said through an open window in the van just before she drove away.

  “Hey, our favorite girls are here,” Heath called when we walked past the circle of jocks. They were all standing around under the birch tree out front of the school, as noisy and cocky as ever.

  Brittany and Steph waved. Nicole gave them a smug grin. One of the players winked at me, so I decided we were still on good terms.

  Blaine was nowhere to be seen. He was probably sitting in the principal’s office with Coach Sanders, receiving his punishment officially.

  Kids were climbing out of cars and walking down the street toward Silver Wing High. Couples were hanging all over each other in the grass and on the sidewalk. Typical high school morning.

  Nicole and I led the march toward the long concrete stairs at the head of our school building. Someone had taped a Carpe Diem sign to the pair of statue wings atop the brick banister on one side of the steps.

  “So lame,” Nicole scoffed.

  My phone buzzed so I took it from my pocket. Ty had texted me a close-up picture of an open, heart-shaped locket just like the one I’d worn yesterday. He’d photo-shopped it so one heart had the picture I’d taken of him last night and the other had the picture he’d taken of me. “Aw,” I said, making Lavender look over my shoulder at my phone.

  “Aw,” she echoed.

  “I thought you’d like it,” Ty said. My head jerked sideways to stare at him leaning casually against the stone wings on top of the other banister.

  The gray, dismal morning brightened all around us when I saw him. “Ty!” I sprinted to throw my arms around him, forgetting for a moment where we were and who I was supposed to be. “I didn’t even notice you.”

  He laughed. “I’ve gotten pretty good at blending in.”

  People were staring. Reality trickled back in. It was more uncomfortable than I expected to have everyone seeing me and Ty together for the first time.

  At least when I glanced back at the other cheerleaders, they were disappearing inside the school.

  Ty slid a hand to the back of my head and kissed me. Mmmmmm, was all I could think and feel. It was satisfying and comforting and SO delicious. “You’re kind of addictive, you know?” I said, giving him a little squeeze.

  “So are you.” His arm slid to my hand. “Can I walk you to your locker?”

  “Yeah.”

  Everyone was watching us on our way up the stairs, in the hallway, and all through the rest of the day whenever we were together. Most of them didn’t bother to hide it when they were talking about us or pointing us out to someone else. Honestly, you would have thought I was walking around holding the principal’s hand or something! It was like having the paparazzi around everywhere we went.

  Nicole shook her head when she saw us together. Blaine glared, but neither one went beyond that.

  I wondered all morning how lunch would go. It was convenient that Ty left campus every day to eat lunch at home. He decided to continue the tradition instead of staying to eat with me since I had a table full of cheerleaders who fully expected me to be there.

  Today’s home ec class was the best one ever. Ty was so sweet! He walked me to my desk and pulled the chair out for me. Nicole shook her head as he walked away. I hoped she had enough of a heart to see how wonderful he was and how happy he made me.

  “Good afternoon, class,” Miss Peters began. “Today we start our unit on nutrition.”

  My phone buzzed silently against my hip. A wave of panic shot through me at first, thinking it was my mom and something was wrong. No-one ever texted me during class. I slid it out inconspicuously, keeping it under the desk so
I could check it without the teacher knowing.

  You even look beautiful from up there

  Ty had texted.

  “We’ll be watching a video today and you’ll all be taking notes. Tomorrow, we’ll have a twenty-question quiz. Take good notes, because you’ll be able to use them on the quiz.”

  That meant the lights were going out. I had to think of a response fast.

  Wish I was sitting w/u 4 the movie—close 2gether—n the dark.

  I barely hit send before the classroom went dark. The window in the back of the classroom was the only thing keeping us from a total blackout.

  Miss Peters went to kick on the projector sitting in the middle of the classroom. “Yes, Ty?” she paused to ask. I looked back at him.

  “I get headaches when I watch movies from the back of the room,” he informed her.

  “Hm, I didn’t realize that. Well, why don’t you trade places with Nicole again?”

  “What?!” Nicole choke-croak-shrieked.

  “You were so willing last Monday.”

  “I’m not sitting by that loser again.”

  “Miss Hemming—that sort of thing will not be tolerated in my classroom. Now trade seats with Ty, or you’ll be serving detention with me after school today.”

  Even in the shadows, I saw Nicole’s face burning bright red. Her chair scraped noisily as she stood. Her footsteps fell heavy and angry against the floor.

  Then Ty slid into the chair beside me. He grinned and winked. He waited until Miss Peters had started the film and returned to her desk to brush his hand against my lower back. It gave me this wonderful, warm feeling. He slid a piece of paper out from under the one intended for his notes. Wish granted, he scribbled.

  I smiled at him. There was no way I’d get anything out of the film now. Maybe I could copy Nicole’s notes for a change.

  Or Ty’s. He wrote a title on the first line of his notetaking paper: WORST CALORIES FOR THE HUMAN BODY. Then he started marking bullets underneath. His excellent note-taking skills reminded me of his sister’s.

  Can I make another wish? I wrote to him.

  Anything

  I wish I could grant a wish for you.

  You granted my wish when you said yes.

  There was a good chance Ty would keep me smiling all through class, I decided, and he did a pretty good job of it.

  I glanced back at Nicole once. She and Bryan had their chairs all the way around the opposite sides of their desk, as far apart as they could get without getting in trouble. They were both positively rigid.

  Ty leaned over to grab a leg on my chair and scoot me closer to him without making a sound. I watched his arm and jaw muscles tighten. He looked so manly and forceful drawing me nearer. Then he reached for my hand and held it under the desk. It was my writing hand, but I wasn’t getting any of that done, anyway.

  The film was still rolling when the bell rang.

  Nicole was standing next to Ty in a heartbeat. “Don’t you ever do that to me again,” she shot at him. “I could make your life miserable.” She narrowed her eyes until they were nearly shut before she stomped out of the room.

  “Sorry,” I said softly, wondering how much abuse Ty would take in order to be my boyfriend.

  “Don’t be.” He stood and waited for me to get my stuff together. “It’s always hard to keep a straight face when I see Nicole. She’s so… ludicrous.”

  I wanted to agree with him—he was absolutely right—but if she ever found out…

  Ty and I walked into the hallway. His next class was mostly on the way to mine, so we walked part of the way together. Ty pulled gently on my hand at our parting three-way intersection to get me to stop. “I’d invite you over tonight, but I’m working with my dad after school today and tomorrow.”

  “That’s okay. I’ve got tumbling and then me and the other cheerleaders are doing our new routine at Patty Free’s party tonight.”

  “You mean the one with no adults of any kind to ruin the fun?” He was quoting the rumor that had been passed around for the last week and a half.

  “That’s the one.”

  “It sounds dangerous, so—be careful, okay?”

  For a moment, I caught a glimpse of my dad in his eyes, the unmistakable concern for my well-being. I know it sounds weird, but it wasn’t to me. I grabbed Ty’s arm and pulled him to one corner, so I could press him tight against me with my free arm. “Thank you, Ty,” I whispered because there were far too many pent-up emotions suddenly bleeding through me internally.

  He pressed his binder against my back. “For what?”

  “For being the perfect boyfriend.”

  “Anytime.” He pulled away, put a hand on my cheek, and kissed my lips softly. “You better go. You don’t want to be late for class.”

  I nodded. He kissed me once more before he left for his class. I wanted to stand there feeling so totally content, but I had to practically run to make it to my next class on time.

  Patty’s party was LOUD. Sid brought giant subwoofers so the whole house was vibrating.

  My biggest fear was Blaine showing up with some girl, trying to make me jealous. But he was a no-show, and maybe I wouldn’t have noticed him, anyway, because so many people were slamming me with questions about Ty.

  Brittany, Zaniah, and I kept trying to dance to the music and someone would come asking if I was really going out with Ty Black and what he was like. I didn’t want to ruin his mysterious bad boy rep, since it seemed like he preferred the solitude it offered. So I told them he prefers to live in secrecy, but they’d be sooo surprised if they only knew.

  No-one was acting like it was a bad thing, or making fun of me, or spreading ugly rumors. If anything, they seemed to think it was cool—like I’d accomplished this crazy, awesome thing. Patty even asked if I’d brought him with me.

  I was getting even more attention than Nicole, and I could tell it was driving her crazy.

  About thirty minutes in, Nicole, Steph, and I finally got a moment’s peace. Well—as peaceful as it gets with music blaring and everyone shouting to each other to be heard. “I can’t believe your parents let you throw this party without them here,” I said loudly to Patty when she walked by.

  “Yeah, they don’t know about the party,” Patty said. “But they owe me for taking off to Cancun for three days and leaving me behind so I won’t miss any school. You guys are going to put on live entertainment, right?”

  “Ah, duh,” Nicole answered. “We’re gonna perform our newest routine, and you guys get to be the very first ones to see it.”

  “Wow! The cheerleaders are debuting their newest cheer at my party. If I take pics, will it end up on The Smokin’ Six website?”

  “If they’re good enough. The focus this weekend will probably be the pictures we take at The Royal Rebellion, though. Hey, Steph, you want to go ahead and set everything up to play our song?”

  Steph nodded and cut through the crowd toward Sid, since he was DJ’ing the party.

  My phone buzzed, so I took it from my pocket. A wonderful sensation crept all over me when I saw it was from Ty.

  Couldn’t help but notice you were too distracted in Home Ec to take notes.

  He’d added a red heart and a winky face emoji, along with a picture of his notes attached for me to copy. I smiled, wishing he was at the party.

  The music stopped and everyone got quieter. “Make some space, people,” Nicole instructed. Lavender, Brittany, and Zaniah filtered through the crowd to join Nicole and me in the open space. Tabitha was at home throwing up, so Nicole told the other three extras not to bother coming to the party. The routine was better with all ten of us, but the back row would have been off without her.

  Steph dashed into the empty spot beside me a moment before the music began. It pounded harder and louder than it ever had on Ms. Nordik’s CD player. Nicole got us started. Her loud, cheerleader voice carried over the music just enough so I could make out what she was saying. We joined in, and the rush of the music and th
e crowd took over. Like magic.

  I was stuck between two worlds: a secret world of isolation with Ty, and a high school world where I reigned supreme with the other cheerleaders. They were both too good to give up, but they would have to merge eventually.

  19

  I aced my home ec quiz Wednesday, thanks to Ty.

  He was working with his dad again that night, so I went home after cheer practice to get caught up on homework. I was kind of falling behind. In English class, I had a paper due on the effects of watching too much TV, a worksheet in math, and a few questions and a summary to complete for science. I hadn’t started on any of them.

  My mom was asleep on the couch when I got home, so I turned off the TV and covered her with a blanket.

  Then I grabbed a bowl of pretzels before I went up to my room. I spread my books and papers out all over my bed, trying to decide what to tackle first. I grabbed my science book, since that assignment was the easiest, and laid across my bed on my stomach.

  “Thank goodness for YouTube,” I told myself, as I put in my earbuds and turned on a Taylor Swift playlist.

  I didn’t hear the knock on the front door downstairs, or my mom greeting someone and letting them come inside. I didn’t even notice Ty standing in my open doorway until I got up to use the bathroom.

  I gasped and jerked back. My phone popped up out of my hand. Then I was juggling it all clumsy, trying to catch my phone and ripping both earbuds out. “Hey, Ty,” I said when I finally had a grip on things. “Did you just get here?” I was nearly finished with my science summary. Who knows how long he’d been standing there!

  “A few minutes ago, actually. Sorry, but—” he smirked. “—you’re pretty cute just laying there, nodding to music only you can hear.”

  “Aw, thanks.” I was pretty sure I was blushing, because I was SO totally embarrassed. “Did you get done working with your dad early?”

  “Sort of. He’s finishing everything up so I could come talk to you about something.”

  It sounded serious. A knot began to form in my stomach. “Okay, just let me go to the bathroom really quick.”