27
“D
id you hear?” Hope asks.
Okay, I'm not exactly speaking to Hope right now, but she doesn't know it. I'm really irritated how she used her pastor's-daughter status to muscle her way into our Homecoming crew. That was the opposite of cool.
I roll my eyes. “Did I hear what, Hope?”
“What's wrong with you?” she asksâI guess hearing how annoyed I sound.
“Nothing.”
She narrows her eyes. “Are you mad because I'm coming with you guys to Homecoming?”
“What do you think?”
“Why would you be mad? It's not like it's a date!”
“You're right. It's not a date.”
Okay, I have sooo had it with her. “Whatever, Hope! I've got to go to Hi-Steppers rehearsal. What did you want to tell me?”
“Oh, just that Susan beat Valerie for Homecoming queen.”
My mouth falls open. “You're joking.”
“Nope. I heard she won by a landslide too. They're gonna announce it in the morning.”
Valerie losing to Susan is pretty much the worst thing that could happen to the Hi-Steppers a week before Homecoming. It's going to be all bad. I'm putting her on Kevin's and Mother Cranford's prayer lists and the Hi-Stepper squad's too.
I can hear her screaming before I even walk into the locker room.
“How did this
happen
?” Valerie wails.
Kelani hugs Valerie tightly. “We all voted for you, Valerie.”
“Well, then
who
voted for Susan?”
I wonder if Valerie realizes just how many people don't like her. She's spent every school year terrorizing people she felt were beneath her. I'm thinking that maybe
only
the Hi-Steppers voted for her.
“I can't believe these people would come to my party, eat my food, and
not
vote for me!”
“That's bananas, Valerie,” Jewel says. “But at least you're still going to Homecoming with Romeo.”
“No, I'm not. He only wanted to be my date if I won! He won prince, and said that he needs to go to Homecoming with a princess.”
Candy quickly changes out of her prison clothing into her Hi-Steppers practice gear, and tries not to make eye contact with Valerie. But it doesn't work.
“What about you, Candy? Did you vote for me?” Valerie asks.
“Of course I did.”
Valerie balls her fists at her side and starts punching her own thigh. “Everyone keeps saying that they voted for me, but someone is lying! If I had all these votes, I'd be Homecoming queen! But I'm not. Susan is going to be on the field, in that float, wearing
my
crown.”
Karma is such a mean girl.
Next Valerie does something I've never heard her do. She's muttering in Spanish. Real Spanish. Not one
chica
is heard. You would need subtitles to understand what she's saying. Who knew she was really bilingual?
Out in the gym, Mrs. Vaughn blows her whistle, so even though Valerie is still spazzing out, the rest of the Hi-Steppers leave the locker room. We have to finalize our Homecoming-game routine, so Valerie has to get over her temper tantrum real quick.
“Let's warm up, ladies!”
Jewel comes over to stretch with me and whispers, “Can you believe how Valerie is tripping?”
“Yeah, it's crazy. But what about Romeo? That's foul that he's ditching her. I thought she had dirt on him.”
“She does, or did, anyway.”
“Did?”
Jewel whispers, “Well, Valerie helped Romeo buy some papers for his English class.”
“For real? Where did she get them?”
“She's got a hookup with someone she met online,” Jewel explains. “He was failing and Coach Rogers wasn't gonna let him play.”
“Oh.”
“But he's not in the class anymore, so he's not thinking about Valerie!”
Mrs. Vaughn yells, “Does anyone know where Valerie is? We've got a Homecoming routine to choreograph!”
“She's in the locker room having a meltdown because she didn't win the Homecoming queen title.”
“Gia, go in there and get Valerie. Tell her if she doesn't want to lose another title, then she better hustle herself on out here immediately.”
Dang! Why did Mrs. Vaughn have to send me? I'm no good at this comforting thing, especially with someone like Valerie.
When I walk into the locker room, Valerie is sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest. She's sobbing into her hands, and her entire body is shaking. Trust me, it's a pitiful sight ... all bad.
“Valerie,” I say quietly, “Mrs. Vaughn wants you to come out and rehearse for the game.”
“The Homecoming game? There's no way I'm stepping on Friday. I can't step while Susan is on the field wearing my crown.”
I sit down on the floor next to Valerie. “You know it's really not that serious, Valerie. For real, Homecoming is, like, one night.”
“It's not that serious to you, Gia. But I've wanted this since ninth grade.”
I bite my lip, trying to think of a different argument. “Are you going to let everyone see you twisted like this? I mean, I bet people didn't vote for you just because they wanted to see you lose it.”
“Whatever, Gia. They didn't vote because they're haters.”
“Well, my mother says that if you have haters then you must be doing something right.”
Valerie chuckles. “Your mom is a lame, Gia.”
“She is
not
!”
“I'm joking, chica.”
“Don't make me hurt you.”
Valerie stands. “So, I guess we should go to practice, huh?”
“Unless you plan to let the haters win.”
“Umm, no, never that.”
As we head back to the gym, a thought occurs to me. “Valerie, do you want to ride with us to Homecoming?”
“Who are you going with?”
“Kevin, Hope, and Ricky.”
Valerie scrunches her nose. “Do you think they'd mind me coming? It sounds like a double date.”
“It is sooo not a double date! You let me handle everybody else. You just be ready when we pick you up.”
Â
“No way, Gia.”
I just told Ricky about inviting Valerie to come to Homecoming with us and this is the reaction that I get. He is so not being a Christian about this.
“What would Jesus do, Ricky?” I ask as I start our dance step again.
Kevin, who is sitting on my living room couch, lets out a petite giggle. Yeah, it was petite, and unwelcome. I'm gonna need him to not laugh when I'm trying to make a serious point.
“Jesus would lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil,” Ricky replies.
Oh no, he didn't come at me with the Lord's Prayer. That's what I get for sparring with a church kid.
“Ricky!”
“No, Gia. I'm putting my foot down. It's my car.”
I narrow my eyes angrily. “Okay, well if you are too mean to take Valerie, then I'm not going.”
“Gia, if you don't want to go with him, I can drive,” Keven says. “I'll pick you up in my grandfather's Cadillac.”
I vote no to Kevin and the rusty Cadi. He's been trying to get me in that car ever since he got his driver's license.
But for the sake of argument I say, “Cool, Kev. It's on then. Pick me up at six on Saturday.”
“Cool!” The way Kevin's eyes light up is definitely not the business.
“Wait a minute,” Ricky says. “That leaves me alone with Hope.”
I reply, “Sounds like a date to me.”
“It sure does!” Kevin says. “If you had wanted to be alone with Hope, all you had to do was tell us.”
Kevin and I burst into laughter and share a high-five. Ricky scowls at both of us and sits down on the couch.
“I won't go alone with Hope. I just won't go at all. How about that?”
I can feel the smile creeping up on my face. I've got him exactly where I want him, but he doesn't even know it.
“You could stay at home, but how do you think the rest of the football team would feel if the starting quarterback just didn't show up at the Homecoming dance?”
Ricky frowns and I guess that he's considering his options. After a few moments, he gets up and walks over to the CD player. He presses Play, and Ne-Yo's “Closer” blares from the speakers.
“Well?” Ricky asks.
“Well what?”
“Are we making up a step or not?”
Now the smile blooms across my face. “We're still making up our step? Does that mean you're going?”
Ricky nods.
“Are we taking Valerie too?”
Ricky nods again. I jump and hug Ricky around his neck. “Thank you, Ricky! You won't regret it, I promise.”
“I'm sure I will,” Ricky replies.
28
T
he Homecoming game is so not a pretty sight for Valerie. She's trying her hardest to not look pressed, stressed, or twisted that she's not a part of the Homecoming court. She's coming up miserably short.
Valerie and I stand in the front row of the bleachers, pretending to cheer for Ricky and the rest of the Spartans. It's not like they need our cheers, though. They are crushing the Normandy Eagles.
Valerie halts all clapping and cheering when Romeo runs a catch in for a touchdown. The hate in her eyes is really ridiculous. I mean, I was extra salty when he left me at the beach, but I know I didn't have this kind of anger.
She needs to do what Mother Cranford says and lay it on the altar. That means that sometimes people do things or things happen that are so bad that you can't do anything else but tell God about it and let Him handle it. That's what Valerie needs to do, for real.
Valerie jumps when I place my hand on her back. “What?” she asks.
“Nothing. Are you okay?”
She smiles wickedly. “Of course I'm okay.”
I don't like the look on her face. I mean, she's looking super sick right now. “I'm serious, Valerie.”
“I am too.” Valerie folds her arms and raises one eyebrow. Now I know she's up to something.
“Valerie, whatever you're planning, don't do it. It's not worth it.”
“Gia, you're such a good girl, you really are. But that isn't me. I can't operate being the goody-goody.”
Okay ... whatever. She's got me standing up here sounding like a straight-up preacher's kid. If she wants to make a fool of herself doing whatever she has planned, then that's her business. I can't be Captain Save-a-Chica every time.
And can you believe she called me a goody-goody. Eh ... no!
Since it's not quite time for us to line up for the halftime show, I walk over to where my mom, LeRon, and Candy are sitting. The only reason they let her come to the game is because LeRon didn't trust her to be at home by herself.
That's completely tragic that they don't trust her, but on the upside, they didn't make her wear the prison clothes to the game.
Gwen calls Candy's punishment outfit “prison clothes,” because, in her words,
Honey, you only get one outfit when you go to prison and that's where you're headed if you keep taking things that don't belong to you.
“Hi, Mom!” I say as I lean into the row to give Gwen a kiss on the cheek.
“Hey, Gia.”
“Hi, Candy. Hi, LeRon.”
LeRon says, “Gia, shouldn't you be down there with the squad?”
“I will in a minute, but I wanted to come and say hi.”
Candy doesn't say anything to me. I guess she's heated about being on punishment.
“Hey,
Candy
!” I say her name extra loud so she can't ignore me.
“It's bad enough that I have to be here with the parental units. Don't expect me to be happy about it,” Candy replies and then turns her head back to the action on the field.
Gwen asks, “Where's Hope? Is she here tonight?”
I point over in the direction of the rally girls. They are super hyped tonight because of Susan's Homecoming victory. They're all wearing red velour track suits, looking like they're on their way to yoga class or something.
Gwen waves over at Hope. “Well, it looks like she's having fun.”
“I'm sure she is, Mom. I have to go back with the Hi-Steppers. See you after IHOP.”
“Don't stay out past curfew, Gia, or you will not be attending the dance tomorrow night.”
“Okay, Mom. Gotcha!”
Umm, seriously, I think Gwen got all hardcore right then, for LeRon and Candy's benefit. Because first and foremost, I'm never late for curfew. On the real, I'm always about ten to fifteen minutes early. I know Gwen isn't playing on that. And second, there is no way I'm doing anything to get me grounded before Homecoming. I missed it last year because I was on some foolish stuff with Romeo.
Right before we get ready to march onto the field Hope jogs up to the Hi-Steppers' line. I can't think of anything that she would want, other than to rub Valerie's face in her defeat. That is not cool, even if Valerie owns the title of mean girl.
“Hey, Gia. What are you wearing tomorrow?” Hope asks.
Okay, seriously. Is that the best thing she could come up with? “A blouse and some jeans probably. Why?” I say. Of course, I fail to mention my color coding with Kevin and Ricky.
“Well, because I wanted to see if you wanted us to dress similar or something. Not alike, but just similar.”
I watch Valerie's shoulders shake up and down in silent laughter. She's standing directly in front of me in the Hi-Steppers' line, so there is no way that she can hide her inner giggles.
“What is so funny, Valerie?” I ask.
“Nothing, except that dressing like twins went out in, like, 2002. So completely and utterly lame. I can't believe I'm rolling with y'all to Homecoming.”
I bite my lip because I don't want to have this conversation right now. I've got to get my head in the game and remember the step, so I'm truly not trying to have an argument with Hope.
But, of course, it looks like she has other ideas.
“Is this true, Gia? Is Valerie going with us? Since when?”
“Yes, yes, and since two days ago,” I reply. “Any more questions?”
Hope crosses her arms and narrows her eyes in Valerie's direction. “I won't go anywhere with her.”
“Suit yourself,” Valerie says with a chuckle. “Then I won't have to worry about you trying to ride shotgun with Rick.”
Hope's lips form a tight little O. “You are soooo not riding shotgun with Ricky.”
I respond, “Well, I guess you have to go with us to keep that from happening, right? Plus, I thought we were clear on the whole
not a date
thing. Who cares who rides shotgun with Ricky? It doesn't mean anything.”
Hope sneers angrily in Valerie's direction. “If I can't have him, then you definitely can't have him!”
“Boo, you don't tell me who I can and cannot have! Anyway, I don't
want
Ricky. I was just messing with you. It's obvious that he and Gia like each other, and Hi-Steppers don't share boys.”
Hope looks from me to Valerie and storms away. Why do they have to keep making this about me and Ricky? It's like they're both trying to force the issue of Ricky and me getting together. If it's gonna happen, it'll happen, but dang, we don't need any help. Especially not from certified haters!
As we get ready to march onto the field, I watch Valerie pull Kelani by the arm and say, “Are you ready, chica?”
Kelani nods grimly, like she doesn't appreciate what Valerie said. It kind of reminds me of when a teacher asks you if you're ready for a test, and you aren't
really
ready, but you can't say no because it's the teacher.
“What's going on?” I ask loud enough for both of them to hear me.
Valerie replies, “Nothing. I'm talking about the step. What did you think I was talking about?”
Before we march onto the field, the Homecoming court rides across the field on floats made by the rally girls and the Student Council. The decorations are decent, but seriously, those floats look hazardous. They couldn't pay me to ride on one of them.
As the floats make their last lap around the field, the Hi-Steppers follow the marching band out to the fifty-yard line. Since it's Homecoming, we are stepping to the school song. I know it's boring, but it's a tradition.
Immediately, I can tell that something is off with Valerie, because she's not even attempting to do our step. She's marching forward, separating herself from the rest of the Hi-Steppers. At the end of the school song, she pulls something out of her pocket.
It's a whistle.
She blows three times on the whistle and the band stops playing. The drum major throws his baton into the air and as he catches it he points at Valerie. Her back is to us, but I can almost guarantee she's smiling.
After a long pauseâlong enough for everyone in the bleachers to stare down at the fieldâKelani runs over to the drum major and takes the cape and top hat from his outstretched hands.
Okay, what's really going on?
Next Kelani places the hat on Valerie's head and drapes the cape over Valerie's shoulders.
The drum major takes his megaphone and shouts to the band. “Who's the real queen of Longfellow High?”
“VALERIE!” the band shouts in unison.
“I can't hear you!”
“VALERIE!”
The drum major yells, “Spell it OUT!”
“V-A-L-E-R-I-E!” The drummers pound the snare drums with each letter.
I'm convinced that Valerie has lost her entire mind. If I needed any more proof, she gives it to me by strutting across the field, waving that cape from side to side. No one in the bleachers claps or cheers. In fact, some of them boo, but I guess Valerie doesn't need their approval.
After she's done showing off, Valerie marches off the field with the rest of the Hi-Steppers and the band behind her. Mrs. Vaughn is not one of Valerie's fans, because she snatches the cape from Valerie's shoulders.
When we're seated in the bleachers I ask, “Valerie, how did you get the drum major to go along with that?”
Valerie laughs. “Gia, I thought you knew me! I happen to be irresistible to boys, chica. It was actually pretty easy. I told him I'd go to the Homecoming dance with him.”
“So you're not going with us now? Why did you mess with Hope then, if you knew you weren't coming with us?”
“Well, I had to make sure everything went down as planned before I cancelled my plans with you guys.” Valerie gives me a weak smile. “Truthfully, though, your friends aren't really my cup of tea.”
“Since when? You were just trying to holla at Ricky a few weeks ago.”
“That was before I realized he was truly a lame. And that Kevin ... Gia, you can't expect me to show up anywhere with him.”
This time I laugh. “Okay, I'll give you that. Kevin is a bit extra. But he's one of my best friends, so I can't let you talk bad about him.”
Mrs. Vaughn glares at us from the field. “You better hope you're irresistible to Mrs. Vaughn too!” I say. “She looks like she's about to explode.”
“She'll be all right,” Valerie replies. “Plus, it was totally worth it!”
I will say this about Valerie; she definitely goes after what she wants. Sometimes she gets it and sometimes she doesn't, but she never sits on the side waiting for someone else to do something.
Out of all her qualities, this is the only one I actually admire. Go figure.
“Gia ...” Valerie says.
“Yes?”
“I didn't get to really thank you for inviting me to Homecoming with you guys. That was cool of you, and you didn't have to do it.”
“It was nothing!”
“Well, thanks anyway.”
Mrs. Vaughn walks toward us and Valerie jumps to her feet. “Tell her I had to go to the bathroom!”
“Okay,” I reply with a giggle.
Now who would've thought that Valerie would appreciate a random act of kindness?