THE HALLWAY FIGHT earned Owen, the Twins, and Dylan and friends three weeks of morning detention—a disciplinary action the principal cooked up as a way to keep the Twins on the football field. The possibility of detention must not worry April, because she had the guts to mess with my locker again. This time she left a note taped inside with a message written in huge letters: GO HOME. NO ONE WANTS YOU HERE.
Whatever.
April can write all the notes she wants as long as she doesn’t put anything gross in my locker. I didn’t mention the note to Owen or the Twins. The last thing they need is more detention.
Coming to the football game tonight wasn’t my idea. Cam guilted me into it with, “Don’t you want to come support me and Christian and Grace?”
Well played.
Grace is my only girlfriend in Black Water, and her spot on the cheer squad means everything to her. So unless I want to hang out at one of her practices, which would involve unnecessary exposure to April and Madison, the only time I can watch her perform is at a football game.
Christian and Cameron bugged me to come, too, so I’m killing two birds with one stone.
The home team side of the stadium is packed. I spot Miss Ives sitting near the front, wearing a Warriors jacket and a blue scarf.
The cheer squad is already on the field, hyping up the crowd. April is front and center, gesturing and issuing orders.
Tucker stands up and waves at us from the middle of the bleachers. There are two empty spots next to him.
“Looks like Tucker saved us seats,” Owen says, moving aside so I can walk in front of him.
“That’s weird, considering I didn’t decide to come until a little while ago.” I feel Owen’s fingertips touch the small of my back as he walks behind me, and my spine tingles.
“I guess he was hoping.” The flirty way he says it makes it clear that Tucker wasn’t the only one.
I peek over my shoulder at Owen. “You don’t even like football.”
He glances at the stands. “I thought that was our little secret.”
“We’re starting to have a lot of those.” I make my way up to where Tucker is sitting at the end of the row.
“I knew you’d end up coming.” He grins and scoots over.
“I’m being supportive.”
On the field, the band plays a new song and the cheerleaders move into position, fanning out to form the shape of a star. April is the front tip of the star. She claps three times, and the rest of the girls snap to attention. The routine consists of lots of marching, jumping, and ponytail tossing. But I have to admit, the stunts look difficult and each girl’s movements are perfectly synchronized.
“They’re good,” I say.
Tucker leans forward and watches. “Just wait. They haven’t even gotten to the stunts yet.”
“He’s got a crush on Natalie Wynn.” Owen reaches behind me and messes up Tucker’s hair.
Tucker looks around as if he’s worried someone might have overheard. “I don’t. We’re just friends.”
“Who’s Natalie?” I ask.
Owen points at the field. “The brunette. Third from the left, in the front row.”
“Isn’t she the girl from the cafeteria?” The one Coach picked to go find Dylan’s basketball coach. The poor girl was so embarrassed.
“That’s her,” Owen says.
Natalie is pretty. She looks younger than the other girls on the squad. I nudge Tucker with my shoulder. “She’s cute.”
He blushes and shakes his head. “I don’t have a crush on her.”
“Whatever you say,” Owen teases.
When the band hits the chorus, all the cheerleaders rush to the center of the field and begin assembling a pyramid. The taller girls on the squad form the base. Another group forms the second tier. The cheerleaders waiting to take their places boost up the other girls. Grace is the last cheerleader to join the pyramid. The two girls on the tier below Grace link hands to form a platform for her. Grace stands, her arms stretched out in a V.
“She’s so high up.” I bite my bottom lip and hold my breath.
“Relax,” Owen says. “She does this all the time.”
I curl my fingers around the edge of the bleacher. Owen takes his hand out of his pocket and casually places it next to mine. I love the way it feels when he touches my cheek or his fingers brush mine.
Secretly, I’d love to hold hands with him whenever I want.
The girls supporting Grace toss her in the air. I hold my breath and tighten my grip on the bleacher and Owen slides his fingers between mine.
Grace does a flip and lands perfectly.
The girls under Grace toss her into the air again, higher this time.
I squeeze Owen’s fingers between mine, and he rubs his thumb back and forth across the side of my hand.
Grace does another flip and then a half twist. The girls form a net with their arms and catch her.
I exhale, but my heart rate doesn’t return to normal. I’m not sure it’s possible with Owen holding my hand.
The cheerleaders break down the pyramid in reverse order, beginning with Grace. As each tier disassembles, the girls from that tier finish with stunts. When the girls at the bottom do handsprings across the field, the crowd applauds.
Owen slides his hand off mine so we can clap, too.
“I don’t know why April is the team captain,” I say. “The whole routine builds up to the pyramid and Grace’s big finish. Without her, they’d just be a bunch of girls doing cool flips and back handsprings.”
“True,” Owen agrees.
“That’s why the flier is so important,” Tucker explains.
If Grace has a key position on the squad, why is she worried about April leaving her out of their routines?
“What if Grace was sick or something? Could one of the other girls fill in?” I ask.
Tucker steps on the end of the skateboard at his feet and catches the top with his hand. “Not unless there’s another flier on the squad. Bigger schools usually have at least two. Black Water had two fliers last year, but the other girl graduated.”
“So without Grace, the squad would be screwed?”
Tucker nods. “Pretty much. And they’ve won the state finals two years in a row. The group stunt is a big part of that.”
Grace must know the importance of her position. Why does she put up with April’s crap?
“Do you have sisters?” I ask Tucker.
He gives me a weird look as he passes his board back and forth from one hand to the other. “No. Why?”
I try not to smile. “You know a lot about this stuff for a guy who isn’t on the cheer squad and doesn’t have any sisters—or a crush on a cheerleader.”
Tucker stifles a smile. “Okay, maybe a little one.”
“Another takedown by Cameron Carter!” the announcer shouts through the loudspeaker.
On the field, Cam springs to his feet, freeing the player pinned beneath him. Christian and Titan rush over and take turns shoving Cameron, grabbing the front of his helmet, and shouting at him—universal signs of approval in the language of football. I’m not interested in the sport, but watching my cousins play is impressive.
“I wonder what it’s like to be that big.” Tucker steps on the end of his skateboard again. When the front flips up he reverses the sequence, doing it over and over, the way some people pace or twirl their hair.
“Lots of girls don’t like big, overdeveloped guys,” I tell him. “They usually spend more time in the gym than they do with their girlfriends.”
“Is that so?” Owen asks. He’s almost the same size as the Twins.
“That’s what I’ve heard.”
Tucker grins and steps on the board again. “You’re coming to the party after the game, right?”
Owen waits for my answer.
“Whose barn are we going to this time?” I ask.
“This is way cooler,” Tucker explains. “It’s at an abandoned grain mill outside of town. It was shut down two years ago when the new grain processing plant opened in Black Water. A mill isn’t really good for anything else, so the place has been empty since then. It’s the kind of place urban explorers are always trying to find. Half wrecked and full of rusty machinery.”
“And people throw parties there?” In DC, the police would be all over a spot like that, and the party would last five minutes. “Won’t someone hear the noise and call the cops?”
“Nobody ever goes back there,” Owen says. “One side of the building is condemned.”
“Why didn’t you say so? That makes it so much more appealing.”
Owen leans over and brings his mouth so close to my ear that his breath tickles my neck. “I can think of a way to make it even more appealing. Come with us.”
He must know what he’s doing to me.
The fact that Owen wants me to go makes me happy and scares me at the same time. I shove him away playfully. “I’ll think about it.”
Tucker looks at Owen. “That’s girl code for yes.”