If you haven't already read The Mad Dog Picnic, my previous story, you might want to read Chapter 2 between the two scenes of this chapter. It couldn't hurt.
Thanks to the reviewers of chapter seven: ZK Chromedragozoid, Kradeiz, Miguel Dubón, MrDrP, AtomicFire, Matri, Commander Argus, Yankee Bard, bmwrider, SassMasterGeneral, daywalkr82, Dr. J0nes, CastaS, dartblade, spectre666, and nipply. Thanks as well to all readers.
Special thanks to my bon-diggity beta reader, MrDrP.
Disclaimer: All characters but one in this chapter are property of Disney.
Chapter 8
Tara's Friday afternoon was not going according to plan. Operation Get My Badical Boyfriend Back had hit a snag. She'd set off from home that morning full of confidence, determined to find Bonnie and tell her squadmate that her days as a mindless follower of the Food Chain were over, and then reconcile with Kevin. But despite a couple of hours of running all over town and calling everyone she knew, she couldn't find Bonnie anywhere.
Frustrated by constant busy signals, she decided to go right to the Rockwallers' house. Fifteen minutes of powerwalking later, she trotted up to the red raised ranch and rang the doorbell.
The door opened to reveal Bonnie's sister Connie, cordless phone in hand.
"What?" asked the brunette, obviously annoyed by Tara's interruption.
"Hi Connie," Tara said. "I'm trying to find Bonnie. Is she here?"
"No," Connie said as she started to shut the door.
"Any idea where she is?" Tara said quickly.
"Don't know, don't care," Connie said, bringing the phone back to her ear as she turned away.
Tara lost it. Furious at years of the older girl's rudeness, she stuck out her arm and shoved the door fully open again. "Look, Connie, I've had a pretty bad night and a worse morning, so I'm in no mood for your 'tude. I really need to find your sister. Do you know anything about where I can reach her?"
A shocked Connie stared at the blonde. She wasn't used to Bonnie or any of her little friends standing up to her. This girl, whom Connie had always considered meek and mild, now looked ready to do violence.
"Connie," Bonnie's mom called from the kitchen, "Who's at the door?"
"One of Bonnie's friends. Um, Teri, I think."
"It's 'Tara', Connie."
Connie felt a chill run up her spine; the girl had actually snarled at her.
Mrs. Rockwaller came to the door and Connie fled to the safety of her room. "Hello, Tara, nice to see you. What can I do for you?"
"Hi, Mrs. Rockwaller. I'm looking for Bonnie. I've been trying to reach her for a couple of days, but she never answers her cell or returns my messages."
"Oh, Bonnie's cell phone isn't working these days. Anyway, she's out of town right now. She was invited to go visit Brookdale State overnight with the Flaggs, some function for football recruits and their families. She'll be home late tonight. Joann Flagg left me her cell number for emergencies, let me see if I can find it …"
"That's okay, Mrs. R," Tara said, disappointed. "She'll be at the picnic tomorrow, right?" Bonnie's mom nodded. "I'll see her then."
Now it was on to Plan B: find Kevin and convince him that, despite what she'd been saying for the last few days, he was way more important to her than Bonnie was, and she wanted to continue seeing him.
Confidence surged within her again as she started off toward Aspen View Road. He can refuse my phone calls, but there's no way he'll be able to resist me in person.
Reaching the old farmhouse, she climbed the steps to the front porch and rang the doorbell. She waited, but no one answered. Hearing no activity from inside, she rang the bell again. Still no answer. Frustrated, she balled up her fist and pounded on the door about half a dozen times. "Kevin!" she called out. Nothing.
Feeling utterly defeated, she took a step back from the door. Suddenly tired, she lowered herself onto the wooden swing, which hung from two sturdy hooks in the porch ceiling above.
How was she supposed to accomplish her mission if she couldn't even find her objectives? She looked out at the beautiful summer day and sighed. Did Kim ever go through this? Probably not. She can do anything, after all. She began to sniffle, then cry big, wet tears.
A shadow fell across her face. She looked up. "Kevin? Kevin!" She scrambled to her feet and threw her arms around him.
"I'm so sorry," he said softly, rubbing her back, as his own tears began to flow. "I should have believed in you."
"No, I'm sorry," she said. "I should have realized what I was doing to you."
He shook his head. "You didn't do anything. It was all me and my stupid insecurities …"
"No, I shouldn't have blown the Bonnie ish up so much. I should've thought about what you probably think of her—and of me, for being part of her crowd. That's over, Kevin, I want to be my own person from now on. I want to be friends with people 'cause they're good people, not because they're popular, or good at sports."
She sat back down on the swing and Kevin sat beside her.
"I think I need to tell you a little about why I'm friends with Bonnie. First, though, I need you to tell me what you think of her."
Kevin looked uncomfortable. "Well …"
"Be honest," she insisted. "I think I have an idea, and it's okay to say it."
"I think, and I'd say most people I hang with think of her as Queen B for bee-yotch. Guys think she's hot, but that's all she's got going for her."
"And what about the rest of the cheer squad?"
"Well, everybody likes Kim –"
"Never mind Kim, I'm talking about the rest of us. Bonnie's posse."
Kevin thought for a moment. "I'd say nobody I know really blames any of you guys for things she says or does. You all seem nicer when you're not with her. Jess has sure been friendly to me since she and Steve hooked up."
A small smile formed on Tara's lips. "Jess was never a big Bonnie fan, Jess was a fan of the cute guys who flock around Bonnie."
She sat back on the swing. "As for Bonnie and me, we've been friends ever since junior cheerleaders back in middle school," she began, "But it's freshman year that's really the important period. When we got to high school, she and I were the girls with the biggest …" she gestured toward her chest, Kevin found himself compelled to cast an appreciative glance downward, "… breasts in the class. That got us a lot—I mean, a lot—of attention from boys. Juniors and seniors, boys pretty high on the food chain, wanted to hang with us. It made us feel special, and we liked it.
"Well, our parents didn't let us date at that age, but since we were on freshman cheer squad, we were out on the field every day after school around the athletes. They'd hang around us, flirt with us, try to get us to go off alone with them. There's plenty of places under the bleachers and such where kids can find a little privacy. Remind me to show you some of them next fall."
Kevin's eyes went wide at the prospect.
"Anyway, Bonnie seemed to know how to handle the guys right from the start, she knew how to keep them interested without giving up anything. I didn't, and I'm sure I would've got pressured into doing stuff I wasn't ready for if she hadn't been there to help me, 'til I learned how to handle myself.
"So because she'd helped me so many times, I felt like I couldn't call her out on the ugly stuff she does to kids, calling them 'loser' and stuff to enforce her ideas about status and junk like that. But I guess I'm not telling you anything you didn't already know there, huh?"
"Well, I've been on the receiving end of a Bonnie barb or two in the past," Kevin said, "when I committed the capital crime of existing in her world or something, but I never saw you take part in any of that."
"Well, you missed it, 'cause I definitely did. I knew it was wrong, but since I owed Bonnie, I just couldn't bring myself to speak up.
"But all that ends right now. I'll be Bonnie's friend provided she cleans up her act, but I'm not a follower any more. So how about tonight you take me out to all the teen hangouts in town, and if Bonnie finds out about us, she finds out about us, and if she freaks, she freaks. It's her problem, not ours."
Kevin thought for a moment. Then he shook his head. "No."
"No? But–"
"Look, Tara, if your friendship with Bonnie is at all important to you, and it was yesterday before I pitched my little fit, I want you to have the best possible chance to keep it. You handle her the way you think will work best, I can wait to take you out in public again. Actually, I was kicking myself since I blew my chance to be with you last night. I'm nowhere near tired of being alone with you."
Tara thought about this. "Okay, but you have to promise me one thing. I want you to come to Picnic all day tomorrow. I'm going to try to talk to Bonnie either before or after rehearsal, but if she somehow flakes on me again, that's it. I want to spend the day with my BF tomorrow, and by the time it's over every so-called 'cool' teen in Middleton is going to know about us."
"You sure about this?"
She scooted over and took hold of his hand. "So sure. See, the most incredible guy in the world is my boyfriend, and I just can't wait to show him off." She draped his arm over her shoulder and snuggled up to him.
"You want to show me off at Mad Dog Picnic?"
"Uh huh," she said, as she slowly traced the Dartmouth 'D' on the front of his shirt with a finger.
"With all those hottie athletes there?"
"Mmm hmm," she purred.
"Gee, I don't know what to say …"
"Talk's overrated anyway," she whispered, pulling him in for a long, soulful kiss.
This is nothing like a chess tournament.
Mad Dog Picnic was not Kevin's kind of scene. Everyone was so tall and strong and healthy looking. He was used to being one of the smallest boys in his class at school, but at least by junior year there'd been lots of younger kids who were smaller. Not today. Here almost all the freshmen and sophomores were athletes, already bigger than he was. The girls as well as the boys.
He looked around for Tara, but didn't see her anywhere. I hope this isn't a bad sign– "Ow!" Feeling someone thwack him on the back of the head, he turned around.
It was Jess, dressed to thrill in tiny Daisy Dukes and a halter top, looking cross. "Hey you, you are so lucky you made up with Tara yesterday, or else I'd be kicking your butt right about now. You had her really upset."
He grinned sheepishly at the freckle-faced cheerleader. "Yeah, sorry. The whole 'telling Bonnie about us' drama had me freaked for a while. I was stupid."
"Duh," said Jess, hands on her hips. "Majorly stupid. T really likes you, Kevin. What's it gonna take for you to get the message?"
"I'm trying," he said, "but it's hard to believe. With my Food Chain ranking …"
The blonde held up an index finger. "Number One, Kevin. That's where you rank on Tara's scale, and hey, guess what?—that's the only one that counts. You need to learn it, live it, love it, Guberman—or that butt kicking I mentioned earlier? It will happen."
He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I get it. So, you know where she is?"
"No, after our rehearsal she went after Bonn—eek!" She shrieked in surprise as a tall, dark-haired boy came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her bare midriff and lifted her off her feet.
"Hey beautiful," said Kyle Monson, a baseball teammate of Steve's who'd also been Brick's backup at quarterback and was expected to take over the starting job in the fall. "You ready to ditch that shortstop and run away with me yet?"
Hey, sport, that's my best friend's girl you're pawing, Kevin thought.
"Sorry, Kyle," she said, turning her head slightly to smile at the broad-shouldered six-footer, "not gonna happen. I like my BF to wield a big bat."
Kyle released the cheerleader and came around to join the pair. "Ouch! You wound me, Sundstrum. What good is being the starting QB if I can't get a hot cheerleader girlfriend out of the deal?"
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Monson, the job's not yours yet," Jess admonished. "I hear that kid Matt Ryan from last year's freshman squad is pretty good."
"Yeah, he needs to bulk up and get more experience before he takes over the varsity, though. Hey, I just heard Tara and Morgan are history. Is she still available? I'd ask her out in a heartbeat."
Kevin narrowed his eyes at the big football player. I liked you better when you were hitting on Jess.
Jess laid a hand on Kevin's shoulder. "You're behind the times, Kyle. Tara's been seeing my friend Kevin here for about a week."
Kyle turned his attention to the smaller boy for the first time.
Go on, say it, Kevin thought. 'Tara, dating this munchkin?'
Then the big athlete's face lit up. "Hey, I know who you are! You're on the chess team, right?"
Kevin hadn't expected that. "Uh, yeah."
"You guys won Tri-City, didn't you? Way to go! I used to push the pieces around some myself, back in junior high. Never did get very good at it. Just a dumb jock, I guess."
Jess laughed. "Oh, spare me the humble act, Monson. You know the entire football playbook, offense, defense, and special teams, lettered in swimming and baseball too, and you still maintain, what?, a B-plus average? Yeah, you're sooo dumb!"
"And yet I can't make any time with you," he quipped. Turning to Kevin, he gave the lad a playful punch on the arm. "Hey, congratulations, you're one lucky dude. Tara's quite a girl."
"Yeah, I know."
"Well, I see some people I gotta talk to. See you 'round, Sundstrum. Nice meeting you, Kevin." He jogged away.
Jess turned back to Kevin, who was rubbing his arm. "Kyle and I go way back. We used to be next door neighbors."
"He seems like a good guy."
"He really is. So, anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. So, we rehearsed our dance, and then Tara went … oh! Here she comes now."
Kevin turned in the direction she was pointing and saw his girlfriend, clad in blue shorts and a white 'MHS Cheerleading' T-shirt, approaching.
"Hi Kev," she greeted him, smiling happily.
He slipped an arm around her waist and looked into her azure eyes. "Hi Tara."
"Careful, you two," Jess warned. "Mr. B already threatened Kim and Ron with detention for PDA. You don't want to be next."
They moved slightly apart, but still held hands.
"So, T, you track down Bonnie?" Jess asked.
Tara nodded. "Yeah, I talked to her. Weird convo, though. She didn't seem like her usual self. But whatever, I gave her the downlow, what she does with it is not my prob." She clasped Kevin's hand tighter and gave him a broad smile. "I'm all about my badical BF now."
"Great" Jess said. "Well, I've got to go find Steve. Traci Sandisfield's here in one of her low-cut tops, trying to catch his eye. I swear, that girl and I are going to have it out one day soon. Catch you guys later."
Tara and Kevin bid goodbye to their friend and began strolling hand-in-hand through the rapidly filling picnic area.
"Poor Jess, she thinks every girl in town is after her man. She only halfway trusts me," Tara said with a wry smile.
"Well, not that she needs to worry about Steve, but she's probably right about Traci." Kevin said, grinning. "She's at the batting cages nearly every day trying to flirt with him."
Tara snorted derisively. "I hope she's at least getting some good hitting practice in, 'cause if not she's totally wasting her time," she scoffed. "No girl takes a boyfriend away from a Middleton High cheerleader."
"Lucky you, you'll never have to worry about girls throwing themselves at me," he said wryly.
"True," she agreed.
Surprised and disappointed by her quick concurrence, he added, "Yeah, not like I'm any great catch."
Tara halted, making him do likewise. She pulled him off the path and into the shadow of a cotton candy stand.
Taking hold of his other hand, she gazed into his gray-blue eyes. "Oh, you are a prize catch all right, Kevin Guberman, it's just that any girls dumb enough to make a play for my guy will be too dumb to see it."
She released his left hand and slid her right behind his head, gently pulling him in for a kiss. She stopped short of lip contact, however, and pulled back.
"Oops, thought I saw Mr. B watching us. Don't want to get dinged for PDA. False alarm, though."
She pursed her full lips again, but this time Kevin, looking up over her head, pulled back.
"Hi, Mr. Monroe!" he said nervously.
to be continued ...