I smile. “My lips are sealed.”
“He’d totally take it the wrong way,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Alpha males are the worst, I can’t believe I fell for one.”
“I can’t either,” I say honestly, but I think it’s kind of funny. “Do you think you guys will get married?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure I ever want to get married, but if I did, I probably would marry his difficult, unruly ass.”
She sounds so surly about it, I have to laugh despite the more sober threads of this conversation. “Well… I think it will definitely take some getting used to, but one of us was bound to live with a man eventually, right?”
“Statistically speaking, I suppose it was probable.”
“So we might as well try it out now,” I say with a shrug. “I really like Ray, and while it might be strange at first, who knows? It could be kind of nice spending my last year at home living like a nuclear family.”
Mom clutches her throat dramatically. “I’ll have to get some pearls.”
I nod in agreement. “We’ll get you one of those cheery sundresses you liked, too.”
She gasps and looks over at me excitedly. “With lace?”
“All the lace your heart desires,” I promise. “My treat.”
Mom grins at me and says playfully, “Aww. I have the best daughter.”
I smile back, but I really mean it when I tell her, “And I have the best mom.”
Chapter Thirty
Riley
Once Mom inadvertently assured me that even if Hunter did impregnate me, it wouldn’t mean my life was over, I stop stressing about it so much.
My tryout at Deb’s Diner goes well; she asks me to come in Wednesday evening for one more day of training and she’ll put me on the schedule to work on my own next Sunday. Two days of training doesn’t seem like enough to me, so I bring home the menu Sunday night so I can study it.
As thrilled as I am about finally finding gainful employment, I’m not so sure about the uniform. Deb’s place is a cute little diner with a distinct retro feel, so in keeping with the vibe, all the waitresses have to wear quintessential diner garb—fitted red dresses with gingham aprons and high ponytails.
I’m one step away from a cheerleader’s uniform, but instead of jumping around with pom poms shouting “go, team, go!” I’ve time-traveled here from 1950 and I’m carrying a tray with milkshakes and red, paper-lined baskets overflowing with fries.
I feel like I’m dressing up for Halloween when I try it on, but at least I didn’t have to pay for it. Extras I’ll have to pay for, but the initial uniform is on Deb, I just have to return it if I ever stop working there.
On Monday morning, I get another delivery—a bouquet of orange flowers this time, with a special edition of Anna Karenina. In place of a note, he included a quote from the book on the card.
‘One must find out what he is arguing for, what is precious to him...’
In the context of the book, it’s hardly a romantic passage, but the way he singled out that line for me… the meaning feels much different.
I sigh, unable to toss any of the gifts in the trash this time.
He makes it a lot harder to stay mad at him when he courts me with books.
I still don’t unblock his number, though.
___
Between work, home, and school stuff, the week flies by.
There’s a pep rally on Thursday to get everyone hyped up for the big homecoming game Friday night. Lucky me, I get to cover it for the school paper.
As I push my way toward the front of the crowd, I look around for Sara. Normally we’d sit together at something like this, but I have to take pictures, so I can’t sit in the bleachers with her. Just when I’m worried she’ll be stuck sitting alone, I spot her among Valerie’s non-cheerleader pals. She’s talking to Sonja Menendez and doesn’t even see me.
I don’t know how to feel about that situation, but I shove it away and focus on my assignment.
Music fills the gymnasium. The varsity cheerleaders come out, bouncing, jumping, even doing the occasional cartwheel. The crowd gets loud as they cheer and hype everybody up. The MC talks them up, cracks some jokes, and makes a couple of borderline inappropriate comments before loudly urging the crowd to make some noise.
The a cappella kids come out next. The cheerleaders hang back, brandishing their pom poms along with the tune as the a cappella kids start with a rendition of the national anthem, then sing one of the songs they’re practicing for the fall jam.
Afterward, the MC talks some more about the cheerleaders. They go through a more complex cheer routine with backflips and flying and all sorts of flexible fuckery.
I snap pictures and quietly hope that when it’s Valerie’s turn to fall, the people underneath will forget to catch her.
No such luck.
More music as the cheerleaders line up and dance and gyrate and clap.
The MC says, “And you all know who they’re cheering for. Let’s hear it for our varsity football team!”
The crowd screams, but not loud enough. The MC demands more noise, and the crowd obliges.
There’s so much movement and noise in the gym, I can feel the vibrations inside my body. But when the football players start streaming out in their letter jackets and waving at the crowd, the thrumming inside me has nothing to do with the noise.
I try to ignore the way my insides tense, how it feels like I’m holding my breath until I see Hunter.
I thought he’d be leading the charge, but I guess they went for the save the best for last mentality, because he’s at the very back of the line. When he finally emerges and waves with that winning smile in place on his handsome face, the crowd loses their collective shit.
I couldn’t care less about football, but the enthusiasm of the crowd is catching. Even I’m starting to feel a little foam-finger-wag of team spirit.
At least, I am until the cheerleaders run over to usher the team to the folding chairs set up for them at the back of the room (apparently they can’t be trusted to find those themselves) and Valerie bounces over to give Hunter a kiss.
My heart sinks when I realize what she means to do. Cracks as she makes contact.
But then I realize… he turned away. Her lips only catch his cheek.
My stomach does a somersault.
Hunter pretends nothing happened and Valerie tries to play it off, but when she turns around, I can see how flushed her face is even underneath the layers of makeup.
Hunter looks right at me like he’s known precisely where I’m standing in this crowded gymnasium since he entered it. A seemingly impossible feat in this sea of bodies, nearly all of them wearing the school colors.
Then he winks at me.
My stomach jumps, and my heart does flips that would put even the most athletic cheerleader to shame.
I feel myself flush. Even though I know he can’t tell from so far away, I lift the camera under the guise of needing to take some pictures. Really, I just need to hide my face.
More music plays and the cheerleaders do another number. Valerie finds me on the sidelines by pure accident and shoots me a look that should sink me six feet under the gymnasium.
I’m tempted to smile at her, but I resist the urge to be needlessly mean. That’s her thing. Yes, I hate her, but I’m sure she’s embarrassed enough; I don’t need to add to it.