Chapter Eight
After school the next day, I head onto the football field for practice. The energy is still really low and we're all painfully aware of the fact that we no longer had a quarterback.
Coach Mark told Ari to give it a shot since he was team captain. But about halfway through practice…
"Dylan, go long!" he yells. The ball flies out of his hand but lands several yards short. "UGH!" he screams in frustration, throwing his helmet to the side.
Dylan runs up to Ari. "It's okay, you're just rusty."
"I know, but there's a reason coach switched me to running back."
"I'm starting to think we need to move you back there," Coach Mark says. "Thanks for trying, Ari. But if we're going to have any shot at beating Eastside, we're going to need everyone in their best positions.
Ari nods. "I understand, Coach. Has anyone signed up for replacement QB tryouts?"
"Not yet," he sighs. "But I'm sure we'll find someone."
"Excuse me, Coach Mark?" I ask.
"What is it, Ride?"
"Dyland and I have to get to homecoming committee."
"Right, of course. I'll see you two tomorrow."
Dylan frowns, "see ya."
A few minutes later, we enter the gym and see Mara standing in front of the homecoming committee, a huge smile on her face.
"Hi, everyone!" she greets cheerily. "Welcome to the meeting. Today, we're going to be planning Friday's pep rally and deciding what kind of music to have at the dance."
"Um… why are we planning the pep rally? I thought we were here to work on the dance?" Maya asks.
"Well, this pep rally is part of the dance. We're going to use the pep rally to announce the nominees for homecoming king and queen," Mara explains. "Plus, pep rallies have been proven to boost ticket sales, so it's important we get it right."
She looks over the bleachers, and her eyes land on J.J. in the back, doodling in a notebook.
"Jennifer Joy!" Mara yells. "Pay attention."
J.J. looks up, shocked that someone used her full name. "Sorry, Mara. It just doesn't feel like the time to be worrying about homecoming with everything else that's been going on."
"Yeah, but…" I try to think of something encouraging to say. "That's what Eastside wants. I mean, they recruited Holden because they want to intimidate us, and we can't let them."
"Exactly! And it's our job to boost school spirit!" Mara grins. "Now, should we have a live band, a pop DJ, or a karaoke machine?"
She surveys the room but no one seems to be paying attention.
"Mara, you know it doesn't matter," Sam groans.
"What do you mean?"
"Even if we threw a decent pep rally, it's not going to bring back the star quarterback."
"This just doesn't feel like the right time," Nudge adds.
"No, not you too!" Mara gasps. "Nudge, you love pep rallies and you've been planning homecoming since the first day of school. What happened?"
Nudge puts her head in her hands. "Can we go home, Mara? I mean, Brigid's got a broken leg, Holden's playing for Eastside, the band's still fighting… I just don't feel like dealing with you right now."
"You don't feel like dealing with me?" Mara asks, furious.
Nudges get three sizes bigger when she realizes what she said. "I'm so sorry, Mara! That isn't what I meant! I was just saying that—"
"No, it's fine." Mara growls. She shuts her eyes tight. "Everyone should just go home! I'll… I'll do everything myself!" She turns around and storms out of the gym.
"Wow," Tess laughs. "I knew that chick would snap eventually!"
"Tess…" Angel frowns.
She rolls her eyes. "Whatever, I'm out of here." She picks up her stuff and leaves.
Nobody moves for a few minutes until Dylan sighs. "I don't think she's coming back." He stands up, wiping his hands on his jeans. "Let's go."
We all grab our things and walk out of the gym without another word. Most of the students head straight for the parking lot, but I walk down the hall toward my locker. I walk past the computer lab but stop when I hear a noise.
Is that… crying? I open the door and see Mara sitting at a computer in the corner of the room. She looks up at me and quickly whips her face.
"I should've known you'd be the only one looking for me."
"I'm sorry about what happened, Mara. It's just been a rough week."
She nods sadly. "Yeah… I guess so."
"Don't worry. I'm sure people will come around when they see how great our homecoming is."
"About that…" she nods to the computer screen.
I walk over and look at the spreadsheet she has pulled up. "Ticket orders… one. Name… Mara Rizzio…"
"The email about ticket sales went out yesterday."
"They're probably just procrastinating…"
"Every single student at the school is procrastinating?" she looks at me in disbelief.
"Well, most people don't check their email every day. Maybe they just haven't seen it."
She stands up and begins pacing around the room. "I wish I could be a normal teenager sometimes."
"What do you mean?"
"It's just," she sighs. "Things would be so much easier if I didn't care so much."
"Mara… the world needs more people like you. Not less."
"What are you talking about? Everyone hates me."
"Okay, one: they don't hate you. And two: if everyone was as dedicated as you are, we would probably be living on Mars by now."
She scoffs, "I doubt that."
"I know it isn't easy, but it's people like you who change the world." I sit down at the computer. "And now…" I fill out the order form and hit enter. "You won't be the only one at the dance."
"What?" she walks over and looks at the screen. "Well, since you're second ticket buyer, you get to pick what kind of music we play at the dance."
"You want me to pick?"
Mara shrugs. "Sure. I mean, you make up fifty percent of the students attending and I need a decision by 5 PM."
"Alright, well I think we should have a live band."
"Are you sure? What if we can't find a good one?"
"There are a ton of talented people at this school. I'm sure we'll figure out something."
"Then consider it done."
The next day, I sit in third period, waiting for the lunch bell to ring. 5… 4… 3… 2… Ding! Ding! I stand up, bolt out of the room and head straight for the computer lab. After talking to Mara yesterday, I sent a text to everyone from homecoming committee: We need to talk— meet in the computer lab during lunch tomorrow.
I stood in the middle of the room anxiously. Nudge and Angel were the first ones to show up, then Dylan, Sam, and J.J., and finally Kate, Fang, and Tess.
"Alright, Max." Tess looks annoyed. "We're all here - other than Maya and Mara - what's the big 'emergency'?"
"You all treated Mara like crap!" I snap.
"Yeah, well…" Fang says. "You might not have noticed, but she's not the only one."
"Yeah, and we need to break the cycle. Stop taking your anger out on other people and do something with it!"
Sam rolls his eyes. "Oh, please." J.J. elbows him.
Nudge shakes her head. "Max is right. We've all been acting like jerks!"
"Look, all we did was tell her the truth. We can't beat Eastside, Nudge. Even if we didn't just lose our quarterback."
"We only lose if we stop fighting," Nudge sighs. "Guys, I thought a lot about what happened yesterday… I realized, our school has become miserable and I'm not okay with it. Winning the game isn't what matters. It's the school spirit I'm worried about. We've lost our school's heart," she pauses to take a shaky breath. "We're the homecoming committee! We should be the ones fighting to get our school spirit back!"
Tess scoffs, "Nudge… that's sweet and all. But most of us were forced to come here, we aren't exactly oozing school spirit."
"Yeah," Fang adds. "Just because we have to be here, doesn't mean we have to like it."
I cross my arms over my chest and give them a hard glare. Then I get an idea and smirk. "I've got an idea."
I uncross my arms and wave Fang over. He gives me a questioning look but walks towards me and leans down while I whisper my idea into his ear.
He pulls away grinning. "I'm in!"
Tess laughs skeptically. "What'd she say?"
Fang turns to smirk at her, "trust me. You'll love it." He nods to me and pulls Tess into the hallway.
"What did you say?" Angel asks.
"You'll see," I smile. "Now, I need everyone else to help out too. The pep rally is in two days and we have a lot of work to do!"
Friday after school, I walk out of class and start looking for Mara. Everything was set up and I wanted to make sure she saw it.
I was just about to walk outside when I heard a voice coming from my left.
"Pssst! Max!"
I whipped my head around, looking for the owner of the voice. "Hello?" I ask stupidly.
"Over here!"
I turn and find Maya poking her head out from the girl's locker room. "Maya?"
"Yeah, yeah." She whispers. "Just get in here before someone sees me."
I walk over and follow her inside. "What's going on?"
"I've got something to show you."
I sigh, "look…the pep rally is going to start any minute—"
"I know, that's why I'm here."
"I thought you weren't interested in helping us?"
Maya sighs, "Max. My goal is to try to make homecoming as bearable as possible. And that isn't going to happen if this pep rally sucks. Mara will never let us hear the end of it! So, I brought you something."
"What is it?"
"Well, I work at a costume rental place. And we had a couple of eagle costumes that nobody had rented today, so…"
"Maya! Did you steal from your job?"
"Ye of little faith," she rolls her eyes. "I asked my boss, okay? It's cool as long as I bring it back tomorrow."
"Okay… are you asking if you can wear it to the pep rally?"
"Are you crazy?! No way! Can you imagine the hell I would get if anyone found out it was me?" she shakes her head furiously. "No. Besides, I'm sure you'd do a much better job."
"Oh… yeah. Okay, sure."
She hands me the mascot set and I slide it on over my jeans and tank top. Maya laughs hysterically when I put the head on. "Go Eagles!" She continues laughing as she walks back into the hall.
I rush out to the football field and find Mara sitting on the bleachers. She's flipping through an old journal, frowning.
"Hey, Mara!"
She looks up, "ahh!"
I laugh and take the Eagle head off. "Max! You scared me! When did we get a mascot uniform?"
"Oh, I'm just borrowing it for the pep rally."
Her frown returns, "I'm sorry you bothered renting a whole outfit… I didn't have time—"
Mara is cut off by a huge group of students running after two motorcycles. The bikers drive onto the field and pull up next to me and Mara.
"Show time!" I say, putting the eagle head back on.
"WELCOME TO THE PEP RALLY!" Tess yells, climbing off her motorcycle.
Fang hops off next to her,"MAKE SOME NOISE!"
I grab Mara's arm and pull her to the center of the football field as the crowds of students cheer. "I can't believe you guys did this! And you even convinced Fang and Tess to help?"
"Max is a tough negotiator," Fang grins. "Being told we could ride our motorcycles through the halls was a game changer."
"Nice costume," Tess says sarcastically. "Where'd you get it?"
I shrug, knowing Maya would kill me if I told anyone she contributed to the pep rally. Fang eyes me suspiciously, then nods his head when he figures it out. I quickly put my hand— er… wing over his mouth and shake my head.
He pushes my wing away laughing. "I can keep a secret, Max."
"Wait! I want in on the secret!" Tess whines.
Nudge runs onto the field wearing her uniform and holding a microphone. "Let's get this party started! Last class to their section of the bleachers is a rotten egg!"
It's childish but effective. Each class runs to the bleachers, full of excitement. Within minutes, the sophomores, juniors, and seniors are all seated and watching the freshmen as they fumble around. "Looks like the freshman are the rotten eggs this year!" Angel yells, smiling.
"Don't worry, freshman. You still have a few more years to figure it out!" Nudge turns to the rest of the homecoming committee. "You know what this pep rally needs?"
"What?" Angel asks.
"FREE SHIRTS!" Nudge yells into the microphone.
The bleachers erupt in cheers. J.J. runs onto the field holding boxes full of t-shirts. When she gets closer, we all grab handfuls and start throwing them to the crowd.
I see Fang leaning on his bike, not helping. So I pick up a shirt, ball it up, and throw it right at his face. He catches it in mid air and looks at me like I'm crazy.
"I hope you're not expecting me to wear this," he says.
"You most definitely are! J.J. designed them herself," I lower my voice and make sure the others can't hear me. "Besides, if I have to wear one, so do you."
He rolls his eyes but smiles. I turn and walk back to the center of the field with the others. Dylan is holding the mic and waiting for the crowd to quiet down. "Let's give it up for J.J. and her t-shirts!"
The students all cheer loud, waving the shirts around. Angel runs up and snatches the mic from Dylan, then she runs around the field, doing a bit that she put together about being the winning school. By the end, she has all of the students on their feet and chanting.
Mara looks at all of us, tears forming in her eyes. Everyone in the homecoming committee (with the exception of Fang, Tess, Sam, and Maya) runs over to hug her. We break apart and Dylan takes the microphone, turning back to the bleachers.
"And now, Mara is going to tell us the nominations for homecoming court!"
The crowd cheers and we look at Mara expectantly. She clears her throat and takes the mic. "The nominees for homecoming king are… Ari Batchelder and Dylan Hagen," the crowd cheers and Nudge gives Dylan a pat on the back. "And the nominees for homecoming queen are… Brigid Dwyer and Maximum Ride."
I look at Mara like she's insane. There's no way my name is on that list… who would nominate a girl who hasn't even been here three weeks?
"Congratulations, Max." I turn and see J.J. smiling. "Mind if I take a picture of you in the costume for the yearbook?"
"Go ahead," I jump in the air to make it look like a flying eagle. I'm sure I looked stupid but they can't see my face so I'm okay.
"That's all for the pep rally," Mara says into the mic. "Don't forget to vote and buy your homecoming tickets!"
As the crowds begin to leave, Mara walks over grinning. "I don't know how you did all of this but thank you. It means everything to me and… if I'm being honest, I don't think I could have done a better job." She reaches her hand out and I high-five her with my wing.
"Well, we owed you. I know we really messed up at the last meeting, this was the least we could do."
"We're so sorry, Mara." Nudge cries, "Holden bailed and we didn't want to think about school spirit after that horrible football game. Let alone homecoming."
"But you were right," Angel adds. "We can't just celebrate when we win. We need to stay strong when we lose. This our school, no matter what happens."
"And that goes for all of us," Sam says. We all look at him in surprise but he waves us off.
"I can't even tell you how happy I am right now," Mara says. She's already started crying.
"Does this mean we're excused from banner painting?" Tess asks hopefully.
"Sure! No more banner painting," Mara smiles. "Now, we will start working on the other decorations!"
Tess was grinning… for about five seconds. "Rats!" she grunts, kicking the ground.
Just as we're leaving, we see Principal Walker and Dr. Rosen arguing. "I can't believe you let your students ride their motorcycles in the halls!"
"Oh, no one got hurt. Didn't you see how excited the students were? There was so much school spirit!" Principal Walker smiles.
We all look at each other and laugh.
The next morning, Ella and I decide to go for a walk in the park. Fall was getting close and we wanted to enjoy the last bit of warmth.
"I guess we're not the only ones who thought to hang out in the park." Ella mumbles, looking at the crowds of people. "I don't think I've ever seen it this busy."
I nod and we continue walking until we come across a familiar couple making out by the fountain. Ella turns to me and pretends to gag at the sight of Holden and Lissa locking lips. I laugh and pull her away, "at least they were too distracted to notice us."
After a few minutes, we run into Dylan jogging. He's wearing headphones so I have to wave my arms to get his attention. He grins and walks over, turning his music off.
"Hello, Max and Ella." He gives us a weird formal bow. "What are you two doing in the park?"
"Just walking," Ella says a little nervously. "What about you?"
"Jogging. I'm really just trying to put the quarterback tryouts out of my head. It's been days and no promising candidates have signed up."
"Well, don't lose hope. It's a big school, I'm sure we can find someone before Friday."
He shrugs, "maybe. I just wish I knew who to ask. I can't think of anyone—"
Before he can finish, he's cut off by a rock flying right by his face. Ella screams and ducks. Dylan and I turn to see where it came from and see a guy standing several yards away. We look at each other then run towards the rock thrower.
"Sorry," Fang looks embarrassed. "I didn't realize how far that would go." He picks up another rock and throws it away from the crowds of people.
"You've got a pretty strong throwing arm," Dylan compliments.
Fang shrugs, "it's alright."
"I think you should talk to him, he trusts you. I'll go wait with Ella," Dylan whispers.
I nod and turn back to Fang. "So, what's with the rock throwing?"
"Clears my head," he looks at me curiously. "Why?"
"Have you heard about the QB tryouts?"
A/N: This message is about EGGY!
I'm thinking about writing a section in chapter nine from Ella's point of view during her first date with Iggy.
Obviously, we'll get back to FAX… but I don't want to neglect a good thing.
Also, thank you all so much for the support! It means the world.
