“Nick!” Mia greeted. “I thought you were going to be late?”
I gritted my teeth. “Yeah, I’m a wimp. I decided to break the news after practice. I can handle being the butt of every joke at Roosevelt, but when it comes to the seventy-year-old man whose loins I descend from…let’s just say I’d rather face a firing squad.”
Mia frowned. “Come on. It can’t be that bad.”
“You don’t know Rich Moody,” I grumbled.
“Well.” She slung her arm around me, guiding me toward the bleachers. “I suppose we should get you initiated before you decide not to come back. Drop your stuff and go stretch. We’ll start in a minute or two.”
“Initiated?” I asked.
She grinned. “You’ll see.”
I was working on my hamstrings when Stacie called everyone in. “Welcome to day one, ladies.” She paused, then added, “And gentleman. We have a lot to cover in a limited amount of time. The first game is only two weeks away. But before we start, Mia and I would like to welcome our newcomers with a little cheer tradition—The Spirit Oath.”
Besides me, three freshmen had been selected. Two of them were twins, and from the looks on their faces, they knew what was coming. The third girl had this deer in the headlights expression. She turned to me and I shrugged. She gulped.
“Can I have Gemma, Emma, Tori, and Nick join me up front?” Mia asked. “The rest of you, grab a handful of cheer dust.”
Cheer dust? What in the heck was cheer dust?
We made a line, facing the group, and I stood at the end. Stacie walked by, handing each of us a set of blue and gold pom-poms. She raised her eyebrows up and down when I took them from her. I didn’t think I had to use these things. What had I gotten myself into?
She continued, “As a show of acceptance into the fold, all returning members of the team will bestow their mark of approval with the kiss of cheer dust.”
Cheer dust turned out to be nothing more than pink glitter. I stood still while twelve of my new teammates blew a handful in my face. I was slightly horrified thinking about what I must look like. My shirt was covered in the stuff. I could even feel it in my eyebrows. But when I realized the kiss of cheer dust could have involved actual kisses, I gladly accepted pink glitter as the lesser of two evils.
Once we were as sparkly as disco balls, Stacie excused the returners. “Thanks, ladies. You may all have a seat.” Everyone grabbed a patch of floor in front of us. A few of the girls looked me over and started giggling. “Can it.” Stacie whipped around and barked at them. “We do not mock the sacred cheer tradition.” But even she was straining to remain serious.
“Next, we’ll have each of you recite The Spirit Oath,” Mia continued. “After which you’ll run through the cheer tunnel, emerging as a newly born member of the team. Now, assume a right split with your arms at cheer ready.”
Gemma, Emma, and Tori instantly lunged into the splits and placed their pom-filled fists on their hips. My mouth dropped open. “For real?”
A few more rogue giggles escaped the audience. Mia clamped down on her lips. Her cheeks had to be hurting from sucking them in so hard. Stacie walked up to me and got in my face like a drill sergeant. “What’s wrong, newbie? Have a problem with getting cheer ready? Because unity is a must on this team.”
“Nope.” I shook my head and popped my p. “I love being cheer ready.” Stacie gave me a hard glare, then turned her back on me to hide her laughter. It was the bouncing shoulders that gave her away.
I might have considered myself pretty dang flexible, but I couldn’t pull off a full split. After watching me struggle to hit the floor, Mia leaned over and whispered, “Do a half-split. Like a herkie, but on the ground.”
“I’m not sure that’s any easier,” I grumbled, bending my back leg and hitting the wood with a thump.
“Don’t forget the arms,” she reminded me. I made fists with my poms and threw them on my hips.
“Smiles, people. A cheerleader is not in uniform without her…er, his…their smile.” Stacie barely caught her slip. “Come on. I want to see some teeth!” I flashed the biggest, goofiest smile I had. “Excellent!” She clapped.
“Now, repeat after me,” Mia instructed. “I, say your name…”
“I, Nick Moody.”
“Do solemnly swear…”
“Do solemnly swear.”
“To uphold the standards of Cheer spirit…”
“To uphold the standards of Cheer spirit.”
“Even when I’m gassy and bloated, my hair is flat, or my boyfriend”—Mia glanced at me—“slash girlfriend, is being a jerk...”
“Bloated?” I interrupted Mia. “Are you making this crap up, just to mess with me?”
“Shhhh!” She held her finger to her lips and gave me a look that said, Be a good boy and play along.
“Fine.” I sighed. “Even when I’m bloated, my hair is flat, or my girlfriend is being a jerk.”
“And all I want to do is go home and cry over a pint of ice cream…”
“And all I want to do is go home and cry over a pint of ice cream…like right now.”
More giggles from the peanut gallery. Mia grinned at me. “Spirit fingers in the air!”
All the girls, both new and old, thrust their arms over their head and wiggled their fingers. I dropped my poms on the floor and followed suit as I hung my head and shook it in shame.
Stacie walked behind us and threw red confetti over our heads—because apparently glitter wasn’t enough. “By the power vested in me, as co-captain of the Roosevelt Ravens varsity cheer squad, I now pronounce you—”
Bang!
The gym door slammed open and hit the bleachers. I looked up to see my grandfather, staring at me with wide eyes. “What in the fiery blazes is going on?” His face went from white to pink to red in a nanosecond. “Nicholas Joseph Moody, you have five seconds to get over here and explain this to me.”
A slew of colorful curse words ran through my head, but I was too petrified to use any of them. The gym grew quiet. Not a single girl giggled or moved. Stacie froze, shoving her hands behind her back and casting her eyes to the ground. I tried to get up but found myself stuck in that awkward half-split. Mia rushed over to help me. Our gazes met, and she winced apologetically while biting her lip.
I spun around and put on a brave face, then marched to my reckoning. I swear I heard a bugle playing “Taps” in the distance. When I was within a few feet, I looked at my grandfather and asked in a low voice, “Can we please do this outside?”
Grandpa ushered me from the gym and slammed the door behind us. He closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. It didn’t do much to help. When he opened his eyes again, they were wild with anger. “So, it’s true, then?”
I cast mine to the floor. “Yes, sir.”
“When all those dough heads came into the locker room, spouting off about you and the cheer squad, I thought it was a joke. But then you didn’t show. So, I hunt you down, sure it’s all a misunderstanding, only to find you covered in sparkly crap and holding pom-poms? What is wrong with you, boy?”
“Nothing’s wrong with me,” I stammered. “I just thought…well, I thought…”
“Spit it out.” He was practically growling.
“I thought cheer might be a better fit for me. They could use my help, with my tumbling experience and all. I wasn’t really playing much football anyway, and—”
“That’s what this is about?” he roared. A fine mist of saliva flew from his mouth, and a tiny bit hit me on the face. I didn’t dare reach up to wipe it off. “Playing time? Is this your way of rebelling because Anderson sees more of the field than you do?”
“No!” I ran my hands through my hair. “I get it, okay? Anderson plays because he’s better than me. But—”
Grandpa cut me off again with a wrinkly finger pointed hard into my chest. “Anderson plays because he’s more dedicated than you. That boy eats, breathes, and lives football. You could be just as good if you had
the right motivation. Instead, you’re over here playing patty-cake with a bunch of girls.” He narrowed his eyes. “Does your father know about this?”
Grandpa was never going to understand me. He wouldn’t even try to consider my feelings. That’s who he was. Rich Moody was a stubborn old fart with narcissistic tendencies and a mean streak. There was no point trying to defend myself. “No, he doesn’t. But Mom knows, and she fully supports me.”
“’Course she does,” he grumbled. Just the mention of my mom calmed him down. He’d always had a soft spot for her because she wasn’t afraid to stand her ground against him. I wished I was more like her at the moment.
I sighed. “Grandpa, I want to be where I’m needed. The cheer team needs me.”
Grandpa folded his arms over his chest. “That’s it, then? Ten years of training down the drain. You’re giving up the chance at a state championship in favor of turning a few back flips on the sidelines?”
“The football team will win without me.”
“Damn straight they will.” He grunted. Then he took a long look at the glitter on my shirt and confetti in my hair. “I’m disappointed in you, Nick. The least you could have done was be a man and tell me yourself. Instead, you made me look like a fool, discovering that my own flesh and blood was jumping ship from some tittering locker room gossip.” His voice grew hard again, and he shook his head. “My only grandson—a cheerleader! It’s disgraceful, that’s what it is. Don’t come crying to me when you realize what a huge mistake you’ve made. If you leave the team, you don’t get to come back.”
I hung my chin. “I know.”
“Hope it’s worth it.” Grandpa spun around and stalked off toward the field.
When he rounded the corner, I banged my head against the wall. He was right. It’d been a mistake not to tell him myself. Hopefully, things would go better when I told my dad. Unless Grandpa got to him first, in which case it might be more of the same. A twinge of regret pinged my chest, and I started to doubt my decision. But I’d made my choice, and now I had to deal with it. For better or worse.
All eyes were on me when I walked back into the gym. I hadn’t been gone long, and the girls were huddled in small groups, talking. I smiled, trying not to look like I’d just been emotionally beaten. Stacie and Mia met me halfway. “You’re alive,” Stacie pointed out. I think it was meant to sound sympathetic. She obviously struggled with that.
“And physically intact,” I replied through a sardonic chuckle.
“That’s a plus.” She turned and walked back to the girls.
“I’m so sorry, Nick.” Mia placed her hand on my shoulder and gave me a sad smile.
“It’s not your fault. Nothing to be sorry about.”
“If you don’t want to stay with the team, I totally understand.”
My eyes widened. “Are you kidding? After all that? You better put me on top of the freaking pyramid during the first halftime show. Go big, or go home.”
Mia grinned. “At least the worst is over, right?”
I wasn’t so sure about that. But there was no need to worry Mia any more than she already was. “Right,” I agreed with false bravado.
“We waited on the cheer tunnel, hoping you’d come back,” Cassidy spoke up when Mia and I reached everyone else. “No initiation is complete without it.”
I took a deep breath and puffed out my chest. “Bring it on.”
“That’s the spirit!” Stacie clapped me on the back. “Pardon the pun.”
“But first,” Cassidy said, “I think this situation calls for a group hug.”
I smirked at her. “What? No group kiss?”
“Ha-ha,” she sassed sarcastically, to hide her blush.
Fifteen girls converged, like a swarm of sweet-smelling locusts, enveloping me in the middle of a cheer cocoon. I had to admit, it felt kind of nice. Sometimes even guys needed a hug. And that’s one thing that I’d never get from the football team. Our version of emotional support was a head nod and grunted You cool?
After about ten seconds, Stacie called, “Okay, ladies. Tunnel up.” The twelve returning girls stood across from each other, six on each side. Then they steepled their arms in the middle and started shaking their poms. “Move it, newbies. We don’t have all day!”
Gemma, or maybe it was Emma, jumped into gear and sprinted toward one side, then ran underneath their arms. Her sister followed, with Tori close behind. The girls whooped and hollered. I snickered as I jogged through the tunnel. I hadn’t done this since I was five or six, after peewee football games.
When I exited the other side, the tunnel broke apart and everyone applauded. “Congrats to our new teammates,” Mia yelled over the cheering and clapping. “Now, get a drink of water and hurry back. We have work to do.”
I dug my water bottle out of my gym bag and poured some into my mouth. The cheer initiation had been silly and a little over the top. That must be a girl thing. But I was quickly discovering that camaraderie was a girl thing, too. And they did it much better than guys. After fifteen minutes of glitter and sparkles, I felt more important to the cheer team than I’d ever felt to the football team.
Chapter 10
It was nine o’clock on Monday night. I’d been pacing in my bedroom, phone in hand, for almost an hour. Just walking, back and forth. I left footprints in the plush carpet, then erased them when I changed direction and started over again. Why was this so hard? I had a good excuse to call Nick. I even needed to talk to him. But I was worried he’d see through my captain disguise and realize that I had—against my better judgement—developed a teeny-tiny crush.
My contacts list was displayed on the screen, my finger hovering over his name. Stop being a sissy, I told myself. This is official business. Before I could chicken out for the hundredth time, I clicked on his number and pushed SEND. It rang four times. I was about to hang up when he answered. “Hello?”
“Uh, hey, Nick. It’s Mia.”
“Hi.” He sounded surprised. Had he not saved my number? That was a bad sign.
“I hope it’s not too late.”
“No, not at all. I’m still doing homework. What’s up?”
Either it was getting stuffy in my room, or Nick made me overheat every time we spoke. I pulled at the collar of my pajama shirt and ran over to flip on the ceiling fan. Then I went back to my nightstand and chugged half a glass of water.
“Hello?” he asked.
Crap, I almost forgot he was on the phone. I cleared my throat. “Sorry. So, uh, I called for two reasons. The first is that I wanted to see how things went with your dad. You sounded concerned earlier.”
He let out a heavy sigh. “It wasn’t nearly as bad with him as it was with my grandpa. Dad was disappointed, but he didn’t yell or disown me or anything. We had a long talk, and eventually he said that whatever I did, he just wanted me to be happy.”
“That’s good,” I replied with a sense of relief. I’d been feeling horrible all afternoon about causing a rift in his family. I knew it wasn’t my fault, but for some reason, I still felt a little responsible. After all, it probably didn’t help that we made Nick look like a sugar plum fairy right before Coach Moody busted in.
“Yes, it’s good. But that makes it feel like even more of a stab to the gut. As if I didn’t feel guilty enough. I’m his only son, and I crushed his dreams.”
“At least he understood that this is what you want,” I responded, not knowing how to console him. He didn’t say anything, so I asked, “It is what you want, right?”
His answer was slow in coming. “Yes, this is what I want.” The phone got scratchy and muffled for a second, then went back to normal. I imagined the sound was him taking off his shirt. So inappropriate. I should be ashamed, but I was too busy wondering how ripped his abs were. “You really have to stop stressing about that. I’m a big boy. I know what I’m doing.”
“Sorry. I can’t help it.”
“I know.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “I like that about you. And ev
en if my dad thinks I’m crazy, he’ll support me.” The line went quiet. I think he was waiting for me to say something, but I was hyper focused on the fact that he admitted he liked me. Well, in a roundabout sort of way. “My mom was really excited, though.” His voice perked up. “She said it’s in my blood. Don’t know if I agree with that…” He trailed off.
That caught my attention. “In your blood? Was your mom a cheerleader, too?”
“No, but I have two older sisters. They’re twins. They graduated when I was in eighth grade, so we didn’t overlap in high school. But they were both cheerleaders for Roosevelt.”
“Nick!” I gasped. “You didn’t tell me you were a legacy.”
He laughed in confusion. “Uh, I didn’t know I was one.”
“That’s what we call siblings of former squad members.”
“Oh.” He chuckled. “Then I guess I’m a legacy. Does that make me cooler?”
I smiled to myself and laid on my bed, plucking at the fringe that hung off my tattered pillowcase. “It definitely makes you cooler.”
“Sweet. I’ll take all the cool points I can get, since I’m trying to impress you.” He’s trying to impress me? Gulp. “And the rest of the team,” he added quickly. Oh…
It got quiet again. Time for a subject change. “So, the second reason I called was to see if you could go shopping with me?”
“Shopping?” That totally caught him off guard. “For what?”
“Your uniform.”
“Mmm. I was wondering when we’d get to this.”
“I would have said something today, but I had to do a little research first. Warm-ups are ours to keep, but uniforms belong to the athletic department. Normally, girls turn in their uniforms at the end of the year, and we give them back when school starts. That way we aren’t constantly buying new ones. Cheer crap is expensive.”
Nick laughed. “That’s one thing I remember my mom always complaining about. And she did it times two.”
“Yikes.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, since we’ve never needed a men’s uniform, I don’t have anything to give you. And there isn’t enough time to order it from the guy who usually supplies us. We’d never have it back by the first game. But there’s this store over in Slaterville that specializes in cheer uniforms and accessories. They have a decent selection in stock and can embroider it within a week.”
One of the Girls (Friendzone #1) Page 8
