“No problem,” Avery said. “Happy to help. Our other game is much later, and besides, I have a feeling this will be quite the show.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “You ready?”
I patted the duffel bag. Was I ever!
We waited until the team was out on the court before we went into the locker room.
The cheerleaders changed into their uniforms as I took mine out of the bag.
“You’re really doing this?” Nikki scrunched up her nose. “It’s not too late to back out.”
“Leave her alone,” Avery chided her. “It’s funny.”
“And it’s something to write on my application,” I said, stepping into a giant, furry badger costume.
I had managed to convince Coach to let me be the school mascot, Brooksy the Badger, for the rest of the season’s games. I’d run around, cheer, and get the crowd pumped every time the team won a set. It hadn’t taken much persuasion to get the job. There weren’t that many volleyball games left this year, and who didn’t like a little school spirit? Besides, the school had a few badger costumes, so why not put one of the extras to good use, to not only help my college application but to support one of my best friends all at the same time?
I grabbed the costumed head. It looked more like a skunk than a badger. The thing was pretty hideous. The teeth and smile made it seem rabid, and overall it had the air of a haunted character at a deserted carnival. There was a good chance it was going to give me nightmares. “Rawr, rawrr, rawrr,” I said as I put on the Brooksy head.
Nikki covered her ears. “What is that sound you’re making?”
“It’s the sound badgers make. I googled it.”
“Never do that again!” she cried.
“Yeah.” Avery cringed. “I may have to agree with her on that one. Although I do appreciate your authenticity.”
Personally, I thought my impersonation was hilarious. “I’ll think about it,” I conceded as we neared the back entrance to the gymnasium.
“We going in?” Avery asked.
I peeked out to look at the scoreboard. “Once they win the first game. Let our appearance be a surprise.”
It didn’t take long. Brooksvale crushed Sandbrook. As the teams regrouped, I ushered in the troops.
“That’s our cue, ladies!” I said.
We ran onto the court. The cheerleaders began one of their routines, and I jumped around trying to mimic them. They kicked; then I’d kick. They jumped; then I’d jump. I was three moves behind, and totally uncoordinated, but the crowd and the team were eating it up.
I’d thought dressing up as Brooksy would be amusing, but I hadn’t expected the rush I got as I pranced around the court. It had been a long time since I’d performed in front of an audience, and I’d forgotten how exciting it could be. I was actually having fun. A lot of it. I decided to go all in! I turned my back to the crowd and shook my—well, Brooksy’s—butt and did my best attempt at twerking.
I got a bunch of cheers and whistles, which only made me amp it up even more.
“That’s enough, Brooksy!” Coach yelled. “Wrap it up. We have another set.”
I gave a thumbs-up, the best I could in a costume, and ran to the sidelines. I was happy he didn’t say my real name. Grace still had no clue it was me, and I wanted to see her face when she found out.
Sandbrook had nothing on Brooksvale. We were cleaning the floor with them. I jumped and screamed for every point. Especially when Grace was the one to score.
We were up 22–5. Crystal served. The other team returned the ball. Lissi bumped it, Grace hit it over, but the other team smacked it back. I thought we were about to lose the point, but Lissi threw herself onto the floor and got under the ball right before it touched the ground, putting it back in play. Grace spiked it over, and we scored! Grace and Lissi made incredible teammates, whether they—or I—wanted to admit it or not.
Two more points and we would win the next match. I ran over and gave Grace a high five. I even joined the huddle. After every point, won or lost, the team circled and everyone patted one another’s back and said, “Go team,” in unison.
This ritual was supposed to be team building, but I’d always thought it was silly and a waste of time. I finally understood. Even though they had no idea who I was, I was now one of the team, and I could feel the strong sense of camaraderie.
I put one arm around Grace, and the other around Crystal. “You got this,” I told the team.
I had forgotten to disguise my voice, and Grace’s mouth fell open as she turned to me in recognition.
I winked at her, but then remembered she wouldn’t be able to tell through the costume, so I nodded. “Told you I’d find a way to get involved.”
Then I started chanting: “Champions, champions, champions.” My voice got louder with each repetition. Pretty soon I wasn’t alone.
Grace was the first to join in, then Lissi, and then the rest of the group.
“Champions, champions, champions!” we all chanted.
At the same time, we all broke apart. The team took their places, and I went back to the sidelines, waiting for their win. It came easily, as did the one after that—which meant we won the whole set.
I took the court with the cheerleaders again, and this time I did a few laps around the gym, my arms in the air.
I ran into the stands all the way up to Terri, who was sitting in the back with Luke. She wasn’t looking up; her head was buried in her sketchbook. I took her arm and swung it as I danced in front of her.
“What the—” she said, swatting me away.
I put on a fake booming voice. “What? You don’t like Brooksy? Everyone likes Brooksy.”
“Not me.”
I started to laugh.
“Cam?” she asked.
“No way,” Luke said.
“In the flesh—or rather the fake fur.” I pulled off my Brooksy head. “Ever since Grace told us about Maddy becoming manager, I figured I could find a way to get involved, too. I already come to the games—might as well get some credit for it. So, voilà, here I am.”
Terri shook her head. “I can’t believe you didn’t say anything.”
“I would have thought my texts gave it away,” I told her, putting one foot up on the bleacher and resting the Brooksy head on top of it.
“I wasn’t paying attention. My head’s been all over the place with my parents,” she said.
I rested my furry paw on her shoulder. “I’ve got a plan.”
“What are you talking about?” Luke asked.
“The art school stuff,” I said.
He nodded. “Right.”
“Wait,” Terri cried, “Luke knows, too? You’re in on it, aren’t you?” she asked him, her mood picking up. “Tell me what you guys are planning.”
I shook my head. “You, my friend, are going to have to wait and see. We’re full of sur…” My voice trailed off.
“Cam?”
“Cam?”
Both Terri and Luke were calling me, but my attention went to the other corner of the gym. Marc was there. He never went to volleyball games. Not when I’d played, and not when I went to watch Grace play, never—but he was here now. I watched as he moved from his seat toward the court.
My Brooksy head tumbled to my feet.
Marc was here for Lissi.
He pulled her into a big bear hug, lifted her up, and spun her around.
I gasped as he lightly kissed her lips. This was way more than a one-date thing.
“Poor Cam,” I overheard someone a few rows away say. “I can’t believe Marc would do this. Throwing it in her face. You know, I heard he got with Lissi before school even started. Sometime in the summer.”
I felt my chest tighten. The summer? Was that true?
“Are they a couple?” I asked.
Terri shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Give me your phone.” I punched up GroupIt. Terri had unfriended Marc, too, but his profile was public. I felt like the wind got knocked out of
me when I called it up. He had updated his status. It said “in a relationship with Lissi Crandall.”
How long had this been going on?
Memories came tumbling back to me. Todd saying Marc had traded up. All the lunch conversations from the first week of school. All the soccer guys talking about how hot Lissi was, how cool, how perfect. Had Marc been with her that whole time? Had the guys all known? Was I the butt of their jokes? They’d probably had a good laugh while Lissi waited in the wings.
Grace had been right: The girl totally sucked. So did Marc. I hated them both.
I could feel my cheeks flaming. It was bad enough when I thought Marc had ended things because he wanted to have a wild last year of high school, but because he liked someone more than me? That hurt. A lot. Marc didn’t want to be free senior year; he wanted to be free of me. He liked having a girlfriend as long as she was someone else.
I felt frozen in place. “Hey,” Terri whispered, linking her arm with mine. “Let’s go.”
Luke picked up Brooksy’s head, and somehow my brain sent the message to my feet to walk.
But a headless badger didn’t exactly go unnoticed making her way down the bleachers, especially when her ex-boyfriend was hanging out with his new love mere feet away.
All eyes turned to me. Including Marc’s and Lissi’s.
I stared back, my gaze icy.
Screw them.
I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me upset. I brushed past them like they didn’t exist and went straight out the door. I walked past the locker rooms and turned at the end of the hall, until I knew no one from the game would accidentally spot me. Luke, Terri, and Grace were on my tail.
“Marc’s stupid,” Terri said. “Lissi has nothing on you.”
“She’s gross,” Luke chimed in. He was lying, Lissi wasn’t gross; she was—as the soccer guys said—“the type of girl we dream about.” I, apparently, was the type of girl who didn’t even know when she was being played.
“Cam, say something,” Grace said.
What was there to say? I tried to quiet the memories in my head. “I’m fine.” I don’t care, I reminded myself. “She can have Marc. I don’t want him anyway.”
I was moving on.
I reached through my costume to my jeans and pulled out my phone.
I had Spence. He was so much better than Marc. So what if our date hadn’t been perfect? Everyone had first-date jitters. I’d seen him make his coworker double over laughing; he’d show me that part of himself, too. He just needed to get comfortable. He was a good guy, and I deserved a good guy.
I started typing.
I didn’t need to think twice.
I hit send.
I was done with the past; it was time to go after my future.
Chapter 22
It was the thirtieth text I’d received from Terri in the past five minutes.
Not this again.
A second later, she was FaceTiming me. “Look around me,” she said. “This is where you should be. It’s where you want to be.” Terri was at the school for the dance. It was pretty packed, more than what I’d expected for an event in the gym.
She’d been giving me a hard time about skipping it. It’d been just over two weeks since I’d found out about Marc and Lissi being an official couple, and Spence and I had been hanging out a lot. We were about to have our fifth date. Terri had a lot of opinions when it came to that. She thought I was going out with Spence solely because Marc was in a relationship and I needed to prove something, but that wasn’t true. Spence was a good guy, and I wanted to give him a fair shot.
“Cam,” she said.
“You know I can’t come. Spence hates crowds.”
“Yeah, but you don’t.”
I covered one hand over my ear. “I can barely hear you with all that music.” It was a lie; I just didn’t want to have this conversation for the umpteenth time. Terri apparently didn’t feel the same way. She moved into the hall.
“He’s making you boring,” she said.
“No he’s not.” I grabbed my lipstick and keys and threw them in my purse. “You know I want to be there with you. Don’t make me feel guiltier than I already do. Come on, I have to finish getting ready; he’s going to be here in a few minutes.”
“Yeah, to bring you back to his place to play video games. Do I need to remind you that you hate video games? Whenever I try to get you to play, you make a face.” She pointed at the screen. “That one. The one you’re giving me right now.”
“I’m making a face because you hate Spence.”
“Overdramatic much?” Terri asked. “I don’t hate him. I just wish you were here and blame him for keeping you away,” she whined.
“Now who’s being overdramatic?” I countered. “It’s not like I don’t see you practically every day. The dance isn’t everything.”
“Yeah, well, you’re one of my best friends. I want you around, and it’s not just me. Everyone is asking for you.”
I could still hear the music playing in the background, and I felt a pang of regret for not canceling on Spence. “I think you’ll manage.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing,” she said in a tone meant to entice me. “Luke asked Paisley Solloway to dance. It was the most awkward thing ever, but she said yes. Now they are attempting to move to the beat, and it’s a geektastic sight to behold.”
I did kind of want to see that, but I’d just have to hear more about it later. “Take pictures. Or a video,” I told her.
“Nope,” she said. “It’s the live show or nothing. Come on,” she pleaded again, “can’t you stop by for just a little?”
“Terri…”
“Fine,” she said, “I’ll let everyone know you’ve turned into a grandma who hates to go out.” She looked like she was walking.
“Oh, stop. It’s one night.”
“A night you were looking forward to! And it’s been more than that. It’s—”
A horn beeped. I was relieved. The last thing I needed to hear was her tearing into me for missing a couple of parties and pizza outings.
“Terri, I got to go. Spence’s here. Have fun tonight. Tell everyone I miss them.”
She fanned the camera around so I could see her surroundings. She was back in the gym. “Tell them yourself.”
I waved.
Luke and Paisley waved back. They did look cute together. Grace said, “Stop by.” And then Avery and a bunch of people I couldn’t make out all cheered, “Yeah, come.”
I threw them all a kiss. I loved that they wanted me there, even though I knew I had to turn down the invitation.
“Next time,” I promised them. “Gotta run. Have fun.”
I hung up and raced out to Spence’s car. I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. It was these little moments that I wanted back in my life. The simple things: texts with hearts in them, an arm around me while we watched TV, someone to say I love you to. “Sorry for the wait. I was on the phone with Terri. She’s at the dance. It looks fun. Maybe we can stop by for a few?”
Spencer shook his head. “Oh God, no.”
I gave him puppy-dog eyes. “Just for a couple of minutes to say hi? It’s on the way.”
“What’s the point of going for a couple of minutes?”
I tucked my hair behind my ear. “To be social, to see people.”
“We saw them this afternoon at school.” He groaned. “You’re not going to make me go, are you?” Now he was the one giving big doe eyes. “I told you I hate those things. Please tell me we don’t have to go.”
I didn’t answer, so he kept talking.
“I thought we said we were going to stay in and have you try some of the eGames. I thought that’s what we wanted, right?” He gave me that crooked smile of his.
“Yeah, you’re right. It is.”
We passed the school as we drove to Spence’s. My gaze lingered on the building. I shook my head. I didn’t need some school party; what I was doing was better.
I was spending time with a guy who liked me, a guy who could become my boyfriend.
We were going to have a good time. A great time, I reminded myself as the school pulled out of view.
This was what I wanted.
Chapter 23
“You’re getting better,” Spence said after finishing our umpteenth video game.
I dropped my controller on the coffee table. “Practice makes perfect, I guess.”
It was fun. Sort of. I mean, I didn’t hate it, but I couldn’t stop thinking about everyone at the dance.
“How about we put on Ant-Man and the Wasp?” Spence asked.
“Again?”
He laughed. “The one we watched the other day was Ant-Man; this one’s different. You’ll love it.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. I didn’t want to burst Spence’s bubble—he seemed so excited to introduce me to this movie—but I’d had my fill of Marvel. Don’t get me wrong, I liked superhero movies as much as the next person, but we’d only been out a handful of times, and we’d already watched four. I finally understood how Grace and Terri felt when I’d make them sit through rom-com after rom-com.
My phone buzzed, and I snuck a peek at the text.
“Everything okay?” Spence asked.
Shoot. I hadn’t meant for him to see me reading my message. “Yep, my friends are going to go grab some food.”
“Nice.”
He was right, it was nice—and I wanted to be a part of it. Even if I hadn’t been back to Scobell’s since the Brandon fiasco. “You know, I could eat something.”
Spence jumped up and bowed. “At your service. I have ice cream, chips, a spicy pasta chicken thing my dad made that tastes a lot better than I’m describing it, I can make us some mac and cheese … any of that sound good?”
I loved and hated that he was being so sweet. While what he was offering was super adorable, he was totally missing what I was trying to say. I needed to spell it out. “I was thinking we could join everyone at Scobell’s.”
“Oh.” Spence sat back down.
“You don’t want to…?” It was more a statement than a question.
Finding Mr. Better-Than-You Page 12
