"That is no excuse Danielle. I gave you till the past quarter and I see no improvement. Now, you have to face the consequences. Until you get your grade point average back up, you're no longer on this squad. Now go clean out your locker, Danielle."
Danielle looked at Mrs. Catchings. She let out a loud scream that could terrify a little kid.
"You can't do this Mrs. Catchings! After all I have done for this squad. And what about homecoming?"
"Let us handle that. Now I suggest you leave the field."
Danielle gave Mrs. Catchings a stony look and walked away. She turned around and stared at Mrs. Catchings.
"This is not the last of this. Trust me," she said.
Brandy and Kim looked at the scene and started to laugh.
"That serves her right. The witch," Brandy said in between giggles.
"I'm surprised she didn't take her broom out of her pom-poms," Kim said in laughter.
I looked at them and laughed too. Even though I didn't know Danielle well, I could tell her kind. She was the spoiled type who was always used to getting her way. Well this time, no matter how much she can throw a fit at Mrs. Catchings, she could not get out of this mess.
Mrs. Catchings shook her head and started to walk in my direction. While the other cheerleaders were talking about the incident, Mrs. Catchings looked at me and smiled.
"I wanted to talk to you about the spot. Whatever Danielle's problem was, she knew that you were the best out there."
"How you know?"
"I saw the whole try-outs. You have what it takes to be out on the field, as much as the rest of the squad. Now since Danielle is no longer head cheerleader, I was wondering if you would like the position. I know since you were head cheerleader at Parker, you would have hands-on experience about the pressures of getting ready for games and pep rallies."
Everyone looked at Mrs. Catchings in shock. I looked at Mrs. Catchings and smiled. I did not expect this to happen. I just wanted a spot on the squad. Now, thanks to Danielle, I was head cheerleader!
I took a deep breath and smiled again at the cheerleader coach.
"I don't know what to say, Mrs. Catchings. I just transferred to Belmont. Shouldn't someone who has been on the squad become captain?"
"Yeah, someone from the squad could be captain, but I don't want anyone else as captain. I have seen what you can do. You have potential to turn this squad into a division champion. Danielle was all about herself and no one else. Besides, I had a talk with your old coach from Parker."
"You talked to Mrs. Williams? She actually said something nice about me?" I asked in surprise.
"She had nothing but nice things to say about you. She said not only were you a good cheerleader, but you were a great leader. That is what I need on this squad. Besides, homecoming is on Saturday, not to mention the bonfire pep rally, so we need all the experience we can get to have a good show."
I could not believe what I was hearing. At least Mrs. Williams did not tell Mrs. Catchings about the reason why I transferred to Belmont. If she did, she would not be putting me as head cheerleader.
"So what do you say? You want the position or not?"
"Sure. Thank you so much, Mrs. Catchings."
"You're welcome. Now make us proud out there on homecoming," Mrs. Catchings said as she started to walk off the field.
Brandy and Kim came up to me and smiled.
"I cannot believe you are head cheerleader," said Kim.
"And to think we had to get a transfer student to get that witch out," said Brandy.
"Well Danielle did it all on her own with her grades," I said.
I looked over at the remaining cheerleaders and grinned. From the looks on their faces, it seemed like they did not want me as head cheerleader. But from the congratulations they were giving me, I could tell that they did not want Danielle as head cheerleader either.
I looked at the other girls nervously and smiled.
"I don't know what to say. This is so unexpected. I know that you all don't know me well, but I promise that we're going to make this work. I don't know how Danielle did things as head cheerleader, but I know when I was head cheerleader, I worked as a team. There's no 'I' or 'me'; it's 'we.' So since homecoming is coming up this weekend, I was thinking that maybe we should all get together and make up some new cheers; if that's fine with everyone?"
The girls nodded their heads in agreement. I could tell that this new gig as head cheerleader was going to be tough. But I can get through it. I know I can.
As I was walking out of the girls' locker room, I told Brandy and Kim I would call them tonight on three-way so we could all work on cheers together. Usually, I do not make friends easily, but with Kim and Brandy, they made me feel so comfortable, I could not help but to be friends with them. They remind me of Eva and Ashley and how close we are. If the four met, they would definitely become friends. I looked at my backpack and sighed. Not only did I have to work on cheers, but I had a ton of homework that I had to do before tomorrow. Being the new kid is hard, but I guess that's what comes along with transferring in the middle of the semester.
As I walked outside into the crisp breeze of the late afternoon air, I noticed the sun was starting to set. As I walked to my car, I noticed someone standing beside it. I didn't know whether to go back into the locker room or go the other way, but when I got a little closer, I noticed it was Michael standing by my Mustang, with a big smile on his face. I walked over to him and smiled.
"How did you know what car I drove?"
"Just a guess. I've been waiting out here for a while now and I haven't seen you come out. When I noticed that only one car, a Mustang, was parked, I took a wild guess and figured this was your car."
"Okay, that's sounds a bit creepy, but sweet. Shouldn't you be at home prepping for the game?"
"Yeah, but I figured I could spare a few minutes."
I smiled and shifted my backpack to my right shoulder. Michael smiled and carefully took my backpack from my shoulder. Our hands touched as he took the backpack from my hand. We stared at each other for a brief second.
"How did try-outs go?" Michael asked.
"It was terrible. Horrible actually."
"What happened? Danielle didn't give you a hard time, did she?"
"Well she doesn't like me, that's for sure. In fact, she didn't choose me. I guess because I was better than her and she didn't want that on her squad."
"I'm sorry, Charlie."
"It's cool. I didn't want to be on anything associated with her anyway."
Michael looked at me and put a hand on my shoulder. The touch he gave felt so good on my skin; it gave me a tingle down my spine. I looked at him and started to smile.
"What are you smiling about?"
"Because something happened after practice. Mrs. Catchings talked to Danielle in front of everyone and informed her that she's no longer on the squad. Turns out she been slacking on her grades and she couldn't cheer any longer. So guess who head cheerleader is?"
"You? Wow that is great Charlie!"
"Thanks. I still can't believe it. This is my first day here, and I already made some new friends, and I'm head cheerleader. No one, and I mean no one, has ever had such success on their first day at a new school."
"That's good, Charlie. I'm happy for you."
I looked at Michael and noticed he had a confused look on his face. He looked at me and smiled.
"When you said that you made new friends, am I one of your friends?"
I looked at him and took his hand. I don't know if that was forward or not, but I needed to feel his warm touch again.
"Of course you are."
Michael nodded his head and smiled.
"That's good. I'm glad you considered us friends."
"I hope we can be more than just friends in the future," I said.
Michael looked at me and took my hand. He put it up to his soft lips and kissed the back of my hand.
"I hope so too," he said softly.
A rush of feelings overcame me as I stared at Michael. I wanted to kiss him, but I knew it was not the right time. Not now.
"I better go. I have a ton of homework and new cheers to do before tomorrow."
"Okay, I will see you tomorrow then."
I smiled as I opened the door to my Mustang. Michael handed me my backpack as I slid into the car. As he closed the door, I looked at him with a sad look on my face. Even though I'm seeing him tomorrow at school, I didn't want our conversation to end.
"Don't worry. We will see each other tomorrow," Michael said as he leaned toward me.
"I know. See you tomorrow."
I started up the car and pulled out of the parking space, and I noticed Michael was watching me leave the parking lot. He stood by his car, and I saw that it was the BMW 528i I saw this morning. I drove out of the parking lot, realizing that my dream man had my dream car.
After countless minutes
staring at my History book, I put it down on the other side of my bed and sighed. After coming home from school, all I could think about was Charlie Perry. Just being around her made me want to know her more. There was something about her that made me want to be with her. Not only was she beautiful, but she was tough. I like that in a woman. Unlike Danielle, who was bossy and controlling, Charlie had an attitude that said she was no pushover, and she knew when and where to express it. I could imagine the look on Danielle's face when Mrs. Catchings told her she was no longer on the squad.
Just wait until she finds out that Charlie took her spot,
I thought as I look at my iPhone.
I wish I could have asked for Charlie's number, but I could not get the courage to ask her.
I will tomorrow.
As I got up from my bed, I went over to my bookshelf and connected my iPhone to its portable speakers. As I was about to turn up the volume, the doorbell rang. I put my iPhone on mute and ran downstairs. My parents were at another fundraiser, so I was home alone. As always. My parents were always the fund-raising type. If it's not for some new building that needed funding, it was for endangered species that needed a home. My mom and dad did whatever they could to help the community. Or brag about their riches. As I went to the double doors occupying the front hall, I opened it to see Danielle standing in front of me.
I rolled my eyes. I wanted to slam the door in Danielle's face, but I knew that would be rude.
"What you want, Danielle?"
"Hello to you too, Michael." Danielle said. She walked into my house without even asking me if she could come in. I looked at her as if she'd lost her mind.
"I didn't ask you to come in."
"I know, so I invited myself," she said.
"Whatever you have to say, you can say it outside," I said as I grabbed her arm. I didn't mean to be rough with her, but Danielle was the type of person you have to be forceful with. I took her back outside while I leaned against the door. She folded her arms across her chest and smiled.
"I see your parents are not at home again. You remember the times when they were out doing their weekly fundraisers? All the fun we had in your room. The living room. In the pool."
I gave Danielle a look that could break glass. I regretted all the times I slept with her. Just thinking about being with her made my stomach turn.
"Get to the point. I have a History test I have to study for."
"I will. I regret ending things with you. You're all I've been thinking about lately. I just want to know if we still have a chance. Maybe we could work things out."
I began to stare at the ground. I could not believe she had the nerve to come to my house to tell me she wanted to get back with me! I started to laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"You, Danielle. I can't believe you! You expect me to get back with you after you dumped me for some guy at Bridgewall? Are you crazy?"
"No, I'm in love. I feel bad about what I've done. Christian didn't mean anything to me. He was not you Michael. I was stupid to have cheated on you. If you give us another chance, I promise I will be the best girlfriend you ever had. I would never hurt you like I did before."
"Danielle, I'm glad you realized that I was the best thing that ever happened to you, but it is a little too late to realize it. I told you so many times that we would never get back together. Not now. Not ever."
"But you don't know how things would be between us if you don't want to give it a try. I know you love me. You never stopped loving me. I can tell."
"How Danielle?" I asked dully.
"The way you're looking at me. If you really didn't care about me, you would have slammed the door in my face."
"Something I should have done," I said softly.
"But you didn't. Remember all the times we spent together? After the games, the vacations we had over the summer. You can't tell me you don't have any kind of feelings for me anymore."
I looked straight into Danielle's piercing blue eyes. I always loved to look into her eyes because they remind me of a clear blue ocean. But now, all I could see was emptiness. If this was not going to convince her, I don't know what will.
"I'm going to tell you this one time. And hopefully this will be the last time. I don't have feelings for you anymore. I don't want us to get back together. I don't even want to be in the same room with you. Now, was that clear enough for you?"
Danielle looked at me as if I just smacked her in the face. She stood up tall and gave her usual snotty stare. Her pride was wounded, but I didn't care. I had to get the message across to her that I didn't want her. So now she knows.
"Is it someone else Michael? Is that why you do not want us to get back together?"
I wanted to say yes. But even if it was true, there was no way I was going to get back with her.
"No. There's no one else. Now can you please leave, Danielle? I really need to study."
Danielle nodded her head and sighed.
"Fine, I guess I'll see you around then," she said.
She turned around and headed toward her midnight blue BMW 128i convertible. I watched as she got into her car and started the ignition. From the looks of it, it seemed like I'd won the battle, but it was something about her calmness that scared me. Danielle never gave up an argument without a fight. So that's why the conversation we just had was strange. Very strange.