A Non-Blonde Cheerleader in Love (16 page)

Aw, yeah!

“ ‘ Win, Win, Win!’ Ready?” Tara shouted.

“Okay!

Come on! Yellow and blue! Win! Win! Win!

Come on! Yellow and blue! Win! Win! Win!”

We shifted formation and the girls at the front grabbed their signs from the floor. I took my position at the center of the squad with Daniel, Terrell and Joe around me.

You can do this, Annisa. Don’t get scared, now. Show those West Wind girls what you’ve got.

“Come on! Sand Dune fans! All join in!

Come on! Sand Dune fans! Win! Win!
Win!
”

Chandra, Autumn and Tara thrust their signs into the air one at a time and the crowd responded louder and louder with each successive “Win!”

“Come on! Sand Dune fans! Win! Win!
Win!
”

“Once more!” Tara shouted.

“Here we go,”
Daniel said under his breath.

On the count I popped up onto his and Terrell’s hands. I stayed tight and concentrated, staring straight ahead.

Down, up, over, down. Down, up, over, down. Down, up, over—

“Come on! Sand Dune fans! Win!”

Down, up!

“Win! Win!”

And I flew into the air higher than I’d ever flown before. I heard the crowd gasp and wanted to close my eyes, thinking something was wrong. But instead, I executed my layout, thrust my arms out at my sides and hoped for the best as I plummeted toward the ground.

Just don’t crack open your skull. You
need
your skull,
I heard a little voice whisper.

And the next second I was safe in Daniel’s, Terrell’s and Joe’s arms. My eyes opened in surprise and it was the first moment I realized I
had
closed them. Oops! They popped me to my feet and I could feel the glee and relief radiating off the guys as we all thrust our arms into the air and ran back to the stands. Coach Holmes was beside herself, applauding and shaking her head as she laughed. The whole crowd was on its feet, even the fans from other schools.

“That was sweet!” Terrell said, slapping my hand as he sat down behind me.

“No doubt,” I said.

As we sat, we all saw the West Wind girls filing out into their lobby. They looked like they’d just been through electroshock group therapy, and their green complexions matched their uniforms. Oh yeah. Bringing guys onto the squad was a good idea. I no longer cared what Tara or anyone else said. The looks on those girls’ faces made it all worth it.

 
When we walked into the gym on our first Monday back, Coach Holmes and Coach Rincon were sitting on the bottom bleacher, turned toward each other, their knees practically touching. Autumn stopped in her tracks and I nearly slammed right into her.

“What?” I said.

“Shhh!” She backed me out of the gym as Chandra, Tara and a few other girls came up behind us. “There’s a total love vibe in the air in there.”

“Huh?” Tara said as we gathered around the windows.

Coach Holmes giggled and shoved Coach Rincon’s shoulder backward. He reached out and touched her face with his hand. Holy inappropriateness. They were staring into each other’s eyes. Gazing, actually.

“Omigod. Did she just
giggle
?” Chandra said.

“Are they gonna
kiss
?” Tara asked.

The guys came up behind us and I knew there was no way we could let them see this. They already gave Coach Holmes enough crap. This would send them into spasms. I yanked the door open and practically shouted over my shoulder.

“Aren’t you guys
so
psyched to be back?”

My maneuver had the desired effect. The coaches sprang apart and stood up. Coach Holmes cleared her throat and Rincon took a deep breath, smoothing down the front of his shirt.

“Hello, everyone!” Coach Holmes called out, clutching her clipboard for dear life. “Welcome back!”

“How was
your
break?” Autumn asked pointedly, looking from one coach to the other.

“It was fine, Autumn, thanks for asking,” Coach Holmes said, just as pointedly. Whether or not she knew we’d seen them was unclear, but she obviously wanted to get on with business. “Now if you’ll all have a seat . . .”

Soon everyone was gathered in the bleachers. I couldn’t stop staring at Coach Rincon, who couldn’t stop staring at his feet. What was going on between these two?

“All right! All right, everyone! Let’s calm down!” Coach Holmes called out. “I know you’re all excited to be back—”

Major groans from the peanut gallery, followed by a few laughs.

“But now that all the dust has settled from the holidays, we have a few things to discuss,” Coach continued.

I saw Tara glance warily at Phoebe and wondered if they knew something I didn’t know. Who was I kidding? They almost always knew something I didn’t know. Behind Chandra’s back, Daniel reached over and hooked his pinky around mine. My new bracelet dangled between our legs as we smiled.

We were so gross,
I
could almost gag. Almost.

Of course I would have to take the bracelet off before we started practice. No jewelry allowed, especially when stunting. But I was waiting until the very last second.

I wondered if Coach Rincon had given Coach Holmes anything romantic over the holidays. I watched them closely, trying to imagine them holding pinkies or saying “I love you.” They definitely would have made a seriously hot couple.

“First of all, great job at the holiday tournament!” Coach Holmes said enthusiastically.

“Yeah!” Coach Rincon added, clapping his hands.

We all joined in, happily. There was clearly a lot of pride in the room. Along with that lingering love vibe.

“Even though we only got to cheer one game before our team was eliminated—”

Grumbles all around.

“It was one kickass game for us,” Coach continued.

“You better believe dat!” Terrell said. Everyone laughed and clapped some more.

Coach Holmes held her hands up to quiet us down. “Now I also want to congratulate all of you on a job well done with the holiday fundraisers,” she continued, consulting her clipboard as we cheered some more, though this time the guys outshouted the girls. “From what I see here, you brought in a total of one thousand forty-two dollars.”

“And earned ourselves some free car washes,” Terrell said, knocking fists with Joe and Steven.

“Good job. Really. I’m proud of you,” Coach said, hugging her clipboard. “I just wish you had all found a way to work
together
to earn this money.”

Silence fell. Tara looked at Phoebe again. So she
did
know something negative was coming. Coach walked up and down the bleachers, surveying us.

“It seems that we have a misunderstanding on our hands,” she said. “This is one team. Not a girls’ team and a boys’ team, but one cohesive team.”

“You should be working
with
each other, not against each other,” Rincon added sternly.

Terrell leaned back on his elbows and jutted his chin out. I knew he was taking this lecture as a personal attack on him. And I didn’t blame him. It
had
been his idea to do a second fundraiser.

“I’ll admit that this time your competitive natures benefited the team,” Coach Holmes continued. “But if this continues, it’s only going to act as a poison as the season goes on, so I want to nip it in the bud. I want you guys to start figuring out some ways to bond. Figure out a way to become the solid unit I want you to be.”

No one moved. If someone had dropped a Q-Tip in the locker room on the other side of the gym, I think we would have heard it. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to be one cohesive team with the guys. I did. And I’m sure everyone else wanted that too. But why was she saying this to us now? We had done our job at the tournament perfectly. We were all on a natural high. So why was she bringing us down? Wasn’t cheering all the other squads in the district into submission enough for her?

“Any suggestions?” Coach said finally, raising her perfectly plucked brows. “Ideas for group activities.”

Jaimee sat forward and raised her hand, tossing her long, bouncy blonde ponytail over her shoulder. “I know!”

“Yes, Jaimee?” Coach Holmes said, letting out a relieved breath.

“We have the first big rivalry games against West Wind next week, right?” she said, looking around. “So we’re gonna need to decorate the seniors’ lockers and make banners and bake—”

“I don’t think I like where this is going,” Terrell said quietly, earning a laugh from his male counterparts. Tara clucked her tongue and rolled her eyes.

“So how about we have a craft party this weekend?” Jaimee suggested, earning a guffaw from Terrell. Her cheeks turned pink, but she soldiered on. “We can do it at my house on Saturday night. I’m sure my parents won’t mind.”

Rincon snorted a laugh. You could have knocked everyone over with a feather. Coach Holmes shot him a look of death and he quickly covered his mouth with his hand and tried to adopt a serious expression. Unfortunately, however, the damage was done.

“What?” Jaimee said uneasily.

“Nothing. That sounds like a perfect idea,” Coach Holmes said, forcing a smile. “Thank you, Jaimee.”

“Uh, a craft party? No, thanks,” Terrell said, lifting his foot to rest on his knee.

“I don’t do crafts,” Joe added.

“You do now,” Tara said flatly.

Daniel tipped his head back and groaned. Apparently the idea of a night of glue and glitter didn’t please him either.

“Come on, you guys, don’t think of it as a craft party,” I said, turning in my seat so I could see the boys better. “We’ll get junk food, we’ll hang out, we’ll—”

“Cut out letters and crabs and little basketballs,” Steven finished, none too enthused.

Suddenly everyone was arguing again. Just like that, the boys vs. girls line had been redrawn. Coach Holmes finally had to blow her whistle to get us to shut up.

“Listen up! Decorating for rivalry games is a big part of being on this squad,” Coach Holmes said. “You all will be there and you all will—”

“Come on, Dee. You’re really gonna make them
craft
?” Coach Rincon said.

An anvil dropped out of the sky and flattened his head. Or it might as well have. Ever so slowly, Coach Holmes turned to face Coach Rincon. The vein must’ve been visible from space.

“Coach Rincon? Will you excuse me while I run my team?” she said through her teeth.

His arms dropped to his sides and his nostrils flared as he stared at her. “Your team,” he said.

“Yes.
My
team,” she replied.

“All right then. I think I’ll just go get some water,” he replied. “Why don’t you come and get me when
you’re
ready.”

“Thanks, I think I will,” Coach Holmes said.

Rincon shook his head with a wry smile, turned and sauntered out. Huh. Was this a trouble-in-paradise moment?

“Man’s right,” Terrell said as soon as Rincon was gone, agreeing with the guy for the first time ever. “The guys shouldn’t have to go participate. We’d probably suck at it anyway.”

Coach Holmes rolled her eyes to the ceiling and shook her head, at a loss for words. None of us had ever seen her at a loss for words before and my heart went out to her. It had to have something to do with the snipes between her and Rincon. It was amazing how spying one intimate moment changed the interpretation of everything.

“You’re going to be there,” Tara said.

“No. We’re—”

“Hey! You guys are gonna be there, and you’re gonna like it!” Tara said, standing and turning on them.

Terrell looked up at her slowly and for a split second, I thought they were going to finally throw down. Tara’s eyes narrowed further and further as Terrell’s nostrils flared. I imagined them flying up into the air and then grabbing each other’s necks,
Matrix
style.