by Emma Dalton
Tears prick my eyes as I keep them on her. She and the other two cheerleaders start giggling—about me or someone else? Who knows. But I just stand there glaring at her like there’s no tomorrow.
She turns her head back to me and raises her eyebrows. “Is there something you want? Isn’t there a Star Trek convention that’s calling your name?”
“Why do you have to be like that?” I demand with a shaky tone, trying my hardest not to bawl my eyes out. “Just because you’re a cheerleader and popular, you don’t have to be a jerk.”
Her eyebrows lift even higher. “Excuse me?”
“You could be nicer,” I say, the tears starting to slide down my cheeks. “I know I didn’t do a good job, but it was important to me. You could have been kinder.”
She stares at me for a moment before bursting out laughing, causing the others to follow suit. “What are we in—kindergarten? You want us all to be friends? News flash, loser, this is the real world. And in the real world, you don’t always get what you want. You have to be talented and you need the drive. And sorry, sweetie, but you have neither. So run off and do what you do best—stay invisible.”
I turn on my heels and march out of the gym, the tears rolling freely down my face.
“Kara!” I hear my friends call.
“Kara, wait up!” Brayden says.
Oh, gosh. He’s the last person I want to see right now. I cried in front of everyone. How mortifying.
“Kara, stop.” Ally wraps her hand around my arm, forcing me to stop. “Kara.”
All three of them stand before me with worried and sympathetic eyes.
“I’m done,” I mutter as I wipe my eyes. “Teagyn’s a jerk.”
“Mega jerk,” Dani says.
“Kara?” Brayden’s voice says. I crane my neck to look past Ally’s head and see him making his way over.
“No, I don’t want him to see me,” I moan.
“Come.” Charlie grabs my arm and yanks me into the girl’s locker room. A man-free zone. Ally and Dani quickly follow and shut the door.
“Thanks,” I tell her.
She winks. “I’ve got you.”
With a heavy sigh, I drop down on one of the benches and bury my face in my hands. “I knew this was a bad idea. Why did I let him convince me I could do this? I made a total idiot in front of all those people. And him.”
“You did a good job,” Dani says as she lowers herself next to me and rubs my back. “I know your mom would be proud of you.”
I yank my hands from my face. “Proud of me? I totally bombed it. She would have been ashamed to have me for a daughter.”
“The important thing is that you tried,” Ally says. “You put your heart and soul into it. That’s what your mother would have been proud of.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I say as I yank off my gym clothes and dress into my T-shirt and jeans. “I’m never doing anything like this again. Teagyn’s right—girls like me need to know their place. I should do what I do best: stay invisible.”
“Don’t let her get to you,” Charlie says. “She’s just a mean cheerleader. I’m proud that you told her off.”
“Why does she have to be like that, though?” I ask as I sit back down. “Just because she’s head cheerleader and the most popular girl at school, she has to be a jerk?”
“I overheard her arguing with her mom the other day,” Ally tells us. “Her mom was putting so much pressure on her to win regionals so they could go to nationals. Coach Myers wants her daughter to follow in her footsteps. You should have seen Teagyn’s face—I’ve never seen her look so small.”
“So all this is her mom’s fault.” Charlie shakes her head. “What’s with parents putting so much pressure on their kids?”
“Pressure or not, that’s still no way to treat people,” I say. “Whatever, let’s just forget about the whole thing.”
“Are you okay, though?” Ally asks.
“I will be once I pretend this never happened.”
She slides her hand into mine and gives it a gentle squeeze. “You have us, remember? The Four Musketeers.”
I smile. “I don’t know what I would do without you guys. Seriously, you have no idea how much your friendship means to me.”
Dani squeals as she throws her arms around me. “Yes, we do! We were all in your shoes once. And honestly, I always felt like our group wasn’t complete. Three never seemed like a good enough number. Four is so much better.”
“Agreed,” Charlie says while Ally nods with a smile.
“Thanks, guys.” I hug all three of them.
“I think this calls for ice cream,” Dani says.
I laugh. “You don’t have to ask me twice.”
Chapter Fifteen
Brayden
I don’t blame Kara for not wanting to join me and my friends at Mikey’s tonight. She’s still pretty upset about what happened at cheerleading tryouts today. I hope she’ll be okay tomorrow. I don’t like seeing people hurt or upset. And I certainly don’t like seeing the girl who’s doing something so kind for me upset. Kara doesn’t gain anything from fake dating me, yet she’s so willing? I’ve never met anyone as kind as her. The girl has a heart of gold.
I wonder why she doesn’t have a boyfriend. Well, whoever he’ll be, he’ll be lucky to have her in his life.
“Brayden!” Jerry slugs my shoulder. “Where you at?”
I take in the huge table with most of the football players and cheerleaders occupying the chairs. Martha, the owner, knows to attach pretty much all the tables together to make room for us all. I guess our football team has quite a reputation here and the servers would do anything to please us. Honestly, I was a little uncomfortable at first, but the guys told me to take all the perks thrown my way. And last year, when Martha and her husband Ron learned I was Brock’s brother, they treated me like a celebrity. Brock was The Man on campus. Everyone in town knew his name, pretty much bowed before his feet. But the great thing about my brother is that he didn’t let any of that stuff get to his head. He knew he was a talented quarterback, but he was humble about it.
“Barrington,” a guy from the team, Giorgio, calls, throwing an empty cup at my face.
“He’s not here,” another guy, Andrew, tells him. “Who are you thinking about today?” He chuckles. “Your secret college girlfriend?”
“He’s dating that loser,” Teagyn’s friend says. “You should really dump her, Brayden.”
“Bet he’s got two girlfriends!” Giorgio says, holding out his hand for a slap. “My man Barrington is a legend!”
I give him a look. The guys are my friends, but sometimes it feels like they don’t know me at all. I’d never date two girls at the same time. As for a real girlfriend? As much as I’d like one, football is my top priority right now. Sure, if the right girl came along, I’d give her my full attention. But so far? I haven’t connected with anyone. I told Kara at the interview that I’m looking for someone special, and that’s the truth. Honestly, I’m not really sure what that entails, but I figure I’ll know when I find her.
“Brayden’s not dating anyone,” Teagyn says with a flirty grin. “He’s waiting for football season to end so he can ask me out. It’s great how dedicated you are, Brayden.” She bats her eyelashes.
I try not to glare at her. I don’t like the way she spoke to Kara at tryouts. No one deserves to be treated that way.
DeAngelo chortles, lightly punching my arm. “Ooh, you hear that, man? Teagyn just called you out. What you guys say? Think it’s time for Edenbury High’s It Couple to finally get together?”
The table whoops and cheers. Teagyn continues to bat her lashes, and I’m about to lose my mind at how careless she is of other people’s feelings. Kara may not be popular or run in her circles, but she’s a human being.
“I have a girlfriend, and she’s amazing.” Getting to my feet, I mutter that I’m going to the bathroom. Before I even make it to the door, heels clack behind me and a hand latches onto my arm, stopping me
in place.
“Brayden, is something wrong?” Teagyn asks with eyes as large as the lights dangling from the ceiling.
I yank my arm free. “Why did you treat Kara like that?”
She purses her lips. “Like what?”
I throw my hands up. “Like she was less than you. You purposely dissed her in front of all the other kids. You embarrassed her.”
“But Brayden, you were there. You saw she wasn’t good enough. I’m sorry, but I can’t worry about someone else’s feelings. I’m trying to build a strong team here, a team that will take us to nationals.” She places her hand on my arm again. “You know what that’s like, don’t you? Wanting to be the best, hoping to be the best.”
I pull free again. “Yeah, I get that, but you didn’t have to be a jerk about it. She’s human, she has feelings. And she’s my girlfriend.”
Sure, maybe she’s my fake girlfriend, but she’s a good friend. A good person. A good person who didn’t deserve that from Teagyn.
She rolls her eyes. “I still don’t know you what you see in her.”
I rake my hand through my hair. “This conversation is over, Teagyn. And don’t talk to my girlfriend that way again.”
I make a move to leave, but she grabs my arm. “Admit it, your girlfriend doesn’t have what it takes to be a cheerleader. I wasn’t a jerk about it, I was just being honest. It’s better for her to learn that now. I did her a favor.”
Even if Kara didn’t perform well today, cheerleading is important to her. I don’t know why, but I could read it on her face. And yes, building a strong team is important and so is winning competitions, but I’m sure Kara does have what it takes, she just needs practice. And some confidence.
“You know what favor you could have done for her?” I ask. “Given her a chance.”
I’m about to leave again, but she calls after me, stopping me in place. “It’s sweet that you’re so protective of her, but you’re only hurting her instead of helping her.” She steps closer to me. “I’m sorry, but your girlfriend didn’t make the cut and she needs to accept that. You need to accept that. Felicia Montgomery will make a great cheerleader and she’ll take us places.” She taps me on the chest, gives me a smile, and walks off.
I frown after her, wishing I could do something, but what can I do? I can’t convince or force Teagyn to give Kara a chance. I can’t do anything.
But one thing I know for sure? I can’t stay at the diner a second longer. After returning to my table, I tell everyone I’m heading out.
DeAngelo, who’s in the middle of laughing at something Giorgio says, stops and looks up at me. “You okay, man?”
“Fine. Something came up at home and I need to jet. See you guys tomorrow.”
A few slap me on the back or give me fist bumps before I leave the diner, thanking Martha for the meal. I walk through the door and let the warm late September breeze wrap around me.
I get in my car and pull my phone from my pocket, scrolling through my texts until I find the person I’m looking for.
I haven’t spoken to Kara since she ran out of the gym a few hours ago. I chased after her, but she slipped into the girl’s locker room. I could have waited outside, but I figured she wanted to be left alone. I’m not her real boyfriend after all, and something told me she wouldn’t have appreciated my coming after her.
But as I sit in my car, replaying the conversation with Teagyn and the events that happened, I know I’d be a real jerk if I at least didn’t ask her if she’s okay. Real boyfriend or not, it’s definitely something a friend would do.
Brayden: Hey, Kara. What’s up? How are you?
Her response arrives a few minutes later.
Kara: Hi! I’m okay.
Brayden: Just okay?
Brayden: Because if you want to talk about what happened today, I’m here.
She doesn’t respond and I stare down at my phone, wondering if maybe it was a bad idea to bring it up. I don’t want to hurt her feelings.
Kara: Really?
Brayden: Sure. What are boyfriends for?
A pause.
Kara: But you’re not my boyfriend. Not my real one anyway.
Brayden: So tell your fake boyfriend how you’re doing. If you want to, of course. If you want to just forget the whole thing, I’m game.
Another few minutes of silence. I’m about to ask her again if she’s okay, when her answer comes.
Kara: There isn’t much to talk about. I made a fool of myself and that’s that. I don’t have what it takes.
Brayden: I wish you wouldn’t give up. I thought you were great.
Kara: You did?
Brayden: I mean, I’m no expert, but I would definitely want you cheering me on at my next game. But you don’t have to be a cheerleader to do that.
Kara: I just…
I wait for her to say more, but she doesn’t.
Brayden: You just what?
Kara: Nothing. It’s stupid.
Brayden: Nothing you say can ever be stupid, but if you don’t want to tell me, it’s cool.
Kara: I just wanted to…cheerleading was important to me. But I guess I just have to accept that it’ll never happen. That girl they chose? Did you see her? She was amazing. She didn’t make an idiot of herself like I did.
I tap out a text, telling her not to be so hard on herself, but stop when she tells me she doesn’t want to talk about it anymore.
Kara: I have lots of homework. Thanks for texting me, boyfriend. I’ll see you tomorrow.
I’m left with half a text written, unsure if I should send it. She wishes to drop the subject and I’d be a jerk if I continued the conversation. So I delete it, wish her a good night, then toss my phone onto the passenger seat.
The drive home takes about fifteen minutes. The kitchen is in chaos with Mom and Bailey cleaning up the mess they made baking cakes and cookies.
Bailey waves me over. “Bray! Look what we made!” She points to the racks of cookies cooling off, her face smeared with batter. Chuckling, I make my way over to her, wipe the mess off her cheeks with my thumbs, then bend over her to reach for a cookie, making sure not to hurt her.
“These look and smell delicious,” I tell her. “Were you Mom’s good little helper?”
She nods vehemently.
Mom laughs. “She helped make the mess, that’s for sure.” She grins at my sister, though the smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “I think she inherited the baking gene.”
Bailey lifts her arms over her head, cheering.
My parents smile at one another, but it’s lacking the warmth it did years ago, before Brock died. Things have been continuing to go well between them, but I know that could always change. Maybe they’re finally coming to terms with my brother’s sudden death, or maybe they’re pushing it aside for my and my sister’s sake. Either way, I hope they don’t return to shadows of their former selves like they did the months following Brock’s death. Mom was so broken I had to take care of my sister, make sure she got to school on time, that she had enough to eat, that she was happy. Dad helped, too, but he was just as broken. Eventually, my parents got back into the rhythm of things. I often wondered if the only reason they got up in the morning was because they had two other kids to care for.
“Brayden!” Bailey tugs my sleeve. “You didn’t taste the cookie.”
I glance down at it. I’ve been holding it in my hand for so long the chocolate chips are starting to melt and stain my palm. “You’re right.” I bite into it and my eyes light up. “Perfect. Just like Mom’s.”
She beams.
Smiling, I ruffle her hair. I take another bite and I’m brought back to a few days ago, when Kara and I did that interview for the school paper. It’s weird how we’re fake dating now, that all it took was for one interview to possibly change my life forever. If not for Kara, I wouldn’t have a chance to get close to a recruiter. And if things work out with her dad…
“Brayden! You only took one.”
“Brayden just ate
dinner at Mikey’s, honey,” Dad tells my little sister. “Let’s not stuff him, all right?”
She giggles. “A stuffed Brayden, like my bunny.”
I wrinkle my nose, imitating a rabbit. “Can your stuffed bunny do this?” I grab her by the waist and swing her onto my shoulders.
“Fun!”
I spend the rest of the evening playing prince to her princess and granting her every wish she desires. Later, she sits with me at my desk, watching with wide eyes as I work on my math homework.
“That looks hard,” she says. “Am I gonna have to do that stuff?”
I slide her onto my lap. “Sure, but not for a few years.”
She stares at my trig. “But what’s all this mean?”
I laugh, rubbing the back of my neck. “Honestly? I don’t really know. But I know how to do the work and that’s all that matters.”
She continues to stare at it. “I’m gonna be smart when I’m old like you.”
I give her a face. “Who you calling old?”
“You’re sixteen and I’m five. That’s old.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “Enjoy being a kid, Bay. Because before you know it, the years will fly by and you’ll find yourself doing everything you can to get into the school of your dreams and make your parents and brother proud of you.”
She blinks at me. “You’re weird.” Then she climbs off my lap and hops out of my room.
Chapter Sixteen
Sleep slowly leaves my body as a strange sound comes from my bedroom window. Rolling onto my stomach, I open one eye. It’s still dark out on a Saturday morning, so whatever that was, I probably dreamed it. Shutting my eyes, I try to catch some more sleep. Weekends are the best because it’s an excuse to be lazy, to forget my problems for a little while. The worst part about sleeping in? Is that I remember all the terrible things that happened the past week. Like the debacle at cheerleading tryouts. I try to shove it to the recesses of my mind, but that’s kind of impossible when I remember that Brayden was there. He saw the whole thing. He was so nice to text me after and ask if I was okay, but I was so embarrassed about the whole thing. And yesterday at school, we didn’t broach the subject, which I was so grateful for. And I sat with my friends at lunch instead of at the popular table. But the memory didn’t stop torturing me throughout the entire day.
