I turned around and found myself face-to-face with the goat, who was chewing on something stringy and silvery.
“Aw, man. You too, goat?” I asked.
I’d thought he was such a good listener, but instead, my new pal had been eating one of my pom-poms.
It was mutiny all around.
I winced slightly as I walked through the front door. I’d pictured Dawn and Delaney standing just inside, waiting to yell at me, but as I stepped into the foyer, I could see Mom sitting in the living room, typing on her laptop. There was no sign of my sisters.
“Hi, Mom,” I said. I put down my backpack and borrowed camera and settled into the striped armchair. “How are things around here?”
She chuckled. “They’re good. How was your day?”
“Oh, you know, fine.” I wanted to ask her if she knew anything about Dawn and Delaney and how their day went, but I was too nervous. So instead, I brought up a safer subject. “Have you heard anything from Lily?”
Mom shook her head. “I’m sure she’s having a great time with Clare. They’ve hardly seen each other these past couple of years. I’m glad they’re doing this.”
“Me too,” I said.
“You know,” Mom said, sitting back and looking over at me, “with Lily moving out, one of you could take her room and another could stay in the attic. Then I could move my office so another of you could have that room.”
“But … why?” I must have looked as confused as I felt, because when Mom glanced at me, she seemed taken aback.
“So you can all have your own rooms, of course,” she said. “I figured since you have separate rooms at your dad’s, you’ll want them here, too.”
“But then you’ll have no place to work.”
“I’m always out here anyway” — Mom gestured about the room — “or at the dinette. And there’s room for my files in my bedroom.”
I’d just assumed Dawn, Delaney, and I would keep on sharing the Triangular Office indefinitely. Besides, we hadn’t yet separated at Dad’s new house, since our rooms weren’t done yet, so it all still seemed theoretical. Even though I was excited about my new bed, whenever I closed my eyes and tried to imagine having my own room, I couldn’t do it.
“Well, thanks, but that would be … premature. And unnecessary.”
“All right.” Mom had a strange smile on her face. “You three can just let me know when you’re ready.”
I thought it was strange that she was so sure it was a matter of “when” and not “if,” but I didn’t get to ponder it long. Because right then, the front door banged open. Dawn trudged inside carrying one pom-pom and one plastic pom-pom handle.
I jumped off the chair and ran up to her. “Hey … so, um … how’d it go?” I asked.
Dawn looked at me but didn’t say anything. Her mouth and both eyebrows were heavy horizontal lines.
I glanced behind her. “Where’s Delaney?”
Dawn gave me the same severe look as before, with an added glare as she disappeared around the corner. Soon I heard her stomping up the stairs to our room.
“What’s going on between you two?” Mom asked.
“It’s complicated,” I said. Because it was. So much so, I couldn’t have explained it to her — or anyone. “I wonder where Delaney is,” I said, both wanting to change the subject but also because I was puzzled. I’d figured she would have come in behind Dawn, or more likely, ahead of her.
“She’s upstairs in your room,” Mom said. “She came home a little while ago.”
“Oh.” A prickly sensation swept over me. Uh-oh. That probably meant Delaney hadn’t met with Dawn at the goat show. Or she’d gone and left really early? Either way, it looked like we’d both let Dawn down.
“I … gotta go talk to them,” I told Mom as I headed out of the room. If they were up there discussing and deciding things, I needed to be there.
I could hear Delaney all the way up the stairs to the Triangular Office.
“Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” she was saying to Dawn, bouncing on every first syllable.
For some reason, the sight made me angry. Dawn had been counting on her. But also, I had been counting on the fact that she’d be there with Dawn when I’d made my decision. “How could you not go?” I said to Delaney, my voice louder and grumblier than usual.
Delaney stopped bouncing and apologizing and swiveled toward me. “Something came up,” she said. “And anyway, Dawn just told me you weren’t there, either. How come you didn’t go?”
“Something came up,” I said, my anger transforming into guilt.
We stood there, staring at each other. Neither one of us wanted to ask what had come up — because if we did, we’d have to disclose our own whereabouts at that time.
It wasn’t that I was ashamed of my new friendship with Wanda, it was that I didn’t want to share her or photography with my sisters the way I had to share everything else. I liked having something — someone — that was just mine.
I suddenly had a thought, one that made me feel cold and goose bumpy. “Dawn, are you still going to stand in for me tomorrow in Mrs. Champion’s class?”
“I can’t believe you asked her that,” Delaney said. “I can’t believe you asked her a favor when you stood her up today. I’m disappointed in you, Darby.”
“But you also stood her up.”
“Yeah. Well, I’m disappointed in me, too!”
Delaney’s words hung in the air like thunderclouds. We stayed like that for a moment — Delaney and I standing opposite, eyeing each other suspiciously, and Dawn sitting on her bed, staring vacantly in the distance. On the wall above, I caught sight of the flag Robbie had made us on the spring break camping trip. The carefully shaded design of hands holding on to each other and the words UNITED IN FRIENDSHIP AND FUN carefully lettered across the top. Only we weren’t united in friendship and fun. We were divided in woe. We even had secrets we were keeping from one another.
Dawn got to her feet and fixed me with a blank expression. “Of course I’m still going to be you tomorrow,” she said. “I keep my promises — unlike other people.” With that, she walked past us and went downstairs. She didn’t yell, she didn’t stomp, she didn’t even frown. She just moved through the rest of the evening like she’d gone down to 10 percent of herself.
Sullen, defeated Dawn was somehow worse than irate, shouting Dawn. It made me want to help her — to attack whatever had done this to her. But then I’d remember. It was me.
Same with Delaney. Usually at dinner she was hopping in her seat, chattering on and on about the events of the day. But tonight she sat silent. So many times I’d wished for Dawn to be not quite so temperamental and for Delaney to be still and quiet. Only now that they were behaving that way, I hated it.
Mom noticed, too. After attempts at conversation went nowhere over our chicken and rice dinner, she asked, “What’s gotten into you three?”
When we mumbled we were just tired, she suggested we forgo watching any TV after homework and just go to bed. I think she was surprised — and maybe more worried — when none of us challenged her on that.
That night we continued to barely speak. Just the occasional “Excuse me” or “It’s your turn to feed Quincy” or “That’s my Gryffindor toothbrush — your Hufflepuff one is over there.” Even as we lay in our beds after dark, we turned away from one another or hid under blankets.
That’s when I realized I could see what Mom had been talking about. I didn’t want it just yet, but I was starting to imagine a time when we would all want our own rooms. The thought made me feel even sadder.
The next day all three of us wore our Wonder Woman T-shirts, white shorts, and white sandals, with our hair up in ponytails. It was mainly for convenience’s sake, so Dawn and Darby wouldn’t have to trade clothes after first period. But I went along with it, too, because I thought it was a nice outfit — and because it was comforting to be dressed like them after all the disagreements we’d been having.
To those who
barely knew us, we probably looked exactly alike this day. But to me, it was still super obvious how to tell who was who. Dawn had a slight scowl on her face and Darby looked like she wanted to dive behind the first big piece of furniture she saw and hide there until the cover of night. I couldn’t see my own face, so I don’t know what I looked like, but I’m convinced it didn’t match either of them. So even though Dawn, Darby, and I were more alike than usual on the outside, we were the most different we’d ever been on the inside.
Our walk to school started out excruciatingly silent. To make up for it, I sang songs and chanted cheers the rest of the way — only that just made Dawn scowl more fiercely and Darby sigh. Finally we arrived, and when the bell rang for first period, we went our separate ways — with Dawn going to Darby’s history class and Darby going to Dawn’s science class. I thought it was nice of Dawn to keep her word to Darby even after our betrayal.
Unfortunately, the day got weirder. At lunch, Darby sat with Wanda, and Dawn plopped down beside Lucas. So I ate with Lynette, Cherry, and a couple of other cheerleaders. But here’s the strangest part … not sitting with my sisters didn’t feel as awful or bizarre as I’d thought it would. It was a little sad, because we were sore at one another, but otherwise it was okay. I even had a good time.
Of course, this meant Cheer Squad class would be the real test.
As soon as Darby came into the gym and sat in the bleachers, I decided I was done with our estrangement and sat down beside her.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi,” she said.
Neither of us sounded huffy, but we didn’t sound all that happy, either.
When Dawn came in, she spied the two of us and walked over.
“Hi,” Darby said.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi,” Dawn said.
That made three not-huffy, not-happy hi’s. Things were looking up.
Dawn plopped down on the other side of Darby, and for a moment or two, we just sat.
Then Darby turned to Dawn and asked, “How’d it go in Mrs. Champion’s class?”
“Fine,” Dawn said. “Except you got detention.”
Darby gasped. “Detention? But … why?”
“During discussion you said that the Texas Revolution was over slavery and Tucker Burnett said you didn’t know what you were talking about, that those Texans were brave, blah blah blah.” Dawn opened and closed her hand as if it were a talking mouth. “Then you said, ‘I didn’t say they weren’t brave, just misguided and wrong.’ Then Tucker said you didn’t know anything, and that’s when you called Tucker a weak-minded tragedy and got detention.”
“But I didn’t call him that,” Darby said. “You did.”
“Well … technically you did. Because I was you.”
That was as far as they got, because the bell rang at that moment and Coach Manbeck stood and faced all of us in the stands. I was still reeling from the news that Darby had detention, and I couldn’t decide whether or not she should be mad at Dawn, since Dawn had been doing her a favor.
“I have some announcements,” Coach said, raising her hands to help get everyone’s attention. “I want to thank everyone who tried out for cheerleader after school yesterday. We had a lot of great candidates, and I want to emphasize that those of you who didn’t make cheerleader will still be part of the Poms and an important part of this organization.”
Oh yeah. Tryouts! With all the stress at home with my sisters, I’d almost forgotten.
“So now, without further delay, I will announce your new cheerleaders,” Coach said. “Please come down as I call your name. Congratulations to … Crystal Chang, Bethanne Holbrook, Emmy Washington, and Delaney Brewster!”
Inside me, I felt a big burst of excitement, nervousness, and surprise. It pulled me up from my seat and rocketed me down the bleachers to stand beside Coach Manbeck and the other new squad leaders. Meanwhile, back in the stands, I could see my sisters stop their polite clapping and turn to look at each other. For the first time all day, their expressions matched — kind of wide-eyed and openmouthed. I caught their gazes, smiled sheepishly, and waved.
I knew I had a lot of explaining to do as soon as I sat back down, and I was already trying to come up with words in my mind. Words like “Oh yeah, didn’t I mention it?” or “I was going to tell you but …” or “It completely slipped my mind.” Only I never had to use any of them. Because just then Lucas Westbrook, wearing his navy blue office-aide badge, walked into the gym and handed Coach Manbeck a slip of paper.
“Dawn? Darby? Delaney?” Coach said. “Mr. Plunkett needs to see the three of you in his office right away.”
As usual, Mr. Plunkett was busy typing when we got to his office, so we just sat in the chairs and waited. I felt jumpy for some reason, as if any minute, a net would fall on top of us or our chairs would fall through a trapdoor. The leaves of his plant looked even browner and more jagged, so I took that as a bad sign. It had already been a rotten day, and I was braced for more lousy things to happen.
Eventually he took his hands off the keyboard and turned to face us. “Hello, girls. I bet you three can guess why I’ve called you in,” he said, taking off his glasses.
“I can’t believe this. We’re summoned for wrongdoing again? All because of one unfortunate interaction with a goat?” I said. “Well, I want to go on record as saying that no competitions were thwarted and no animals were harmed due to our spirit boosting — which was just me, anyway, since my sisters turned on me.” I paused to give emphasis to their treachery. “And besides,” I said, “the goat ate my pom-pom, so if anything, he did the thwarting.”
Mr. Plunkett just looked at me. Then he rubbed his eyes and put his glasses back on. “Uh, that’s actually not why I called you in,” he said.
“Oh. Never mind then.”
“What’s up, Mr. Plunkett?” Delaney asked.
“I’m happy to report that two more students are dropping out of Color Guard, and I can now add all three of you to the class.” He sat back in his chair with a grin.
I stared at him, letting the words sink in. It seemed almost too good to be true. We could be in Color Guard together. We could get out of Cheer Squad. We could practice at home every day like we did over the summer and be the best in the school. Things could be better now!
Only, before I could say anything, Delaney raised her hand and waved it around.
“Delaney?” Mr. Plunkett said. “Do you have something to say?”
“Yes, in fact I have a bit of an announcement. And that is” — she paused and looked around at each of us — “I don’t want to do Color Guard. I want to stay in Cheer.”
It felt like ice water was running through my body. “You … what?”
She nodded. “I really like it. And also, I’m a leader in the squad now, so leaving would let those guys down.” She turned to look straight at me. “As a leader yourself, I figure you might understand.”
“Well, I don’t! Not at all!” All the frustration and anger and hurt feelings I’d been holding on to since yesterday were exploding like hot kernels of popcorn. “Plus, I don’t think that makes you a leader. I think that makes you a … a … a big traitor!”
“It does not, Dawn!” Now Darby was frowning at me. “Delaney doing what she wants doesn’t make her a traitor. And guess what? I don’t want to do Color Guard, either. I want to join photography.”
“What’s wrong with the two of you?” I said. “We waited so long and now finally there are three openings — finally we can all be together in Color Guard! What happened to all for one and one for all? What happened to sisterhood? You guys are just being selfish!”
“How are we being selfish?” Delaney asked. “You’re the only one who wants to do Color Guard! How is it fair that we have to do what you want to do and you don’t have to do the things we want to do?”
“What are you talking about? You like Color Guard!” I said.
Delaney shrugged. “It’s okay. But I like cheerleading better.
I can move more and be loud.”
“And I like photography better,” Darby said.
I shook my head over and over, as if I could erase everything in front of me. “I don’t believe this!” I said. “You guys are just trying to undermine all my efforts, aren’t you? You’ve turned against me for no reason. After all I’ve done!”
“Lately what you’ve done for me is get me in trouble for cheering the wrong events!” Delaney said.
“And thanks to you, I have detention after school. Detention!” Darby threw up her hands. “I never had detention before — ever!”
We were really yelling now. Somehow we’d forgotten where we were and who else was around.
“Yeah? Well, if you’d just go to class and speak up, I wouldn’t have to go in your place pretending to be you, and neither would Delaney!”
For a moment, I had no idea why Delaney’s eyes grew huge and Darby’s head hung in shame. Then I realized what I’d just said.
“Ahem.” Mr. Plunkett stood up on the other side of his desk and frowned down at us. “It seems to me that we have quite a bit to discuss.”
The only good thing about our talk with Mr. Plunkett was that he said to not worry about showing up for detention today, in light of this new information. Of course, that probably meant a worse fate was in store later, for all three of us. We were actual offenders now — our crimes being impersonating a sister, skipping class, impeding a couple of school competitions, and accidentally feeding school property to a goat.
Just like on our way to school that day, Dawn, Delaney, and I didn’t talk on the walk home. We were still sore at one another. But I imagine, like me, they were also worried about how we were going to break our bad news to Mom. I’d never been a delinquent before, so I had no idea how young hooligans usually told their mothers about getting in trouble at school.
Revenge of the Teacher's Pets Page 14
