12
“A
re you all ready?” Valerie asks the Hi-Steppers squad.
“Ooo-OOO!” we all yell in unison.
“Well, then, let's rock this. Some misguided Longfellow Spartans seem to think that they are the spirit ambassadors of this school! But whose job is it to get the team pumped?”
“Hi-Steppers!”
“That's right!” Valerie says. “Hi-Steppers! Now we're going to help our team get a victory. Let's go!”
On our way out to the field, Kelani whispers to me, “What's up with Valerie? She's like super excited tonight! What do you think that's about?”
I don't answer Kelani, but I know exactly what it's about. Valerie is on a mission to get Ricky.
And Valerie proves what I'm thinking as soon as we step to the field. She starts her infamous booty popping as she passes the football team, and they all cheer. Well, all except Ricky. But he does have a strange expression on his face that I can't read. It almost looks like he's embarrassed about something.
“Hey, Ricky!” I say as I walk past. He smiles and greets me by pounding my fist.
“Hey, Gi-Gi! What it do?”
I can't help but giggle. Ricky sounds ri-darn-diculous every time he tries to be cool. He should just accept and embrace his inner nerd. It would make it so much easier on all of us.
“Boy, quit playing! Have a good game,” I reply as I follow the rest of the Hi-Steppers to the band section.
I scan the crowd, looking for Hope and the rally girls. I'm trying to spot them before Valerie does, because she's bound to do something off the hook. After seeing their bowling-party flyers and that little debacle at the pep rally, there's no telling what she might do.
Finally, I see Hope weaving in and out of the stands with an armful of flyers. She's wearing shiny red pants and a little black jacket. It must be part of the new rally girl apparel, because it looks like they're all wearing the same thing. Something tells me that Hope is their new unofficial leader, because she's all about rocking shiny clothing. Me ... not so much.
Jewel and Kelani sit down next to me, each of them holding a flyer. Kelani asks, “Are you going to this party or are you going to be at IHOP?”
“Where are y'all gonna be?” I ask, not wanting to be the first traitor among the Hi-Steppers.
Jewel scoots really close to me and says, “We asked you first.”
“Wait a minute,” I say, “are y'all trying to go to the rally girls' party?”
Kelani lowers her voice to a whisper. “It sounds like fun, and
everybody
is going except us! The football players, cheerleaders ... everybody!”
“So, if we go, who's going to break it to Valerie?” I ask, because this is really the most important question.
Jewel replies, “We think it should be you because you're the co-captain. You can stand up to her without getting bumped down to the B squad.”
“I guess I can do it. But you two better have my back! I'm not playing.”
Jewel and Kelani give me matching nods. Tonight they have opted for bright gold eye shadow to go along with their ponytails. I wonder if there's such a thing as multiracial twins, because these two had to be separated at birth.
As if on cue, Valerie stomps down the steps holding a handful of crumpled flyers. “Have y'all heard that everybody is going to this party?”
“Everybody but us,” Kelani says under her breath.
“What did you say, chica?” Valerie asks.
She's got a stank attitude for real. Her nostrils are flared and her face is a bright shade of red. I guess we can safely say that the rally girls have gone past the point of no return. They are now Valerie's mortal enemies.
I clear my throat and say, “Look, Valerie. We go to IHOP every week. Don't you think for once we could go along with someone else's program?”
“What are you saying, Gia? I do not understand the words that are coming out of your mouth,” says Valerie.
“Shall I say it in Spanish, chica?” I ask.
Valerie purses her lips and frowns. “Don't play, Gia. You're going to this lame bowling thing?”
“Yes, and so are Jewel and Kelani ... right, y'all?”
For once, the nonbiological twins don't seem to be on the same page. Kelani starts a nod, and Jewel is about to shake her head no. Then they each do the opposite gesture, as if they haven't decided.
“Well, which is it? Are you betraying the Hi-Steppers or not?” Valerie demands.
I roll my eyes furiously. “Look, girl. Nobody is betraying the Hi-Steppers. This is about having fun, and it looks like all the fun is going to happen at the rally girls' party. So the three of us are going.”
Candy walks up and joins the conversation. “I'll go wherever you go, Valerie. Are we still going to IHOP?”
“Yes, the loyal Hi-Steppers will be at our normal location.”
Jewel and Kelani drop their heads sadly. I reply, “Candy, you are going where I go. Do I need to walk over there to my mom and tell her you're trying to sneak off somewhere without me?”
I narrow my eyes and scowl at Candy. If she wants me to keep her klepto behavior a secret then she better not try to side with Valerie. A look of recognition flashes across her face. She
knows
what it is.
Candy says, “Sorry, Val. Gia's right. I do have to go with her, or my dad won't let me go at all.”
Valerie's eyes travel to each of our faces. It's not difficult to see that she's furious. She storms away to go and talk to the other seniors on the Hi-Stepper squad. They'll probably go along with whatever Valerie wants.
Jewel says, “Oh my goodness, Gia. You totally rocked just then. Valerie looked mad enough to kick you off the squad.”
“She probably will,” Candy warned. “And I won't feel sorry for you. Don't you know that Hi-Steppers are supposed to stick together?”
I want to laugh out loud. Candy has clearly become one of Valerie's disciples. I should give her a warning on how fast Valerie can change. Maybe I'll tell her to ask Hope about it.
“She can't kick me off the squad,” I say. “I'm a co-captain. But she can kick
you
off the squad, or she can at least recommend it to Mrs. Vaughn. So, I suggest you worry about getting this step right and forget about the after parties.”
“Gia!” I hear Kevin calling my name from a few rows behind us. I'm trying my best to pretend that I don't hear him.
“Gia!” he yells again.
Candy laughs. “Hey Gia, your man is calling you.”
“Ha, ha,” I reply.
“What's up, Kev!” I shout from my seat.
“We're picking teams for bowling tonight! Will you be on mine?”
I roll my eyes. “Sure, Kevin.”
“Ew!” Kelani says. “Are there going to be band geeks at the rally girls' party?”
“Band geeks?” I say with a glare. “That's not really cool, Kelani.”
Kelani drops her head, shamefaced. “Valerie always clowns the band.”
“Well, I don't do everything Valerie does,” I reply. “Kevin is my friend, whether he's in the band or not.”
Maybe it's time for me to step up and end Valerie's tyranny over the Hi-Steppers. She's got girls like Jewel and Kelani, who are really kinda nice, just being evil for no reason. That's not cool. I'm starting to think Valerie is not a happy person.
After the game, everyone finds a ride over to the bowling alley. Since I'm riding with Ricky, Hope, Kevin, and Candy, Gwen and LeRon let us have an extra hour and a half. We don't have to be home until after midnight, which is sweet!
Ricky is in a great mood, because they won the game, thirty-five to seven. Kevin is in the front seat and Candy is sandwiched between me and Hope.
Hope asks, “So, Ricky, are you looking forward to the Homecoming game? You should really be ready to show your stuff.”
“Yep. We're playing Normandy again this year, so I plan on putting a lot of points on the board.”
Kevin jumps in. “Speaking of Homecoming, Gia, I need a date, and I think you should go with me.”
Clearly, Kevin has lost his mind. Apparently, he has taken Pastor Stokes's
name it and claim it
message way too literally.
“Umm, Kevin. Why'd you have to go and kill the mood, boy?”
Everyone but Kevin bursts into laughter.
“So what about you, Ricky?” Hope asks. “Who are you taking?”
“I haven't given it much thought at all. Do I
have
to take a date? Can't I just show up?”
Candy replies, “The starting quarterback has to have a date! Ricky, don't you know anything about high school politics?”
“What do
you
know? You've been in high school for all of five seconds,” I say.
“I watch
Gossip Girl
,” Candy says in her defense.
Hope cracks up. “Girl, bye!”
Candy's little comedy break saved Ricky from having to either commit to a date with Hope or turn her down. Either option would've been all bad, I think. But the look on Hope's face tells me that she hasn't given up on Ricky.
By the time we get to the bowling alley, the party is already popping. There are Longfellow High students all over the place, and students from other schools too.
“Wow, Hope! This party is the bidness!” exclaims Candy.
Hope beams. “It wasn't just me, planning this. It was all of the rally girls working together.”
Ricky walks up with several pairs of bowling shoes. “Are y'all ready to get demolished?”
I cover my mouth, but the laughter spills out anyway. “Boy, whatever. Don't let that little football win blow your head up. We're gonna crush him, right, Kev?”
“That's right! Who else is on our team?” Kevin asks.
“Count me in,” says Hope. “I really want to beat Ricky now since he's talking mess.”
Candy says, “Ricky, I'll be on your team.”
“Can you bowl?” he asks.
Candy giggles and slaps Ricky on the arm. “Not really, but I just wanted to help you out.”
Ricky throws his arms into the air. “Can I get one decent player on my team?” he asks.
“I'll be on your team, Rick.”
Valerie stays sneaking up on somebody. She's standing here with her arms crossed, with Jewel and Kelani at her side.
“Umm, okay, sure. I guess,” Ricky says.
Hope looks about ready to explode, which in any other scenario would be quite hilarious to me. But since this is a Valerie-induced anger, I'm going to resist making any jokes that might make this situation worse.
Kevin grabs an empty lane for us and starts filling out the computerized score card. Why does he scribble his own name as “Kev-Dogg” on the screen? Every time I think he's ready to join us in the land of cool, he runs back to the dark side.
Jewel is on our team, and we let Rick's squad have Kelani. Now I think we're pretty even with player talent. Jewel claims she's never bowled before, so she should make up for Ricky's unfortunate Candy situation.
“So, Rick,” Valerie says as she slides up next to Ricky on the bench. “It is okay if I follow you to Cedar Point next week, right?”
Â
Ricky clears his throat nervously. “It's a straight shot. You just take Highway Two West the whole way. You can't miss it.”
Valerie snuggles up so close to Ricky that there is no space between them. “But I'd feel so much safer if I followed you. What if we get lost?”
Ricky scoots away from her. “Well, I don't care if you follow us. I'm driving with the people from my church. Be at Gia's house next Saturday morning at nine.”
Â
“Let's bowl, people!” Kevin says excitedly. He is
way
too pumped about this game.
Kevin goes first and makes a strike. He does some kind of crazy little move that he calls his victory dance. Umm, yeah, no.
The rest of us take turns throwing balls into the gutter or knocking down one or two pins. Even Ricky is playing horribly, and he's usually pretty good. Maybe he's tired from the football game, but I'm almost one hundred percent sure he's thrown off by all of the booty popping by Valerie and hair-flinging by Hope. Yes, he
does
seem to be a bit distracted by Hope, but I can't tell if he likes or dislikes the attention.