Hunted (31 page)

It
took everything I had to stay there on the sidelines for two more
minutes until the halftime horn sounded, but I forced myself to
finish out the last few cheers with everyone else. I was thankful
that it was an unseasonably warm night as I walked over to where Miss
Winters was waiting for everyone. It was hot enough that the rest of
the girls stopped off at our bags so that they could grab water
bottles before coming over. It meant that I made it to Miss Winters
before anyone else did.

"You're
looking really good out there, Adri!"

"Thank
you. Can we talk for a couple minutes before you talk to everyone
else?"

She
shook her head. "We've only got a few minutes before the other
school will be done with their routine. I'm sorry, Adri, but there
just isn't time. Let's talk once the game is over. I can give you as
much time as you need then."

"Please,
it's important and I promise that—I'll only take a minute."

She
frowned for a moment and then looked past me at the rest of the
squad. "Take a couple of minutes, girls. I'll be right back."

I
followed her a few steps away from everyone else, took a deep breath
and then just forced the words out.

"I'm
quitting the team. I'm sorry, I know that I've made a complete mess
of everything. It would have been better if I'd never joined in the
first place, but I did, and now I'm just quitting right in the middle
of everything which is terrible of me, but I can't cheer anymore."

Miss
Winters' mouth opened and closed a couple of times. "Adri,
you're a natural. You've picked everything up faster than I would
have believed possible and you just keep getting better. At the rate
you're improving, you might be able to get a cheerleading scholarship
to college. It's a long shot because you started cheering so late,
but you have all the right qualities so I think you could do it."

Tears
started pooling in my eyes. It was so rarely that anyone other than
my dad ever told me I was good at anything, and even he didn't have a
lot to work with when it came to complimenting my talents.

"I…I
really appreciate you saying that, Miss Winters, and I really am
sorry, but I have to quit and sooner would be better than later."

"Can
you at least tell me why?"

"I
think I've been in shock ever since you suspended Cindi. I'm not
saying that you did the wrong thing, I'm actually really impressed
that you stuck to your guns like that, but none of that went down
like I expected it to."

She
smiled and patted me on the arm. "I'm not surprised that you're
having a hard time processing everything. To have Cindi turn on you
like that had to have been hard, but that just means that this is a
terrible time to be making any kind of big decision."

"That's
just the thing though. I started coming out of shock as we started
the last few cheers and I realized just how much I hate Cindi and
Missy. I hate them so much that it scares me. I could probably deal
with hating Missy like that, but I don't want to hate my own sister
that much."

Miss
Winters had obviously been about to interrupt me, but my last comment
shut her up faster than I would have believed possible.

"I
love cheerleading. I never thought I would say that, but I do and
somehow the fact that I've only loved it for a few weeks doesn't seem
to matter to me, I still love it. I love it so much that I can't help
but hate anyone who tries to stop me from continuing to cheer."

I
suddenly had to bite back a laugh and I wasn't surprised that there
was an edge of hysteria to it.

"It
sounds pretty crazy to quit when I say that, but I was happy before
cheerleading and I don't think Cindi knows how to be happy if she's
not cheering. As much as I want to stay on the team, I can't if it
means that Cindi is going to be unhappy. If I quit now then she won't
have as much reason to resent me."

"Even
with you out of the picture, it won't change anything as far as Missy
and Cindi's punishments are concerned."

"I
know, and I think that's probably for the best anyways. Missy is off
of the team and Cindi will be suspended until she can get her grades
back up, but you did say her punishment was only a suspension. She
wants to be back on the team badly enough that I know she'll have her
grades back where they are supposed to be in no time flat. Maybe then
she can forgive me for everything that's happened."

"Will
you be able to forgive her? There's a chance that this is just going
to cause you to resent her and hate her more. Giving up something we
want is never easy, Adri."

I
nodded. "I know. It's a risk, but it's one I'm willing to run. I
think the fact that it's my choice will make it a little easier than
it would have been if they'd forced me to quit."

The
tears that had been gathering a few seconds before chose that moment
to break free and start coursing down my face. I tried to wipe them
away without ruining the little bit of makeup that I was wearing, but
I was pretty sure I failed. Miss Winters looked like she was on the
point of tears too though so maybe it didn't matter that I was acting
like a big baby.

"I
can't stop you, Adri. Part of me really wishes that I could because
I'm not so sure that Cindi is worthy of what you're doing for her,
but I can't stop you. You're a good person and a great sister."

"Thanks,
Miss Winters. I wish I could help out somehow. This is going to leave
you three people short and regionals aren't that far away."

"It's
okay, Winning regionals would be nice, but there are more important
things in life than putting another trophy in the school's display
case. I wish I could tell you that you'll always have a spot on my
team if you change your mind, but that wouldn't be fair to whoever
replaces you."

"I
know. It's a nice gesture, but no matter what else happens I won't be
coming back."

"Never
say never, Adri, you might be surprised where your path takes you.
For now, let's just say that if you change your mind I'll make you
the first alternate on the squad so you'll have a place if anything
happens to one of the other girls."

"Thanks,
Miss Winters. Do you need me to help with the half-time performance?
I guess it probably doesn't matter if I do one more routine…"

"No,
if you're set on quitting the team then let's not prolong the agony.
We'll make do without you."

She
started to turn back to the other girls and then stopped and gave me
a quick hug, which just made me want to cry even more, but I managed
to keep it all inside. It was just cheerleading, it wasn't like
someone was dying, but now that most of the shock was gone I
felt
like a part of my life, a part that I'd enjoyed and been good at, was
dying.

I
stood there for nearly a minute, forlornly watching Miss Winters
explain to the rest of the team that I was quitting. I got a wide
variety of looks from different girls, everything from sadness on the
part of Sheree to a mixture of disbelief and satisfaction from most
of the others. It was the looks of satisfaction that finally snapped
me out of my funk enough to walk past them so I could get my things.

I
walked away from the football field without looking back even though
I didn't have any idea where I was going to go. I wandered for a
couple of minutes before eventually finding myself inside the school
and only a few steps from the girls' locker room.

It
didn't feel right to still be wearing my uniform now that I wasn't
part of the squad, so I went in for just long enough to change back
into the shorts and shirt that I'd worn to school earlier in the day.
Once I'd changed I just sat there on the hard, narrow bench that ran
down the center of the aisle between the rows of lockers.

Both
shells and the damaged skirt were in my duffle bag, but I laid my
white skirt out across my lap and smoothed the material out flat
against my legs. I knew I was going to miss being a cheerleader, but
actually having taken the uniform off for the last time choked me up
more than I expected it to. I probably would have stayed there for
hours, but some atypical sliver of practicality finally worked its
way to the forefront of my mind.

If
I stayed too long then I'd definitely run into the cheerleaders from
the other team and possibly even the girls from our school too.
Besides, I needed to get back to the football field and see if I
could find someone to give me a ride home. It was a long shot
considering how much the rest of the school hated me, but I honestly
wasn't sure what else to do. Now that I wasn't on the team it was
possible that I wouldn't be able to get a ride home on the bus. Miss
Winters probably wouldn't leave me stranded, but there wasn't any
guarantee of that fact.

Either
way, I didn't want to spend one moment longer than I had to with the
rest of the squad and given that my mom and dad were still camping in
the middle of nowhere for another day or two, it wasn't like I could
just call them to come pick me up.

As
I stood to go I thought that I heard someone else in the locker room,
but when I called out nobody responded. I was pretty sure it had just
been my mind playing tricks on me, but that didn't stop me from
leaving at as fast a walk as I could manage. I'd had plenty of
evidence that there were monsters out there and I wasn't eager to
meet one in real life. Besides, given how much Missy probably hated
me right now she was pretty high up there on the list of threats that
I needed to avoid at all cost.

I
made it back to the visitors' bleachers without running into Cindi,
Missy, or anyone else who wanted to rip my arms off, and my heart
started to sink at just how few people were there from our school. It
was darkly funny that a crowd that had seemed huge when I'd
considered performing in front of it was disappointingly small when
it represented my only chance at making it home.

I
started at the bottom row of people and worked my way from one side
to the other, but not surprisingly most of the people who'd driven an
hour and a half to come to the game were the popular kids who hung
out with the cheerleaders or the football players. There were a few
grownups here and there who weren't sitting with anyone my age, but I
wasn't particularly excited at the prospect of hitching a ride home
with random people I didn't know.

It
took less than three minutes to realize that there wasn't anyone I
both knew and trusted who was likely to help me out. I was nearly
ready to despair when I remembered that Sheree's parents sometimes
came to the games to watch her perform. It was a slim chance, but it
was the best I'd been able to come up with, so I made my way to the
very top of the bleachers, so that I'd have the best possible view of
both the crowd below me and the cheerleaders off to the side, and sat
down.

The
junior varsity game had apparently finished up while I was in the
locker room, which was odd considering that I hadn't thought I was in
there for very long, but I wasn't going to complain. Anything which
brought this night to a close sooner rather than later was okay in my
book.

Jackson
found me a few minutes before the first half concluded. "Hi,
Adri. Do you mind if I sit here with you?"

"Wait,
aren't you supposed to be down cheering?"

"Is
that a no?"

I
felt myself blushing, which was just as embarrassing as always, but
also somehow a relief. It was nice to know that I was still capable
of feeling something other than anger or sadness. Given just how
often I'd been embarrassed lately it was almost like being back to
normal.

"No,
you can sit here. I guess I'm just surprised."

He
smiled and sat down next to me. "We're down to just one flyer,
which means that we only need a third as many spotters as normal.
Miss Winters is using a couple of the other guys to try and fill in
the formations for some of the easier stuff, but mostly us guys don't
know any of the routines beyond just spotting."

"Oh,
I guess that makes sense. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it so that
you couldn't help out tonight."

"Don't
worry about that. Honestly it's going to be nice to be able to just
sit here and watch a game without any distractions. That's half the
reason I tried out for the squad, you know, just so I had a reason to
come to the games."

"Because
of your mom? She sounds crazy strict."

"Yeah,
that's probably one of the bigger understatements ever made. Your
parents seem pretty cool though."

"Right,
they are the coolest for the twenty minutes every day when they
aren't yelling at each other."

"Ouch,
you did mention problems at home. I figured it was just friction
between you and Cindi now that you were both on the team."

I
sighed. "Was it that obvious to everyone? Was I the only person
who didn't realize just how pissed she was at me?"

"No,
probably not. I kind of have an advantage over most people, what with
hanging around cheerleaders most of the day and all. They talk a lot
when you aren't around and it's been more and more obvious that Cindi
isn't liking you being on the team as much as she expected to."

"It
sucks. The only reason that I even joined the team in the first place
was to spend more time with Cindi. I thought maybe it would help us
be closer, but instead it's pretty much ruined things between us."

Jackson
patted my knee. "Don't worry about it. Things seem like they are
irreparable right now but they'll work out."

"What
if they don't?"

"You
didn't mean for things to go bad, and you've done everything you can
to make them better. Cindi will eventually see that and forgive you."

"I
don't know, she can be pretty stubborn. What if she doesn't ever get
past it?"