by Amy Reece
***
“Jack, I really think I can quit cheerleading now. I mean, Veronica got kicked off, so there’s no need for me to stay on the squad.” We were sitting on his aunt’s couch later that evening—well, he was on the floor—revising our essays from before Thanksgiving, a football game on in the background.
He held up a finger for me to wait. I watched him finish a paragraph and then click his laptop shut. He got up off the floor and sat on the opposite side of the couch, pulling my feet into his lap and stripping off my socks to rub my feet. I know, amazing, right? What a guy! I don’t know how he figured out that I love to have my feet rubbed because it’s not like I ever told him. So maybe the fact that I purr and melt into a puddle gave him a clue. “You could quit cheerleading now,” he said, massaging the arch of my left foot. “Is that what you really want?”
“Well, yeah. Of course. Why wouldn’t I want it? It’s not like I’m a cheerleader-type girl, or anything. I don’t even like that crowd.”
“I don’t know,” he sounded thoughtful. “I realize that you only tried out to get close to Veronica, but I have seen you perform. I’ve seen your face when you’re flipping through the air, scaring the ever-loving shit out of me. You look like you’re enjoying yourself. And you’re really good at it. Can you honestly tell me you won’t miss that part of it?”
I let out a big sigh and then pulled my feet out of his hands and crawled over to straddle his lap. I took his handsome face between my hands and leaned in to kiss him. “Why do you have to be so rational? You manage to call me out on all my crap, don’t you?”
He smiled that half-smile I loved so much. “Yep. You do like it, don’t you? At least you like the actual cheerleading and stunts, huh?”
“Well, apparently I do. Who knew?”
“Who knew indeed? Besides, having a cheerleader for a girlfriend is hot.” He flipped me over on my back on the couch and commenced tickling me. I am extremely ticklish and was soon incoherent.
“Ahh! Stop! Please stop, Jack. Uncle! Uncle!” I saw Megan come into the room wearing her footie pajamas and carrying a book, apparently ready to be tucked into bed. “Help, Megan! Save me!” She was happy to comply, tossing aside her book and jumping onto Jack’s back.
“I’ll save you, Ally! I’ll save you from the monster!”
“Oof! Monster?” Jack roared and sat up, reaching up to grab her. “I’ll show you monster! Ally, help me get this silly monkey off my back.” Megan was giggling loudly. He managed to get hold of her and swung her around, placing her between us so we could both tickle her. Sodapop, who had been sleeping peacefully on the floor, got into the excitement of the moment and started barking and bouncing around. I’m not sure if you’re aware of what a loud, annoying bark blue heelers have. If you want a quiet, calm dog, don’t get a blue heeler.
This was the scene Trina walked into. “What on earth is going on in here?” she demanded, but with good humor. “Megan Elizabeth, you’re supposed to be in bed! Jackson Iván, you go tuck your sister in! Ally…I don’t know your middle name! Come with me to make some tea!”
“Yes, ma’am,” we all said meekly. When adults start using middle names, it’s not time to mess around. Jack carried his sister upstairs while I followed Trina into the kitchen.
Trina put the kettle on and turned to get cups out of the cupboard. I heard her sniffing and saw her try to surreptitiously wipe her eyes. “Trina,” said, putting my hands on her shoulders. “What’s the matter?”
“Oh, Ally,” she said as she turned and hugged me close. “It’s good to see him laughing and happy. He’s been so sad and serious for so long. He’s been through so much. Megan was too young; she doesn’t remember how awful it was. Thank you for giving him a chance. So many people haven’t. They just judge him for his past. He’s a good boy.”
“Oh, Trina. He really is. You have no idea.”
“Ally,” she said, looking intently and seriously at me. “Please try not to hurt him. His heart is so tender, and he’s apparently given it you.”
“Trina,” I said every bit as seriously, “I love him. I don’t ever want to hurt him.”
She looked deeply into my eyes for a silent moment and then seemed to make a decision. “Yes, I can see that you do,” she agreed, stepping back to wipe her eyes. “Let’s get this tea.”
Jack’s tea was getting cold by the time he reappeared. “Sorry that took so long,” he apologized as he took a swig of tea. “She begged me to finish the chapter. You know, that Harry Potter is pretty dark stuff for a first grader. I sure hope she doesn’t have nightmares.”
Jack and I settled into the couch with our tea, while Trina was knitting in the easy chair, the news on in the background.
“Jack, can you come to the game tomorrow night after you get off of work?” I asked. He didn’t answer; instead I heard a quiet snore. Trina tssked softly. I turned and removed his mug, which was about to spill, from his hands, amused by his ability to fall asleep in seconds.
“He works too many hours,” said Trina. “I’m going to talk to Manny about it.”
My movement had woken him up. “Hmmm,” he said, rubbing his hands over his face. “Talk to Manny about what?”
“You work too hard, Jack. Manny needs to cut your hours.” Trina said as she knit.
“Leave it, Trina. Please. I’m fine. I need to save all the money I can. College is not going to come cheap.”
“Jack, the lottery scholarship will pay for most of it and we will help you out. Of course we will.” Trina looked hurt.
He got up and went over to kiss his aunt’s cheek. “You have done enough, you and Manny. Save it for Megan. Come on, Ally. Let’s get you home.”
***
Ten minutes later we were in my driveway, making out and fogging up his windows. He pulled back and looked at me. “What did Trina grill you about in the kitchen? I’m sorry for whatever it was. She can be…intense.”
I kissed him along his jaw, loving the feel of his whiskers. “Mmmm, you taste good. You smell good, too. She didn’t grill me about anything. She told me how wonderful I am for being your girlfriend. She said how lucky you are to have me.”
“Oh, yeah? Those were her exact words?” He laughed.
“Pretty much.” I had moved on to his neck. I absolutely love his neck.
“You are seriously playing with fire, querida.” When I increased my pace, he groaned and set me away from him, holding my wandering hands between his. “Behave yourself, you little minx.” I looked up at him, I hoped innocently, through my lashes. “Not buying it, babe. Now what about your game tomorrow? Can I bring Mat? He’s been moping around the garage lately since he broke up with his girlfriend. We could go out for pizza afterward. Maybe Tara can come to keep Mat company and out of our hair.”
“Are you matchmaking?”
He smirked.
“I can probably make that happen. Do you mind if Travis and Dustin come too?” I moved his hands up to my mouth so I could kiss them.
His eyes were starting to glaze over a bit as I continued to nibble on his fingers. “Jesus, Ally. You can bring whoever you want, even that idiot who let you get away.” He pulled his hands away from me and pulled me to him and started kissing me in earnest. When it started to get a little intense, he pulled back and rested his forehead on mine. “God, you are so beautiful. I am a lucky guy.” He kissed me softly. “I need to go, querida. You tempt me too much.” When he clasped my hand, I suddenly gasped, transported in my mind straight into a vivid vision. “Ally? What is it? What do you see?”
I was breathing hard, barely able to focus on his face. I thought I might be about to hyperventilate.
Blood…everywhere. Broken glass…pain. Veronica…me…I couldn’t tell which was which. Everything was so fuzzy, fading in and out of focus. At the edges of the vision I could see…him. This time I could almost see his face, although it, too, was covered in blood. I knew him! But how? Where had I seen him before? Right before I faded completely out, amidst immense pain, I
saw Jack’s face, hovering worriedly over mine, shouting, “¡Mírame, querida! Ally, look at me!” Blackness.
I slumped against Jack, briefly losing consciousness. I woke to him shaking me.
“Come on, sweetheart. Wake up. Shit! Ally? What’s wrong? Should I call…I don’t know, 911 or your mom?”
“No, I’m fine. Well, sort of anyway.” I wiped my hand shakily over my face.
“What did you see? Was it bad?”
“Oh, my God, Jack. Yes, it was bad…it was really bad! It was in the future, I’m sure of it.”
“What did you see? Tell me,” he insisted.
“No! I don’t want to tell you. You’ll freak out. I’m freaking out! I’m scared, Jack. I don’t want to be able to see stuff like that. Nobody should be able to see that kind of thing.” I sat there shaking. Why, how did I have a vision of Veronica when I was nowhere near her? That had never happened before.
“Ally, calm down. Hey, it’s all right. I’m here. I’m right here.” He held me close, stroking my back.
“I don’t know what to do,” I cried.
“Hey, shh. It’s okay. You don’t know what these future visions really are, do you? Maybe they’re a possibility of the future or something. You’ve only had one other, right?”
I nodded. “But that one came true.” Megan had lost her front tooth the week before, exactly as I had foreseen.
He pulled me onto his lap and smoothed my hair back, our earlier passion forgotten. “Tell me, please.”
So, reluctantly, I told him what I had seen. I told him about the blood and the pain and how I couldn’t decipher whether it was me or Veronica that was hurt. His face looked like it was set in stone, the muscles in his jaw pulsing.
“Listen, this needs to stop. I told you this was getting dangerous. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I want you to keep blocking these damn visions and forget about all this psychic crap.”
“I didn’t even have the chance to block this one; it happened so fast. I don’t think I can block everything out, no matter how dangerous. I’m scared, Jack.”
“Yeah. I know. Me too. I love you, and I don’t want to lose you.” I stilled in his arms. “Is that okay?” he asked, looking concerned.
I looked him straight in the eye. “You’re not just saying that because of the vision? I don’t want you to feel like you have to say it.”
“I’m not just saying it, Ally. I know it’s soon, but I’ve got to listen to what my heart is saying. I am in love with you.”
I about melted into a complete puddle right there on his lap. “I love you too, Jack.” And we were kissing again.
“Ally.” He pulled back from me. “Can you talk to Cassie about this vision? I feel so helpless, like there’s nothing I can do to help you. I don’t like that feeling.”
I thought back to the last time Cassie and I had spoken, when she had told me about our trip to Ireland. I had felt like she was holding something back. I started to tell Jack, but one look at his face, still so grim and worried, and I decided to keep it to myself for now. “Yeah. I’ll talk to her. It’ll be all right, Jack. Like you said, we don’t know what these future visions are.”
But I didn’t tell anyone about the vision, not Tara, not Grams, nor even Cassie. I needed some time to figure things out for myself. Probably not the best decision I have ever made.
***
Friday’s game was between Oso Grande and Albuquerque High. The Bears vs. the Bulldogs. We had learned a new routine to ‘Girl on Fire’ by Alicia Keys. Cheesy, I know, but Jack was right; I did love flying through the air.
When I wasn’t cheering, I watched the boys playing, keeping my eyes on #22, Nick Grayson. He looked pretty big and did have muscular arms and a fairly tan complexion. Hmm. Maybe. I hadn’t seen any interaction between him and Veronica, but he did have the basic look of the guy in my visions. I guess I couldn’t count him out yet.
We lost again, but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the group that went out for pizza afterward. We were all in high spirits, three couples having a great time. Well, scratch that. Two couples having a great time and two people sitting in stony silence. Obviously, Tara and Mat had not hit it off.
“What happened?” I whispered to Jack under the guise of reaching for the Parmesan.
“Mat finally found a girl who doesn’t think his every word is hilarious. I’m actually enjoying this.”
“She just can’t handle what a chingón I am.” Mat had apparently heard us.
“Oh, I don’t think you’re a badass. I really think you’re more of a mamon.” Tara had paid attention in Spanish too, calling Mat a braggart. “Please pass the Parmesan, Ally.”
“Come on, Tara,” Mat wheedled. “Give me another chance. Go out with me. It’ll be fun.”
“No. Absolutely not.”
“I see I’ll have to wear you down. I can be very persuasive. And patient.”
“Well, that’s good. You’re going to have a very long wait. Like a lifetime.”
Tara didn’t warm up throughout the rest of the evening. She has never been fond of loud, overly charming guys. She is a total brain and tends to like equally brainy guys. A guy like Mat, who dropped out of high school and was studying to be a paramedic at CNM, was not her kind of guy. I kind of felt sorry for him. I had gotten to know him over the last few weeks and had realized that under all his overdone charm, he was really sweet. I wished Tara would give him a chance. She always dates what she supposes are her kind of guy, but it never works out. She picks guys so similar to herself that they both get bored soon and move on. I thought someone like Mat would actually be good for her. When I tried to mention this to her later, she gave me a cold look and told me to leave it alone. Jeez. Sensitive much?
Right before he left me at my front door, Jack pulled me close, saying, “I want to celebrate your birthday this Saturday night. Save the night for me?”
“Jack, my birthday’s not until Christmas.”
“I know, but you won’t be here. And next weekend you’re leaving. I know your mom and Grams will want some time with you. I want one evening to myself and I’ll take it early if I have to.”
“You can have me whenever you want,” I said, completely aware of my double entendre.
He smiled and shook his head, kissing me quickly and sending me inside.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.”
–Gloria Steinem
I tried several times over the next week to talk with Veronica, but each time she found somewhere else to be, some other direction to turn when she saw me coming. I also hadn’t been able to talk with Cassie much because she was so busy preparing for the trip, and I was still undecided as to whether or not I would tell her about my latest vision. She had completely freaked out over my first vision of the future and I really didn’t relish the thought of another scene. I had plenty of those without adding any extras, thanks. I would be leaving at the end of next week for two full weeks in Ireland. Jack’s equanimity about the trip had helped me to come to terms with the idea. I still didn’t relish the idea of being away from my family over Christmas, but I was trying to understand the importance of learning more about my powers. This is how I felt in my more mature moments. But in my less mature, I’m-only-16-moments, it still really sucked.
When Jack picked me up from cheer practice on Thursday, I noticed his grim mood as soon as I got in the car. His kiss was…I don’t know…tighter than usual. “Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked, looking at his face with concern.
“I need to talk to you, Ally. Do you have time? Can we go somewhere?” He sounded worried.
“Of course. Whatever you need, Jack.” Now I was worried.
He drove to a McDonald’s and got us each a cup of coffee. He then pulled into a parking spot in the very back of the lot.
“Oh, boy. It must be pretty bad if you don’t even want to go inside. Let me guess: you don’t want another drama scene featuring me
storming out?”
He chuckled slightly, taking my hand that wasn’t holding the coffee. He brought it to his mouth and kissed it. “Yeah, something like that. I’m pretty sure you’re not going to be huge fan of what I have to say, Ally.”
“Hey, whatever it is, we can figure it out. Unless you’re breaking up with me,” I joked. “Oh, God, you’re not breaking up with me, are you?” I looked at him, panic in my eyes.
He leaned forward and kissed me. It started out as a soft, quick kiss, but ended up pretty deep and intense when I didn’t let him go. “No, I am absolutely not breaking up with you,” he said hoarsely. He sat back, took a sip of coffee and cleared his throat.
“Okay, Jack. You’re killing me. Tell me already.”
“Well, I went to see my guidance counselor after school today. I wanted to check on my credits.”
“And?” He sure knew how to drag out a story.
He took a deep breath. “Fine. I’ll say it all and then let you react however you want. I found out that I only need 2 more credits after this year to graduate: English 12 and a half credit each of economics and government. I can take them through online eCademy this next semester and graduate this spring. Wait—” He put his finger on my lips as I was about to interrupt. “I also got some information about Army ROTC at UNM. I’m really interested in applying.”
“What is that? ROTC? Don’t we have that at school?”
“We have junior ROTC at school. It stands for Reserve Officer Training Corps.” At my continued confused look, he sighed. “Basically, it means I would join the army, they would pay for my education, give me some training, and then I would owe them a few years of active duty after college.”
I sat there on my side of the car, staring at him. I wasn’t really staring at him, however; I was trying to process the giant bomb he had dropped. The minutes ticked by.
“Ally? Sweetheart? Can you please say something?” Jack whispered a bit desperately.
