by Nikki Carter
“For the last time, I’m not acting weird. It was an oversight, Ricky, not a conspiracy. For real.”
Finally, he looks like he believes me. “It’s cool, Gia.”
I give Ricky what I believe is a much-needed hug. “I’m sorry about Saturdays, Ricky. We’ll hang after the class lets out.”
“Maybe I’ll just hook up with Valerie on Saturdays.”
Yeah. Not funny. Not even a little bit.
“Boy, you better quit acting stupid and get focused! You have a game to play tomorrow.”
“All right, Gia. I’ll see you at the hotel if I get on the bus before you. Enjoy your fried chicken sandwich.”
“Ha ha. You are just full of funny today, aren’t you?”
I dash to my locker to grab my overnight bag. Thank goodness, I said all of my good-byes to my mom and LeRon this morning. I so don’t want to be the girl whose mom is waving at the bus as we pull off.
Hope and Candy are waiting for me at my locker. Candy looks extra heated, probably because she’s not going to the game. I wonder if her punishment is really going to last until spring break. I mean, okay, yes, shoplifting is a horrible crime, but have the parental units ever heard of parole or time off for good behavior?
I’m just saying.
“I wish we got to ride the bus,” Hope complains as I open my locker.
Technically, the rally girls are not a school-sponsored activity. They get to perform at the pep rally and sometimes get to decorate for school dances, but when it comes down to school budget money, the rally girls get nada, not even a ride to the state championship on the hoopty school bus.
“Who’s driving you guys?” I ask.
“Sascha’s older sister, Abigail. She’s bringing Sascha’s boyfriend too, and she’s even getting a hotel room for us. It could’ve been you driving us if you’d get your license!”
I roll my eyes. “Hope, okay, you need to stop. You are old enough to be driving, too.”
“But you know my dad won’t let me drive anywhere. Auntie Gwen would sooo let you use her car sometimes.”
Clearly Hope does not know her auntie. “Anyway, you said Sascha’s boyfriend is coming. Who is she kicking it with?”
“This senior named Chase. You know him?”
I give Hope the are-you-kidding-me look. Of course I know Chase. He’s one of the hottest white boys at Longfellow High. He looks just like that dude from Pirates of the Caribbean. No, not Captain Jack Sparrow! Johnny Depp is like old enough to be my grandfather. E www. Wait. Double e www!
Chase looks like Orlando Bloom. He’s got that dark brown hair, intense brown eyes, and that grungy boy swag. Yeah, hotness to infinity.
Candy interjects, “He is fine! She’s so lucky.”
Hope shrugs. “He’s all right. Not really my type though.”
“Well, I’d rather ride with Sascha’s sister than share a seat with Kevin, eating greasy chicken sandwiches all the way there.”
Candy says, “Both of y’all can bite my hotcakes because at least you’re going to the game! I’m gonna be sitting at home in lameville.”
Bite her hotcakes? Umm ... what?
“I’m gonna need you not to come up with slang nobody uses but you,” I command.
Candy looks confused for a sec. “Oh, you mean hotcakes? That’s something me and Valerie came up with on Facebook. It’s code for when guys are checking out the goods.”
“You and Valerie are just becoming BFFs, aren’t you? What’s that about?”
Candy shrugs. “I don’t know why everyone acts like she’s so scary. Valerie is cool most of the time.”
Hope laughs out loud. “I can’t wait for you to see her true colors.”
“People can change, y’all. Maybe she’s just sick of being mean,” Candy says.
“Whateva! Tell my mom I’m gonna call her when we get to Columbus.”
“All right,” Candy says. “Have fun for me.”
Candy trudges down the hall to the big double doors that open up to the street. She stops right outside the door to talk to some of her freshman peeps. I thought she had dropped most of her friends when she got put on her prison punishments, especially since they were the ones she got caught shoplifting with. But it looks like they’re still cool.
Hope asks, “So have you and Ricky worked things out? Is he still tripping, or are y’all booed up yet?”
“Yes, he’s absolutely still tripping, but I think we have an understanding, sort of.”
“What’s he tripping on now?”
“He was hating for a minute about me and Kev’s SAT class, like we left him out on purpose.”
Hope cracks up. “Are you kidding me? What a stupid thing to be hating about. But wait, did you and Kevin do it on purpose? Do y’all want some alone time?”
I punch Hope in the arm, and she flinches. “I just think Ricky is a little loco right now, that’s all.”
“Maybe he’s girl loco!” Hope’s eyes light up. “Or maybe he’s just crazy about you, Gia.”
I put one hand in the air. “No. Let’s not go there this weekend, Hope. I’m calling a moratorium on crushes until after the game.”
“Don’t you go using your SAT words on me, Gia! You know I don’t know what that means.”
Ha! Of course I know. That is what makes it so much fun.
“It just means no Gia-slash-Ricky or Ricky-slash-Gia. This is all about football and the hotness that is my step at halftime.”
Hope bites her lip and drops her head. I know she misses the Hi-Steppers, even if she is having fun being a rally girl.
“You know you should really rejoin the squad next year. It would be hot if we both stepped senior year.”
“I don’t know. Maybe. See you in Columbus!”
I watch Hope jog over to Sascha and the rest of the rally girls. I was one hundred percent serious about wanting Hope back on the Hi-Steppers squad. It’s just not the same without her.
And you betta not tell her I said that!
7
Agigantic smile takes up half of Jewel’s face as she opens our hotel room door.
“This is hot to death!” she says. “Just the three of us in this big room!”
The hotel made a mistake and overbooked their rooms, so they had to give some of the kids from Longfellow High suites instead of the normal double room. Sweet!
We lucked up because we were at the back of the line. I could almost hug Kevin for losing one of his contact lenses on the bus (I said almost). Jewel, Kelani, and I stayed behind to help him find it and guess what? It was stuck on his shirt!
Normally that would’ve been a big, fat BOO to Kevin, but because his nerd steez got us an upgraded room, he gets a pass.
Kelani says, “I bet Valerie would be heated if she saw our room.”
“I know, right,” I reply.
Jewel squeals from the bathroom. “We have a Jacuzzi tub!”
“This is just like an episode of the Real World,” Kelani gushes. “I’m ’bout to tell my boo to come see this.”
I clear my throat. “Kelani, you know what’s up. We can’t have any boys in our room. Not even for a minute.”
“Don’t be a goody-goody, Gia. You act like I’m asking Chris to spend the night or something.”
Jewel pops her head out of the bathroom. “If you did, he wouldn’t have anywhere to sleep!”
“Sorry, y’all,” Kelani says. “I just don’t want Valerie inviting him to her room. I can’t stand her.”
Jewel comes out of the bathroom and sighs. “I just want everyone to make up and be friends again. I don’t like all this tension.”
Kelani ignores Jewel, pulls out her Sidekick, and starts clicking away. I wish Gwen would give me the money to buy a phone like that. My phone looks like it should have a picture of Dora the Explorer on the back. The buttons are all big and foolish! I don’t let anybody see it.
Jewel asks, “Who are you texting, Key?”
“Nobody. I’m on Facebook,” Kelani replies.
I let out a laugh. “I’m not getting into any BFF brawls. Speaking of which, I’m supposed to be meeting my peeps in the lobby. Y’all wanna come with?”
“Sure,” Kelani replies. “Let me just finish this real quick.”
“What are you posting?” I ask.
“A comment about my survey, Sixteen Random Things About Kelani.”
“Why sixteen?” I ask.
“Why sixteen what?”
I roll my eyes. “Why sixteen things about you? Why not twenty?”
“Because twenty is too many things and I don’t like people all up in my bidness like that.”
Ha! As if she had any bidness that people would want to know about.
“Girl, come on!” I know I sound bossy, but we’re meeting for food, and a girl’s gotta eat.
Hope, Kevin, Sascha, and Chase are chilling on the lobby couches when we get there. Only Ricky is missing from the crew. Valerie’s not here either, but then she’s not really a member of our clique. I guess Sascha and Chase aren’t either, but since Sascha’s sister drove, I guess it’s cool if they hang. Sometimes she hangs and sometimes she doesn’t.
“What it do?” I ask the group.
Hope sighs. “I thought you were cured of your ’hood tendencies.”
“I guess not,” I say with a shrug. “Kevin, where’s Ricky?”
“He said he didn’t wanna hang with us because he needs his rest for the game.”
“What’s your room number?” I ask. “I’m gonna call and see if he wants us to bring him something.”
Jewel chuckles. “That’s sweet, Gia. Take care of your boo!”
Grrr! See, this is why Ricky and I have been having all this BFF distress. Everyone is trying to force something to happen that Ricky clearly doesn’t want. Notice that I didn’t say I didn’t want it! But I’m not going to force it, either.
“Whateva! Kevin, what’s the number?”
“It’s 507, Gia.”
I do my angry sashay over to the hotel phone and dial the number.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Ricky. It’s me.”
“Hey, Gia. What it do?”
See! Someone embraces the coolness that is moi!
“I was... I mean we were just wondering if you wanted us to bring some pizza back from the restaurant?”
“Yeah, that would be cool. You know what kind I like, right?”
I smile. “Of course. Pepperoni, extra cheese, and mushrooms.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, see you in a little bit—bye!”
“Wait. Gia?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for thinking of me.”
“Of course I would think of you, dude! You’re my best friend.”
Ricky lets out a little chuckle. “Well, I haven’t been much of a best friend lately. I know I been tripping.”
“It’s cool, Ricky. Must be those boy hormones or something. Get some rest.”
“All right, see you soon.”
Now what was that all about? Was that an apology for his foolishness of late? It sounded like it, right? Well, I’ll just take what I can get.
The Pizza Palace is conveniently connected to the hotel, so we don’t have to go far. There are Longfellow Spartans everywhere. We’re seriously taking over up in this piece.
Our entire group crowds into a super-large booth. Chase is sitting so close to Sascha that she might as well be in his lap, and she looks uncomfortable. Did she forget to tell her dude that she’s in a purity class?
Jewel asks, “So, Hope, what do the rally girls have planned for the game? I know y’all are doing something special.”
“We just made a bunch of signs,” Hope replies. “We’re going to do a lot of chanting and a lot of stomping! That’s it.”
“Y’all decided to fall back, and let the Hi-Steppers do our thing, huh?” Kelani asks. “It’s about time.”
Hope laughs. “Yeah, I wanted to let my cousin get her shine on.”
“Whatever, Hope!” I object. “I’m always in shine mode, no matter what your status. Recognize!”
Hope sticks her tongue out at me. “Whatever, yourself!”
My miniature tiff with Hope is interrupted by Sascha. “Stop, Chase!”
Okay, I don’t know what she’s fussing about, but Sascha looks heated for real. Chase has this what did I do? expression on his face. I wonder what that’s about, and I think everyone else does too, because we all totally stop talking.
“All right, chill, girl,” Chase says. “I’m just playing.”
“Well, it’s not funny,” Sascha replies.
“What’s not funny?” I ask the question that everyone else probably wants to ask.
Sascha replies, “N-nothing. I’m about to go to the bathroom. Chase, can you let me out?”
Chase rolls his eyes and flings his half-greasy bang out of his face. He stands up and lets Sascha out, but he takes his time doing it. Dude has a serious attitude.
“I’m going with you,” I say.
Chase narrows his eyes in Sascha’s direction. Her nonverbal reply is a nod. I don’t know what just went on between these two, but I for dang sure am about to find out. Number one, Sascha is my girl and I’m trying to look out for her. And number two, I’m nosy like that.
When we’re in the bathroom, Sascha doesn’t go into a stall. She just runs water in the sink and washes her face with a wet paper towel.
“What’s up, Sascha? Everything okay with you and Chase?”
Sascha smiles, but it’s not a happy smile. “Yeah, it’s cool, Gia. We’ve been going together since freshman year, and he’s starting to trip about some stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” I ask.
“Well, he’s been pressuring me, because he wants me to be his first. He can barely keep his hands off me sometimes, but I don’t want to hook up.”
“I totally understand. Did you tell him about the purity class?”
She shakes her head. “I tried to, but he doesn’t listen to me half the time anymore. I keep thinking we should break up, but I really love him, Gia.”
“You do? How do you know?” I ask.
I really want to know the answer to this question. I hear people saying they’re in love all the time, and I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean. My mom says that teenagers don’t know what being in love means, but she’s not right about everything.
Sascha hugs herself. “It’s so intense. It’s like I wouldn’t want to live if he wasn’t my boyfriend, Gia!”
Hmmm ... I don’t know what I think about this. I know I’ve never felt this way about anyone. Definitely not Romeo and not even Ricky.
“Well, what if he breaks up with you because you won’t give him your virginity?”
Sascha grabs both my arms. “I don’t know, Gia! I don’t even want to think about it. It would be awful.”
Tears come to her eyes, as if the thought of a breakup is too much for her to handle.
“Do you want to talk to my mom about it?” I ask. “She usually has good advice.”
“No. Chase would be mad if I told anyone. He’d be mad if he knew I was telling you. Please don’t tell anyone!”
“Um ... okay, I guess.”
I don’t like making promises to keep secrets. Especially if I think Gwen would go off on me if she found out I was keeping one.
“Thank you, Gia. You’ll understand when you start dating someone for real. Like Ricky, maybe? Everyone thinks y’all already go together.”
“Well, we don’t. We’re just friends, so everyone can fall back.”
Sascha laughs. “Okay, sorry!”
The pizza is on the table when Sascha and I come back and it’s already half devoured. It didn’t seem like we were gone that long, but apparently it was long enough for my peeps to inhale half the pizza. I’m gonna have to order Ric
ky’s slice separately.
Besides grubbing, it looks like something really funny went down, because everyone is in some stage of laughter. Hope is clutching her stomach and Jewel has tears streaming down her face. The only one not laughing is Kelani, and, as usual, she’s on that Sidekick.
“What is so funny?” I ask as I sit down.
Out of the corner of my eye I watch Chase stare Sascha down hard. She doesn’t even make eye contact with him and she looks totally scared. Me no likee. And me definitely no likee how he snatches her arm and pulls her into the booth. No one else seems to notice this but me. They’re too busy laughing.
“Is someone going to tell me and Sascha the joke?” I ask.
Hope pulls herself together and says, “We’re playing Would You Rather, and the question was, would you rather have a freakishly big smile or a freakishly little nose? And Kevin ...”
Hope bursts into a flurry of laughter.
Kevin rolls his eyes. “I just said I’d want the freakishly big smile because then I’d just look extra friendly. And then Hope tried to imagine me with a freakishly big smile and started laughing! Not even funny.”
A picture pops into my head of Kevin with a huge smile and holding a greasy bag with chicken sandwiches in it. Next thing I know, I’m laughing too.
“All of you get on my nerves!” Kevin mumbles. He crosses his arms and pouts. What a diva!
By the way, I’d take a freakishly big smile if I had to choose. I’d just mean mug everybody all the time and never, ever smile!
8
Ashiver runs through my body as I sit in the bleachers with the rest of the Hi-Steppers. It’s times like these when I wish this skirt had a little bit more material, and that these shiny dancer tights were long underwear. I brush away a big, fat snowflake as it plops into my lap.
Ugh! It’s cold.
Ricky’s parents are here finally, and also huddled in the cold. When they didn’t make it in the early afternoon like they planned, Ricky was in panic mode. He called them about fifty times asking if they’d left.
I think all of the Longfellow Spartans are happy that they showed up because my boy was tripping for real.
Valerie plops down next to me and shakes a pile of snowflakes out of her hair. “This weather sucks,” she says.
