Say Yes to the Cheerleader

by Abby Crofton

  As I was making my third circuit from the living room to the kitchen, the doorbell rang. With a final deep breath, I went to the door and opened it.

  Kate was dressed just as casually as I was. A tiny little bit of my tension lessened. I had feared that she would dress up, which was stupid of me since we were just going to the movies on a Sunday afternoon.

  “Hi,” she said somewhat shyly. She was fiddling with her fingers. Seeing her nervous made me feel less so, so it was easy for me to smile and respond with my own greeting.

  “Hi, Kate. Ready to go?” I asked, wanting to be on our way before my parents decided to jump out from wherever they were hiding to smother Kate with questions and goofy smiles.

  “Are your parents around?” she responded. “I just wanted to say hi to them if they were here,” she explained. I had the urge to tell her that she didn’t have to try to impress my parents because they already thought she was awesome.

  Instead, I said, “Sorry, they're around here somewhere, but I haven't seen them for some time. But I can tell them that you said hi if they’re still not around when we get back.” Although I wasn’t sure having her within speaking range of my parents after our date was a good idea. If I thought pre-date conversation could be embarrassing, a post-date meeting with questions about how everything had gone could turn disastrous. And maybe I was being paranoid and overly cautious, but since this was the first time I had been on a date, I honestly had no idea how my parents would act. Better to be safe than mortified.

  I grabbed my bag and followed Kate to her car. It was an older car, probably a hand-me-down from her parents. I was a little surprised when she moved to the passenger door and opened it for me.

  “You get the full service when you ride with me,” she joked, and then immediately followed it with a wince. I couldn't help but laugh a little. It was a pretty corny attempt.

  To make her feel better, I cracked out my own corny attempt at humor. “Then I'll just have to ride with you more often,” I said. After she had closed the door, I realized how what we were saying could be construed in a dirty way. That was definitely not how I wanted to start our date.

  Once Kate got in the car and started it, we sat for a few minutes. “So the movie starts in about forty-five minutes,” she said. “It will take us about twenty to get to the theater. Is there anywhere you'd like to go before? Are you hungry? We can stop and get something quick if you like,” she said eagerly.

  “I could go for some ice cream,” I said, “if you're up for it. The ice cream parlor by the theater is pretty good, and we can make sure we're not late for the movie by staying close by.”

  Kate liked my idea, and we were off. We drove in silence for a couple of minutes. She was holding the steering wheel with both hands clenched tight at two and ten.

  “So how was the rest of babysitting after I left yesterday?” she finally asked, not taking her eyes off the road. I wondered if she was always such a careful driver, or if today was an exception.

  “It was fine,” I said. “The kids’ grandmother came soon after you left.” I was quiet for a minute, not wanting to intrude. But then I decided I was just going to have to get over it. It was going to be a long night if I kept second-guessing myself about everything I said. “Did you do anything fun last night?” I asked.

  “Jenny came by and we hung out a little,” she said. “I believe you know Jenny Jeffries?” By the trepidation in her voice, I understood that she knew exactly what type of relationship Jenny and I had. But if I knew one thing, it was that I couldn't say anything bad about Kate's best friend, no matter how horrible she'd been to me. I would probably never talk to anyone again if they ever said anything bad about Marie. But I wouldn't sugarcoat it, either.

  “I know Jenny. She probably wishes she didn't know me, but there's nothing I can do about that,” I said honestly.

  Kate shoulders slumped. “Yeah, I've tried telling her that you're awesome and that you guys would probably be good friends, but she doesn't listen. It's like she has this blind spot about you that's filled with this weird stubborn dislike. Usually she's pretty chill with people, but for some reason she hates you,” she said honestly.

  When we reached a red light, she glanced over at me. “That doesn't mean I won't go out with you, though. She's my best friend, so I can call her out when she's being a jerk face. And trust me, I've done that a lot of times.”

  The light turned green, and as we continued driving, I said, “Thanks. I don't want to come between you guys, so I'm glad you know Jenny and I probably won't be braiding each other’s hair anytime soon. But you never know, weirder things have happened,” I added halfheartedly. I still thought the only reason Jenny Jeffries would be touching my hair would be to pull it or try and strangle me with it.

  Kate let out a little laugh. I almost fainted with how adorable it was. “Is that how you measure female friendship? How last century of you,” she teased.

  “Well, I only churn butter and milk the cows with my very best friends. I braid the hair of people I only tolerate,” I shot back. When she laughed again, I felt this swell of pride within me. If I could make her laugh for the rest of my life, I would consider it time well spent.

  “Are there any other early twentieth-century practices that you reserve for only those closest to you? How long do we have to know each other before we can take a carriage ride together?” she continued.

  “That’s a tricky one. Carriage rides can be horribly improper if there isn’t a chaperone along. We wouldn’t want people to think we were of loose morals, now would we?” I said in a pompously serious tone.

  “No, we wouldn’t want that,” she responded just as seriously. By this time, we had gotten to the shopping center where both the movie theater and the ice cream parlor were located. Kate parked in a spot about halfway between the two.

  As I was taking off my seatbelt, I felt her hand touch my shoulder. When I looked up at her, she said, “But I hear women of loose morals have more fun.” A wink, and then she was opening her door and was out of the car. I stayed frozen for a couple of seconds in mild shock. She was going to give me a heart attack by the end of our date if she was going to be saying stuff like that. But that just meant I had to toughen up. With that thought, I got out of the car and we went to get our ice cream.

  Chapter 12

  “Since you got the movie tickets, I'll get the ice cream,” I told Kate as soon as we entered the ice cream parlor. It was a local chain and was known for having super creamy ice cream and a large variety of toppings. If you were a kid who had grown up in the area, you had definitely begged your parents at least once to take you to Mama and Joe’s Ice Cream. Rumor had it that there had never actually been a ‘Mama,’ but that the original owner, whose name had not been Joe, had thought it made the store sound more wholesome with it in the title. The ‘Joe’ was tacked on for a more blue collar feeling. So basically our little local ice cream parlor was totally fake, but it still had delicious ice cream, so nobody really cared. I’d always felt that it represented current American culture perfectly.

  It was not the same place where I’d worked and had had my first kiss with a girl. Things had been too weird after Sarah kissed me, so I had quit and hadn't been back to that ice cream parlor since. There was no way I could take Kate there, or any other girl, for that matter. Mama's had better ice cream anyway.

  She argued, but I got my way in the end. We got to the counter and put our orders in, and after I paid, we got a small table against one of the back walls. The ice cream was good, and I tried not to eat too fast, to avoid getting a brain freeze. Also, I didn't want to come across as a pig in front of Kate. I'd been known to spill food now and again, so I tried extra hard to avoid that.

  “Are you ready for the exam next week?” I asked in between bites. Kate seemed to be enjoying her food, if the speed at which she was eating was any indication.

  After swallowing a spoonful, she said, “There are still a few more concepts I'm having trou
ble remembering, but I think with a few more study hours I'll be ready. It really helped that we went over some of the more complicated concepts at our study session. Thanks again for taking the time to help me with that.”

  I brushed off her thanks. “It wasn’t a problem. History is one of the classes that I actually like. I don’t know if I study more because I like it, or if I like it because I understand it better than my other classes.” I shrugged. “Either way, it helps with my grade.”

  After another bite of my ice cream, I asked Kate, “What’s your favorite class? Or at least the one you hate the least,” I joked.

  She immediately answered. “Definitely physics. I like all of the science classes I’ve taken so far in school, but physics is my favorite. The theoretical ideas and the practical applications are all so interesting. I know it’ll be hard, but I’m seriously thinking of majoring in it in college,” she revealed excitedly.

  I felt myself melting. Not only was she gorgeous and nice and willing to go out with me, but she was smart, too. I considered anybody who liked math or science to be smart, because whoever actually liked those subjects had to have major brainpower to understand what to me was basically an alien language.

  “That’s impressive,” I said sincerely. “Your parents must be really proud of you. I think mine would dance for joy if I told them I’d picked my major already, never mind choosing something useful like physics. I see in my future a general humanities degree, and then the next forty years of my life spent in an office processing paperwork for some huge corporation,” I told her with a shrug. “I’ve come to the realization that no big, exciting career awaits me. I’m sort of complacent about my future role as a cog in the machine of the greater international economy.”

  “Hey, you sound like you’ve already given up and you’re not even out of high school yet,” she admonished. “What are your dreams, your secret goals? You like history, why not try something with that? I could definitely see you as a professor,” she encouraged.

  “Wow, you can take the girl out of cheerleading, but you can’t take the cheerleading out of the girl,” I said flippantly. By the look on her face, I could tell she wasn’t amused. “I’ll think about it,” I capitulated, not wanting to rock the boat too badly on our first date. Otherwise there wouldn’t be a second one, which I was looking forward to. This early into date one, I knew I wanted there to be a date two.

  “Good. So what are your dreams?” she asked. I was taken aback by the question. Here I was worrying about prying too much into her life, and she was cutting right through the niceties and getting to the chewy center of my innermost thoughts.

  “I don’t know, honestly. I have those that most other people have—visit faraway countries, buy a nice house, get a high-paying job that will pay for the first two, and settle down eventually. Nothing too crazy.” I shrugged. “I went through my doctor/lawyer/firefighter/astronaut phases when I was little, but at this point, none of them really appeal to me. Especially astronaut. I went on one of those simulators at the museum once and felt dizzy and nauseous for the rest of the day.” I shuddered just thinking about that experience.

  “Okay, astronaut is off the list, then.” She drew an invisible line through the air. “But you do have dreams, and you can turn those into goals, and goals were made to be achieved. You just have to work hard and never give up. I know you can do anything, Haley,” she said, taking my hand and giving it a squeeze. It felt nice holding her hand, but her words made me feel even better. Hearing someone put that much faith in your abilities was a rush. I wanted to do something big and great so that I could prove her right.

  We finished our ice creams (or, more accurately, I saw that Kate had finished hers, took a couple more spoonfuls, and declared myself done) and walked over to the movie theater. Since we already had our tickets, we went straight to the concession stand.

  I insisted on buying something, and Kate grudgingly agreed to share a popcorn with me in addition to a couple of sodas. Even though we had just had ice cream, I had a feeling Kate might still be hungry. She probably burned through lots of calories with all the physical activity she did.

  Doing my best not to drop anything, I walked with Kate to our theater. We were about fifteen minutes early, but it was a new movie, so the theater was already half full.

  “Where do you like to sit?” Kate asked me in a whisper. Looking around, I noticed two seats next to each other about three quarters of the way up. I pointed them out to her, and she agreed to sit there.

  Once we were settled in our seats and snacking on our food and drinks, she leaned closer to me and whispered again, “Good choice. I was worried you were one of those people who liked to sit in the front row. Although I would have suffered through two hours of a sore neck for you, so keep that in mind for the future.”

  My breath caught when she mentioned the future. That second date was looking like a sure thing now. But there was still time for me to screw things up if I wasn’t careful.

  I whispered back, “Do I look like a crazy person to you? The only time I’ve sat in the front was when I showed up to a movie after it had started and those were the only seats left. I have vowed never to let that happen again.”

  “And I assume you’ve kept your vow?” she asked.

  “Definitely. Once I’ve made a vow, I keep it for life,” I assured her.

  “Then you’ll make some girl very lucky in the future,” she said before leaning away from me and properly back into her seat. I sat looking at her profile for a few extra seconds before I turned away.

  When our fingers touched as we went for the popcorn bag at the same time, I was proud that I didn’t get flustered. I was making progress. It was amazing that I felt as comfortable with Kate as I did, since we’d spent a relatively short amount of time together.

  As the lights went down, I remembered to pull out my phone and silence it. I saw Kate do the same, and just as the previews were starting, a few more groups of people trickled in. Some stayed below us while others went up to the seats at the top.

  The movie was pretty good. A few people kept on whispering, but the sound effects were so loud that they drowned everything else out. At a few of the cheesier parts, which these big action movies always added in to make those few minutes between explosions try and seem interesting, Kate and I shared an eye roll or a disbelieving look.

  In the end, the hero got the girl and saved the dog, while the thousands of deaths that had to have happened amid all the buildings being destroyed went unmentioned. So basically your standard Hollywood movie ending.

  As we waited for people to file down the aisles, Kate and I agreed that the special effects were great, the story was less than mediocre, and the acting was absolutely horrible. We sat there so long discussing the movie that the credits had finished running and the lights were back on. As we got up to leave, I happened to glance at the back rows and did a double take. Sitting side by side and making a pathetic attempt to hide behind some soda cups were our respective best friends.

  “Not cool!” I shouted the first thing that popped into my head as I pointed accusingly at them. Kate turned around at my exclamation and gasped. She stood with her hands on her hips and shook her head in disgust.

  I moved to the aisle and marched up to where Marie and Jenny were sitting. Kate was right behind me. We stood at the end of the aisle and waited for them to explain themselves.

  After some silence and avoidance of our gazes on their part, Kate got fed up with waiting. “What a coincidence that you two are at the movies together. I didn’t know you were friends. What a great surprise,” she said sarcastically. “And, Jenny”—Jenny seemed to shrink further into her seat—“I thought you couldn’t make it today. At least, that’s what you told me when you canceled after I bought the tickets.”

  “You know, things change,” Jenny responded weakly. Marie was staring determinedly down at her soda cup. If we were going to get answers, that was where they would come from. The girl who cou
ldn’t lie.

  “Marie,” I said quietly. Her head shot up and she looked at me. I looked back. Once I raised an eyebrow at her, she broke.

  “Fine!” she relented. “I came here to see what you two were doing. I just wanted to take a peek and make sure everything was going okay. But then I ran into Jenny in the lobby, and I asked her what she was doing and she asked me what I was doing, and we started talking and ended up buying a couple of tickets and here we are,” she explained forlornly.

  “Don’t you bring me down with you,” Jenny warned Marie. She looked at Kate. “I don’t know what she’s talking about. I came here looking for you! My thing got canceled and I wanted to surprise you. She followed me in here and sat down next to me for no reason.” She cupped her hand around her mouth. “Confidentially, I think she’s a little off,” she whispered, but we all still heard her.

  “Hey!” Marie said, but Kate waved her away.

  “Don’t worry, I know she’s full of it.” She gave Jenny a glare. “Now please stop lying and tell me why you you canceled on me and then showed up here today,” she ordered. I had to admit, if only to myself, that it was pretty hot.

  “Fine,” Jenny relented. “You kept on talking about how awesome you thought that one was”—here she pointed at me—“and you were nervous about visiting when she was babysitting, and honestly I still have no idea what you see in her, but never mind that. I thought that if I gave up my ticket, then you’d be smart enough to invite her, and then you could see how awful she is and never want to go out with her again, and then I would never have to listen to you say how great Haley is or how funny and smart she is for the rest of my life,” she concluded.

  I looked at Kate. “You think I’m funny and smart?” I asked with a goofy grin.

  Kate quickly responded with, “Yes, but there’s more I want to know first.” It seemed like she hadn’t finished with her interrogation of Jenny yet. “And what about Marie? Did you two plan to spy on us together?” she asked.