Hunted (16 page)

We
were nearly to my last classroom and all of a sudden I realized that
he hadn't just happened to run into me, he'd purposefully come and
found me.

"Not
that I'm complaining or anything, but why are you following me
around?"

Jackson
shrugged. "It's probably nothing, but I made a promise to those
three lowlifes yesterday. I figured that if they were going to try
anything they'd probably do it in about the same place, which means
either before or after your last class."

A
rush of warmth and happiness moved from the tips of my toes up
through the top of my head. Jackson was acting like it was no big
deal, but no guy, other than my dad, had ever made that kind of
effort on my behalf.

"Thanks,
Jackson. I appreciate it. I appreciate it a lot actually."

"Don't
worry about it. I'll be here a few seconds after school gets out and
we can go to the locker rooms together."

I
practically floated over to my assigned seat. I'd actually been
considering quitting the team in an effort to make things better
between Cindi and me, but there was no way I was going to do that
right now. I finally had an iron-clad reason to spend time with
Jackson; I wasn't just going to throw that away, not without a lot
more in the way of proof that quitting would make things better with
Cindi, and not until I'd had a chance to get to know him better.

I
went slower than usual when it came to gathering up my books, and
when I stood up from my desk and turned back to the door Jackson was
waiting for me just as promised. We walked back to my locker and then
over to his more or less in silence, but it was the companionable
kind of silence that you usually only find between people who've
known each other for a really long time.

Half
of the team had arranged their schedules so that they had their PE
class last. It was actually kind of smart because it meant that they
just changed into their practice clothes once and then didn't have to
worry about getting sweaty and going back to their other classes.

It
was hard to be sure around all of the other girls who were changing
back into their street clothes, but it seemed like there weren't as
many cheerleaders in the locker room as normal. I slipped on some of
Cindi's old clothes that she'd gifted me when I joined the team and
then put all of the rest of my things in my duffle bag.

It
was actually a good thing that I didn't have PE this semester.
Cindi's clothes more or less fit now that I was skinnier, but some of
the stuff she'd given me was from a year or two ago when she was a
little shorter than she was even now. I was pretty sure that the
shorts and tank top I was wearing now weren't quite in keeping with
the school regulations. Miss Winters wouldn't mind, but Coach Bellor
would.

Jackson
was waiting for me outside the girls' locker room and the smile he
gave me when he saw what I was wearing made my face heat up. I
honestly didn't know how to handle guys looking at me like that. It
had never been an issue before now, but I decided I liked it. I
wasn't about to go start dressing like a skank, but anything that
helped Jackson notice me wasn't all bad.

Miss
Winters was out on the sidelines of the football field in her normal
place, but she was obviously unhappy about something.

"Ah,
Adri, Jackson, good, you're here. I was starting to wonder if I was
going to have a team left by the time that school got out."

I
looked around and realized that while she was exaggerating slightly,
she wasn't that far off. Half of the team still looked like it was
missing.

"What
happened?"

My
question drew another frown out of her. "PE is what happened.
Coach Bellor started a game of girls-against-guys dodgeball and then
left to go take a call. Apparently there was more than the usual
amount of trash talk and a bunch of girls got hurt."

"How
hurt? Will they be okay?"

"Yeah,
nothing serious, at least it doesn't look like any of the injuries
are really bad, but we're down five girls. Two of them got slight
concussions from running into each other, and the other three have
sprained ankles."

I
had to force myself to close my mouth. What Miss Winters was
describing was that amazing. Stuff like that just didn't happen in
real life. Movies and TV sure, but not real life.

"That's
a third of the team."

"Yeah,
but that's not the end of it. Jesse and Jenny both asked to be
excused from practice. Normally I would have just told them no, but
given how many girls we've already lost I decided to let them go,
which means that we've got exactly ten girls left."

Miss
Winters took a deep breath, visibly calming herself down before
continuing. "Given all of the missing girls, and the fact that
some of the girls who are going to be here are a little worse for
wear from the dodgeball game, I've decided that we're going to do a
flyer practice today. We have just enough people that we can have the
three regular flyers and you all practice at the same time."

My
stomach started doing flip flops. Practicing with Sheree in the dream
world had actually been kind of fun, but I didn't know how similar
that would be to the real world. Miss Winters patted me on the arm.

"Don't
worry. You're the tallest flyer, so I'll have Jackson with you all of
the time. Some of the others will rotate so that everyone gets a
chance to work with different spotters and the like, but Jackson
won't be rotating."

My
nod was a little shaky, but she didn't seem to notice. I watched as
she hurried over to talk to some of the other girls. I'd been trying
to keep my nerves from being on display for the entire world to see,
but Jackson obviously knew how badly our first practice together had
gone. He touched my shoulder and pulled me around slightly so that I
was looking at his face.

"This
is going to be okay. Nothing bad happened to you yesterday and
nothing bad is going to happen today. You can do this. It's no
different than the stunt we pulled at the game. You just need to
relax and trust me. You're still overthinking everything."

I
nodded and closed my eyes for a second. "I do trust you; it's
just there is so much that could go wrong despite your best efforts."

Jackson
smiled. "Nothing will go wrong. You're safer with me spotting
you than with anyone else in this school."

Our
conversation was cut short as the last few girls trickled out onto
the field and Miss Winters called for us to group up. I tried to
listen as she explained what we were going to be doing, but my mind
kept skittering away from the fact that I was about to simultaneously
risk my life and humiliate myself in front of half the cheer squad.

No
matter how hard I tried to focus on Miss Winters' words, my attention
wandered. While she was explaining about the injuries that had
sidelined the other girls, I noticed the fact that a slight breeze
had started up sometime between lunch and now. As she started
assigning spotters to flyers, my gaze drifted over to the football
team, who looked like they were going to be practicing on the field
at the same time as us today.

Miss
Winters threw her hand into the center of the circle and as I
followed suit and yelled the obligatory "Go Wolves," I
realized that I didn't know what I was supposed to do next. Jackson
put a surreptitious hand on my back and guided me over to the far end
of the line of girls.

"We're
over here, we're starting with basket tosses."

I
wondered if I was in shock as Tessa and Daphne interlocked their arms
and crouched down slightly. I felt Jackson's hands on my waist and
heard him softly count to three and then I was standing on the basket
with one hand on each girl's shoulder. Four seconds later I was
airborne.

It
wasn't a great launch, but that was my fault more than theirs. The
dozens of times that I'd practiced this stunt with Sheree last night
hadn't been enough to completely hardwire in a new set of reflexes,
so I didn't push off with my hands hard enough, but Tessa and Daphne
were much stronger than Cindi and Sheree and they launched me
impossibly high into the sky.

The
extra hang time should have terrified me even more, but instead it
gave me time to get past the initial rush of fear. There was a brief
instant at the very top of my jump when I was completely weightless
and the world slowed down enough for me to appreciate just how vivid
the colors were here in the real world.

Things
really were a little different in the dream world and it went beyond
just the colors and the way that objects tended to get soft and
blurry when you weren't directly looking at them. That initial thrust
of acceleration as the girls launched me skywards hadn't been as
strong with Sheree and I hadn't gotten the timeless instant at the
top of the jump with her.

Maybe
it was because she'd been doing it for so long that some of those
things were old hat for her, or maybe it was just that she
experienced a basket toss in a different way, but doing the basket
toss for real had a surge of excitement to it that was exactly what I
needed. I couldn't have done it without the drills Sheree had put me
through, but it wasn't the drills that finally made me okay with
putting my life in other people's hands, it was the sheer thrill.

I
nearly messed up the landing. If Jackson hadn't reached up and
grabbed my shoulders at the last second the girls probably couldn't
have caught me safely, but he did and they did. As soon as my feet
hit the ground I spun back towards them with a smile on my face.

"Let's
do it again. I can do better than that."

The
next basket toss went off almost perfectly. I assisted with the
launch and even kicked my legs out a little at the top before coming
down for a much more controlled landing. My grin just got bigger and
bigger as the practice went on.

Miss
Winters ran us through all of the stunts that I'd screwed up so
terribly with Cindi and Sheree the day before. I didn't get them all
perfect, but I did really well and I got better and better with each
stunt. I lost Tessa and Daphne a couple of stunts in, but Jackson
stayed with me and somehow I knew that he really wouldn't let
anything happen to me.

By
the end Miss Winters was having us synchronize our jumps, which was
harder than I expected because different bases threw the different
girls at different speeds, but it actually went pretty well all
things considered.

I
ended the practice hot, sweaty, and feeling drunk from the
endorphins. Miss Winters congratulated us all on a good practice
session and then dismissed us. I was leaning against Jackson, still
trying to catch my breath when Miss Winters came over to us.

"That
was really, really well done, Adri. I was hoping that you'd display
at least a little of the natural talent that Cindi has so much of. I
never expected you to be this good so fast. I'm not sure I've ever
seen anyone pick up stunting this quickly before."

"Thanks,
Miss Winters. I'm not sure what happened, it just all clicked for me.
It helped to have such good bases, especially Jackson."

She
nodded and gave me a brilliant smile. "You've given me a lot to
think about today, Adri."

I
watched her walk away for a few seconds and then turned back to
Jackson. "Thanks again, Jackson. I couldn't have done any of
that without you."

"I'm
glad that you've started to trust me, Adri. I really won't let
anything happen to you out here on the field."

There
was a teasing look in his eyes, but the words had the feeling of
being carefully measured out. Jackson gave me one last nod. "I'd
offer to walk you home, but my mother is expecting me."

"That's
okay, I should probably spend some time alone with Cindi anyways and
the walk home is about as good a chance as I'm probably going to
get."

I
knew I should probably go back to the locker room and change into my
street clothes, but I just couldn't seem to bring myself to turn away
from Jackson. I told myself that I had all of my clothes and books
with me between my backpack and my duffle bag and that I could always
just walk home in my workout clothes.

Under
normal circumstances it wasn't something I would have been very keen
on, but apparently it was enough of an option for me to just sit
there and watch Jackson until he turned onto the street and
disappeared behind one of the houses.

Jackson
no longer being where I could see him broke some kind of spell and I
realized that given how unhappy Cindi was with me that there was a
chance that she'd just choose to leave without me.

I
walked over to my bags and picked them up, but when I turned back
towards the school I realized that I wasn't by myself any more.
Tristan flashed me the winning, all-American smile that always made
Cindi's heart flutter and then held out a hand as though offering to
help me with my bags.

"Hi,
Adri. I've been trying to catch you by yourself for a couple of days
now, but you're like a ghost. I don't even know where your locker is
and you weren't at lunch today."

"You
could have asked Cindi. Since I started cheering she knows my
schedule better than I do."

Tristan
shrugged. "It's okay, luckily Coach let us go about the same
time as you got done, so we can talk right now."

I
debated for a couple of seconds and then put my backpack in his
outstretched hand. "Okay, we can talk, but let's talk while
we're walking. I need to find Cindi and you'll want to say hi to her
anyway."

Tristan
grabbed my arm, completely stopping my forward motion and pulling me
back around to where I didn't have any choice but to look him in the
eye.

"You
didn't come to the party after the last game, but you said maybe
another time. A few of the guys and I are planning on going up to a
cabin in St. Cloud the week your parents are going to be out of town.
Come with me."