Southern Attraction (5 page)

             
“Why were you so mean to me in class?” Heather asked as Shawn shut the door.  After a short pause, Shawn responded, 

             
“To tell you the truth, I thought you were a snob, and I liked trying to annoy you.  I guess I wanted to see how you would react,” he said. 

             
“And what do you think now?” she asked. 

             
“Same,” he said with a smile. 

             
“No really, what do you think,” she asked. 

             
“Same, but you have potential,” he replied.  Heather reached her hand out as if she were going to slap him.  He caught her hand and then leaned in to give her a kiss on the lips. 

             
Heather was taken back by what Shawn did but then allowed herself to kiss him back.  She really enjoyed the kiss and how it made her feel, but she didn’t want him to know how much it affected her.  She took a deep breath and hit him on the cheek with the palm of her hand. 

             
“What makes you think that you can just kiss me like that?” she asked. 

             
“I take what I want.  No I just felt like kissing you.  What about you, didn‘t you want to kiss me too,” he asked.  He held her hands to keep her from hitting him, and kissed her again more slowly. 

             
“Stop, I can’t breathe,” she replied. 

             
“You just don’t know how to handle us country boys.  City boys have nothing on us country men,” he said very seriously as he gave her a wink.

             
She pulled her hands loose and scooted closer to the door.  “You are nuts, what makes you so conceited?” she asked.

             
“I’m not conceited, just confident,” he replied.

             
“Whatever!  We have to go back now.  I don’t want to get into any trouble and give the teachers the wrong impression about me,” she said as she jumped out of the truck. 

             
“I guess if we have to,” he said as he sighed deeply. 

xxxxx

              Principal Thomas thought it was pretty funny that Heather hit Shawn in the eye with the paper ball. 

             
“Serves you right, boy.  Bout time some pretty young girl showed you up,” Mr. Thomas said. 

             
“Heather, I’ll let you go this time for clowning with my boy, but next time I‘ll have to give you detention,” he said. 

             
“Your boy!  Do you mean that Shawn is your son?” she asked. 

             
“Yep, he’s my boy,” Principal Thomas said. 

             
“Just shut it,” Shawn said, disgusted at the thought of anyone knowing that his father was the principal. 

             
Heather was amazed at how Shawn talked to his father.  “Thanks Mr. Thomas. I will not do it again,” Heather said as she left the office with a huge smile on her face. 
I would have never guessed that
, she thought as she walked back to her class.

Chapter Six

              The rest of the day was uneventful except for Lucy Miller spilling chocolate milk all over her white shirt during lunch, and all the boys gawked at her the rest of the afternoon.  Heather tried to make friends with some of the girls in her classes, but they shunned her on several attempts. 

             
During lunch, Heather quickly swallowed her lunch, because she wanted to  talk with the girls’ coach about joining the cheerleading squad.  “Miss Brandon, it is a sticky situation allowing someone new to join the squad after school has already started.  The cheerleaders had to go to cheer camp during the summer, just to be able to try out for the squad,” Coach Garner said.

             
“I understand that, Coach Garner, but I have already went to a cheer camp up north at my last school.  I was head cheerleader and I’m not bragging, but you won’t regret giving me the opportunity,” Heather replied.  Coach Garner felt sorry for Heather.  News traveled fast in Huckleburg.  Everyone in the small town knew what Heather was doing there.   They knew about her parents and how she had to go live with her uncle, just to have a place to stay.

             
“Okay Heather, I will give you a chance, but don’t let me down.  I expect you to show up for all our practices or you will be kicked off the squad.  Is that agreed?”                “Yes Coach, you will not be sorry.  What time is practice?” Heather asked.                “Practices are every afternoon at four.  We practice for one hour each day during the week, until football season is over.” 

             
“Great, I’ll see you this afternoon,” Heather replied.

             
Heather was elated to hear that the coach would make an exception and allow her to join the team.  She didn’t even ask her to demonstrate her abilities or skills.  She suspected that the coach gave her some sympathy, because of her parents.  She suspected that the coach knew about her situation, but she didn’t care.  As long as she was on the squad, she felt like things were starting to look up to her.

             
After talking with Coach Garner, Heather hurried to her next class.  She was a little late, but the teacher didn’t seem to notice.  As the teacher was writing lecture notes on the board, Heather found an empty seat and slid into her small desk as quietly as possible. 

             
“Hey, I’m Stephanie,” the girl next to her said as she turned toward her. 

             
“Hi, I’m Heather.” 

             
“I know, you’re new.  I heard you came down from New York or some place like that,” Stephanie replied. 

             
“Yes, I guess everyone knows about me, now.  It is nice to meet you,” Heather replied.  “You can share my book until Ms. Smith gives you your own.” 

             
“Thanks, that’s nice.  You know you have been the only person to actually talk to me in a nice way today,” Heather said. 

             
“I am.  Yeah, people from here don’t take too much to strangers.  They especially don’t like Northerners, but they’ll get use to you,” Stephanie replied. 

             
“I hope so, because I don’t know how much more I can take from everyone giving me a dirty look or throwing things in my hair,” Heather said. 

             
“Who is throwing things in your hair,” Stephanie inquired. 

             
“No one, it doesn’t matter,” Heather said as she looked down at the book. 

             
“Stick with me and you’ll have plenty of friends before you know it.”  Heather looked at Stephanie as though she was a little conceited. 

             
“I didn’t mean that everyone loves me and I’m better than everybody.  I just meant that I’m on the student council and I can help you get to know everyone,” Stephanie said. 

             
“Thanks, I appreciate it,” Heather replied. 

             
“Is there anything I can help you with.  I heard you were a cheerleader up north.  I can help you talk to the coach about getting on the squad.  I am on the squad and I can probably convince her to let you try out,” Stephanie replied. 

             
“It’s funny that you said that.  I have already talked to her and she has agreed to let me join the squad.  I’m glad I know someone else that will be on the team too,” Heather replied. 

             
“Stephanie, can you introduce your new friend to the rest of the class?” Ms. Smith said as she saw the girls talking to each other. 

             
“Of course Ms. Smith.  Everyone this is Heather and she is new to our school.  She is going to be on our cheerleading squad, so I hope you will all make her feel welcome,” Stephanie announced.  Heather smiled as she watched Stephanie introduce her.  She was glad things were finally looking up for her, especially now that she had made a friend.

xxxxx

              Every day, Heather showed up to cheerleading practice on time.  Slowly, she became friends with the other team members, and Huckleburg started to feel a little more like home to her. 

             
Jake started talking to Heather more politely, and he hinted on several occasions that he liked her.  It was hard not to notice how great he looked in his football uniform.  As he threw the football several yards down the field, his muscles tightened and Heather couldn’t help noticing how in shape he was. 

             
Shawn, being the rebel he was, tried to act like he didn’t care about her.  She knew deep down he did, because of the way he had kissed her that first day.  Shawn became more aware of Heather’s affections toward Jake, when he saw her look at him and smile.  Shawn was confused and irritated.  He had never had to fight for a girl’s affections before, as a matter of fact, he hated it.  He knew Jake and Heather were more alike than he was with her, but that made him like her more.  She was his complete opposite.  She was the type of person he usually tried to stay clear of, but he was completely enamored with her.  He wasn’t going to let anything stand in his way, when it came to winning her affections.

             
Shawn decided to warn Jake to stay away from Heather.  He didn’t want to give him time to win her interest.  After football practice was over, Shawn approached Jake in the locker room. 

             
“I need to talk to you outside for a minute.” 

             
“I know what you want to talk about, and you can hold your breath.  Heather can make up her own mind,” Jake responded. 

             
“What makes you think you could ever have a chance with her?” Shawn asked. 

             
“The fact that you are here to tell me to stay away from her, speaks a lot.  After all, what do you have to offer her?  You are not even in the same class that she is,” Jake said. 

             
“I’m warning you.  Don’t cross me or you’ll be sorry,” Shawn replied. 

             
“Eww, I’m scared,” Jake shook his head as if he had a shiver. 

             
“I know you are, cause I see it in your eyes,” Shawn replied as he walked around the long set of  lockers.  His locker was on the other side next to the coach’s office. 

             
After Jake took a deep breath, he decided that he had to stand up to Shawn or everyone would see how much he feared him.

             
Shawn started to pull off his uniform when Jake came around the lockers to face him. 

             
“You warned me, now let me warn you.  If you think you will ever win Heather, then I will step aside.  But only when I hear it from her mouth, that she wants you,” Jake said. 

             
“That won’t be long, trust me,” Shawn replied. 

             
“Only in your dreams,” Jake said as he pointed his finger at Shawn.

             
Coach Jones saw the boys arguing outside his office and went to confront them.  “What is going on here?” he asked.

             
“Nothing, coach.  Everything is just fine,” Jake said as he walked away.

Chapter Seven

             
The next Friday was the first game Heather got to cheer at.  It was a home game, and many people came to watch the game, including uncle Mick.  Heather had showed some of the other girls how to do back flips and different tumbling techniques.  Some of the girls caught on quickly and decided to join a gymnastic class.  The cheers looked more professional with organization and a more polished routine.  Many team supporters came to watch the cheerleaders as well as the football team. 

             
The team won the game against the Brooks High School Lions 21 to 3, which brought the attention of other teams around.  The Huckleburg panthers were determined to make a name for themselves and show to the world that nothing was going to stop their will power.  They were determined that they were going to win and beat the Lions no matter what.

Xxxxx

              After the game, Heather changed from her cheerleading uniform.  She walked toward the parking lot and saw Shawn standing next to her car.  “Hey,” she said looking at Shawn. 

             
“Hey, I need a ride.  Do you think you can, my truck won’t start?” Shawn asked.