T is for...he's a TOTAL jerk (Grover Beach Team #3) (7 page)

The cheerleading was fun. Nothing that I had expected, really. When Allie asked me to show them more intricate moves and they all found them pretty cool, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to stick with the girls. In the end it was clear that we weren’t the usual kind of cheerleaders, hopping and shouting and doing the splits, but we aimed for a mix of hip-hop and funk. Even the few weeks’ Zumba class I’d taken a couple of years ago came in handy with salsa steps and body rolls. I liked what we did, and the rest of them apparently did, too.

We went for some ice cream after the training, but I excused myself early, because I had to work on my drawing. With the homework we’d gotten in AVE, which was sketching a female fantasy villain, I wanted to make good on the time I’d missed. I decided to go for a harpy with leathery wings, a raven’s beak and a rat’s tail with a spear at the end. After I finished this one, I only managed to get half of another project done,
then I did my Math homework and wrote a funky poem about my boots for English Literature. During all that work, I finally got to know Rosa, the cook.

Later I sat through a queasy dinner with Cloey and her parents that featured a really weird conversation.

“It was your first cheerleading training today, wasn’t it, Sammy?” Pamela asked me midway through dinner.

I looked up from my meal and answered with a nod.

“Did you like it?”

“It was okay. Actually, I’m thinking of staying with the girls. I guess it’s better to dance with them than not at all.”

Pam beamed at me across the table. “I’m sure you made the right decision.”

“Cheerleading, ha!”
Cloey laughed and poked her father in the side with her elbow. “The good ones play the real sport, don’t they, Dad?”

He nodded and dabbed at his mouth with an embroidered napkin. “How’s your penalty kick doing? Have you improved since last summer?”

Cloey smirked. “I scored seven goals out of ten last week. Hunter says I’m one of his best players.”

Yeah, that’s probably the only reason why he keeps you in a team where no one
really likes you.
I snorted, but quickly shoved a slice of carrot into my mouth to smother the sound.

Pamela ignored her husband and daughter’s chat and looked at me with gleaming eyes. “I still have my cheerleading uniform from my own high school time. If you want, you can try it on later. I can alter it for you if it’s too long.”

Wow, that was a great offer. “Thanks, but we’re not dancing in robes. It’s just a fun thing, and Allie—she’s sort of the captain—lets us wear whatever we like. She even finds it cool that I wear my army pants and boots, because it fits the dance style we’re practicing right now.”

Cloey turned cold eyes on me. “You seriously call that stomping and stupid spasms you do
a
style
?” She jerked her body from side to side to ridicule our choreo.

“Cloey!”
Pam hissed in a sharp voice I hadn’t heard since my cousin and I both fell into their swimming pool behind the house when we were seven years old and fully dressed. “I’m sure the girls know what they’re doing. And since you’re not with them, you’re not going to badmouth their dancing. I won’t have that in this house. Do I make myself clear?”

As if Pam’s defending me wasn’t bad enough, she also placed a hand on
top of mine in support. Cloey’s disgusted stare felt like she was pinching my skin with little pricks. Finally, her eyes snapped up to mine. Beneath all the ice in her gaze, I thought I spotted a tiny flicker of pain. She ran a napkin over her lips, then tossed it onto her half-finished meal and stood. “May I be excused, Dad? I still have homework to do.”

“Of course, darling,” he told her, and we watched as she stalked out the door.

I was happy when I had finished my dinner and could head to my room as well. I didn’t understand why Cloey was so jealous every time Pamela and I seemed to have something in common, something we could talk about or do together. It was not like I was trying to steal her mom to replace my own. I missed my parents, goddammit. Nothing and no one could replace them for me. I was only trying to adapt to the given situation and be a nice guest instead of an annoying burden while I was here.

I called my mother, because I had forgotten to do it after school, and told her only about the good things that had happened since our last call. She didn’t need to hear about the Hobbit insult of last night or Cloey’s jealous freak shows. It felt good to hear Mom’s voice. She told me how much she and Dad missed me before we rang off. After the call, I studied a little history for the test due
tomorrow. Most of the stuff I already knew by heart, so I didn’t worry about failing at all.

Wednesday, for once, went by peacefully and gave me hope for a quiet rest of the week. I wasn’t disappointed. Tony was there at lunch breaks, but he always kept the greatest possible space between us, so I considered it safe to sit with my friends. Occasionally, I caught his cold gaze on me in AVE, but when Miss Jackson picked my sketches to discuss with the rest of the class, he never said a word. I wondered if Liza’s threats were what kept him silent. If so, I was really grateful for them.

On Friday, I went to school in a lighter frame of mind, filled with anticipation for Liza’s sleepover. Someone had mentioned
Warm Bodies
and
tons of chocolate ice cream
. Though I wasn’t a real fan of zombie movies, I totally fancied Nicholas Hoult and didn’t care if he ate brains for a while as long as he got to kiss the girl in the end.

But during lunch break, Alyssa Silverman came over, pulled out a chair next to Liza, and squashed the idea of Nicholas and ice cream.

“Sorry, guys.” Her gaze skated over us. “I can’t come to the sleepover tonight. Is there any chance we can delay this until tomorrow?” She looked sheepish, but then a wide grin stretched her lips and, like everyone else, I wondered why.

“What came up?” Liza asked.

Funny thing, it was Sasha who answered that question. Carefully, not looking at any of us, he lifted his slice of pizza to his mouth without dripping any of the molten, hot cheese and said, “I asked her out, and she said yes.” He bit off the corner and grinned self-consciously.

We smiled at Allie, but none of us said anything. We would have to wait until the break was over and we could corner her during gym for details.

I saw Liza squeeze Allie’s hand in shared glee, then she gave us others a questioning look. “Who’s okay with coming over on Saturday?”

“Sure, count me in,” said Susan. Since Simone was chewing on a big bite of burger, she only lifted her hand.

I shrugged one shoulder. “’K, that’s cool.”

And gone was a good Friday night. The prospect of hanging out at my aunt’s house with a melodramatic Cloey around made me reach into my pocket for a cherry lollipop
to sweeten up my mood.

“That means I don’t get to see you two nights in a row.” Hunter slipped his hand under Liza’s hair and pout
ed.

I knew why he was depressed, even though most of it was feigned. Some of the boys had planned a night out in the woods while we girls would be by ourselves at Liza’s place. Now they would be out tonight, and not allowed to join us tomorrow.

“You’re a big boy. You’ll survive,” Liza replied playfully.

“Or…” he drawled, letting his grin slip, “you girls could come out with us.”

“To the woods?” Simone exclaimed, dropping her burger. Yeah, she didn’t seem like she’d enjoy a night out in nature. But the look on Alex’s face made me believe he’d just had an idea for how he’d make the time enjoyable for her.

“Sure, that’s a great idea, baby,” he told her. “We can sleep in the same tent and cuddle up in one sleeping bag. I’ll even roast you a marshmallow in the fire.”

The next moment Simone beamed at Liza and said, “Let’s do it!” I didn’t think it was the marshmallow that swayed her so fast.

Liza seemed a little skeptical. She
glanced at Susan. “What do you think?”

“If you go, I go.”

And then everyone looked at me.

A sudden swoosh of discomfort came over me. I sucked a little harder on my lollipop,
then pulled it out with a smack. Apart from Ryan and Alex, I knew Nick and Tony would be there, too. Nick I could stomach, Tony…probably not. The grumpy look he was giving me made my gut roll with unease. “I don’t know. I’m not that big a fan of camping. You know, without bathrooms, warm water, and cable TV.”

Nick laughed and bumped into my shoulder. “Come on, Finn Girl. It’ll be fun.”

“Yeah, and I need someone to sleep with me in a tent, anyway,” Susan pointed out. “I’m not gonna sleep alone with all the coyotes and bears out there, and you can’t team me up with one of those jerks.” She nodded her head toward Tony and Nick, but we all knew she liked them both big time, so no one bothered about her bantering.

I made a wry face. “You don’t get bears in California.”

“Doesn’t matter. I want you to come.”

“Me, too,” said Liza and gave me a pleading look.

“Yeah, me, too,” Simone agreed.

And then Alex, Nick, and Ryan all repeated what the girls had said. I was really flattered, looking from one to the next, my smile spreading wider. I didn’t expect Tony to comment on it, but the others were apparently awaiting his approval nonetheless. When they all looked at him, he grumbled, “Forgive me if I’m not that enthusiastic.”

But this time I cared as little about his annoyed look as the others did, given that they’d already counted me in. I flashed a grin at Tony and said, “Bad news, Mitchell. I’m coming. Deal with it.”

The corners of his lips curved up in a stilted grin, and he double-blinked at me. “Oh joy.”

Yeah, it would be, for sure.

Before sixth period, Allie spilled all the romantic details. She’d found Sasha next to her locker this morning—she’d nearly swallowed her tongue when she’d banged the metal door shut and seen him there.
But when he’d told her, “Hey, you do realize I’ve been chasing you for a while now? I think it’s about time you go out with me,” she’d been all his. The dreamy look in her eyes made us swoon with her.

While we got dressed after an hour of playing basketball, we discussed the camping trip, and I arranged with Susan to give me a ride. Late now, I rushed out from PE. I had my homework project for AVE clamped under my arm in a folder and hurried to make it into class before the bell rang.

Just as I rounded the last corner, I bumped face first into a much taller student. I was tossed backward and landed on my ass, my sketches skating a few feet down the corridor.

“Dang!
I’m so sorry,” I panted, getting on my knees and helping him gather his dropped drawings. “I didn’t see you.”

He’d squatted, too, and only when I held out a few pictures to him did I notice who I’d crashed into. On eye level with
Anthony Mitchell, that was something new.

Expecting the worst from him, I tensed, but he remained silent for the second time this week, which freaked me out even more. Swiftly, he’d collected all his drawings, apart from the two I held out to him. His eyes were so
wide, they spelled horror in crystal clarity as he gazed straight at my face. Slowly, he reached for the drawings.

A soft tug at the sheets in my hand made me look down at them. And then I understood his horror. He probably never wanted me to see those drawings. Or maybe he did, just not now but a little later in class, when he could score a fantastic laugh with them.
A joke at my cost. The world stopped for a millisecond while I fell out of my dream and face forward into a hole of shock.

“Oh my God,” I whispered and dropped from my knees to land on my butt again. My hands shook, my lungs refused to pump enough air in. I was dizzy like I’d been riding too fast on a carousel.

I hated that tears sprang to my eyes, hated that he’d caught me vulnerable like this. But most of all, I hated that he’d used me as a live model for his AVE homework. The female villain he’d chosen to draw was a witch. And apart from being tiny, which showed perfectly because he’d placed her right next to a door where the door knob could easily have poked her in the eye, the woman’s face bore a striking similarity to what I saw every day when I looked into the mirror. The same features, the same heart-shaped mouth, the same big, dark eyes. Hell, he’d even captured my black hair in a perfect copy. Only this woman had a nose as long as my middle finger, and it was beset with nasty warts that even sprouted hairs. There was an evilness to her eyes that belonged in a Harry Potter movie but not to me, and from between her slightly parted lips one rotten tooth peeked out. Her hunched back sported a raven that cast the viewer a mean look, and the witch clasped a broom with both her clawed hands.

“You—you—” I gasped for air. Letting go of his sketches, I cla
pped my hand over my mouth, aware that my chest was rocking with sobs.

The asshole didn’t say a single word. He just stared at me like he’d bitten his tongue off.

Close to an emotional breakdown, I watched him shove the pictures into his folder, then his eyes found mine again. I knew he disliked me for a really obnoxious reason, but I’d never dared believe it was this bad.