It Is What It Is

by Nikki Carter

  Valerie frowns. “So your actions are going to cause a hole in the Hi-Steppers line? This is completely unacceptable. This is grounds for removal from the squad.”

  “Chill out, Valerie. She’s not being kicked off the squad for this,” I say matter-of-factly.

  “Says who?” Valerie asks with mucho attitude.

  “Says me. As co-captain of the squad, I have just as much say as you do.”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  Kevin says, “Valerie, why don’t you go and hand out the rest of your little brownies now?”

  Valerie flares her nose in Kevin’s direction. “Are you trying to dismiss me? Lames cannot dismiss me.”

  “I wasn’t trying to dismiss you, Valerie, but I do think you’re done here.”

  “Don’t get it twisted!” Valerie huffs, snatches her brownies from Jewel, and marches down the hallway.

  Everyone else, including Jewel and Kelani, look at Kevin. We all have admiration in our eyes. Did he just stand up to Valerie and totally dismiss her? Wow!

  Maybe Kevin really is changing.

  In homeroom, we get the Homecoming court ballots and have to cast our votes. I scan down the page to see who’s running. The only ones I really know on the ballot are Valerie, Ricky, and Romeo.

  I go ahead and mark Valerie’s name, because aside from her foolishness, I really think she deserves it. I’m torn when it comes to Ricky and Romeo, though. I know Ricky really doesn’t want to be prince, but there is no way in the world I can vote for Romeo.

  So, I leave it blank.

  Jewel collects the ballots and, of course, she reads every single one of them. Has she ever heard of the term “secret ballot” ?

  When she gets to my desk, she quickly reads over my choices. “Why didn’t you vote for Ricky?” she asks.

  “Because he doesn’t want to be the Homecoming prince.”

  Jewel shakes her head and frowns. “He is so weird. Why didn’t he just withdraw his name from the ballot?”

  “He didn’t want to hurt the feelings of whoever nominated him.”

  “Oh. Well, don’t you know that it was your cousin who nominated him? I heard she was gonna run for princess too, but then she chickened out.”

  Hmmm ... that’s interesting. I had no idea how desperate Hope was to date Ricky. She’s resorted to all kinds of foolishness just to get that boy’s attention.

  “I hope Ricky doesn’t find out it was her, because he’d be pretty salty,” I say.

  “Well, I voted for him and I hope he wins! I can’t stand Romeo. He’s sooo conceited.”

  Umm ... yeah. This is information that I already know. But I think Jewel is just a little bit heated that Romeo’s with Valerie now. She’d put in some work on him after he played me like a dummy, and he pretty much ignored her.

  “So, I figured out a way to let everyone know that Hope is not your date at Homecoming,” I say to Ricky as we sit at the lunch table.

  “Cool! Spill it.”

  “Well, we can ... wait a minute. Kevin, what are you eating?”

  Kevin swallows a huge bite. “Egg salad on white bread.”

  “Good grief, Kevin. We are not in third grade! I’m gonna need you to upgrade your lunch food.”

  “What? I like egg salad. The way Granny makes it, it’s sweet and savory at the same time!”

  I throw a napkin at Kevin. “You’re relapsing, Kevin! Resist the inner corny. Please!”

  “Gia, leave Kev alone and tell me your plan,” Ricky says.

  “How do you feel about a dance step and matching outfits?”

  Ricky bursts out laughing. “Umm ... about the same way you feel about egg salad sandwiches.”

  “No, seriously! Think about it. If you, Kevin, and I come dressed similarly and we do a dance step together, it kind of makes Hope look like she’s tagging along.”

  “One problem,” Kevin says. “I don’t know how to dance.”

  “Well, Ricky and I will do most of the dancing. You’ll just be our hype man.”

  “What’s a hype man?” Kevin asks.

  “Seriously, Kev,” Ricky replies. “It’s like how Flavor Flav was to the rest of Public Enemy.”

  Kevin frowns. “Flavor Flav? Do I have to wear a clock?”

  “No, Kev! You just get the crowd pumped as we dance.”

  Kevin still doesn’t look agreeable. I think we lost him as soon as we said Flavor Flav.

  “What kind of outfit?”

  “I’m thinking a mixture of jeans and Tweety.”

  “No way I’m wearing Tweety, Gia. Forget it,” Ricky says.

  “Okay, how about jeans and orange tops?” I ask.

  Ricky calms down a little. “I’m listening. Would you wear a T-shirt?”

  “No, I have a fitted orange blouse. It’ll actually be pretty cute.”

  Kevin asks, “Aren’t girls supposed to wear nice dresses at Homecoming?”

  I shrug. “I don’t know. I’ve never been. But I’ll accessorize. Is that all right with you, Kev?”

  “Gia, everything you say is pretty much all right with me,” Kevin replies as he takes another bite of his sandwich.

  Ricky and I stare at Kevin in shock. This is the second time today that he’s caught us off guard. I thought he was cured of his crush on me, but I guess he was only in remission.

  27

  “Did you hear?” Hope asks.

  Okay, I’m not exactly speaking to Hope right now, but she doesn’t know it. I’m really irritated how she used her pastor’s-daughter status to muscle her way into our Homecoming crew. That was the opposite of cool.

  I roll my eyes. “Did I hear what, Hope?”

  “What’s wrong with you?” she asks—I guess hearing how annoyed I sound.

  “Nothing.”

  She narrows her eyes. “Are you mad because I’m coming with you guys to Homecoming?”

  “What do you think?”

  “Why would you be mad? It’s not like it’s a date!”

  “You’re right. It’s not a date.”

  Okay, I have sooo had it with her. “Whatever, Hope! I’ve got to go to Hi-Steppers rehearsal. What did you want to tell me?”

  “Oh, just that Susan beat Valerie for Homecoming queen.”

  My mouth falls open. “You’re joking.”

  “Nope. I heard she won by a landslide too. They’re gonna announce it in the morning.”

  Valerie losing to Susan is pretty much the worst thing that could happen to the Hi-Steppers a week before Homecoming. It’s going to be all bad. I’m putting her on Kevin’s and Mother Cranford’s prayer lists and the Hi-Stepper squad’s too.

  I can hear her screaming before I even walk into the locker room.

  “How did this happen?” Valerie wails.

  Kelani hugs Valerie tightly. “We all voted for you, Valerie.”

  “Well, then who voted for Susan?”

  I wonder if Valerie realizes just how many people don’t like her. She’s spent every school year terrorizing people she felt were beneath her. I’m thinking that maybe only the Hi-Steppers voted for her.

  “I can’t believe these people would come to my party, eat my food, and not vote for me!”

  “That’s bananas, Valerie,” Jewel says. “But at least you’re still going to Homecoming with Romeo.”

  “No, I’m not. He only wanted to be my date if I won! He won prince, and said that he needs to go to Homecoming with a princess.”

  Candy quickly changes out of her prison clothing into her Hi-Steppers practice gear, and tries not to make eye contact with Valerie. But it doesn’t work.

  “What about you, Candy? Did you vote for me?” Valerie asks.

  “Of course I did.”

  Valerie balls her fists at her side and starts punching her own thigh. “Everyone keeps saying that they voted for me, but someone is lying! If I had all these votes, I’d be Homecoming queen! But I’m not. Susan is going to be on the field, in that float, wearing my crown.”

  Karma is su
ch a mean girl.

  Next Valerie does something I’ve never heard her do. She’s muttering in Spanish. Real Spanish. Not one chica is heard. You would need subtitles to understand what she’s saying. Who knew she was really bilingual?

  Out in the gym, Mrs. Vaughn blows her whistle, so even though Valerie is still spazzing out, the rest of the Hi-Steppers leave the locker room. We have to finalize our Homecoming-game routine, so Valerie has to get over her temper tantrum real quick.

  “Let’s warm up, ladies!”

  Jewel comes over to stretch with me and whispers, “Can you believe how Valerie is tripping?”

  “Yeah, it’s crazy. But what about Romeo? That’s foul that he’s ditching her. I thought she had dirt on him.”

  “She does, or did, anyway.”

  “Did?”

  Jewel whispers, “Well, Valerie helped Romeo buy some papers for his English class.”

  “For real? Where did she get them?”

  “She’s got a hookup with someone she met online,” Jewel explains. “He was failing and Coach Rogers wasn’t gonna let him play.”

  “Oh.”

  “But he’s not in the class anymore, so he’s not thinking about Valerie!”

  Mrs. Vaughn yells, “Does anyone know where Valerie is? We’ve got a Homecoming routine to choreograph!”

  “She’s in the locker room having a meltdown because she didn’t win the Homecoming queen title.”

  “Gia, go in there and get Valerie. Tell her if she doesn’t want to lose another title, then she better hustle herself on out here immediately.”

  Dang! Why did Mrs. Vaughn have to send me? I’m no good at this comforting thing, especially with someone like Valerie.

  When I walk into the locker room, Valerie is sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest. She’s sobbing into her hands, and her entire body is shaking. Trust me, it’s a pitiful sight ... all bad.

  “Valerie,” I say quietly, “Mrs. Vaughn wants you to come out and rehearse for the game.”

  “The Homecoming game? There’s no way I’m stepping on Friday. I can’t step while Susan is on the field wearing my crown.”

  I sit down on the floor next to Valerie. “You know it’s really not that serious, Valerie. For real, Homecoming is, like, one night.”

  “It’s not that serious to you, Gia. But I’ve wanted this since ninth grade.”

  I bite my lip, trying to think of a different argument. “Are you going to let everyone see you twisted like this? I mean, I bet people didn’t vote for you just because they wanted to see you lose it.”

  “Whatever, Gia. They didn’t vote because they’re haters.”

  “Well, my mother says that if you have haters then you must be doing something right.”

  Valerie chuckles. “Your mom is a lame, Gia.”

  “She is not!”

  “I’m joking, chica.”

  “Don’t make me hurt you.”

  Valerie stands. “So, I guess we should go to practice, huh?”

  “Unless you plan to let the haters win.”

  “Umm, no, never that.”

  As we head back to the gym, a thought occurs to me. “Valerie, do you want to ride with us to Homecoming?”

  “Who are you going with?”

  “Kevin, Hope, and Ricky.”

  Valerie scrunches her nose. “Do you think they’d mind me coming? It sounds like a double date.”

  “It is sooo not a double date! You let me handle everybody else. You just be ready when we pick you up.”

  “No way, Gia.”

  I just told Ricky about inviting Valerie to come to Homecoming with us and this is the reaction that I get. He is so not being a Christian about this.

  “What would Jesus do, Ricky?” I ask as I start our dance step again.

  Kevin, who is sitting on my living room couch, lets out a petite giggle. Yeah, it was petite, and unwelcome. I’m gonna need him to not laugh when I’m trying to make a serious point.

  “Jesus would lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil,” Ricky replies.

  Oh no, he didn’t come at me with the Lord’s Prayer. That’s what I get for sparring with a church kid.

  “Ricky!”

  “No, Gia. I’m putting my foot down. It’s my car.”

  I narrow my eyes angrily. “Okay, well if you are too mean to take Valerie, then I’m not going.”

  “Gia, if you don’t want to go with him, I can drive,” Keven says. “I’ll pick you up in my grandfather’s Cadillac.”

  I vote no to Kevin and the rusty Cadi. He’s been trying to get me in that car ever since he got his driver’s license.

  But for the sake of argument I say, “Cool, Kev. It’s on then. Pick me up at six on Saturday.”

  “Cool!” The way Kevin’s eyes light up is definitely not the business.

  “Wait a minute,” Ricky says. “That leaves me alone with Hope.”

  I reply, “Sounds like a date to me.”

  “It sure does!” Kevin says. “If you had wanted to be alone with Hope, all you had to do was tell us.”

  Kevin and I burst into laughter and share a high-five. Ricky scowls at both of us and sits down on the couch.

  “I won’t go alone with Hope. I just won’t go at all. How about that?”

  I can feel the smile creeping up on my face. I’ve got him exactly where I want him, but he doesn’t even know it.

  “You could stay at home, but how do you think the rest of the football team would feel if the starting quarterback just didn’t show up at the Homecoming dance?”

  Ricky frowns and I guess that he’s considering his options. After a few moments, he gets up and walks over to the CD player. He presses Play, and Ne-Yo’s “Closer” blares from the speakers.

  “Well?” Ricky asks.

  “Well what?”

  “Are we making up a step or not?”

  Now the smile blooms across my face. “We’re still making up our step? Does that mean you’re going?”

  Ricky nods.

  “Are we taking Valerie too?”

  Ricky nods again. I jump and hug Ricky around his neck. “Thank you, Ricky! You won’t regret it, I promise.”

  “I’m sure I will,” Ricky replies.

  28

  The Homecoming game is so not a pretty sight for Valerie. She’s trying her hardest to not look pressed, stressed, or twisted that she’s not a part of the Homecoming court. She’s coming up miserably short.

  Valerie and I stand in the front row of the bleachers, pretending to cheer for Ricky and the rest of the Spartans. It’s not like they need our cheers, though. They are crushing the Normandy Eagles.

  Valerie halts all clapping and cheering when Romeo runs a catch in for a touchdown. The hate in her eyes is really ridiculous. I mean, I was extra salty when he left me at the beach, but I know I didn’t have this kind of anger.

  She needs to do what Mother Cranford says and lay it on the altar. That means that sometimes people do things or things happen that are so bad that you can’t do anything else but tell God about it and let Him handle it. That’s what Valerie needs to do, for real.

  Valerie jumps when I place my hand on her back. “What?” she asks.

  “Nothing. Are you okay?”

  She smiles wickedly. “Of course I’m okay.”

  I don’t like the look on her face. I mean, she’s looking super sick right now. “I’m serious, Valerie.”

  “I am too.” Valerie folds her arms and raises one eyebrow. Now I know she’s up to something.

  “Valerie, whatever you’re planning, don’t do it. It’s not worth it.”

  “Gia, you’re such a good girl, you really are. But that isn’t me. I can’t operate being the goody-goody.”

  Okay ... whatever. She’s got me standing up here sounding like a straight-up preacher’s kid. If she wants to make a fool of herself doing whatever she has planned, then that’s her business. I can’t be Captain Save-a-Chica every time.

 
; And can you believe she called me a goody-goody. Eh ... no!

  Since it’s not quite time for us to line up for the halftime show, I walk over to where my mom, LeRon, and Candy are sitting. The only reason they let her come to the game is because LeRon didn’t trust her to be at home by herself.

  That’s completely tragic that they don’t trust her, but on the upside, they didn’t make her wear the prison clothes to the game.

  Gwen calls Candy’s punishment outfit “prison clothes,” because, in her words, Honey, you only get one outfit when you go to prison and that’s where you’re headed if you keep taking things that don’t belong to you.

  “Hi, Mom!” I say as I lean into the row to give Gwen a kiss on the cheek.

  “Hey, Gia.”

  “Hi, Candy. Hi, LeRon.”

  LeRon says, “Gia, shouldn’t you be down there with the squad?”

  “I will in a minute, but I wanted to come and say hi.”

  Candy doesn’t say anything to me. I guess she’s heated about being on punishment.

  “Hey, Candy!” I say her name extra loud so she can’t ignore me.

  “It’s bad enough that I have to be here with the parental units. Don’t expect me to be happy about it,” Candy replies and then turns her head back to the action on the field.

  Gwen asks, “Where’s Hope? Is she here tonight?”

  I point over in the direction of the rally girls. They are super hyped tonight because of Susan’s Homecoming victory. They’re all wearing red velour track suits, looking like they’re on their way to yoga class or something.

  Gwen waves over at Hope. “Well, it looks like she’s having fun.”

  “I’m sure she is, Mom. I have to go back with the Hi-Steppers. See you after IHOP.”

  “Don’t stay out past curfew, Gia, or you will not be attending the dance tomorrow night.”

  “Okay, Mom. Gotcha!”

  Umm, seriously, I think Gwen got all hardcore right then, for LeRon and Candy’s benefit. Because first and foremost, I’m never late for curfew. On the real, I’m always about ten to fifteen minutes early. I know Gwen isn’t playing on that. And second, there is no way I’m doing anything to get me grounded before Homecoming. I missed it last year because I was on some foolish stuff with Romeo.