Hunted (5 page)

Cindi
was looking at me like I'd just grown another arm or something.
"Adri, that's the hardest routine the squad does. Miss Winters
wasn't actually expecting any of those girls to get all of the
routine, she just wanted to see how far they would be able to get. It
took me two weeks to get that routine down. The entire squad
struggled with this one. For days we did nothing but practice this
routine every waking moment we could find and then dream about it
while we slept."

I
shrugged, but I knew that the motion wasn't very convincing. I wanted
to tell her that I didn't know what was going on, that it was all
some kind of fluke, but I didn't want to lie to her. She'd actually
just hit the nail right on the head. I hadn't even remembered where
my knowledge of the routine had come from until right then.

She'd
dreamed about the routine, all of the cheerleaders had. They'd spent
their nights working through the routine and I'd somehow shared at
least some of their dreams. I should have remembered sooner than I
had, but none of it had stuck with my conscious mind until something
triggered an association between the practice sessions and the real
world.

"Will
you try something for me?"

The
request took me by surprise. Cindi was usually so self-contained that
it was rare for her to ask me for anything.

"Maybe.
What do you need?"

"Can
you try to do the routine for me? The hard one, the one that you
wrote down?"

I
shook my head. "No way. I'm not making a fool of myself,
especially not in front of someone like Alice."

"What
about if it's just me? No, wait, that won't work, you'll never
believe me. What about if it's just me and Sheree?"

I
didn't understand why she thought someone else needed to watch me
trip over my own feet as I tried to perform a routine I'd never
practiced, but she'd picked the one and only girl in the school that
everyone liked.

Sheree
Fieros was so incredibly nice that you couldn't even hold the fact
that she was pretty and talented against her. I couldn't imagine
Sheree making fun of anyone. She was the kind of girl who once I
finished up my routine would tell me how well I'd done, and she'd
really mean it, even though we'd both know that I'd done a terrible
job.

"Cindi,
I don't get why you want me to do this."

"Please,
Adri. We'll go around the corner of the school and it will just be
the three of us. I hardly ever ask anything from you but I'm asking
for you to do this now. For me, as your sister."

I
opened my mouth to tell her that I wasn't going to do it, but I
couldn't get the words out. I'd been wanting for us to be closer, but
that kind of thing didn't happen without taking some risks.

"Okay,
but only for you and Sheree."

Cindi's
grin was like sunshine and kittens wrapped into a fluffy blanket.
"Great! I'll go get Sheree and we'll meet you on the other side
of the school, back around in that section with all of the trees."

Still
wondering why I'd agreed, I picked up my things and started towards
the designated spot. I was setting myself up to fail. Just because
I'd spent a few nights inside the heads of a bunch of cheerleaders
didn't mean that I could do this. Memorizing a sequence of moves was
one thing, actually performing them was something else entirely.

I'd
nearly talked myself into backing out when Sheree and Cindi arrived.

"Adri,
I'm so glad that you're thinking about trying out. I can't blame you
for being a little nervous. I was totally nervous when I tried out
last year. If it hadn't been for my mom pushing me I don't know if I
could have gotten up the courage to try out."

I
shot Cindi a questioning look, but she made an encouraging motion and
I decided not to make a fuss about the fact that she'd told Sheree
that I was going to try out when I actually had no intention of doing
any such thing.

"So
I just start?"

Sheree
nodded brightly at me. "Yeah, you should probably go ahead and
assume beginning position just so that it's like it will be tomorrow,
but then just go for it."

I
started to ask her what the beginning position was, but realized that
I already knew. Apparently my dream education was good for at least a
little more than just memorizing the sequence of moves in the
routine. I placed my feet together, toes even, and then looked
forward with my fists on my hips and my elbows straight out from my
body.

I
probably would have stood there forever without moving, but all of a
sudden Cindi called out, "Ready!"

I
found myself responding with the "Okay!" that all of the
girls in my dreams had called out at the start of each routine.
Reflexes that I hadn't even realized I had suddenly took over and I
started waving my arms around and moving my feet in time to music in
my head that matched up to exactly what the girls performed to.

It
was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life. I'd never
practiced this routine before, but I
remembered
practicing it
dozens or maybe even hundreds of times. If I tried to think about
what I was doing then my movements got clumsy and halting, but if I
just let the routine flow out of me, then everything was smooth and
snappy.

I
threw myself into the last spin and then looked up to meet the eyes
of a satisfied Cindi and an astonished Sheree.

"Wow,
Adri. That was really, really good. I don't think you have anything
to be nervous about. There are still a few rough spots in there, but
you were head and shoulders better than anyone else we had out there
today."

I
would have dismissed Sheree's compliment, but even now she still
looked too shocked for it to just be something she was saying out of
simple politeness. Sheree shook her head and then turned to Cindi.

"How
long have the two of you been practicing that? I'm totally amazed.
Cheerleading barely leaves me time to finish my studies and sleep at
night. I don't know how I'd ever fit in the time to teach anyone else
the routines."

Cindi
just smiled and shrugged. "I can't take any credit, Adri's a
natural. How about if we do it one more time, Adri, only this time you
and I can do it in formation just like it will be tomorrow."

There
it was, the insinuation that I'd be trying out for Janessa's spot on
the team. I almost told Cindi no, but Sheree practically jumped out
of her sneakers.

"That's
a good idea. Cindi, you should start it off again. I'll watch and
this time I'll be ready so I can critique both of you."

Cindi
took up a spot to the right of me and once again when she yelled out
"Ready!" I responded and launched into the routine that I'd
never in a million years imagined that I'd be performing. It was
easier this time. I didn't try to fight my reflexes. Instead I just
shut my brain down and let my body take over.

At
one point Cindi and I were facing each other and I returned her smile
almost in spite of myself. I was actually having fun, which lasted
right up until I came around on the final spin and saw the other two
cheerleaders who'd been helping Cindi and Sheree.

Having
observers, especially those particular observers, made me nervous
enough that I messed up the next move and stumbled into Cindi. We
ended the routine tangled up in a knot on the ground. Sheree was
there instantly, helping the two of us up.

"You
guys were really rocking it there right up until the end. It was like
watching a pair of twins out there, I was super impressed! Adri,
you're as good as if you'd been on the team since the start of the
school year." Sheree clapped her hands over her mouth and
squealed in excitement. "Oh my gosh, I just realized what I
said. Miss Winters is going to be so happy. We all thought we'd have
to get a new girl up to speed but instead you'll be able to just pick
things right up. This is so great!"

The
other two cheerleaders didn't look very happy to find out that
Cindi's nerdy older sister was cheerleader material, and a couple of
the girls who'd been hoping to make it on the team themselves had
wandered around the edge of the school just in time to catch the end
of Sheree's outburst.

I
opened my mouth to tell everyone that they didn't need to worry, that
I wasn't planning on showing up for tryouts tomorrow, but Cindi
stepped on my foot and then innocently asked Sheree what time it was.

"Oh,
no. It's after five. I'm sorry, girls, but I've got to get home right
away or my mom is going to freak out. I'll see you both tomorrow!"

That
last bit was yelled back over her shoulder as she took off towards
the parking lot. It was like Sheree leaving was a signal. Everyone
else turned and went their separate ways, leaving me alone with
Cindi, who seemed desperately determined to have me join the
cheerleading team.

We
made it almost exactly halfway home before Cindi started begging me
to join the team. "Please, Adri. It would be so much better if
you were on the team with me."

"Why?
I don't see why it matters to you. I would have thought you'd feel
like I was stealing your thunder if I did something like that."

Cindi
looked at the ground for a couple of seconds before responding. "I
used to know what I wanted, but lately I feel like I'm just kind of
drifting. I thought maybe the problem was Janessa—she'd
actually been giving me a lot of crap for a while before the two of
you got in that fight. I think she'd figured out that I was the one
who was probably going to replace her if she couldn't keep everything
together."

I
almost stumbled. It was hard to imagine Cindi as anything other than
the self-assured golden child. A Cindi with doubts and social
problems was something new, something I wasn't quite sure how to
handle.

"Why
didn't you say anything? I didn't even know that she was being mean
to you."

Cindi
shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I felt bad. Half the reason she
was being nasty to you was probably just because you're my sister, so
I didn't want to say anything and give you another reason to hate
me."

"I
wouldn't have hated you."

"Maybe
not, but it's not like we've ever been very close. I didn't want to
risk giving you something else to hold against me."

My
throat tightened up. "I'm sorry that we've never been as close
as we should have. I think that's probably my fault. It's hard not to
be jealous of you. I mean look at you, you're practically perfect.
You're smart, you get good grades, you're pretty and skinny and
you're a cheerleader who pretty much everyone likes. It's hard to
compete with that."

Cindi
gave me an unhappy look. "Why does it have to be a competition?
You're practically as skinny as I am these days and you care a lot
less about what other people think than I do. Not only that, you're a
lot closer to Dad than I am. I think he's still trying to figure out
how he had a daughter who ended up as a cheerleader. He tries, but he
has a lot harder of a time relating to me than he does to you."

I
opened my mouth to protest that Dad loved her just as much as he
loved me, but she just kept going. "Do you know that you're the
reason that I get good grades? Back before I even started
kindergarten I saw how much of a big deal Dad made of you when you'd
bring your report card home. I decided right then and there that I
wanted to be smart like you."

I
kicked the ground. "I'm not sure who the joke is on there. It
turns out that I'm not smart at all."

Cindi
shook her head. "You don't get good grades any more, but that
isn't because you're not smart, it's because you stopped caring.
You're still smart, you've just been as lost in your own way as I've
been in mine for the last couple of years."

"I'd
like to be closer too. I…well, I've been thinking a lot lately
that there was something missing in our relationship. That's actually
why I went to that stupid practice with you. I've never wanted to be
a cheerleader."

"I
know you haven't, but this is a chance for us to spend more time
together. That's how we'd get to be better friends. You come do this
with me and I'll do something you like to do with you and over time
we'll grow to be as close as we both feel like we should be."

I
sighed and then shrugged. "Let me think about it a little. This
would be something totally out of my comfort zone."

Cindi
rolled her eyes at me. "It can't be that far out of your comfort
zone, not if you spent enough hours to learn that routine. I'm still
not sure when you found the time to practice without me finding out,
but I'm super impressed."

I
managed a wan smile. If Cindi and I had been better friends maybe I'd
have tried to tell her about my dreams, but as it was I was pretty
sure she just wouldn't believe me.

**

I
was still on cleaning duty as a punishment, but when we got home
Cindi volunteered to do all of the cooking by herself so that I could
get my chores done. It was a nice gesture. I knew she had an ulterior
motive behind the offer, but it was still a nice thing for her to
have done.

There
was a note on the fridge from Mom when we got home telling us that
she'd been planning on making lasagna, but that she wouldn't be home
until late because she was having dinner with a gallery owner that
had expressed some interest in her work.

With
just two of us in the house things were pretty quiet, but it was a
silence that was more companionable than normal. I called Dad when
the lasagna was twenty minutes from being done to see if he would be
home to eat with us, but I only got his voicemail, which Cindi and I
took as a good sign. Usually if he didn't take one of our calls it
was because he was on the road and hadn't heard his phone.