Disclaimer: That '70s Show copyright The Carsey-Werner Company, LLC and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
RAISING THE GRADE

Jackie's lips tingled numbly when Mark lowered her to the ground. His kiss had been intense but superficial. No use of tongue, but anyone watching would think she and Mark were long-separated lovers. She pressed a hand to her queasy stomach. More and more variables were being added to her life. Soon, it would become an equation she couldn't solve.

Mark's grasp settled onto her hips. He leaned his forehead close to hers, creating a false sense of intimacy, but they were far from alone. Fifty potential spectators from both their schools surrounded them.

"Coach Saunders warned us about Point Place High coming here," Mark said above the roar of Quartz Falls. "I was hoping you'd be part of the group."

The queasiness rose to her throat, but she remained in his touch. "We heard—we were told—that only freshmen would be on your trip."

"It's the freshmen's community-building trip, where the youngsters get to bond. Senior peer leaders go with them to foster that bonding."

"Of course you're a peer leader. " She zipped her jacket up to her chin. She'd grown cold, and the sensation of fifty gazes hunched her shoulders. Witness reports were likely to travel from student-to-student, to the cheer squad and Steven.

"There are a lot of perks," Mark said, laughing. "Like teaching the freshman health class and being on this trip. Looks good on the high school transcript, too."

"Speaking of looking good..." She gripped his hands and stepped back from him, freeing her hips. The sick feeling left her body, and her posture straightened. "You're looking great."

He shrugged. Compliments about his physical appearance obviously held no value to him. But his blond hair shone in the sun, and his skin was smooth, not chapped by the frigid air. She hadn't seen him since their photo shoot in Mt. Humphrey Park. She'd mailed him copies of the pictures, and he'd sent her a polite thank-you note, but that was the totality of their communication.

She nodded past him at his schoolmates. "How did everything go?"

"Pretty well." He edged closer to her and whispered by her ear, "Do you want to really sell it? We've got the perfect opportunity."

"Actually..." Her eyes squeezed shut. She'd dragged him into her social situation, and his wasn't any less important. If he needed her to play his girlfriend today, she couldn't refuse. Even if it hurt her relationship with Steven. "It is the perfect opportunity," she said, eyes still closed, "but first I have—"

Mark stumbled into her, and she staggered backward. Her foot caught on a chunk of stone, destroying her balance, she slammed into the ground.

"So this is the girl you've been hiding from us," a deep, booming voice said. It belonged to a skyscraper of a boy, who must have shoved Mark into her. She tried to scream at him, but her lungs took in no air. She mentally gave herself the command to stand but couldn't move. Her brain had lost control of her muscles and organs.

Mark helped her up and rubbed her back until her lungs functioned."Are you okay?"

"She's fine," the skyscraper boy said. He was at least six-foot-three with thick wrists and a thicker neck.

Mark turned to him. "You knocked her down, you dickhead!"

"Technically, you knocked her down."

"How the hell did you become a peer leader?" she said. The lunk was too big to be a freshman. He had to be a senior. "Rich parents? Or is it the school's desperate effort to make you a decent human being?"

"Quiet, sugar lump." He leered at her, and her fists balled at her sides. The fury inside her matched the force of Quartz Falls, but she'd been weakened by a lack of self-respect. It had begun to erode as she dated Michael again. She'd diminished herself so her intelligence wouldn't threaten him. And she hadn't stopped, as if it would protect her from whatever horrors lurked in her future.

"Her name is Jackie," Mark said and slid his arm around her shoulders, "and you owe her an apology."

"Nah. Didn't touch her."

Mark's expression hardened, and his head shook like he'd become a bomb without a detonation mechanism. "Joe, if you don't apologize, I'll—"

"You've always been all talk, Cailliet." Joe stared down at Jackie. "I thought she was an illusion you'd conjured—like that one there, created by light and water." He gestured to the falls. A rainbow arced over them, a romantic sight to be shared with the one she loved. Not with a bully and the boy she'd used to protect her reputation.

A shadow crossed her face. Joe was reaching for her. "Let me get a feel," he said. "Gotta be fully convinced she isn't a hologram."

His fingers splayed near her chest, but she grabbed his hand with both of hers. He chuckled like her defense was nothing, and a growl ripped from her throat as she yanked herself toward him. His arm skimmed her ribs, but years of cheerleader training put her focus on the right spot, and she smashed a high-kick into his crotch.

He grunted, and his giant body fell to the ground, displacing the river gravel.

"Oh, I'm real," she said as he curled into a ball. "And if you ever approach me again, you'll share a prison cell with the last boy who got smart with me."

"Her dad's one of the best attorneys in Wisconsin," Mark said. "So I wouldn't ignore that 'talk' if I were you."

"And you're not going to harass Mark, either." She inhaled a shuddering breath. "Unless you want to be expelled from school. My dad's good friends with the Super Superintendent of Public Instruction. Do you understand?"

Joe groaned, but that wasn't a precise enough answer. His hands were cupping his privates, and she tapped his fingers with her boot. It was a promise to bash them into his nut sack, and she repeated her question.

"Y-yeah," he whimpered.

"Excellent. Mark, shall we? Somewhere more secluded."

Mark scooped her into his arms, and she giggled as he carried her to a wooded area lining the trail. Joe's groans faded in the distance, buried by the rumble of the falls, but she hadn't felt this powerful in months.

"You were so cool!" Mark said once he set her down. "And scary."

"Sometimes talk is all you need." Her dad had taught her that, and she leaned against a pine tree. Her legs were shaking with adrenaline. "Or a strong kick to the 'nads. You just have to commit." She played with the end of her braid. "Of course, having the means to follow through on your threats helps, too."

"Right."

"You're a Cailliet. You have the means."

His eyebrows rose. "It's just not who I am."

"Then prepare to be trampled on your whole life." Shivers battered her spine. She'd been trampled on since the spring, and the realization tightened her pulse. "Jerks like Joe are everywhere. Banks, supermarkets, our own homes. Many can be avoided, but those who can't … don't teach them you can be disrespected. Use your strategic mind. Outsmart them if you don't want to threaten them."

"Jackie," he clasped her shoulder, "you're a great girl; you know that?"

"Yes."

A grin lifted his lips. "I'm glad you know." He propped his foot on a tree stump but kept his gaze on her. "Man, I wish we we weren't in fake relationship."

"About that—" She unzipped her jacket a little and pulled the shooting star pendant from her blouse. "Steven gave this to me."

He touched the pendant with his finger. "So you two worked it out."

"Mostly." She returned the pendant to the safety of her blouse. "We're in love, and we've committed to each other, but we're not exactly together yet."

"Oh?"

"It's a long, complicated story, but..." She glanced through the trees. Coach Ferguson and Coach Saunders were making out nearby, in a stand of pines that towered above the rest. But they couldn't stay in this place forever, and neither could Jackie and Mark. "We have to break up," she said. "You and me."

He scratched his cheek. "We've got plenty of witnesses, and the falls are a terrific backdrop for a breakup—"

She clutched his wrist and stopped his scratching. "Don't do that. You'll get flakes. Also, don't look so sad. I have someone in mind who might make a fantastic girlfriend for you. An actual girlfriend. Someone who'll appreciate you for how wonderful you are."

"Color me intrigued." He moved his foot off the tree stump. "If she's got your approval, she must be something else."

"She is. Trust me. But first I have to ask you a question, to make absolutely sure you'll be compatible." She ran her gloved thumb over his cheek. He'd dug red lines into it, but they'd fade. "And please be one-hundred percent honest in your answer, or it'll be no good for you or her."

"Shoot," he said, but an icy wind blew through the woods, and he angled his head down. She covered her ears with her hands. Her wool hat was in Steven's tent. She'd have to retrieve it by dusk, but her own brilliance heated her mind. Identifying one variable in an equation often led to the discovery of the rest

Pine needles fell around her and Mark as the wind gusted harder. Students hooted and screamed on the trail, but she gripped Mark's arm and drew herself close to him. Their "breakup" would be gloriously tragic, but with what she had planned, they'd be able to remain friends.

"So that question," she said by his ear. "Are you any good at giving head?"

Jackie sped into Mrs. Fletcher's group of students, hot tears welling in her eyes. The kids from Ft. Anderson had stepped aside, allowing Coach Ferguson's group to go forward on the trail. Now Mrs. Fletcher's group was letting Ft. Anderson pass but not peacefully. The Vikings and the cheer squad booed, but the clamor led Jackie to her teammates.

Leslie was the first to spot her. Jackie must have appeared a fright because Leslie quit booing, mouth agape. She tapped Valerie, who was chanting, "Go, Vikings, go!" but Valerie shut up when her gaze landed on Jackie.

"Jackie? What's wrong?" Julie said. She was on Valerie's other side, and Jackie continued to cry, fueled by thoughts of the last few months.

Valerie grabbed hold of Jackie's arms. "Sweetie, what happened?" It was an order to report.

"M-Mark!" Jackie sputtered. "Here! He's here, and we—he—we—"

"What? Come on!" Valerie dragged Jackie through the crowd of students until they were at the rear of Mrs. Fletcher's group. Ft. Anderson was nearly beyond them, but Valerie sprinted alongside its freshmen and seniors with Jackie in tow. "Him?" Valerie said, pointing at Mark's back and pulling Jackie forward.

River gravel crunched beneath their boots. Valerie pushed Jackie into Mark's sight, and Mark questioned Jackie with his eyes.

"Don't make me do this!" Jackie shouted, tasting salt. Tears had dropped onto her tongue.

"Are you Mark Cailliet?" Valerie said and jostled Jackie by the arm. "Do you recognize her?"

Kids closed in around Mark and verbally confirmed his identity, some derisively. The commotion should've drawn Coach Saunders's attention, but she seemed determined to get her students away from Point Place High.

"My ex-girlfriend," Mark said. He shoved through the kids blocking him and grasped Valerie's arm, matching her grip on Jackie. "But that doesn't mean I don't still love her, so if you'd please...?"

Valerie released Jackie, and Mark did the same to Valerie.

"What broke you up all of a sudden?" Valerie said.

"None of your damn business." Mark slipped between her and Jackie and cupped Jackie's face. His thumb wiped one of her tears. "I'm sorry. You understand, right? It just—we can't."

"I know," Jackie said, sounding as morose as she could. "I'm sorry, too."

He kissed her forehead before his schoolmates absorbed him into their ranks.

"I don't believe this." Valerie tried to snatch Jackie's wrist, but Jackie strode in front of her. "His parents have no idea who you are!" Valerie shouted.

"They're why we broke up!"

Jackie rushed ahead and suppressed a smile. That scene with Mark had been inspired, rivaling the poignancy of their "breakup". It stomped Valerie's assumptions to dust, but Jackie had more work to do.

She reunited with the cheer squad and thrust herself at Patty. "We're over!" she said, sobbing into Patty's shoulder. "Mark and I had to end it!"

"Oh, no!" Patty stroked Jackie's hair, and their teammates surrounded them as if Jackie were a fallen nestling.

"How?" Leslie said. "I mean, why?"

"Sc-school rivalry!" Jackie held onto Patty tighter. "His parents won't allow him to date a Viking!"

"That's terrible," Julie said. Her arm curled around Jackie's waist, joining Jackie and Patty's embrace.

"And he's such a fox, too," Valerie said behind them, and Patty and Julie withdrew from Jackie. "I just met him, and it's such a shame he dumped her." Valerie's voice was a shard of glass, hinting at a desire to slit Jackie's throat. "We need to give Jackie our support, girls." She snaked her arm around Jackie's waist, but unlike Julie's, her touch was jagged. All fingernails

Jackie wriggled free. Valerie's attempts to control her had grown tiresome, and she walked next to Susan Amborn. Susan had slipped into the cheer squad's circle, likely searching for gossip, but she made for a good shield. Using a teammate instead would lead Valerie to assume collusion.

Their group finally left Quartz Falls behind, and girls took turns as Jackie's cheer-panion. Some offered empathy and encouragement. Others dived into the drama of their own heartbreaks, appearing to forget Jackie was there.

"The most pathetic thing you can do is fuck an ex," Valerie said. The advice was supposedly for Carla Bruno, who'd just related her tale of regret, but Valerie's eyes were on Jackie.

"First loves aren't always the best loves," Jackie said. "In fact, they can be the worst, chosen out of a lack of experience."

"That's so true." Leslie twisted the hem of her jacket. "Like, the first guy I ever dated didn't have a car. Just a bike … and it wasn't a Schwinn!"

Most of the cheer squad expressed sympathy, but Valerie's jaw tensed. She had little influence on the current conversation, a situation that had to rankle her.

Later, after a mile-and-a-half of talking and a bathroom stop, they came to the campground. "You'll have an hour to rest," Coach Ferguson told her group. "Then we'll learn how to tie knots!"

His sarcasm was met by an equally sarcastic cheer from students. Some groaned at the news, but Jackie sat on a log bench near the center of the grounds. The rope lesson was worrisome, but she'd deal with it in an hour. For now, she undid her braid, finger-combed her hair, and observed her schoolmates.

Jocks practiced drills with a football. Trees scattered throughout the camp served as decent obstacles, and Neil Rooney tackled a few. Chatter flitted amid the jocks' shouts, but none of it was terribly interesting. A few people complained about the TV they were missing or discussed their Halloween plans.

Jackie caressed the chain of Steven's pendant. She was alone, despite that every group had returned from the trail. Most students kept by their tents or were inside them, probably napping. Steven had to be napping, too.

Or their relationship was finished. He'd pledged his love on the hike, and she'd fled, killing that love.

Her eyes prickled with fresh tears, but a presence darkened her peripheral vision. She turned toward the shadow. blinking her eyes dry. Hope whispered that Steven had found her, but Timmy Wilson was crouched on the log bench like a mischievous gnome.

"Is it true?" he said.

"Is what true?"

"That you and Mark Cailliet broke up?"

She squinted at him. "How do you even know his name? I never talk to you."

"Everyone else is talking. So did you?"

"Yes, it's true. Mark and I—"

Timmy stood to his full height on the bench and shouted, "Jackie broke up with her Snapping Turtle! Jackie broke up with her Snapping—"

He yelped as a giant, pale hand seized the front of his jacket. The hand belonged to Donna, and she yanked him off the bench.

"You're strong," he said with a dazed grin.

Donna gave him a little shove. "Would you get out of here?

"Donna's still bulked-up from J.V. wrestling!" he shouted and raced to another part of the grounds. "Donna's still bulked-up from J.V. wrestling!"

"He is such a tool," Donna said, sitting on the bench.

Jackie fought not collapse on her. She hadn't seen Donna since this morning, but she couldn't succumb to emotional exhaustion. "But you heard what he said, right?"

"Yeah. I also heard it from Pam Macy and Mitch Miller. Gossip sure gets around fast in this school. Did you and Mark plan to meet?"

Jackie recounted the story, leaving out none of the feigned pathos, and Donna said, "Does this mean you've decided to quit hiding?"

"That's not what I'm … whatever." Jackie massaged her temples. "I'm tired. Don't make me argue."

"It's not an argument, but I've got something for you. Well, Hyde does." Donna pulled Jackie's wool hat from her coat pocket. "He's worried about you."

She passed the hat to Jackie. Its pink pom-pom was intact, and it smelled like wool, not urine. Animals must've stayed out of Steven's tent this morning. "I have a slight headache," Jackie said, "but it's not concussion-grade. It's Valerie-grade."

"He didn't send me to ask the concussion quiz, but now that you mention it—"

Jackie answered her questions before she asked them.

"Great," Donna said, but he wants to know how you're feeling emotionally."

"He said that?"

"Not in so many words, but it's Hyde."

Jackie dug her boot heels into the grass. Steven was doing what he thought she wanted, giving her space. "I'm fine as I can be, considering the circumstances. But I'm working on changing those circumstances. My 'breakup' with Mark is part of it."

Donna looked at her silently, as if waiting for her to continue.

"Tell Steven not to worry," Jackie said, "and that I love him, too. The too is very important, so don't forget it."

"I won't, but I think you should tell him yourself."

Jackie rose from the bench. "I will … soon. Don't you have a phone call to make?"

"My dad!" Donna leapt up and glanced around the campground. "If he's realized I lied—"

"He hasn't. Martina has specific instructions in case your dad calls my house."

She led Donna to Mr. Wilcox, who was on a log bench farther away. He had an acoustic guitar in his hands and was strumming the chords to "Wild Thing". A few students sat by him on the grass, listening, but he stopped when Jackie and Donna arrived.

"Mr. Wilcox, Donna has to call her dad," Jackie said.

Mr. Wilcox pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "What's wrong?"

"Um..." Donna said, and Jackie gritted her teeth. Donna should've been better at lying. She'd watched Jackie do it hundreds of times.

Jackie rubbed Donna's arm in a show of compassion. "Her dad has separation anxiety. Ever since his wife left him, he has trouble with … separation."

"I understand." Mr. Wilcox stood up with his guitar. "We'll have to go to the park guides' office. It's a bit of a walk."

"We can handle a walk," Donna said.

"Yup! Cheerleading's built up my stamina." Jackie flexed her quads inside her jeans. "And Donna's part lumberjack, so her legs are like two oxen."

Donna smacked Jackie's hip as they followed Mr. Wilcox. "I could lash you to the top of a tree and leave you there, but I'm too grateful to be mad. Thank you for this."

"I've got burns saved up from the summer, so you're covered until New Year's."

"No, for—" Donna's pressed together at Jackie's giggling. "You are such an imp."

Jackie and Donna returned to the campground in time for the rope lesson. It would start in a few minutes, but the call to Donna's dad had gone well. He was convinced Donna was at Jackie's house after a grueling day at school. He and Joanne were apparently enjoying themselves at the Wisconsin Dells, but that didn't allay Donna's fears about Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow.

Jackie had tried to reassure her on their way from the park guides' office: "If the girls you bribed do their job, you're good. If they don't, you'll be back at Point Place High with me! I mean, what's your dad gonna do, homeschool you?"

Donna burst into laughter, which was a relief. Jackie's own problems required her full concentration, and she separated from Donna at the campground. She had to stick by her teammates to avoid suspicion. With the "breakup," her absence would inspire ugly theories about her whereabouts.

The most dangerous would be about her and Michael. Valerie was questioning only blondes, but the cheer squad might ransack her suitcase for a blond wig. Claim she'd hidden the evidence and declare her a traitor to both Valerie and cheerleaders everywhere.

But Valerie was the one who was missing. In fact, Jackie hadn't seen her since the hike. The squad seemed to think she was with Michael or interrogating more girls.

"As long as she's not doing it to us," Ellen Champenny muttered. She was another blond teammate, lithe and flexible. "Keith and I might be in love, and I don't need Valerie messing that up."

She meant Keith Byrne. Their relationship had blossomed on the bus ride to the park. "But we do need her leadership," she went on, "so I'll suck it up. Go, Vikings, go."

"Go, Vikings, go!" the cheer squad repeated, including Jackie. Her devotion to school spirit hadn't vanished, but the squad's soul was dying. It had entered into an unspoken murder-suicide pact the moment Valerie became captain.

The knotting lesson began once everyone was supplied with rope. Instructors stood on raised wooden platforms as they demonstrated how to make the bowline. It was a knot with a non-slip loop, capable of supporting a lot of weight. Jackie had learned how to tie it in the Girl Scouts, but showing off her skills would draw unwanted attention.

Valerie was absent, but Leslie expected intel on Michael. Jackie hadn't gotten any, so she had none to deliver. But if she revealed her wilderness experience, Leslie could accuse her of "withholding" and all that implied. It might set off a chain reaction, one of loyalty to Valerie and Michael, turning Jackie into the school pariah.

She stretched the rope between her hands. It was about a yard long, but choking Leslie with it wouldn't change much. When one lion fell, five more stalked prey in its place. Concealing herself in the heard was the best Jackie could do, and she stuffed the rope into her jacket pocket.

Half her teammates struggled with the knot. The other half was staring blankly into space, but Eric came by. He'd helped distribute rope earlier, and his silver Quartz Falls badge gleamed in the sun. "Looks like you ladies are having some trouble," he said, "but don't worry. Eric Forman is here to assist."

"You know how you could really assist?" Ellen said from a tree stump. "Getting this lame exercise to end."

Jackie's other teammates agreed, including Julie, who'd coiled her length of rope around her wrist.

Eric raised his bowline in front of him. "This knot could save your life one day. You can use it for climbing, if a friend falls out of a boat, to string up a hammock." He unknotted the bowline. "And it's easy to undo so you can use the rope for other tasks."

Ellen gestured at him dismissively, and Carla snapped her bubble gum.

Leslie, though, squeezed Eric's shoulder. "Uh-Bluh, without a Corvette, you're just a knot-tying nerd. So why don't you go over there," she pointed at Jimmy Headgear and his friends, "to your own kind?"

Jackie yanked her rope from her jacket pocket. "Eric," she said. Her voice was level, but his name heralded Armageddon. Leslie stepped back from him, as if sensing it, and no one else on the squad spoke. Carla even quit snapping her gum, and Jackie looped the rope on her palm.

In moments, she'd tied a bowline, and Eric held it up for her teammates to see. "This is how you do it," he said, and his gaze shifted to Jackie. "Um … how did you do it? You weren't watching the instructors."

"Yeah, Jackie." Carla spat out her gum. "What gives?"

"I was in the Girl Scouts," Jackie said.

Leslie thrust up her chin and laughed. "You were?"

The two-word question was full of condescension, but Jackie tied the straight end of her rope to a tree. "Two half-hitches. If this rope were bigger, I could loop it around myself and—"

"Rescue a friend who'd gotten stuck in a mud pit," Eric said. "You were in the Girl Scouts!"

"S-so was I!" Patty Frumkin said. She rose from the ground and tied a bowline. She untied it just as swiftly then made a trucker's hitch, creating a pulley with her rope.

Julie moved in front of Eric and tied a bowline, too. "It's useful on boats. Lots of knots are." She undid the bowline, took Eric's rope, and tied their ropes together. "Double fisherman's knot."

One by one, most of Jackie's teammates demonstrated their skill with knots. Only Leslie, Carla, and Ellen stood by, knot-less, but they seemed perplexed rather than angry.

"Ladies, you're in good hands," Eric said, "and have good hands." He chuckled at his own joke, and a few of the girls laughed with him. "They're doing the trucker's hitch now," he said, indicating the instructors, "but I think you can handle it. Help each other."

He left them for Buddy Morgan's clique of friends, but the cheer squad approached the rest of the lesson like a team.

Afterward, students lay blankets in front of their tents and hung out together. Park staff and teachers were preparing dinner, and Mr. Wilcox led everyone in camp songs. Or, rather, he was trying to.

The cheer squad told ghost stories instead. The sun had sunk low on the horizon, but night wouldn't fall for at least an hour. Still, Carla shone a flashlight under her chin as she spoke. Her story was about bats, and she jerked her head wildly at the climax. Her thick hair created a black cloud in front of her face, but it elicited giggles rather than screams.

She gave the flashlight to Julie, who recited from memory Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven". Leslie, however, captured Jackie's gaze and nodded to their tent. Jackie grumbled but followed.

"So?" Leslie said inside the tent.

"Steven said he's on it."

"Impressive! You must have worked him. I wasn't sure you could do it. … Want to talk about the breakup?"

"You believe Mark was my boyfriend?"

Leslie sat cross-legged on her sleeping bag and tapped a rhythm on her thighs. "Of course! Your breakup was seen by two-dozen kids from school."

"What about Valerie's 'proof' that Mark never heard of me?"

"Valerie's slipping. She used to be so good at reading people and getting dirt." Leslie leaned back on her elbows. "I don't want to say this, but other people have said it: that's how she became cheer captain. She blackmailed Linda Miller. Rita should've become captain, but—"

"Linda kicked her off the squad for disrespecting her," Jackie said and knelt by her own sleeping bag. That had happened during Jackie's freshman year. She'd never seen Rita Fogle be flippant to her teammates. "It was a lie."

"Valerie's best skill is manipulation, not choreography."

"You're not so bad at manipulation yourself."

Leslie touched her cheek to her shoulder and grinned. "Thanks! Valerie's passed off Julie's routines as her own forever. I'm gonna do the same with you when I become captain."

"What makes you think I'll choreograph for you?"

"Don't act naïve. If you play your part, you're going to be captain next year. If you don't, it'll be Julie, and you'll be off the squad."

Jackie gripped her knees. She was crouched like a beggar. Had acted like one for too long. "Leslie, I—"

"You'll always be second to me! Don't forget your place!" The shout came from outside the tent, and Leslie unzipped the flaps and rushed through them. Jackie crawled after her and found Valerie and Julie surrounded by the cheer squad. "Now gather that firewood," Valerie said to Julie, "pile it by the cooking area, and—for God's sake—don't let anyone see more than your hair. Stay low!"

Valerie normally had over a half-foot of height on Julie, but Julie appeared significantly shorter tonight. She was slouching, and the ghost-story flashlight was clutched in her white-knuckled fingers.

"Stand tall!" Jackie charged into the circle. "We're a team," she said to Valerie. "And you're our captain. You're supposed to be leading through example!"

Valerie's pink cheeks grew red. "You..." her fists clenched at her side, "are absolutely right, Jackie." She unclenched her fists and wiped her palms on her jeans. "I didn't mean to yell. I'm just—I'm all PMS-y!"

"I need some air," Julie said.

She pushed past Carla, who said, "But there's plenty of air out here!"

Julie kept on walking, and Jackie hurried to her side. "Valerie's a bitch," Julie whispered once they were far from their teammates. "She's gonna kick me off the squad. I just know it."

"You're too valuable to her. She's got no routines without you."

Julie clicked the flashlight on and off. "Maybe if the rest of the squad knew that, it would matter. Ms. McGee caught Valerie dry-humping Michael in his tent and assigned her hard labor. Valerie tried to make me do it for her. I refused."

Jackie bit down a laugh. "She's amazing."

"No, you are." Julie lifted a low-dangling tree branch, and she and Jackie passed beneath it. "You risked your own status by defending me."

"Not really. Valerie's too smart to attack me today. I've got the squad's sympathy."

Julie's voice darkened: "Her revenge will come later."

"C'est la vie." They'd come to the campground's exit. Julie started to turn around, but Jackie stopped her. "You and I are going on a field trip."

"We are?"

"It's time for you to forget about Valerie and have some fun." Jackie peered across the grounds, hoping to glimpse Steven. But with tents and trees and bad decisions between them, she had no such luck. "We can't control anyone but ourselves. And, like you said, we've let Valerie control us."

She led Julie from the grounds. A few students were returning from the bathrooms, but Jackie brought her there and beyond to an unlit path.

Julie clutched Jackie's arm. "Where are you taking me?"

"Ft. Anderson's camp is a mile from here—"

"Ft. Anderson! Was your breakup with Mark an act? Are you bringing the Snapping Turtles our strategy book?" Julie patted Jackie's jacket like a cop. "Where is it?"

Jackie swatted Julie's hands off her. "Would you calm down? If anyone's sharing the Vikings' strategies with the Turtles, it's Coach Ferguson. He and the Ft. Anderson's coach are having a fling."

"Then why are we going to the enemy's camp?"

"If anyone's the enemy, it's members of our own squad. Our junior year has sucked so far, hasn't it?"

"Yeah..."

"Disappointments. Disillusionment. It's gotten a big, fat D the first month. Let's raise that grade!" Jackie waved to the path. "You told me you need different than our social clique. I'm bringing you to different."

Julie shone her flashlight at Jackie's neck. "You better not be setting me up."

Jackie pressed her knuckle to her lips. Julie required a gesture of trust, but Julie was an opportunist. Trusting her could ruin Jackie's next two years. "The sports rivalry between our school and Ft. Anderson didn't break up me and Mark."

"You're still together?" Julie grasped Jackie's arm again. "You truly are Romeo and Juliet!"

"Hamlet. 'The play's the thing...'"

"That sounds intriguing."

"It's not gossip fodder. This is life." The pain Jackie had been carrying seeped out, making her shiver. Worrying about her parents, her future, had made her forget herself. "Valeries exist all over the world," she said. "Some can be helped. Others can't, but we can't quarantine ourselves because they're sick. We've got to become antibodies."

Julie dug her fingers into Jackie's sleeve. "How?"

Jackie pulled her wool hat from her jacket pocket and put on her head. "By going for victory regardless of previous losses. The Vikings don't give up after a defeat. They train harder for the next game and change strategies if they have to."

"Is that what's written in our biology textbook? If so, I missed it."

"I understand why you think I'd betray you. I have little doubt you'll use whatever I say or do to endear yourself to Valerie."

Julie released Jackie's arm and winced as if struck.

"But I'm willing to risk betrayal if it means we'll both be happy. I am setting you up—" Jackie said, and Julie's mouth went slack, "but not how you think. There's a very sweet, ridiculously smart, and beautiful boy who needs someone strong like you. And you need someone sensitive like he is."

"Mark?"

"He and I are friends. That's all we ever were, but I've talked you up to him, and he's—"

Julie tugged Jackie forward. "What are you waiting for? We won't have that sun for much longer!" She broke into a run, and Jackie sped up her pace. They had fifteen minutes of sun left, tops. The moon would be a sliver, but Julie had a flashlight. Coupled with Jackie's impeccable sense of direction, they'd find their way back. "He is such a fox!" Julie said. "I can't believe you were faking with him!"

"I'll explain it if you two work out."

"Don't worry. I'll show him I'm more than a cheerleader. Loads more, and I won't be pushy either. That'll give us a chance. If I like him, of course." She glanced at Jackie. "Thank you for this. For defending me to Valerie … and trusting me."

Jackie flushed with warmth as her feet pounded the dirt path. Julie was remembering herself pre-Valerie, before the cheer squad's corrosion, and Jackie had begun to remember herself, too.