Chapter One
Junior year has finally arrived and with it my chance to fulfill my dream of being a cheerleader.
Glancing at myself in the mirror, I practice my routine a few times. True tryouts won’t be until tomorrow, but it’s always good to be prepared, right?
I didn’t try out for the squad in my freshman and sophomore years because I was nowhere near ready.
And honestly, I didn’t think I had what it takes.
I also didn’t want to go through what my mom went through when she was in high school and tried out for the squad.
She didn’t have the best routine and was humiliated in front of everyone by her classmate, Teagyn.
Now Teagyn Myers Abberton is the cheer coach.
So yeah, I definitely wasn’t too keen on dealing with a witch like her.
But I guess I’ve grown braver over the summer because I’m determined to make it work this year.
I can attribute a lot of that to Mom. She and I have always gotten along great, but we’ve grown even closer over the last few years and Mom has been telling me so many stories about her mom.
My grandmother died when Mom was thirteen, and that was why Mom wanted to be a cheerleader in high school—because her mom was a cheerleader for the Edenbury Lions, too.
Her photo is in the school hallway with the rest of her squad.
Getting closer to Mom has made me feel closer to my grandma, too, and I want to keep her memory alive by being a cheerleader like her.
I don’t care if Coach Abberton will turn up her nose and look at me like I’m less than the ants on the ground.
I’ll show her what an amazing cheerleader I will be and I’ll wipe that smirk right off her face.
“Rylee!” Mom calls. “You’ll be late for your first day of school.”
Taking a deep breath, I let it seep out of my nose, nod at my reflection, grab my backpack, and make my way downstairs, where Mom and Dad are seated at the kitchen table. They both smile when I walk in and wish me a good morning.
“Morning,” I greet as I lower myself at the table and reach for a pancake. “No football practice this morning?” I ask Dad. My dad is Brayden Barrington, a legendary former pro football player. He’s the football coach at my school, Edenbury High, in Edenbury, Georgia.
He shakes his sandy brown head. “After school.” He smiles at me. “So, first day of junior year, huh? How do you feel?”
“Like I’m ready to be the cheerleader I was born to be.” I cut into my pancake and take a bite.
Mom’s brown eyes soften. “I love that you want to follow in Grandma’s footsteps, but remember our rule. You can only be on the squad if you do well in school.”
I duck my head as I cut another piece of pancake. I almost flunked out of my sophomore year because I let my grades slip.
“You’re so smart, sweetie,” Mom says with a sigh. She pushes some of my brown hair—the same shade as hers—out of my eyes. “I just wish you put as much effort into your grades as you do in everything else.”
I puff out my cheeks. “I wish school wasn’t so boring.”
Mom gives Dad a look. “I don’t know how my own daughter finds school boring. She must get that from you.”
Dad holds out his hands. “Hey, I didn’t find school boring all the time, Kara.”
Mom focuses back on me. “Don’t forget to meet with Vice Principal Rivera before class. She’ll introduce you to your tutor.”
I twist my nose. “Do I really need a tutor, Mom? I can do well in my classes on my own.”
She gives me a look.
“What? I can.”
“I wish I could trust you, honey, but this is too important. You know very well that your junior and senior grades are very important for college. You can’t afford to get anything less than a B in all your classes.”
With a frown, I play around with the syrup on my plate.
It sucks. I just want to have fun with my friends and not be so serious.
But Mom’s always loved school and can’t fathom her own flesh and blood not loving it as much as her.
I’m not like my older brother, Noah, or my older sister, Chloe.
They were straight-A students like Mom. I’m just… me.
“I have faith in you, sweetheart,” Dad says as he places his hand over mine on the table.
“I know you’re very determined once you set your mind to something.
I just can’t believe you’ll be turning seventeen this year.
” His lower lip quivers as his voice shakes, and his blue eyes get a bit glassy.
“Our baby will be out of the house before we know it.”
Dad gets very emotional sometimes, especially when it involves his kids. It doesn’t bother me when he gets tears in his eyes, it’s just that it’s so contagious and it won’t be long before Mom has tears, too.
“Thanks,” I tell Dad. “And don’t worry, Mom and Dad. I’ll be getting straight As in the first weeks of school and will say ‘bye bye’ to my tutor. Whoever she will be.”
“How are you so sure she’s a she?” Mom asks.
“Dad said he wanted me to have a girl so I won’t be distracted and will focus on school.”
“It’s bad enough she’ll be distracted by the football players,” Dad mutters.
I cross my arms over my chest. “I don’t go crazy over football players.”
Dad scoffs at that.
Mom glances at the clock on the wall. “Okay, it’s time for me to head to work. You two should be heading to school, too.”
My mom, Kara Gander Barrington, is a journalist for The Edenbury Press, our local newspaper. I always love reading her articles. My twenty-two-year-old sister, Chloe, has followed in her footsteps and is in college for journalism. She hopes to work at The Edenbury Press after she graduates.
“Have a great day, both of you,” Mom says as she plants a kiss on my forehead and then pecks Dad’s lips. “And Rylee? Please be nice to your tutor.”
I give her an innocent face. “Why would I be anything but nice?”
She sighs before grabbing her bag and leaving. Okay, maybe the rebel in me has considered giving my tutor a hard time because I bet she’ll be so serious and doesn’t have the word “fun” in her vocabulary. But I’d like to think I’m more mature than that. Well, at least I’m trying to be.
“Ready?” Dad asks.
“Yep.”
We leave the house and head for Dad’s car. During the drive, we talk about football and TV and music, and lots of other stuff. Dad and I can talk for hours, especially about football. Our whole family loves it.
“Here we are, back at school after a long summer,” Dad says as he pulls into his parking space.
“Not long enough,” I grumble as I undo my seatbelt.
Dad chuckles. “I hear you. Just try to do well in your classes, okay? This is important to me and your mom, but it’s more important to you.
I know it’s hard to think about your future when you’re still a kid, but the next two years will pass in the blink of an eye and you’ll find yourself about to embark on the next stage of your life.
Not that soon, though, got it? I’m not ready for you to grow up. ”
I sigh. “You’re sending me mixed messages, Dad. If you’re so worried about me growing up and leaving the nest, you should want me to flunk out of the school. That way, I’ll live with you and Mom for the rest of my life.”
His face blanches at the thought.
I laugh as I playfully slap his arm. “Just messing with you, Dad. You know I plan to travel the world and go on adventures as soon as I graduate.”
“College,” Dad emphasizes. “As soon as you graduate college, not high school.”
I lean forward to kiss his cheek. “Of course, Dad.” I reach for the door handle, then look back at him. “Don’t be too hard on the football players during practice, okay? My future boyfriend is among them.”
“Like I said,” Dad mutters as he undoes his belt. “Distracted by my players.”
I wave and wish Dad a good day before getting out of the car and heading into the school building.
The place is bustling with students darting over to their friends and gushing about their amazing summers.
I scan the hallway until I find my two best friends waiting at my locker.
Zoey Hastings, who is also my first cousin, has her sandy brown hair pulled up into a high ponytail.
As the only female on the football team—and the quarterback!
—I think she’s the coolest person in the school, along with me and Mia Park.
Of course, the other kids don’t seem to share my view because we’re invisible at our school.
I call it the Invisible Curse. Our moms—who are also best friends and coined themselves the Four Musketeers—were cursed to be invisible in the same high school.
So have our older sisters and their friends, who have coined themselves the Junior Musketeers.
No shock that it’s been passed down to us.
But in a way, I think it’s also kind of a good thing because it cements our friendship and makes us appreciate each other more.
Along with the tradition of being Invisible Girls, my friends and I have also started a book club, just like our moms and older sisters.
And we coined ourselves the Musketeer Trio.
As much as I love my friends, a part of me still yearns to be popular, something I’ve wished for since I was a kid. Chloe always tells me to love myself as I am and to not be afraid to show the world who Rylee Barrington is, but I can’t help it. The popular kids seem to have so much fun.
Maybe making the cheer squad could change that for me.
“Rylee!” Zoey waves me over.
With a huge grin, I race to my friends and fling my arms around them. “I’ve missed you guys so much!”
Mia laughs as I squish them to death. “We hung out all summer.”
“Except for when you visited your family in South Korea for two weeks,” I remind her.
“And when you and your dad worked on your movie at the start of the summer,” Zoey adds.