Hunted (12 page)

My
fears were proved out when I started getting dressed half an hour
later. My 'skinny' jeans were in the dirty clothes hamper and I had
to hold up the next best option, a pair of shorts, with one hand to
keep them from sliding down while I hunted through my half of the
closet for a belt.

By
the time Cindi came out of the shower I was on my third belt and I
was starting to lose hope. None of my belts were small enough. So far
all of the ones that I'd tried, even on their tightest hole, were too
big to keep my pants from falling down.

"Can
I borrow a belt, Cindi?"

"Wow,
it's almost like I can see you getting skinnier before my eyes. Yeah,
here, this one should work."

I
gratefully took the proffered strip of black leather and threaded it
through the loops on my shorts. The result wasn't pretty. The shorts
puckered up around my waist as if yelling to everyone that they'd
never been meant to fit around someone as skinny as I currently was,
but Cindi's belt served to keep them up where they belonged.

I
took a deep breath and tried to tell myself that I didn't care what
anyone else thought about me. It was a nice thought, but the truth
was I actually did care. I'd always cared, but I cared more than ever
lately, maybe not what
everyone
thought, but definitely about
what
Jackson
thought.

Breakfast
wasn't our usual arrangement. Usually Dad had breakfast with Cindi
and me, but Mom tended to be hit-and-miss. Sometimes she stayed up
late working on some project or another and then slept in. Other
mornings, she was up before dawn so that she could try to capture the
sunrise. Occasionally, she held to a more normal schedule.

This
morning was apparently one of the unusual days when her art hadn't
gotten in the way of socializing with us. Dad, on the other hand, had
left for work even earlier than normal. Mom shrugged and mumbled
something about a conference call with someone over in France. It was
obvious that she didn't really wake up until halfway through her bowl
of cereal because that was when she looked at my shorts and shook her
head.

"Adri,
you can't go out like that. You look like an orphan."

"Yeah,
well, losing all of that weight might be good for my heart, but it's
really screwing with my wardrobe. Everything else that was clean is
even worse than this. I had to borrow the belt from Cindi."

"The
top looks pretty terrible too, but it's not quite as bad. Borrow some
jeans from Cindi, it's supposed to get cold today, you'll freeze
walking back home in those shorts."

Cindi
opened her mouth and for a second I thought she was going to argue,
but she just shrugged.

"I'll
go grab my Tommy's. They are longer because I wear them with my
boots. They should be about right for you, Adri."

"I
would have been fine, Mom."

"No,
Adri, you wouldn't have been. Cindi is fine with lending you some
clothes. Besides, it's only for a few days and then I'll take you
shopping."

"Dad
just finished paying for my cheer uniform, Mom. I doubt there is any
money left in the budget for a new set of clothes for me."

"I'll
do laundry today and then tonight we'll see what's still salvageable
from what you already have. Once I know how bad things are I'll
figure something out. Maybe we can go to that new store over on
Hillside and trade some of your clothes in for something smaller.
Your clothes are all pretty trendy, so they'll probably pay top
dollar for them."

I
bit back the response that was on the tip of my tongue. I didn't have
any clothes that could remotely be classified as trendy. Cindi did,
but I'd never felt like I could beg and cajole Mom and Dad into
spending that kind of money on me.

We
were already running a little late so I rinsed my bowl and headed
back to my room. Cindi had been right, the jeans she'd laid out for
me fit almost perfectly. They were a lot tighter than I'd ever gone
for in my clothes, but the length was good and they didn't need a
belt to keep them from falling down.

I
grabbed my backpack and my gym bag and then almost ran into Cindi on
my way back out into the hall.

"I
was just thinking that if it's going to get as cold as Mom said that
you probably need some leg and arm warmers. I've got an old pair that
you can use."

"Thanks,
Cindi. I'm sorry about all of this."

"It's
okay, if you hadn't slimmed down a little then you probably wouldn't
have made the team. If loaning you some of my clothes is the price to
pay in order to be able to cheer with you then it's not a bad deal."

I
nodded and headed into the hall, only to pause as Cindi sighed. "I
just knew your butt was going to look better in them than mine does."

**

School
was pretty miserable. The popular kids still hated me for causing
Janessa so many problems and everyone who wasn't popular still felt
like I'd betrayed them by joining the cheerleading team.

I'd
made it through school so far by keeping my head down. Now it seemed
like every class I went to had at least two or three people
whispering about me the entire time.

I
didn't catch much of it, but what little I did overhear was pretty
vicious. The guys all seemed to think that I was going to turn into a
Grade-A slut. The girls all seemed to think I was destined for
slutdom too, but they spent almost as much time talking about how
losing a few pounds and buying some new clothes wasn't going to
change who I really was—a waste of space.

By
the time I got to my last class I was just holding out to make it to
cheer practice. That was an ironic reversal of the way of the world.
I knew that the other girls on the squad would still be as nasty to
me as they figured they could get away with, but at least once I made
it to practice Cindi would be there.

I
was glad Cindi and I had become closer, it was just too bad that it
had come at the cost of alienating everyone else in the school. The
most graphic illustration of how much had changed happened as I was
walking out of my last class and some lowlife, whose name I didn't
even know, grabbed my butt.

The
two guys with him laughed while I was still too much in shock to
react and then the next thing I knew all three of them had surrounded
me. I had the feeling that things were going to get ugly and then
suddenly one of them was on the ground holding his nose as bright red
blood trickled out from between his fingers.

Jackson
towered over both of the others and looked like he was ready to rip
them apart with his bare hands.

"The
next time I see the three of you bothering Adri, I'll put you all in
the hospital. If it happens a third time, then I'll put you in the
morgue."

Even
with the size difference between Jackson and the other boys I still
half expected for them to jump him, but there was something in his
manner that seemed to welcome the idea of a three-on-one fight. It
took only a second or two for the guys who'd been messing with me to
decide that they didn't want to tangle with Jackson. The two who
hadn't been hit grabbed the one Jackson had knocked down and dragged
him away.

"You
okay, Adri?"

"Yeah,
thank you. I didn't realize that you were going to have to save me
outside of games too."

He
shrugged. "It's all part of the job description. Let's get you
back to your locker and then over to the locker room. I don't think
you'll have any more problems today, but I'm going to stick with you
anyway so that the rumor mill has a chance to spread the word that
messing with you is a bad idea."

I
watched Jackson out of the corner of my eye as we walked through the
hall. I'd always known that he was built, but seeing him back down
three guys had flipped some kind of switch inside of my head. Nothing
about his manner had changed, but I was more aware now of the way
that he cut a channel through the normal mob of kids in the hall. It
was like he dripped testosterone, but not the showy, cocky production
that most of the guys our age put on. He was all calm assurance and I
found it even sexier than I'd expected to.

I
put my books away, grabbed my workout bag and followed him to the
gym. He gave me a nod as I peeled off to go into the girls' locker
room. Cindi wasn't in her usual spot so I changed into a pair of
Cindi's shorts and a tank top in what I was pretty sure was record
time and hurried back out to the gym.

Jackson
was already there waiting for me. He'd pulled on some black yoga
pants that hit him mid-calf, and a gray t-shirt that he'd ripped the
arms out of so that it showed the way the muscles on the outside edge
of his back flared out as they traveled from his waist up to his
shoulders.

"Are
you ready?"

I
didn't trust my voice so I just nodded and headed towards the outside
door. He paced me, close enough that his arm occasionally brushed
against mine. I kept trying to tell myself that I wasn't some
twitter-pated freshman, but the truth was that it was all I could do
to walk without stumbling. The last half an hour had thrown my
attraction to Jackson into overdrive. At this rate it would be a
full-blown obsession by tomorrow morning.

Jackson
opened the gym door for me, easily throwing the heavy, gray metal
door open despite the fact that he was only using one hand. I nearly
tripped over Miss Winters, who was standing just outside of the gym
rather than waiting over in her usual spot.

"Adri,
Jackson, I'm glad I found the two of you. Do you have a second?"

She
got a "Sure" out of me and a nod from Jackson.

"I
always like to have a backup flyer. That was Cindi up until Janessa
left the team. Now Cindi has taken over Janessa's spot and I need a
new backup. I'd like for you to be that backup, Adri."

She
mistook my wide eyes and slight gasp as disappointment rather than
shock and hurried to reassure me. "I'm not saying that you'll
have to remain a backup forever. I select based on skill and the
other girls have been doing this for a while so you'd have your work
cut out for you, but if you really go hard at this it's possible that
you could take over one of the other girls' spots."

I
shook my head. "I really don't want to bump anyone else, Miss
Winters. Honestly, flying scares me pretty badly."

"But
you and Jackson were stunting at the beginning of the last game."

"I
know, but it wasn't planned or anything. Honestly I got turned around
and was headed the wrong direction. Jackson threw me up into a lift
because he didn't want me to run over him."

She
was quiet for a couple of seconds while she digested my words. "What
do you think, Jackson?"

"I
think Adri is a natural. If you can convince her to give it a shot
she'd make a great backup flyer in case something happens to one of
the other girls."

"It
really is important, Adri. I'm not going to lie to you, being a flyer
is a little risky. I've never had someone seriously injured, but it's
not uncommon to lose someone to a sprained ankle at some point during
the season. If you're seriously not interested in trying to knock out
one of the other girls, then that is even better because it should
make for less drama."

"I
don't know, Miss Winters. Most of the rest of the flyers are a lot
smaller than me."

She
shook her head. "You're only an inch or so taller than Sheree
and you're just as skinny as any of the other girls. I'd have you
work primarily with Jackson though until some of the other guys on
the squad start to bulk up a little. Jackson won't have any problem
stunting with you. Think it over. It would mean you'd have to come
practice on Tuesdays with the rest of the flyers, so it would limit
your study time a little bit more, but I really think you'd find it
to be a rewarding experience."

My
heart started racing. It was like she knew exactly the right force to
pit against my fear of stunting. Two weeks ago I would have said that
there wasn't anything that could have got me to follow in Cindi's
footsteps and allow someone to throw me up a dozen feet into the air,
but the possibility of spending more time with Jackson was a powerful
draw.

I
opened my mouth to tell her that I'd think about it, but the words
that came out weren't the ones that I'd meant to say.

"Okay,
Miss Winters. I'll do it. I really hope that none of the other girls
get injured and I don't want their spots, but I'll do it to help out
just in case someone does get hurt."

"That's
great, Adri! Even if we don't end up needing you this year we'll
definitely need you next year after Missy graduates."

Miss
Winters gave us each a smile and then hurried off. I kept thinking
that I should follow her, that I should head out to the field where
the other girls would be gathering over the next few minutes, but my
body seemed almost unconnected from my will. I wondered idly if I was
in some kind of shock.

"Come
on, Adri. If you stay here much longer you're going to put down
roots."

Jackson
gently pulled on my arm and I let him lead me further away from the
door. We were nearly around the edge of the school when I realized
that he hadn't seemed the slightest bit surprised at Miss Winters
extending me an invitation to join the flyers.

"Did
you have something to do with that?"

"What
do you mean?"

His
response was a bit too innocent and I felt my suspicion harden into
certainty.

"You
did, didn't you? You put her up to that."

Jackson
shook his head at me. "You are seriously paranoid."

"That's
not an answer, that's an evasion."

That
earned me a smile and a nod. "Smart too. No, I didn't put her up
to it, at least not really. I mentioned to her that you seemed to
have good instincts when it came to flying and she took it from
there."