“That’s nasty,” Renita said. Tasha remained silent, though Jamee thought she looked as if she wanted to say something.
Amberlynn joined the line and stood next to Angel, flashing Vanessa a dirty look.
“Uh oh. Looks like there’s another one,” Vanessa added.
“Yeah, maybe Angel’s cheatin’ on Jamee with her,” said Kym.
“Imagine that,” Vanessa said. “Jamee woulda lost a boyfriend and a girlfriend in one day!”
The girls cackled loudly. Jamee could feel herself sweating, her hands clenching into fists. She didn’t know how long she could ignore Vanessa, and yet she knew if she talked back to her, it would end up in a fight. It would all be over.
Next to her, Angel seemed frozen. Not once did she glance back at Vanessa or her friends. Instead she focused on the gym, like a statue unable to turn her head, despite the laughter.
Hurry up, Jamee thought to herself, clenching her jaws. Let’s get this thing started!
Finally, the gym door swung open, and Crystal the cheerleading captain appeared. Her eyes swept to Vanessa, Jamee, and Angel, but she didn’t say anything. Jamee figured she had seen the picture.
“Get into your audition groups and wait to be called,” she said. “Run in with spirit, do your jumps and any tumbling, then I’ll count you off for the chant and routine. Finish up with more jumps. Coach Seville may ask you a few questions, then you’re done. After your audition, you can leave. The results will be posted tomorrow on the bulletin board outside of the gym. Good luck!” She paused for a minute while the girls got into their groups. “Okay. Group one, let’s go!”
A small group of four girls rose nervously. Jamee watched them bounce around a little before Crystal opened the gym door wide.
“Woo hoo!” the girls shouted as they all ran in, clapping and jumping. Then the door closed with a heavy thud. Someone had taped a piece of paper over the little window, so no one could see each other’s audition, though Jamee could hear the cheers and the stomping of their step routine. She tried to imagine what she was going to do, but it was difficult because she kept hearing Vanessa and Kym’s laughter in her head.
“Group two!” Crystal called.
“That’s me,” Amberlynn said. “But I’ll be back. I’m not leaving until after you and Angel have your turns. ”
“Thanks, Amberlynn. Good luck. ” Jamee high-fived her.
“Yeah, good luck,” Angel said.
“Why don’t you give her a kiss, too,” Kym said. “You know you want to. ”
“Yeah, especially since she won’t be kissin’ Dez no more,” Vanessa added.
Jamee winced. She knew the girl was trying to mess her up just before her audition. Don’t let her win, she told herself, trying to focus on her routine. But then another voice spoke up.
“How much did you pay for your hair, Vanessa?” It was Angel.
Silence swept over the corridor where the girls were waiting. Vanessa’s mouth dropped open as if she was stunned. She instinctively reached for her ponytail, as if trying to protect it.
“What?”
“Your hair,” Angel repeated. “My mom’s a stylist at Essentials Salon. That looks like one of the synthetics. Maybe $4. 99 a track? Less if you can get it wholesale. ”
Gasps and hushed laughter erupted among the crowd of nervous girls.
Vanessa scowled, and her eyebrows seemed to meet in a straight line. She stepped closer to Angel with her hands clenched into fists.
“Hit her,” Jamee said. “Hit her. Go ’head. Hit her and give me an excuse to beat you down. Hit her and there’s no way you’ll make cheerleader. ”
“You won’t either,” Vanessa said.
“Group three!” Crystal shouted.
Tasha stood up. As she headed for the gym door, she whispered, “Sit down, Vanessa. Don’t you think you’ve done enough?” Then she pasted a big smile on her face and bounded into the gym, clapping and cheering as the heavy door slammed shut.
“Yeah, Vanessa. Sit down,” Jamee said. “After all, your group is up next. You might need a minute to get your hair—I mean your head—together. ”
Vanessa cursed but stepped back and sat down. Jamee heard her whispering with Renita and Kym. Every few seconds she looked over with murder in her eyes, but Jamee didn’t care. She would fail three more algebra tests just to see the look on her face when Angel stood up to her.
“Group four!”
Vanessa bounced up with her big fake smile on her made-up face and dashed into the gym. Before the heavy door swung closed, Jamee saw her do a perfect roundoff and jump up shouting “Go Bluford!” She was sure that Vanessa, as awful as she was, would make the team.
When Crystal shouted for group six, Jamee bounded into the gym, energized by what she had just witnessed—Angel standing up to Vanessa in front of everyone. The sight seemed to push her so she landed each flip, nailed each step, and hit each move as best she could, all with the biggest, most genuine smile she had in days. Coach Seville even said “Nice job” when she was done and didn’t ask her any questions.
The only thing that didn’t sit right was the way Crystal kept staring at her.
By the time she got back to the hallway, most of the girls were gone. Amberlynn was sitting with Angel, and Renita was by herself at the other end of the hall. Vanessa and Tasha were nowhere in sight.
“Group nine!” Crystal called at last, and Angel stood up.
“Thanks for waiting with me,” she said.
“We’ll be waiting when you come out to walk home together,” Amberlynn said. “Give it all you’ve got!”
“Don’t forget to smile,” Jamee reminded her. There was no way to know how it went, except that before the gym door closed, Jamee could see Angel soar into the air in a perfect aerial.
“What if we all make it? You and me and Vanessa and Angel, too?” Amberlynn asked. “You know this isn’t over. ”
Jamee sighed. She knew that even if she made the squad, she would probably be kicked off one way or another. But she wasn’t ready to admit that yet.
“Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen,” she answered, keeping her thoughts to herself.
“How was the test?” her mother asked as soon as she walked in the door. Jamee didn’t know how to answer. Had Mrs. Guessner already called to say she hadn’t taken it? Had Darcy told Mom what happened last night?
Jamee peered into her mother’s face. She didn’t look angry—or at least not as angry as she probably would be if she knew Jamee had gone to tryouts.
“Uh, fine I think,” she answered.
“Good,” Mom huffed. She was dressed for work and had her purse on her shoulder. “That’s what I want to hear. Now you get to your room and get working on the rest of your schoolwork,” she said. “Tomorrow night, I wanna sit down and talk with you about the things you said yesterday. But right now, I gotta go to work. ”
Jamee nodded as Mom rushed out the door. She knew another storm was coming.
Another call from Mrs. Guessner.
Another fight with her parents.
More proof she wasn’t as good as Darcy.
There was no stopping it now. But at least they had made it through auditions, she told herself, though Amberlynn’s words haunted her. What if they all made the cut?
Chapter 9
Jamee found the bulletin board first thing Friday morning. Just as Coach Seville had promised, the winners were posted on a bright pink sheet of paper.
“Congratulations to you all,” the note read. “The following girls should report for a brief meeting in the gym after school today. ”
Jamee’s eyes darted to the names written in two neat columns on the sheet.
Amberlynn Bailey. Vanessa Pierce. Tasha Jenkins.
Of course they made it, Jamee thought as her eyes kept reading, her mouth dry and her heart pulsing. And then she saw them.
Angel McAllister, Jamee Wills. Renita and Kym were there, too. They had all made it, just as Amberlynn suggested
.
Jamee sighed. After working so hard to be a cheerleader—and keeping Angel going—she wished she could be happy. But looking at the list told her that things would get no better. And if she got kicked off the team for her grades, they might even get worse, especially for Angel. Jamee knew she had to face Vanessa again and stop her. But how?
The bell snapped her from her thoughts, and Jamee dragged herself to algebra class, ignoring the snickers and stares that trailed behind her wherever she went.
Mrs. Guessner didn’t say anything when she arrived. Instead, for the entire class, she acted as if Jamee didn’t exist. It seemed as if the teacher had completely given up on her. In a way, it made Jamee feel worse than being nagged. Now, instead of being a bother to the teacher, she had become nothing. A lost hope. She could only imagine what Mom and Dad would say when they found out what she had done.
During English class, Jamee was startled when an office aide barged in.
“Jamee Wills, you need to go to Ms. Spencer’s office right now,” the aide said.
Jamee ignored the stares of her classmates and followed the aide to a stuffy conference room. Jamee could almost smell the countless meetings that happened there when students were expelled or suspended. Was she next?
Angel was already seated at the table, as were Coach Seville and Crystal. Ms. Spencer was at the head of the table.
“What’s going on?” Jamee asked, alarmed at Angel’s face. Her eyes were red and puffy, as if she had been crying. “What happened?”
“Something serious has been brought to my attention, Jamee,” Ms. Spencer said sternly. “Very serious. ” She pulled out a cell phone, flipped it open and showed them the picture.
Jamee’s face burned with embarrassment. She turned away from the image and the insulting caption underneath it.
“Crystal showed it to me at lunchtime, and I brought it straight to Ms. Spencer,” Coach Seville explained, her voice tense and serious as if it were under great stress. “Girls, I’m not sure if you know how serious this is, but we have to get to the bottom of it right now. ”
“I’m sorry, Jamee,” Crystal cut in. “But what happened wasn’t right. I just kept thinking how I’d feel if someone did this to me, so I thought the right thing to do was to tell someone. ”
“It was the right thing to do, Crystal,” said Ms. Spencer in a louder voice. “But you can return to your class now. The four of us will take care of this. ”
Crystal left and Ms. Spencer shut the heavy door behind her.
“Would you two like to tell us what’s going on?” Ms Spencer asked. “Do you know who took and sent this picture?”
Jamee’s palms were cold and clammy. Her stomach felt queasy. She felt trapped. Of course she was sure Vanessa and Tasha had done it, but she didn’t want to tell on them. She wasn’t like that. None of the people she grew up with were either, except maybe Darcy.
Jamee shrugged. She looked over at Angel and saw a tear stream from her eyes. Yet her mouth was shut too, probably because she feared what Vanessa, her friends, and the rest of Bluford High School would say about her if she snitched.
Coach Seville sighed, flipping her own cell phone in her hand. Jamee was sure she had the picture, too.
“I know this is hard for you girls,” the coach said, “but Crystal has already given us the basic outline. We have to act, and if you don’t help us, there will be a price to pay. ”
“Why us?” Jamee said. “We didn’t do anything. ”
“Sending messages like this one over a cell phone is an act of bullying, and that will not be tolerated at this school,” explained Ms. Spencer. “But taking a picture of teenage girls changing in a locker room and sending it to other teenagers—that’s a crime. I’m about to call the police to get to the bottom of this, but I wanted to give you a chance to tell us what you know first. ”
Bullying. Police. Crime.
It made Jamee’s head spin. It seemed as if each time she tried to get herself out of trouble, she only got in deeper. She could almost see Darcy staring at her and hear Aunt Charlotte’s voice. “I told you that girl wasn’t gonna make it in high school, Mattie. ”
“And if we find out the whole squad is involved in this, we’re prepared to cancel cheerleading for the entire season,” the principal added.
“Cancel cheerleading!” Jamee cried. She and Angel looked at each other.
“For everyone?” Angel asked.
“Absolutely,” answered Ms. Spencer. “If the team hid the fact that others bullied and sent out inappropriate pictures, then yes, the entire squad can face discipline. ”
“Now do you understand how serious this is?” asked their coach. “Please be honest. I’m guessing you both know who’s responsible, right?”
Angel cleared her throat. “They only did this because of me,” she said. “If I never came here, none of this would have happened. I should just quit!”
“You ain’t quitting, Angel,” Jamee snapped. She thought over what Ms. Spencer and Coach Seville had said. She thought of Amberlynn and all of the other girls who worked so hard and had come so far. It didn’t seem fair that none of them would get to represent Bluford on the cheerleading squad because of the actions of just a couple of people. There had to be a way to get it right, to make it so that Vanessa came forward and admitted what she did.
Suddenly, an idea flashed into her brain, a solution as complicated and calculated as any problem Mrs. Guessner wrote on her chalkboard.
“You’re right, Coach Seville. Angel and I think we know who sent the message, but we don’t want to accuse no one, either. But I think maybe we can make the person who did it come forward on her own. If you’ll help us. ”
Ms. Spencer frowned. “How?”
Jamee explained. At first, she was afraid the principal would never go along with it. But in the end, Coach Seville whispered something in her ear and the two women nodded.
“Okay,” Ms. Spencer said somberly. “We’ll try it. But one way or another, we’re gonna get to the bottom of this today. And if we have to cancel cheerleading to do it, we will. ”
“Listen up!” Coach Seville yelled to the girls crowded in the bleachers after school.
Crystal and some of the other cheerleaders closed the gym doors and stood watching, almost as if they were guarding something. Jamee could feel Vanessa and her friends huddled behind her like a wolf pack. She sat up a little straighter. Angel did, too. Everyone seemed tense, as if they knew something was about to happen.
“Usually, today I say ‘congratulations’ and we sit around and talk. Get to know each other better. But we’re not going to do that today,” she said abruptly. “Because there are some things going on in this group that need to stop. ” Coach Seville paused and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and held it up.
Girls mumbled and shifted nervously in their seats. Jamee heard Tasha gasp.
“Things involving text messages and pictures and rumors about ladies who are members of this squad. ” She then explained what Ms. Spencer said, using the same words.
Bullying. Crime. Police.
“Our school policy required me to report this incident to Ms. Spencer this afternoon and to take action against the students responsible. ” She looked around the gym. “Would anyone like to be a real woman and tell me what she knows?”
Just as Jamee expected, the crowd was silent. All the whispers and the rude comments she had heard for a week were gone. The only sound was the occasional creak of the bleachers as someone shifted in her seat.
“I see,” Coach Seville continued icily, snapping her phone closed and pacing in front of the bleachers. She stopped near Jamee and glared at the crowd of girls for a moment. Jamee could almost feel her face burn from the intensity of the coach’s stare.
“I’ve gotta be honest with you girls,” the coach confessed. “If I hadn’t seen the messages myself, I’da told Ms. Spencer, ‘Sorry, but no one on my squad did that. Not my girls. ’ But I guess I don’t know some
of you the way I thought I did. ”
The coach’s words seemed to hang in the air. Jamee glanced at Angel. She sat motionless, her eyes focused on an invisible spot on ground.
“I still can’t believe someone on this squad would violate her teammate by taking a picture of her while she’s undressed,” boomed the coach. “And I’m furious that she then sent the picture around school and made jokes about her teammate’s sexuality. I don’t care who you are or where you come from, you have no right to go there,” Coach Seville thundered, filling the gym with her voice.
“But you know what angers me the most? That some of you knew what was happening and did nothing about it. What would you do if it was you being targeted? Would you want people to look the other way? No you wouldn’t. You’d pray someone stood up for you. ”
The girls on the bleachers were like statues as Coach Seville paced.
“We’re a team, ladies. We don’t hate on each other. We don’t tear each other down. And if we see someone doing that, we don’t walk away. You hear me? If you can’t handle that, you don’t belong here. ”
Coach Seville paused. Jamee knew what was coming next, and yet she still felt nervous.
“Now, unless we get to the bottom of this, none of you will be allowed to cheer for Bluford. We’re suspending the program for a year. ”
“What?”
“Are you serious?!”
“That ain’t right!”
Just as Jamee figured, the bleachers erupted with protests. She glanced at Vanessa. Her mouth was open in surprise. A few other girls started whispering, all the while casting looks in Vanessa’s direction.
“B-but Coach Seville!” Tasha’s voice rose over the rest. “What if we didn’t have nothing to do with it? It’s not fair to punish all of us because of what someone else did. ”
“Then what you all need to do is find out who did it and let me know. You have one hour. ”
Pretty Ugly Page 9
