So Many Boys (2 page)

Even after ending SOS and taking a break from Aiden (sort of), I still felt like I had more to learn about myself. Here it was, the start of my senior year, and I was completely stressed out and unable to focus. In fact, the only time I felt remotely like myself was when I was with Aiden—
working on our relationship
.

My yoga teacher had said that to really find my inner Tessa, I had to get away from everything, including cheerleading. She also told me that not-dating-but-still-dating Aiden was bad for my chi. I had promised to work on that. Maybe after this weekend.

“Time’s up,” I murmured, putting my hands on Aiden’s shoulders as I gently pushed him off of me. “I have to meet Kira and the squad for practice.”

“Why?” Aiden’s kissable mouth frowned as he straightened up on the couch. “You’re not a cheerleader anymore.”

My back flinched again. I stood up, twisting from side to side, hoping it would help the tightness.

“I may not be a Smitten Kitten, Aiden, but Kira asked for my assistance. Homecoming is only a few weeks away, and, well, I’m a retired cheer expert. In fact, I had this spectacular routine—”

The phone rang. Pickles and ice cream! That was probably Kira wondering where I was. Even though I wasn’t due at the gym for another half hour, I’d forgotten to call her back on Friday. And today was Sunday. Being with Aiden tended to make me lose track of time.

Careful not to further irritate my muscle, I slowly began to limp toward my phone.

“Shit, Tess. You really did hurt yourself,” Aiden said as he helped me to the kitchen.

“I’m sure it’s nothing.” I waved him off, although each step sent white-hot splinters of pain down my leg. Once we reached the kitchen, Aiden let me go and walked to my fridge, opening it and ducking his head in. He was so cute when he rummaged for food.

I sighed, leaning up against the cool counter as I clicked on the phone. “Hello?”

“Tessa! Thank God you’re home!” Leona said in a quick breath.

My heart sped up. “Everything okay?”

“No. Not even remotely. Kira’s on the line too.”

“Hey, Tess.” Kira spoke up, sounding awful. She was captain of the Smitten Kittens; she wasn’t allowed to sound glum.

“K,” I said, completely concerned, “did something happen?” I really hoped this wasn’t about her boyfriend. After she’d found out Darren had cheated on her last year, she’d finally rebounded this summer with a nice guy! She was overdue for some good karma. My pedicurist said so during our last session.

“I told Leona not to bother you,” Kira said apologetically. “I have it under control.”

“You
so
don’t,” Leona began. “Now zip it and let me bring Tessa up to speed.”

Well, I was glad to hear that it didn’t sound relationship related. Kira and Leona were probably arguing about proper skirt length again. I swear, if I didn’t know those two had been friends since kindergarten, I’d think they hated each other. But I knew better. Smitten Kittens didn’t hate. We were like sisters.

I tucked the phone into the crook of my neck and hobbled to the fridge, reaching above Aiden’s bent-over frame to grab an ice pack from the freezer.

“I would have gotten that for you,” he said, taking the pack from my hands to soften it up before handing it back. “You don’t have to do everything yourself, Tess—like leading someone else’s cheer practice.” He intentionally said that last bit a little louder.

I narrowed my eyes at him, hoping that Kira and Leona hadn’t heard. Aiden wasn’t a big hit with the squad lately. They seemed to think that he was the reason for my sudden decrease in pep. But I denied it wholeheartedly. I was plenty peppy! Especially when Aiden was around.

Before walking away, I leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the lips and then put the ice to my back. I limped to the kitchen table, and when I sat down, Aiden motioned with his finger for me to come back over, but I shook my head and refocused on my phone call.

“Sorry, girls. What were we talking about?” I tried to turn in my chair so that I couldn’t see Aiden anymore, but when I did, my muscle clenched again.

Butterscotch! I really hoped this wasn’t a true pulled muscle, one that would require physical therapy. I had always been very careful about stretching before any athletic exertion. Maybe I was just getting old. After all, I would be eighteen this year.

“Have you even been listening?” Leona asked with a heavy sigh.

“I told you not to bug her,” Kira said, as if I wasn’t on the line. “Aiden’s in town.”

“Ugh,” Leona moaned. “Doesn’t that boy have his own place to live?”

My mouth twitched. I did not want to get into this discussion again. Sure, Aiden and I still spent a lot of quality time together, and yeah, I’d been a bit distant from the squad since I’d left, but that wasn’t all because of my boyfriend…er…ex-boyfriend (sort of).

“Hurry,” Aiden whispered as he walked past me, swishing my hair with his hand. “I have to get back to school pretty soon.”

I watched Aiden stroll back into my living room, still shirtless in loose khakis, barefoot, handsome.…

“Can I call you later?” I said absently into the phone. I didn’t want Aiden to go back to college. Once he left, I knew it’d be at least a week—maybe two—before I saw him again.

I was just about to hang up when Leona’s no-nonsense voice rang through my ears with urgency.

“Tessa,” she snapped. “I’m calling you with a message. And it’s from SOS.”

Dear Clients,

Now that SOS has resumed its investigations, we want to clear up some confusion. We have created a fee schedule in addition to donations to keep our operation afloat. SOS is in need of new equipment, especially computer discs.

The new fee breakdown is as follows:

Also, SOS will no longer be a secret organization. Details will soon follow, but rest assured, SOS will once again make this county a safer place for hearts.

 

Keep kicking ass.
SOS
SOS
Text: 555-1863
Exposing Cheaters for Over Three Years

“Leona, there is no SOS,” I murmured, my face tingling. “We disbanded, remember? Even packed everything away in Izzie’s grandparents’ garage.” I winced as I felt yet another twinge in my back. Just the letters
SOS
nearly brought on a panic attack.

I glanced into the living room, where Aiden was sitting on the couch, flipping through the television stations. He looked so peaceful. I hated thinking about SOS, especially when Aiden was here.

“I know,” Leona said. “But it just came through on my SOS e-mail.”

“Mine too,” Kira chimed in.

“Check your account.” Leona’s voice was quickening—a sure sign of anxiety, which could trigger post-traumatic SOS disorder. Poor Kira had already gone to therapy to get rid of it once.

I limped toward my bedroom, holding up one finger to let Aiden know I’d be back in a minute. Leona was pretty tech savvy, but things like the Internet sometimes confused Kira. If this was all a misunderstanding, I wouldn’t want to alarm Aiden for no reason.

But I could feel the stress clinging to me. My hairdresser had said that the drama of my junior year had worn all of the shine off my hair. I had to do weekly hot-oil treatments now. And hot oil was totally gross!

When I’d made Kira the new full-time captain of the Smitten Kittens, I’d told her she needed to act more dignified in uniform. She agreed.

And for the most part, the squad had understood my decision. Even Leona had thought a break would be good for me. Of course, she also thought that Kira would eventually mess up and that she could take over as captain. Her ambition was admirable.

So with all of that gone and Aiden usually away at college, it left me a bit on the lonely side. Which was why I spent all my extra money on
therapy
. Oprah once said that teenage girls needed to work on their self-esteem—put themselves first. I was taking her advice. I swear, that woman was brilliant.

I eased into the leather chair at my desk and flipped on the monitor. My room smelled like vanilla lavender, the perfect relaxation scent that my aromatherapist recommended. Matched with my freshly spruced-up pink walls and new comforter, I was swimming in positive feng shui.

“What’s the subject line?” I asked into the phone. I didn’t want to leave Aiden by himself too long, so I logged in and scanned the page. Goose bumps rose on my arms when I saw it. It couldn’t be.

“It says, ‘Now Taking New Clients,’ ” Leona answered.

“I see it,” I whispered. The fruit salad I’d eaten for breakfast was about to make an encore appearance, but I swallowed hard and leaned toward the screen as I clicked the message.

“The squad is unhinged,” Leona continued. “Kira is being completely unresponsive.”

Kira gasped. “Did you ever think that I was launching an investigation of my own, Leona? Tessa told us she was taking a break.”

“But she can help! Tessa knows SOS better than anyone.”

“I’m not going to argue,” Kira said. “As captain, I’m in charge of the squad and SOS.”

“There is no SOS,” I mumbled, examining the page.

“Yeah,” Leona started. “But maybe we should rethink that.”

I closed my eyes. It was no secret that the Kittens were all itching to get back into the spying biz, but I’d put the brakes on it. I’d learned my lesson and hoped that they had too. “It’s not up for discussion,” I said, trying to sound authoritative, even though I had no real claim to the skirt anymore. “Now, are you sure none of the Smitten Kittens were involved in this SOS message?” I looked over the screen, trying to authenticate the letterhead. It was exactly the same as ours. The entire document was a perfect duplicate.

Kira cleared her throat. “I’ve spoken to the girls, and they’ve all insisted they’re not involved. Although several of them suspect Chloe Ferril.”

I rested my elbow on my desk, rubbing at my temple. “K, we need to have an internal investigation before we seek outside suspects.”

“It’s not us,” Kira said. “And honestly, I can’t believe you would even think that we’d go behind your back. I have enough problems now that you’re gone. You didn’t come to practice last week to teach us that cheer like you promised, and Izzie fell off the human pyramid and almost
died
!” I gasped.

“It’s true,” Leona added. “I had to call 9-1-1.”

Kira sighed. “Tess, I know you’re on a soul-searching mission or whatever, but we don’t have time for internal investigations when our
spirit
is at stake! We don’t even have our routine set for homecoming!”

“Are you serious?” I demanded. Homecoming wasn’t far off, and it was a big deal for the school. We played the Ducks (our rivals), and the money raised was usually enough to buy our sports equipment for the year. But without a shiny new routine, we’d be a total disappointment.

“No offense, Kira,” Leona said. “But the squad has fallen apart. Between your lifeless cheers and Izzie’s new boyfriend, we’re not connecting on any level.”

“And what about you?” Kira shot back. “You’ve been taking electives in body shop. You show up at practice with grease on your skirt. Grease!”

I shook my head as feelings of guilt and regret rushed through me. Between therapies I had tried to sit in on as many practices as possible to help keep the transition smooth, but I had never really noticed how disjointed things had gotten. Sure, I knew there were problems the last time I’d seen their practice; their below-regulation-height herkies, for one. I just hadn’t wanted to meddle.

“Girls,” I said. “United front. Smitten Kittens don’t hold animosity toward one another.”

“Forget it,” Kira said, sniffling. “I’m trying so hard, and no one appreciates it.”

My heart broke. I hated that I’d done this to her. I’d completely overburdened her.

“Kira.” Leona sighed. “Don’t be overdramatic. I think you’re a good captain. I just think that with this SOS problem, you’re in over your head. We need Tessa’s help.”

I straightened my stiff back and adjusted the phone at my ear. “She’s right, K. You are a good captain. And I gave you the squad because I trust you. You’re the right leader for the Smitten Kittens.”

Kira was quiet for a second. “Thanks,” she said finally, sounding more courageous. “I know we’ll pull the cheers together in time for the game.”

“I know you will too. Now,” I sighed. “Tell me about this SOS alert. I think it’s important we figure out this mess before it gets out of hand. When was it sent?”

“This morning,” Leona said, without missing a beat. “I got a call from Izzie at about nine. The message was sent to all the girls in the county—including us. Only these messages were sent to our old SOS accounts. She figured they must know—”

“Who we are,” I finished, glancing back at the screen. My stomach twisted as I thought of how someone had found out our identities…and what they would do with them.

“But I guess it’s not the first one,” Leona added. “In the beginning of the summer they had sent out a flyer, just not to us. Wonder why we got one this time?”

“A warning?” Kira asked.

“Good guess,” I said. It made total sense that whoever was sending out these messages would send one to us. Because really, it was their way of proving that they knew our identities. And a way to keep us quiet. Like a threat.

“So what’s our move?” Leona asked. “Are we going to restart the real SOS?”

“No,” I answered quickly, then clicked off the computer monitor and slowly got up from my desk chair. I had to think this through. Someone had discovered SOS, and even though I wasn’t captain anymore, I was still a Smitten Kitten at heart. I wasn’t going to let someone get away with pretending to be us. This was a forgery of the worst kind—a reputation hijack.