Revenge of the Cheerleaders (21 page)

Adrian looked at him brightly.

"Sure." Rick put his arm around Adrian and pulled her in to a walking hug, but over her head he looked at me and said, "You are so manipulative."

I blinked back at him innocently. "And it got us to the front of the airport lines, so don't knock it."

Tanner let out a sigh. "No fighting, you two. From now on you get along, agreed?" He looked at Rick and then me, waiting for an answer.

"Okay," I said. "No more arguing."

Rick shrugged and held up one hand in surrender. "Okay."

Adrian leaned over so she could see past me to Tanner. "Thank you. The way they get sometimes—it drives me insane."

"Tell me about it." Then Tanner exchanged a look with Adrian that said he understood her suffering. It was like they'd bonded over the issue of how hard it was to deal with us.

I looked at Rick and rolled my eyes. Rick nodded in agreement.

Chapter 20

I
probably should have driven our car home with Adrian and let Tanner drive his car home with Rick. But I didn't. When Rick suggested that he drive Adrian back in our car, I said, "Okay, just as long as you drive the speed limit and stop when the light is yellow."

"You're arguing with me," Rick said.

"No, I'm trying to save our car and your life."

He let out a grunt. "Fine. I'll stop when the light is yellow."

I didn't press the point because I wanted time alone with Tanner to talk. And we did. On the way back we talked about everything, everything but us. I wish guys came with maps like they have in malls. The kind that show the insides of the building, point an arrow to the spot, and proclaim, "You are here." It seemed like we'd been through so much that I had no idea where I stood when it came to him.

When we'd almost reached Pullman, my mom called me. She'd already called Adrian so she knew what had happened, but she still wanted to hear about it from me. I answered her questions, and told her that everything would be okay, because even though Adrian would be in trouble with the school, at least she was happy, wanted to live with us, and no longer hated me.

Mom made a few more comments about that, and then in an almost after thought said, "And let me get this straight—you're dating Rick's brother now?"

"Tanner's not at all like Rick," I told her. "The entire time I've known him his hair has been the same color."

Tanner sent me a sideways glance and smiled. Mom told me we'd discuss it later.

When we were entering Pullman, Molly called me. It was hard to hear her because there was so much noise in the background. I kept saying, "What?" and finally I heard Molly say, "Polly, will you calm down, I'm trying to tell Chelsea that . . . oh yes . . . we won the spot!" And then there was more screaming both from Molly and Polly.

"That's great," I said, and okay, I did feel a twinge
of
jealousy. Actually, more than a twinge, a slap, really. But still, I was happy for them. "I knew you guys could do it."

Polly took the phone from her sister. "I didn't even get a nosebleed. And guess who was in the audience, and stayed after to congratulate me, and then spent like fifteen minutes talking to me and said we definitely had to get together to study?"

Joe?

"Yes, but only after he could get through all the other people who came to talk to me." She let out a happy breath. "This must be what it feels like to be cool."

"You are cool," I said.

"I am now. We just spent the last hour talking with reporters. I've got to hang up because our parents are taking us out to celebrate, but I wanted to ask you—you'll help us pick out clothes for our trip to California, won't you?"

"Of course," I said, and immediately outfits, complete with handbags and sleek pumps, paraded through my mind.

She told me that they hadn't known what to do with my stuff so they'd given it to Samantha. I asked Tanner if he could take me there to pick it up. I figured he'd just drop me off, but he parked the car and followed me to Samantha's doorstep.

Samantha opened the door and gave me a quick hug. "Molly told me what happened. Are you okay? Did you find Adrian? Here, come inside."

I didn't know which question to answer first so I sat down on the couch and told them everything—from Adrian's confession about the beer cans to the way Rick said he'd rewrite the words on his
Cheerleaders in Action
CD.

Rachel was the most upset about the beer cans. "We could have been up there on stage today. We could have won the slot."

"Except that Molly and Polly sing way better than any of us," Aubrie said. "We might not have won if it had just been us."

Samantha shrugged. "I bet if they become really famous they'll introduce us to all sorts of important people. Chelsea will be hired by some swank fashion designer, Aubrie will star on a reality show about gymnasts, and Rachel will date all the guys who starred in
Lord of the Rings."

"Stop trying to make me feel better," Rachel said. "Half of the guys in that cast are too old for me."

Logan leaned back against the couch cushions. "Rick is rewriting all of the words on his CD? I sort of liked the 'This Skirt Means I'm Too Good for You' song. It was catchy."

Samantha smacked him. The rest of us ignored him.

"But who let the air out of Rick's tires?" Aubrie asked. "If it wasn't us, and it wasn't Adrian, then who did it?"

Logan let out a small cough. It wasn't loud, but it was enough. All of us turned and looked at him.

"Logan?" I asked. "Do you know anything about it?"

He only shrugged. "I'm not saying anything with Tanner sitting right here—except that you guys should really be more careful about keeping your garage door locked."

Samantha turned to Logan, her mouth open. " You told me not to do it. You told me to take the high road."

"And aren't you glad you did? Don't you feel better now? I feel bad, but at least you don't have to."

Samantha continued to stare at him.

Logan shrugged again. "Okay, I don't feel that bad. The guy has been bothering my girlfriend, he deserved a few flat tires."

Tanner held up one hand. "I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear any of this."

I nodded in Logan's direction. "Maybe you should volunteer to help Rick reinflate his jeep."

"I imagine by now the jeep is already reinstated," Tanner said.

"Well then," I said trying to smooth things over. "I guess all's well that ends well."

Rachel humphed. "It won't end well until I get to meet Orlando Bloom."

We talked for a little while longer and then Tanner took me home. When we pulled up to my house he turned off the car but didn't get out. Instead he looked at me thoughtfully. "So, do you still believe in second chances? Although actually, in our case, I think we're on about our third or fourth chance."

"Probably," I said. "But I believe in those too."

"Good," he said. "So do I."

If he'd asked at that point, I would have also professed a belief in the tooth fairy and leprechauns. With him looking at me so intently, I could believe in anything. "How about fifth and sixth chances? I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but with Adrian and Rick as our siblings . . ."

"Good point," he said. "I definitely believe in sixth chances."

He said it so seriously that I laughed. "I don't think things will be
that
bad between Rick and me anymore. My opinion of him has gone up."

He nodded. "And my opinion of Adrian is way up."

Considering the things he said about her in the airport, this was news. "When did that happen?"

He looked upward, as though contemplating and his smile took on a mocking tilt. "About the time she said you were crazy about me, and I realized she hadn't ruined everything between us after all."

"Oh." I felt the beginnings of a blush and fought it.

His gaze turned to mine, still teasing. "It's probably for the best. I wasn't having any luck forgetting about you." He shrugged. "Mostly because I didn't want to." His hand slipped over mine and our fingers intertwined. "So I guess it's not such a bad thing Adrian ruined your audition. Otherwise you might have won and then you'd go to L.A. and meet all sorts of famous people."

"Yeah, that would be horrible," I said.

"It would be horrible for me." He smiled in a way that made me tingle. "Still, it's too bad you never got to sing your song." He tilted his head, surveying me. "You could copy Richard and sing your audition song to me."

"Sorry, I don't perform in cars."

"What song were you going to sing, anyway?"

" 'It's in His Kiss.' "

His eyebrows crinkled. He'd apparently never heard of the song. "What's in his kiss?"

"That's how you know if he loves you so."

"You can tell that from a kiss?"

"According to Cher."

"I never knew girls had that power." He pulled me closer and leaned down. "What can you tell from this?" Then he kissed me.

I should have thought of something to tell him, some witty retort about what his kiss revealed, but to tell you the truth, as soon as his lips touched mine, my mind stopped working. I'm not even sure how much time went by. Then a bang on the window jarred the silence. I looked over and saw Rick and Adrian outside the car staring down at us.

Rick shook his head in mock disapproval. "You'd think the two of you would set a better example for us, your younger siblings."

"I'm shocked," Adrian said. Then the two of them laughed and walked up the driveway and disappeared inside my house.

I watched them go and then turned back to Tanner. "Do you want to go inside? Rick and Adrian will probably give us no end of grief."

"I know," Tanner said. "Let's take them on together," and he held my hand again.