Angela extended her arms into a V and smiled brightly out at the crowd. The routine was a hit, she thought, beaming up at her mother as the crowd roared with whistles and applause.
Angela loved the way sound traveled in a gymnasium, with the cheers reverberating again and again as though she were standing in the middle of a canyon. It was game night at Riverside High and Angela’s debut as the newest member of the junior varsity cheerleading squad. Overall, she would deem the night a success. Her soon-to-be stepbrother, Elijah, was leading the boys’ basketball team in points; they were up by twelve, and it was only halftime.
Now that the halftime show was over, people were making their way down the bleachers for bathroom breaks and snacks. Angela headed up the bleachers to see her mother, Penelope.
***
As Penelope watched Angie approach, she could not help but feel content with how her life had turned out. Nearly two days had passed since the incident at the Filmont Inn with Michael, and she had not seen or heard from him at all. Despite all of that, she felt overjoyed watching her beautiful daughter on her first night as a Riverside cheerleader. Angela was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Even after losing her first husband, Brian, to a heart attack and then catching her new fiancé cheating, Penelope realized that she was lucky to have such a lovely, kind-hearted, and intelligent daughter.
For a moment, Penelope imagined what life would be like if it were just her and Angie: no man, no big house, just the two of them. We would be just fine, Penelope realized, and she draped her arm around her daughter’s shoulder as Angie took a seat beside her on the bleachers. “I’m so proud of you, Honey,” Penelope told her, fighting the urge to become tearful.
***
Angela felt relieved to see her mother smile because even though her mother thought she was naïve, she could tell something had been bothering her all week. Elijah could sense it too. According to Penelope, Elijah’s father, Michael, had been working all night the past two nights, and that was why he had not been home. Elijah and Angie were skeptical. Even though Angie didn’t like to think her mother was lying to her, she admired and appreciated her mother’s ability to stay strong and never worry her or Elijah with “grown-up” problems.
Just then the buzzer sounded, and the basketball team emerged from the locker room. Once again, the gymnasium was filled with cheers and whoops of excitement. Elijah was in the front of the pack, and he smiled and waved up at them. Angela had to admit he was adorable, and a part of her wished their parents were not planning to marry, because in another life maybe they could have been an item. She instantly felt silly for thinking such thoughts. “Gotta get back out there, Mom!”
***
Penelope patted her daughter on the back and then watched her descend the bleachers and join her squad on the sidelines. Her eyes drifted over to the floor to where Elijah stood stretching his arm and calf muscles. He was the spitting image of his father, and even though he was not her biological son, she did adore him, and she would have been lucky to have him as her own. Of all the surprises she had endured this week, the one that surprised her the most was Michael’s absence from his son’s first basketball game of the season. He deserves to have someone cheering for him, she thought angrily, but on second thought, he does. He has me. She clapped her hands together and yelled, “Come on, Elijah! Let’s go!”
The Riverside Pirates were victorious, and when the game was over, Penelope congratulated Elijah and Angela on a job well done. She was proud of them both. Penelope suggested they go out for pizza to celebrate, but they were quick to remind her that they already had plans of their own. Elijah had plans to stay over at his best friend Pete’s house, and Angie was going to have a sleepover with several of her new teammates.
Penelope hugged them both, and after watching them head off with their friends, she made her way across the school parking lot and climbed into the Escalade. She wondered if and when Michael would return home, and felt depressed as she anticipated going home to an empty house and an even emptier bed.
As Penelope edged the SUV out of its parking space, she almost didn’t see the dark-haired woman step out in front of her. Luckily, Penelope reacted quickly and pressed down on the brake. For a moment their eyes met, and Penelope could have sworn that the woman very closely resembled Michael’s ex-wife, Lexi.
Wow, I really must be losing it, Penelope thought, shaking her head. First, I think she’s the one having an affair with Michael, and now I think I’m seeing her everywhere, she thought warily. The woman waved apologetically and kept walking, her head tucked in to her chest.