Cave of Terror (10 page)
The bell rang, ending our almost conversation.
Since Mrs. Krammer always took a silent attendance roll, I hoped she would at least introduce the new guy, so I could call him something other than Dracula, new guy, or the hot guy. No such luck. And he didn't seem to be forthcoming in telling me his name on his own. Why the big mystery anyway?
I felt him watching me all through class and when I turned to check, he didn't even try to hide it. He probably wondered why I looked so much different than the night before—so much worse. I should've stayed home.
Mrs. Krammer stopped talking and walked over to where Val sat. She stuck out her hand and said, “Hand it over."
Val glanced back at me and smiled, a very smug look upon her make-up caked face. She placed a folded piece of paper in Mrs. Krammer's hand.
"Thank you. You know the rules. No notes unless you plan to share with the class.” She unfolded the paper.
Again, Val looked back at me. She didn't seem the least bit distressed over Mrs. Krammer reading her note. Shitznit! By the pleased look on her face, the note had something to do with me.
Mrs. Krammer read aloud, “Can you believe what she's wearing? What's with all the wrinkles? Did she like sleep in her clothes? IDK. Did she even brush her hair? It's probably because she spends all her time with her bat friends. LOL. Right?” She frowned and glared at Val, then crumpled the note and threw it in the trash. “I better not see this happen again, girls, or you will be looking at detention."
Val's corner of butt buddies broke out laughing. Everyone looked at me and pointed. Who else would be associated with bats? I wanted to slide under my desk and hide. I didn't dare look at the new guy who would probably never speak to me again anyway.
When the bell rang, I shot out of class and ran straight to the bathroom. Once inside, I entered the only stall left with a door and locked it. Tears welled in my eyes and streamed down my face. I didn't need this today.
The door opened and someone entered. Crap. So much for being alone.
"Cheyenne? You in here?” Mandy asked.
I wiped my eyes and swallowed the lump in my throat. “Yeah, I'm here."
"I thought I saw you run in here. My car wouldn't start and the bus had already left, so I had to call my dad to come back home and fix the car. This day is sucking! What did I miss in biology?"
Her day sucked? More tears spilled from my eyes.
"What's wrong?” Mandy tapped on the stall door. “I hear you sniffling."
"I've just had a really bad day. I didn't have a calculator for my algebra class so I couldn't finish all the problems in time and Val and Kimee were passing notes in biology and Mrs. Krammer read it out loud and ... and ... it was about me..."
"Well, that bitch. What did the note say?"
I blew my nose and tried to stop the tears. “She made fun of my clothes and hair. I ran late because I didn't sleep well and I didn't have time to do my hair or put on make-up or spray my clothes with wrinkle releaser.” I hiccupped. “And ... and...” I started to cry again. “The new guy is in our biology class. The one I really, really like ... from the party. He saw me looking like crap and heard the note read and everything. He'll never want to talk to me again."
Mandy knocked on the door. “You gonna stay in there all day?"
"Yeah, maybe. At least no one will see me.” I blew my nose again.
"Oh, come on. You can't look that bad."
I unlocked the door and stepped out.
Mandy's eyes widened and she chuckled. “Dang, girl. You do look kinda rough."
"Thanks,” I said with a whole lot of sarcasm.
"Nothing a little make-up and a brush won't fix.” Mandy dug in her purse and pulled out her brush.
"Maybe you're right.” I glanced in the mirror. “Or maybe not."
Mandy laughed. “Oh, you'll be fine. I just need to work my magic."
"You mean you need a miracle."
After putting on some make-up and brushing out my hair, I looked and felt a lot better. Hopefully, I could make it through the rest of the day without running into the still nameless guy I couldn't keep out of my mind. After the embarrassment in class, I could never face him again. If he ended up in another one of my classes, I'd just die.
I made it through the rest of the day in relative peace. Thank goodness I didn't have to deal with Val or any of her goonies again. Once was enough. I don't think I'll ever understand why one person finds it so enjoyable to hurt another.
Since me and Mandy do gymnastics, which takes the place of P.E., we get out of school an hour earlier than everyone else. Our coach signs a form confirming we do a certain amount of hours each semester. Getting out early was definitely a perk. For me, school has never been an enjoyable experience. I don't exactly fit in with any one group, and that seems to be a big problem—at least at my school.
Mandy waited for me at my locker. “Hey! How did the rest of your day go? You look better.” Her look said she hoped my day had gone better.
I dialed the combination to my lock and shoved the books I didn't need into my locker. “Well, I somehow managed to avoid Val ... and you know who."
She grinned. “No, who?"
"Whatever! Let's go."
We walked down the hall and out the door to the parking lot.
"My house or yours?” I called over my shoulder.
"I don't care. I guess mine."
"Okay, I'll meet you there."
We usually drive to the gym together since we live near each other and our gym is in the next town.
As I walked to my car, I thought I caught a glimpse of a guy who looked a lot like my nameless crush. I squinted.
Oh, God, it is him.
I began to walk faster. No way could I face him now.
"Hey, Sparkie! Wait!” he yelled.
Crap. My pulse ignited and I walked even faster. Pretending not to hear, I headed straight for my car without looking back. I beeped the alarm off and jumped in. In only a matter of seconds, I headed out of the parking lot like a demon from hell. And trust me, that's pretty fast.
I pulled in the driveway right after Mandy, backed up, and parked along the curb in front of her house. It was her turn to drive, so I got in on the passenger side.
"What's wrong with you? You look flustered."
I sighed. “I almost ran into the new guy."
"Like literally?"
"No. Duh. When I was walking to the car, I saw him. I tried to hurry, so he wouldn't see me. But he did and called out my name."
"And then what happened?” she asked with excitement in her voice.
"Nothing! I acted like I didn't hear him and got the heck out of there."
"You big ole chicken. Bwaaaaak! Bwaaaaak! I can't believe you did that. He wanted to talk to you and you ran off."
"After what happened in class today, no way."
"I'm sure it wasn't that bad."
I slapped one of my hands on my thigh for emphasis. “Oh really? The whole freakin’ class laughed at me."
"But, was
he
laughing?"
"I didn't look at him.” I paused, lowering my voice. “I couldn't."
"He seems to really like you, Cheyenne. I doubt he would let something a mean and stupid group of girls said about you affect his opinion. And if he did, then he's a big fat jerk and you don't need to be with him anyway. So there.” With a sharp nod, Mandy let out a hmmmf.
I could always count on her to put things in perspective.
Once we got to the gym, we changed into our leotards and crashed on a mat while we waited for everyone else to arrive. I've always felt safe at gym. I never have to worry about fitting in or being someone I not.
"I'm so freaking tired.” I rolled over onto my back and flung my arms out.
"Why? I had you home by eleven. I didn't see you on Facebook or MySpace. I checked."
"No, I couldn't sleep.” I really didn't feel up to getting into the whole freaky dream bit.
Our coach, Larry, yelled across the gym. “Okay ladies, time to get started."
We all rushed to the floor. Mandy led the warm-up.
Our first event happened to be beam. Not one I wanted to start with. We had routines, meaning we had to do either three in a row with no falls or ten. Needless to say, three in a row with no falls would be the preferred outcome.
Me and Mandy claimed our favorite beam.
"You go first,” I said.
Mandy finished with only one small bobble. I took a deep breath and mounted. One fairly large bobble, but I didn't fall. So far, so good. Maybe today wouldn't be such a bad day after all.
Mandy went again—solid, not a single bobble. I had a solid one, too. We were on a roll.
"Come on, Mandy. You can do it. Just one more,” I cheered her on.
She mounted, did her first skill—no problem. On her flight, she almost missed one of her feet and had a huge wobble, arms flapping like a giant bird. But she didn't fall. She finished the rest of the routine perfectly.
"Woohoo! You're done. Lucky."
"Okay, Cheyenne, you got it."
Just as I mounted, I caught a whiff of a familiar scent—cinnamon, something spicy, and just a hint of almonds. I glanced around, not exactly sure who or what I expected after everything else that had happened recently. As far as I could sense, no threat existed. I shook it off and continued.
"Come on, Cheyenne, you can do it."
I focused on my next skill, barely paying any attention to Mandy. Another trace of cinnamon and spice wafted past, and I momentarily lost my concentration, causing a small wobble. I took a deep breath and tried to keep my mind on the routine.
"Brush it off. You got it,” Mandy said.
I knew that if I was going to fall, it would probably happen at this point in my routine. I inhaled and sent myself positive thoughts. Back handspring. Back tuck. Straddle jump. Stuck it perfectly. I relaxed, believing it was downhill from there. A few poses, my jump series, and the dismount. No problem.
As I did my last pose before preparing for the jumps, I caught a flash of something that distracted me enough to go into my series a bit weird. I did my first jump, missed one of my feet, and straddled the beam. I landed flat on my back on the mat, staring up at the lights, the air knocked out of my lungs. For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
Mandy stood over me, her eyes wide with sympathy that only another gymnast could fully understand. “You all right?” She reached out her hand to help me up.
I waved her off. No way could I sit up. It felt like someone had used my chest as a trampoline. And the inside of my left thigh burned and throbbed.
Larry hung his head over the beam. “That looked like it hurt."
Well, gee, ya think?
He walked around the beam. “You going to live?"
I nodded. Once my lungs sufficiently filled with air, I sat up. A nasty bruise already formed on my thigh. I'd be feeling that for a few days.
As I stood, I remembered the reason I fell in the first place. I turned toward the area where parents sometimes watched their kids. My eyes zeroed in on the source of my distraction.
My heart slammed in my chest, dizziness overtaking my body, causing nausea to roil in my gut.
This couldn't be happening.
What was
he
doing here? Was my total humiliation in biology not enough? Could he have been a part of Val's scheme from the beginning? How could I possibly think someone like him would be interested in someone like me anyway?
Our gazes locked—connected in a way that made me feel naked and vulnerable. Fingers of heat spread through my body, scorching me from the inside out. All control I thought I once possessed melted away.
"What's he doing here?” Mandy whispered in my ear.
"Huh?"
"The guy you have a crush on, the one you're staring at with your mouth gapping open—hellooooo. What's he doing here?"
I shook loose of his gaze and turned my back toward him. “Val probably sent him,” I snarked.
Mandy made a face. “Val? What the heck does she have to do with it?"
"I just get this funny feeling I've been set up. Don't you think it's too weird how he came onto me so fast? And he hung out with Val at the party. And now he's here. Like stalking me.” I glanced back over to where he stood staring at me with a puzzled look on his too gorgeous face.
"I don't know, Cheyenne. I don't think it was an act. But ... it is kind of strange that he's here ... unless he followed us or something.” Mandy cut her eyes toward the viewing area. “He kind of looks upset."
He did seem upset. But too many things didn't add up. Not to mention someone or something toyed with me. And this guy seemed to be in the same place when the weird things happened.
"Okay, ladies, back on the beam,” Larry shouted. “And Cheyenne, you might want to wipe the blood off your leg."
I looked down. Sure enough, blood oozed from the place on my thigh where the skin had been rubbed off by the beam. Crap. In order to get to the bathroom, I'd have to pass by the viewing area ... and him.
Left without a choice, I wound my way around the beams and zipped through the viewing area. I kept my face pointed straight ahead and made it to the bathroom without any unwanted confrontations. Knowing my coach waited for me, I grabbed a paper towel, wet it, and wiped the blood from my leg, then hurried back out the door.
And right into the very person I was trying to avoid.
"Hi, Sparkie. Why do you always seem to be running into me? And while coming out of a bathroom?” His lips lifted into a sensuous smile that made my belly flip-flop.
His nearness disturbed me in every way, leaving me utterly speechless like a mute dork.
"That's not happiness to see me. What's up?” His clear blue eyes burned into mine.
"Are you stalking me or something?"
"I didn't even know you went to this gym or that you were a gymnast for that matter. My little sister is taking a class. I brought her.” He winked and grinned. “Conceited."
Heat crept across my face and neck. I needed a big rock to crawl under.