I got reviews! Hehe, I'm very easily excited, but THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK
YOU!!!
Oh, BTW, Jamaican Sunshine..sorry about the strong language lately. I was a
little stressed, so I was just venting. I'm trying to tone it down a bit.
Thanks for keeping my potty mouth in check (
* * * * *
"That was the most hilarious thing I have ever seen in my entire life!" Marissa laughed as she walked out of the school building with Gerry and Sunshine, "I mean, you should have seen yourself. You were panicking! You were, like, trying to kick the door down. It wasn't even your locker!" She went into an exaggerated impression if someone trying to kick a locker door.
"Hey, it could've happened to anyone," Gerry laughed.
"But it didn't! It didn't happen to just anyone," Marissa laughed, short of breath, "It happened to you!" She wasn't watching where she was going, tripped over the last step, and ended up tumbling forward, right into Sunshine. The two went flying into a tree trunk, still laughing as though they were insane. "See, I can laugh at myself!" Marissa said loudly, "It's called having a sense of humor!"
Suddenly, someone grabbed Marissa's arm and pulled her aside.
"What are you doing?" Ray asked.
"Talking," Marissa replied defiantly, the laughter barely dying down from her face. "What's it look like?"
"Listen, quit talking like that—"
"Or what?" Marissa said, rolling her eyes. A small crowd had started to stare, and most of the girls wondered if she had just cut off the oxygen flow to her head. She was barely two inches away from his face, giving him a whole lot of hell. "You gonna hit me? So you're suddenly Mr. Dangerous? Well, I don't always have to be sugar-and-spice myself—" Before she finished, he pushed her on the shoulders, enough to make her stagger backwards and get out of his face. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Didn't your mama ever tell you not to play rough with the girls? Or aren't you man enough to play by the rules anymore? This is over," she said, taking his jacket off and throwing it on the ground in front of him. Then, she walked out to her car.
She couldn't even concentrate on the radio as she drove home, even though the volume was set as high as she could put it. She didn't notice the fact that people on the other side of the road were telling her to turn her volume down. Only when she slammed her front door behind her did she actually come back to Earth. She sat picked up the phone and dialed the first number that came to mind.
"Hello?" said a boy's voice on the other line.
"Hey Ronnie," she laughed, "I can't believe what I just did! Did you catch that scene I made after school today? That was priceless!"
"Did you just dump him?" Sunshine laughed.
"I think so," Marissa said calmly. "But, knowing him, he probably thinks I just gave his jacket back because it was warm out. Ray ain't the brightest Crayola in the carton, if you catch my drift. So, are you guys having practice today?"
"Yeah," he replied, "For homecoming—"
"They really screwed this up. The Herndon game ain't homecoming," Marissa said, "It's the second home game this season. It should have been the first. The Hayfield game was the real homecoming—but go on,"
"Anyway," he laughed, "We've got practice for the Herndon game on Friday,"
"Cheerleaders got practice every day too," Marissa said with a sigh, "I think everyone wants to know if the Titans' victory was just a fluke last time."
"Damn, even if I ain't starting that's still too much pressure. We got three days," he said, "Three days to work up the moves to impress them,"
"I can't get this," Marissa sighed, "Just because I'm head cheerleader, I need to have a date to the homecoming. I mean, where the hell am I supposed to find time to flaunt myself enough to grab a date? I'm sort of busy,"
"See, the other cheerleaders get dates because they put practicing second," Ronnie laughed, "Imagine, putting your social life ahead of working. It just doesn't make sense! What in the world are those girls thinking? The nerve!"
"Aw, Ronnie!" she squealed, "Quit making fun of me!"
"I ain't makin fun of anything," he said, "So you can't get a hold of a date?"
"I guess not," Marissa said, "But I'm going solo anyway. I mean, who's got time to go hunting for a date? I mean, everyone's expecting me to show up with one of you guys on the team. Well, I ain't interested in all the fuss. I'd rather go alone,"
"You really are a West Coast girl, aren't you? Acting all independent, it's almost inhuman." he asked, "You know, they'd call you uppity around here, the way you act. From what I've seen, all girls care about around here is getting a date, and getting into the back of her date's truck,"
"Well, that's great for them, and I hope they use protection in them there trucks," she laughed. "I have to go take a shower before cheerleading practice. I'll see you there," Then, she hung up. "Ugh," she muttered to herself, "What do we have homecoming for, anyhow?" She took a shower, then tied her long brown hair up into a ponytail. It was still sopping wet, and felt like a whip behind her. The tucked it up into a temporary bun, picked up her bag, then went outside. She grabbed the helmet to her motorcycle and put it on, then sped off back toward T.C.
She got to the parking lot and put down the kickstand, putting her helmet back onto the back. She undid the bun in her hair, which was now curled up and still wet from being pinned in the helmet. She hurried out to the field where half of the squad had already arrived.
"Hey!" Joanna said. Joanna was probably the most dedicated member on the squad, apart from Marissa. "You're late! Isn't the captain supposed to be the first one here?"
"Not when the captain is in need of a shower," Marissa laughed. "Then the captain can be as late as she damn well pleases. Besides, I'm never the first one here anyway, so what can I say? Being early is just too much to ask." In about ten minutes, the rest of the squad had arrived, and Coach Boone had just called his team out on the field. Marissa rolled her eyes and addressed the squad. "All right, we ain't got practice tomorrow, so this is our last run-through before homecoming. Don't stress—"
"Keep your head on. We've already got our act down," whined Nadine. "Plus, we have the rest of the squad to cover if we screw up. It's you who's got the solo, Miss Spotlight-Hog. You're the only one who has a real reason to worry,"
"Okay, Nadine, is it bedtime? Did I ask for a story?" Marissa said, rolling her eyes, "You're going to practice as long as I say so. I personally don't give a hoot about how good you think you are, because anything that you can do, there are at least ten other entire squads doing the same thing. Like it or not, we're Titans too, and all those other Barbie-doll cheerleaders can do is yell, kick, and hide under all that makeup. We're gonna have the one-up on them, or we'll die trying, understood?" The rest of the team just nodded in awe. Marissa was always a serious captain, at least as serious you can get wearing a cheerleading miniskirt and kickpants, but she had never insulted the other squads before. "All right, let's get started. We need real stamina if we want to make a big impression. I want to see each of you to come up and do a two minutes straight of flips."
"I ain't gonna do it," Nadine said, crossing her arms.
"Excuse me?" Marissa said, raising an eyebrow and rounding on Nadine, "Well, then why not? I guess you think you're just that good, right?"
"This is bull! You can't seriously be asking us to do this," Nadine said, "I just did my hair before coming, and I sure as hell am not about to muss it up. I got a date tonight right after this—"
"First of all, I didn't ask you to do the flip. I told you. There's a big difference there," she said, closing in on Nadine. "As for your date, well then you'd better shut your trap and hope this practice ends early so you can fix your hair again, because I'm captain, and I call the shots,"
"None of the other squads do any flips," Nadine complained, "I mean, what are we going to gain by doing some dumb pirouettes in the air? I don't see what the point is,"
"Well, if it's so pointless, why are you still here? It sure as hell ain't because we need you, because the truth is we don't," Marissa said, crossing her arms. "If you got a problem—"
"I damn sure got a problem, and I bet you know exactly what it is," Nadine snapped. "My problem is that I don't see how you got to be a captain."
"If you think that way, then you can leave, because I'm gonna be captain of this squad all year. Now, I don't want to have to hear your whining all year, and you obviously don't like taking orders from me." Marissa said, "Get away from my squad, and clear off. You're out."
"Since when have you been such a bitch?" Nadine said as she walked off, glaring icily at Marissa as she went. She continued to talk to herself all the way until the gate. "I've been on this squad since freshman year at Hammond High. This ain't fair,"
"Okay," Marissa said, taking a deep breath, "Unless any of you want to join her on the ride home, I suggest you get up here and show me what you got,"
Within ten minutes, Marissa had gotten out of her bad mood, and the whole squad was pretty much just messing around. None of the others had any objections to doing the flips, and they ended up having a contest to see who could their flips the best. "You know," Marissa said just after a one- handed double-back handspring. "I just had the most interesting idea," a sly smile crossed her face. "We can get a real laugh out of the boys later. One of us just has to be able to get into the locker room—maybe two. Of course, I'll be one of them, but I just might need some back-up,"
"I volunteer! Joanna said.
"Good," Marissa said, "Joanna and I are gonna sneak in when practice is almost over, and you guys need to distract them for about five minutes. That'll be good enough." She rubbed her hands together, "Girls, this is gonna be sweet,"
* * * * *
"The sky is, er—" muttered Diana Martin. "It's really dark out here. And cold too—did I mention it was dark?" They had given Diana the job of keeping the guys distracted for a while, and that was the best she could come up with. Marissa rolled her eyes. That's where the stereotype about cheerleaders being stupid kicked in.
"That's her idea of a diversion? I guess blonde is her natural color." Joanna muttered and she and Marissa hit her playfully on the side of the head for the blonde comment and ran into the locker room. They hid behind a metal cabinet as the guys rushed in, trying not to laugh. As soon as all their voices were gone, Marissa peered out.
"All clear," she whispered, "They're all in the showers. Hurry up before they finish." They both tiptoed out and each walked up to a mirror holding a couple containers of paint. When they heard the sound of footsteps, Joanna nearly panicked, but then Marissa grabbed her hand and they each got into a random locker. "Now, we watch the fun,"
In a few seconds, the team came back into the locker room, and noticed the mirrors immediately. One was bordered with pink paint and the words rubbed into the moist surface read "Nice abs, boys. –Jan," The other had a border of red and orange flames, with the message, "Watch your back. I've been watching you. –Missy"
"What the hell?" Bertier muttered, "Who the hell put these here?"
"It's a serial killer," Alan muttered. "I always did think that someone was watching us in this place. I never liked it at all. Someone's gonna hop out of the shadows and slash us all to pieces, just like in the movies. Stuff like this NEVER would have happened back at Hammond."
"Whatever," Sunshine said. Then, each of them heard an odd sound, like laughing, but they couldn't tell where it came from. "Wasn't me," he said, holding his hands up.
"I told you," Alan muttered, staring wildly around, "There's a serial killer in here, and we're gonna die. I told you!"
"Let's get the hell out of here," Blue said. "I mean, what if he's right? I bet there's someone hiding right under this bench," he gestured toward the bottom of the bench.
"All my clothes are still in my locker," Julius said, "I'd rather face a mad-ass murderer than freeze to death out there,"
"He's right," Sunshine said, "Besides, there are about twenty of us, and one of him. If there's anyone really in here, we could take him. Alan, I bet you set this all up," He leaned over to open his locker. Julius started to do the same.
"Oh heck," Marissa muttered to herself as the lock started to click. She tried to stuff herself as far back into the locker as possible, even though it really wouldn't do anything. She shut her eyes tight. She hadn't planned what would they would do if they had been found.
First, she heard Joanna scream. They had found her out. But there was no time to think about that. In half of a second, she found herself staring right at Sunshine. He laughed and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her out.
"Hey, boys, I think I just found our serial killers," he laughed, pushing the two girls into the middle of the room. "Don't go denying it. I've got you red-handed," They team crowded around.
Marissa held out her paint covered hands and tilted them around. "Actually, it's more orange, but I guess you could call it red if you look at it in the right lighting," She smirked. "How did you like my masterpiece?"
"Well, Missy," Gerry laughed, "It's a piece of work, but what compelled a couple of cheerleaders to come in here and do this?" he raised an eyebrow, "Are we that attractive?"
"You wish! Jeez, I never thought my art would get me into something like this," Marissa laughed. Joanna just stood there silently. "But it was really worth it. I mean, Alan, come on. I couldn't see your face, but let's get serious. A serial killer? You sure got it mixed up."
"Well, I couldn't know for sure!" Alan said. "I mean, it's not every day someone sneaks in here."
"What? Would it have helped if I had left a lipstick mark on the mirror?" Marissa asked, "I mean, you do know that every cheerleader has her own shade of lipstick, right?"
"Well, you ain't been leavin' no stains on any guys' collars. We don't got a clue what it looks like," Petey said, "So how the hell would we recognize yours?"
"Yes, I should go around sucking face with every guy at T.C., right?" she said sarcastically, "I mean, everyone's so curious about my lipstick, I owe it to the school."
"Will everyone get a turn?" Alan asked, laughing hysterically.
"I'm a cheerleader, not a horse on a merry-go-round," Marissa said. "You say something like that again, and I'll suffocate you with my pompoms,"
"No need to tell me twice," Alan laughed,
"I'm out," Marissa said, heading for the door, "Nice to finally see what all the fuss is about down here," She grabbed Joanna by the wrist and they ran back up to the field. "What happened to you up there?" Marissa asked. "I thought you came to back me up! You didn't say anything!"
"Well, I was busy watching your back," Joanna said, "Ray's got a problem keeping still, he does. He kept trying to grab your shoulder, and you oughta be thanking me for keeping him off your tail,"
"Okay, I owe you big," she laughed. "Well, I'm going home. The rest of the squad left already, so I guess we might as well get going."
* * * * *
"Aw. Where are the girls today?" Sunshine asked in mock disappointment when their last practice before the Herndon game drew to a close and the cheerleaders hadn't had a practice. "I didn't get my daily view of their kickpants. I think I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms,"
"I don't think it's the kickpants you're missing," Gerry laughed, "Tell me, how long will it be from the moment you get in your front door to the moment you pick up the phone and call Missy?"
"How long are you gonna keep calling her that?" Alan asked. Of course, it was obvious. Once Marissa had used the name to sign the fogged up mirror the day before, the name just stuck.
"It would've been fun seeing her cheering today," Gerry laughed, "Did you see her at school? She was practically on a sugar high. I had to practically pin her onto the grass to keep her from climbing up a tree. Hey—where's Ray?"
"He's bugging out," Petey said, "You went and mentioned Marissa again, and all that talk about you pinning her on the grass don't help much either. She was the topic of our whole locker room conversation. The fool can't take the fact that he got rejected,"
Sure enough, Ray had already left the school, and was parked in front of Marissa house. He walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. She opened the door, and would have shut it right away in his face if he didn't catch it with his hand. She inhaled, trying to keep from reaching out and hitting him right there.
"Can I come in?" he asked.
Come in? Marissa thought, I just tried to slam the door in his face, and he thinks I'm about to let him into my house? She rolled her eyes. "I'm busy," Marissa said. "I'm practicing,"
"Okay, well, I don't need to come in, then," he said, pulling the door open a little. She crossed her arms and refused to look at him, finding the ends of her hair extremely amusing. "Look, I'm sorry," he said. "I was just having a bad day then. People were talking about how you had the hots for Sunshine, and then you two were all over each other. I didn't know how else to react," He stared hopefully at Marissa, but she didn't do or say anything. He stepped forward and hugged her—not kissed, just hugged. Then, he stepped back again.
"Can you leave now?" she said blankly. He looked shocked. He had never failed to get a girl with his whole innocent act, and he wanted to tell her that, flat out, but didn't say anything. He swallowed hard and nodded, then he walked away. Marissa watched through the window as he drove off. Then, she walked over to the phone, dialing a number she'd been calling a lot the last few weeks.
"Hello, Ronnie?" she said, "It's Marissa,"
"I could tell," he laughed, "What's going on?"
"Can I get a ride to the game tomorrow?" she asked.
"The homecoming game?" he asked.
"I told you, I'm not looking for a date," she laughed, "I just don't feel like driving. What do you say?" She crossed her fingers.
"Sure," he said.
"You know where I live, right?" she laughed, "Because if you get lost, we'll both be late,"
"Of course I do," he laughed, "I've only showed up at your doorstep for last minute homework answers about fifty times,"
"Okay," she said brightly, "And I might need to leave my dress in your car, because I might have a problem cheering in a gown, and showing up at homecoming in my uniform is a definite faux pas,"
* * * * *
"What are you doing here already?" Marissa asked, answering the door, "The game doesn't start until six-thirty. It's four,"
"My dad kicked me out of the house already," he laughed, "I shouldn't have told him I was going to be giving someone else a ride to the game. He says it's better to be early than to be late. So here I am, an entire two hours early,"
"You wanna come in?" she asked, "Just don't laugh. I haven't exactly found the time to arrange the furniture, so things are still all over the place,"
"Why doesn't your mom do this for you?" he asked, stepping in.
"She works as a nurse or something across town," she replied, "She stays there because the drive gets pretty hectic, so she isn't usually here. I usually don't see her for months at a time. Do you want something to drink?" she said, changing the subject hastily.
"No thanks," he said, feeling sort of guilty. Marissa seemed really jumpy, talking about her mom. Sometimes, he wished he knew when to keep his mouth shut. "You want to just get to T.C. already? People tend to get there really early anyway,"
"Sure," she said, picking up a covered hanger, which must have had her dress on it. They ran out to his car, and listened to the radio all the way to the school. Marissa left the hanger in the car and walked over to the field, noticing that some members of the squad had already arrived, ready to rumble.
"Our boys look sort of off today," Joanna said, "I mean, Bertier looks stressed, Big Ju looks annoyed, and Budds keeps looking over here,"
"Bertier has a reason to be stressed," Marissa said, "Julius doesn't get much of an easy time around here either. As for Ray, I don't really care, so let's get warmed up," Knowing not to mess with her right before a game, the rest of the squad did exactly as she said. "Our boys are always ready to fight. Come on, let's get these cheers down. I mean, it's screaming a bunch of words that rhyme. If we screw up, we look stupid."
"You know, for captain, you don't really take this seriously," Joanna said, crossing her arms.
"Of course I take this squad seriously!" Marissa snapped. "I'm just saying that these cheers aren't exactly rocket science."
* * * * *
I have a couple chapters written, but after that, I've reached a dilemma...I kinda want some more feedback, so if you get a chance, refer the story to your friends, and ask them to review. If the response is mostly positive, I'll keep writing this, but if not, I might call it quits and try another story...*sigh*...well, 'til then, au revoir!
* * * * *
"That was the most hilarious thing I have ever seen in my entire life!" Marissa laughed as she walked out of the school building with Gerry and Sunshine, "I mean, you should have seen yourself. You were panicking! You were, like, trying to kick the door down. It wasn't even your locker!" She went into an exaggerated impression if someone trying to kick a locker door.
"Hey, it could've happened to anyone," Gerry laughed.
"But it didn't! It didn't happen to just anyone," Marissa laughed, short of breath, "It happened to you!" She wasn't watching where she was going, tripped over the last step, and ended up tumbling forward, right into Sunshine. The two went flying into a tree trunk, still laughing as though they were insane. "See, I can laugh at myself!" Marissa said loudly, "It's called having a sense of humor!"
Suddenly, someone grabbed Marissa's arm and pulled her aside.
"What are you doing?" Ray asked.
"Talking," Marissa replied defiantly, the laughter barely dying down from her face. "What's it look like?"
"Listen, quit talking like that—"
"Or what?" Marissa said, rolling her eyes. A small crowd had started to stare, and most of the girls wondered if she had just cut off the oxygen flow to her head. She was barely two inches away from his face, giving him a whole lot of hell. "You gonna hit me? So you're suddenly Mr. Dangerous? Well, I don't always have to be sugar-and-spice myself—" Before she finished, he pushed her on the shoulders, enough to make her stagger backwards and get out of his face. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Didn't your mama ever tell you not to play rough with the girls? Or aren't you man enough to play by the rules anymore? This is over," she said, taking his jacket off and throwing it on the ground in front of him. Then, she walked out to her car.
She couldn't even concentrate on the radio as she drove home, even though the volume was set as high as she could put it. She didn't notice the fact that people on the other side of the road were telling her to turn her volume down. Only when she slammed her front door behind her did she actually come back to Earth. She sat picked up the phone and dialed the first number that came to mind.
"Hello?" said a boy's voice on the other line.
"Hey Ronnie," she laughed, "I can't believe what I just did! Did you catch that scene I made after school today? That was priceless!"
"Did you just dump him?" Sunshine laughed.
"I think so," Marissa said calmly. "But, knowing him, he probably thinks I just gave his jacket back because it was warm out. Ray ain't the brightest Crayola in the carton, if you catch my drift. So, are you guys having practice today?"
"Yeah," he replied, "For homecoming—"
"They really screwed this up. The Herndon game ain't homecoming," Marissa said, "It's the second home game this season. It should have been the first. The Hayfield game was the real homecoming—but go on,"
"Anyway," he laughed, "We've got practice for the Herndon game on Friday,"
"Cheerleaders got practice every day too," Marissa said with a sigh, "I think everyone wants to know if the Titans' victory was just a fluke last time."
"Damn, even if I ain't starting that's still too much pressure. We got three days," he said, "Three days to work up the moves to impress them,"
"I can't get this," Marissa sighed, "Just because I'm head cheerleader, I need to have a date to the homecoming. I mean, where the hell am I supposed to find time to flaunt myself enough to grab a date? I'm sort of busy,"
"See, the other cheerleaders get dates because they put practicing second," Ronnie laughed, "Imagine, putting your social life ahead of working. It just doesn't make sense! What in the world are those girls thinking? The nerve!"
"Aw, Ronnie!" she squealed, "Quit making fun of me!"
"I ain't makin fun of anything," he said, "So you can't get a hold of a date?"
"I guess not," Marissa said, "But I'm going solo anyway. I mean, who's got time to go hunting for a date? I mean, everyone's expecting me to show up with one of you guys on the team. Well, I ain't interested in all the fuss. I'd rather go alone,"
"You really are a West Coast girl, aren't you? Acting all independent, it's almost inhuman." he asked, "You know, they'd call you uppity around here, the way you act. From what I've seen, all girls care about around here is getting a date, and getting into the back of her date's truck,"
"Well, that's great for them, and I hope they use protection in them there trucks," she laughed. "I have to go take a shower before cheerleading practice. I'll see you there," Then, she hung up. "Ugh," she muttered to herself, "What do we have homecoming for, anyhow?" She took a shower, then tied her long brown hair up into a ponytail. It was still sopping wet, and felt like a whip behind her. The tucked it up into a temporary bun, picked up her bag, then went outside. She grabbed the helmet to her motorcycle and put it on, then sped off back toward T.C.
She got to the parking lot and put down the kickstand, putting her helmet back onto the back. She undid the bun in her hair, which was now curled up and still wet from being pinned in the helmet. She hurried out to the field where half of the squad had already arrived.
"Hey!" Joanna said. Joanna was probably the most dedicated member on the squad, apart from Marissa. "You're late! Isn't the captain supposed to be the first one here?"
"Not when the captain is in need of a shower," Marissa laughed. "Then the captain can be as late as she damn well pleases. Besides, I'm never the first one here anyway, so what can I say? Being early is just too much to ask." In about ten minutes, the rest of the squad had arrived, and Coach Boone had just called his team out on the field. Marissa rolled her eyes and addressed the squad. "All right, we ain't got practice tomorrow, so this is our last run-through before homecoming. Don't stress—"
"Keep your head on. We've already got our act down," whined Nadine. "Plus, we have the rest of the squad to cover if we screw up. It's you who's got the solo, Miss Spotlight-Hog. You're the only one who has a real reason to worry,"
"Okay, Nadine, is it bedtime? Did I ask for a story?" Marissa said, rolling her eyes, "You're going to practice as long as I say so. I personally don't give a hoot about how good you think you are, because anything that you can do, there are at least ten other entire squads doing the same thing. Like it or not, we're Titans too, and all those other Barbie-doll cheerleaders can do is yell, kick, and hide under all that makeup. We're gonna have the one-up on them, or we'll die trying, understood?" The rest of the team just nodded in awe. Marissa was always a serious captain, at least as serious you can get wearing a cheerleading miniskirt and kickpants, but she had never insulted the other squads before. "All right, let's get started. We need real stamina if we want to make a big impression. I want to see each of you to come up and do a two minutes straight of flips."
"I ain't gonna do it," Nadine said, crossing her arms.
"Excuse me?" Marissa said, raising an eyebrow and rounding on Nadine, "Well, then why not? I guess you think you're just that good, right?"
"This is bull! You can't seriously be asking us to do this," Nadine said, "I just did my hair before coming, and I sure as hell am not about to muss it up. I got a date tonight right after this—"
"First of all, I didn't ask you to do the flip. I told you. There's a big difference there," she said, closing in on Nadine. "As for your date, well then you'd better shut your trap and hope this practice ends early so you can fix your hair again, because I'm captain, and I call the shots,"
"None of the other squads do any flips," Nadine complained, "I mean, what are we going to gain by doing some dumb pirouettes in the air? I don't see what the point is,"
"Well, if it's so pointless, why are you still here? It sure as hell ain't because we need you, because the truth is we don't," Marissa said, crossing her arms. "If you got a problem—"
"I damn sure got a problem, and I bet you know exactly what it is," Nadine snapped. "My problem is that I don't see how you got to be a captain."
"If you think that way, then you can leave, because I'm gonna be captain of this squad all year. Now, I don't want to have to hear your whining all year, and you obviously don't like taking orders from me." Marissa said, "Get away from my squad, and clear off. You're out."
"Since when have you been such a bitch?" Nadine said as she walked off, glaring icily at Marissa as she went. She continued to talk to herself all the way until the gate. "I've been on this squad since freshman year at Hammond High. This ain't fair,"
"Okay," Marissa said, taking a deep breath, "Unless any of you want to join her on the ride home, I suggest you get up here and show me what you got,"
Within ten minutes, Marissa had gotten out of her bad mood, and the whole squad was pretty much just messing around. None of the others had any objections to doing the flips, and they ended up having a contest to see who could their flips the best. "You know," Marissa said just after a one- handed double-back handspring. "I just had the most interesting idea," a sly smile crossed her face. "We can get a real laugh out of the boys later. One of us just has to be able to get into the locker room—maybe two. Of course, I'll be one of them, but I just might need some back-up,"
"I volunteer! Joanna said.
"Good," Marissa said, "Joanna and I are gonna sneak in when practice is almost over, and you guys need to distract them for about five minutes. That'll be good enough." She rubbed her hands together, "Girls, this is gonna be sweet,"
* * * * *
"The sky is, er—" muttered Diana Martin. "It's really dark out here. And cold too—did I mention it was dark?" They had given Diana the job of keeping the guys distracted for a while, and that was the best she could come up with. Marissa rolled her eyes. That's where the stereotype about cheerleaders being stupid kicked in.
"That's her idea of a diversion? I guess blonde is her natural color." Joanna muttered and she and Marissa hit her playfully on the side of the head for the blonde comment and ran into the locker room. They hid behind a metal cabinet as the guys rushed in, trying not to laugh. As soon as all their voices were gone, Marissa peered out.
"All clear," she whispered, "They're all in the showers. Hurry up before they finish." They both tiptoed out and each walked up to a mirror holding a couple containers of paint. When they heard the sound of footsteps, Joanna nearly panicked, but then Marissa grabbed her hand and they each got into a random locker. "Now, we watch the fun,"
In a few seconds, the team came back into the locker room, and noticed the mirrors immediately. One was bordered with pink paint and the words rubbed into the moist surface read "Nice abs, boys. –Jan," The other had a border of red and orange flames, with the message, "Watch your back. I've been watching you. –Missy"
"What the hell?" Bertier muttered, "Who the hell put these here?"
"It's a serial killer," Alan muttered. "I always did think that someone was watching us in this place. I never liked it at all. Someone's gonna hop out of the shadows and slash us all to pieces, just like in the movies. Stuff like this NEVER would have happened back at Hammond."
"Whatever," Sunshine said. Then, each of them heard an odd sound, like laughing, but they couldn't tell where it came from. "Wasn't me," he said, holding his hands up.
"I told you," Alan muttered, staring wildly around, "There's a serial killer in here, and we're gonna die. I told you!"
"Let's get the hell out of here," Blue said. "I mean, what if he's right? I bet there's someone hiding right under this bench," he gestured toward the bottom of the bench.
"All my clothes are still in my locker," Julius said, "I'd rather face a mad-ass murderer than freeze to death out there,"
"He's right," Sunshine said, "Besides, there are about twenty of us, and one of him. If there's anyone really in here, we could take him. Alan, I bet you set this all up," He leaned over to open his locker. Julius started to do the same.
"Oh heck," Marissa muttered to herself as the lock started to click. She tried to stuff herself as far back into the locker as possible, even though it really wouldn't do anything. She shut her eyes tight. She hadn't planned what would they would do if they had been found.
First, she heard Joanna scream. They had found her out. But there was no time to think about that. In half of a second, she found herself staring right at Sunshine. He laughed and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her out.
"Hey, boys, I think I just found our serial killers," he laughed, pushing the two girls into the middle of the room. "Don't go denying it. I've got you red-handed," They team crowded around.
Marissa held out her paint covered hands and tilted them around. "Actually, it's more orange, but I guess you could call it red if you look at it in the right lighting," She smirked. "How did you like my masterpiece?"
"Well, Missy," Gerry laughed, "It's a piece of work, but what compelled a couple of cheerleaders to come in here and do this?" he raised an eyebrow, "Are we that attractive?"
"You wish! Jeez, I never thought my art would get me into something like this," Marissa laughed. Joanna just stood there silently. "But it was really worth it. I mean, Alan, come on. I couldn't see your face, but let's get serious. A serial killer? You sure got it mixed up."
"Well, I couldn't know for sure!" Alan said. "I mean, it's not every day someone sneaks in here."
"What? Would it have helped if I had left a lipstick mark on the mirror?" Marissa asked, "I mean, you do know that every cheerleader has her own shade of lipstick, right?"
"Well, you ain't been leavin' no stains on any guys' collars. We don't got a clue what it looks like," Petey said, "So how the hell would we recognize yours?"
"Yes, I should go around sucking face with every guy at T.C., right?" she said sarcastically, "I mean, everyone's so curious about my lipstick, I owe it to the school."
"Will everyone get a turn?" Alan asked, laughing hysterically.
"I'm a cheerleader, not a horse on a merry-go-round," Marissa said. "You say something like that again, and I'll suffocate you with my pompoms,"
"No need to tell me twice," Alan laughed,
"I'm out," Marissa said, heading for the door, "Nice to finally see what all the fuss is about down here," She grabbed Joanna by the wrist and they ran back up to the field. "What happened to you up there?" Marissa asked. "I thought you came to back me up! You didn't say anything!"
"Well, I was busy watching your back," Joanna said, "Ray's got a problem keeping still, he does. He kept trying to grab your shoulder, and you oughta be thanking me for keeping him off your tail,"
"Okay, I owe you big," she laughed. "Well, I'm going home. The rest of the squad left already, so I guess we might as well get going."
* * * * *
"Aw. Where are the girls today?" Sunshine asked in mock disappointment when their last practice before the Herndon game drew to a close and the cheerleaders hadn't had a practice. "I didn't get my daily view of their kickpants. I think I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms,"
"I don't think it's the kickpants you're missing," Gerry laughed, "Tell me, how long will it be from the moment you get in your front door to the moment you pick up the phone and call Missy?"
"How long are you gonna keep calling her that?" Alan asked. Of course, it was obvious. Once Marissa had used the name to sign the fogged up mirror the day before, the name just stuck.
"It would've been fun seeing her cheering today," Gerry laughed, "Did you see her at school? She was practically on a sugar high. I had to practically pin her onto the grass to keep her from climbing up a tree. Hey—where's Ray?"
"He's bugging out," Petey said, "You went and mentioned Marissa again, and all that talk about you pinning her on the grass don't help much either. She was the topic of our whole locker room conversation. The fool can't take the fact that he got rejected,"
Sure enough, Ray had already left the school, and was parked in front of Marissa house. He walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. She opened the door, and would have shut it right away in his face if he didn't catch it with his hand. She inhaled, trying to keep from reaching out and hitting him right there.
"Can I come in?" he asked.
Come in? Marissa thought, I just tried to slam the door in his face, and he thinks I'm about to let him into my house? She rolled her eyes. "I'm busy," Marissa said. "I'm practicing,"
"Okay, well, I don't need to come in, then," he said, pulling the door open a little. She crossed her arms and refused to look at him, finding the ends of her hair extremely amusing. "Look, I'm sorry," he said. "I was just having a bad day then. People were talking about how you had the hots for Sunshine, and then you two were all over each other. I didn't know how else to react," He stared hopefully at Marissa, but she didn't do or say anything. He stepped forward and hugged her—not kissed, just hugged. Then, he stepped back again.
"Can you leave now?" she said blankly. He looked shocked. He had never failed to get a girl with his whole innocent act, and he wanted to tell her that, flat out, but didn't say anything. He swallowed hard and nodded, then he walked away. Marissa watched through the window as he drove off. Then, she walked over to the phone, dialing a number she'd been calling a lot the last few weeks.
"Hello, Ronnie?" she said, "It's Marissa,"
"I could tell," he laughed, "What's going on?"
"Can I get a ride to the game tomorrow?" she asked.
"The homecoming game?" he asked.
"I told you, I'm not looking for a date," she laughed, "I just don't feel like driving. What do you say?" She crossed her fingers.
"Sure," he said.
"You know where I live, right?" she laughed, "Because if you get lost, we'll both be late,"
"Of course I do," he laughed, "I've only showed up at your doorstep for last minute homework answers about fifty times,"
"Okay," she said brightly, "And I might need to leave my dress in your car, because I might have a problem cheering in a gown, and showing up at homecoming in my uniform is a definite faux pas,"
* * * * *
"What are you doing here already?" Marissa asked, answering the door, "The game doesn't start until six-thirty. It's four,"
"My dad kicked me out of the house already," he laughed, "I shouldn't have told him I was going to be giving someone else a ride to the game. He says it's better to be early than to be late. So here I am, an entire two hours early,"
"You wanna come in?" she asked, "Just don't laugh. I haven't exactly found the time to arrange the furniture, so things are still all over the place,"
"Why doesn't your mom do this for you?" he asked, stepping in.
"She works as a nurse or something across town," she replied, "She stays there because the drive gets pretty hectic, so she isn't usually here. I usually don't see her for months at a time. Do you want something to drink?" she said, changing the subject hastily.
"No thanks," he said, feeling sort of guilty. Marissa seemed really jumpy, talking about her mom. Sometimes, he wished he knew when to keep his mouth shut. "You want to just get to T.C. already? People tend to get there really early anyway,"
"Sure," she said, picking up a covered hanger, which must have had her dress on it. They ran out to his car, and listened to the radio all the way to the school. Marissa left the hanger in the car and walked over to the field, noticing that some members of the squad had already arrived, ready to rumble.
"Our boys look sort of off today," Joanna said, "I mean, Bertier looks stressed, Big Ju looks annoyed, and Budds keeps looking over here,"
"Bertier has a reason to be stressed," Marissa said, "Julius doesn't get much of an easy time around here either. As for Ray, I don't really care, so let's get warmed up," Knowing not to mess with her right before a game, the rest of the squad did exactly as she said. "Our boys are always ready to fight. Come on, let's get these cheers down. I mean, it's screaming a bunch of words that rhyme. If we screw up, we look stupid."
"You know, for captain, you don't really take this seriously," Joanna said, crossing her arms.
"Of course I take this squad seriously!" Marissa snapped. "I'm just saying that these cheers aren't exactly rocket science."
* * * * *
I have a couple chapters written, but after that, I've reached a dilemma...I kinda want some more feedback, so if you get a chance, refer the story to your friends, and ask them to review. If the response is mostly positive, I'll keep writing this, but if not, I might call it quits and try another story...*sigh*...well, 'til then, au revoir!