Chapter 8
June
It was Amelia. As it so often happened, that Saturday I was about to pass out on top of my physics books. It wasn’t because I was tired; the subject just bored me to death. Suddenly, I pulled my nose out of the pages and saw my phone screen light up.
Amelia: Are you going to the game tonight?
June: What game?
Amelia: Brian’s
June: What are you talking about?
Amelia: My brother, remember? Five-nine, green eyes. Kind of a pain in the ass. What do you say?
June: What sport are we talking about?
Amelia: Football, June. At St. Mary we don’t play, talk about, or get off our ass for any other damn thing except football
Football wasn’t a sport that I had ever really been a fan of. Maybe because it was too violent for my taste. But this evening, I would’ve done anything to take a break.
June: Okay, will you come pick me up?
Amelia: Yeah, get ready; we’ll be there in a few minutes
I put on jean shorts and a hoodie, then told my mom I was going out. She was sitting on the couch staring at her phone. She mumbled, “Okay” and didn’t ask me any more questions.
Amelia pulled up in Brian’s car, and as I got in I noticed that someone was missing. “Where’s Blaze?”
Amelia smiled, pleased.
Maybe I should’ve told her that Blaze was only a friend. Or maybe I should’ve told her that I’d seen him hugging a guy in the mall parking lot that afternoon. More precisely, that he was in Jackson’s arms, James Hunter’s friend.
I turned to her and then realized how she was dressed—in a light-blue top with st. mary on it and a white pleated miniskirt.
“Wait, let me get this straight, are you a cheerleader?”
“Is that too clichéd for you, Miss White?” she teased me confidently.
“No. I didn’t know, that’s all.”
Actually, I thought it made a lot of sense for her, but I couldn’t help wondering if I’d ever feel comfortable with my body like all the other girls at school did with theirs.
We got to the football field ten minutes later. The bleachers were already full.
“Football’s a big deal here, huh?” I asked.
“Yeah, June, we’re the best team in all of Orange County.”
The crowd of spectators was made up of parents, male classmates, and most of all, girls. I recognized Sammy, the short blond girl who was always talking to James in class, sitting in the first row.
“June, these are my best friends, Poppy and Ari.”
Amelia introduced me to two girls.
“Hey, June . . . White, right?” Ari was the first one to talk. She was delicate with long dark hair and legs that were slender and solid, and her eyeliner was perfectly drawn on her lids.
Oh, yeah, she was the one I saw making out with Brian at the skate park.
“That’s Poppy.”
Ari pointed out the tall, slender girl with her hair in tiny braids standing next to her.
“Hey, June, did you just move here? I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Where’d you live before you moved?”
I waited a few seconds too long to open my mouth, and she started talking again.
“You don’t want to be a cheerleader, do you? Are you in class with Sammy?” I clammed up for a few seconds. Too many questions.
“Poppy never shuts up. You’ll get used to it.” Ari grinned.
I didn’t know how to react, so I smiled and answered the last question.
“Yeah, Sammy’s in my class.”
“I saw her together with James before,” Ari whispered to Amelia, who immediately looked nauseated.
“Please, let’s not start with that bitch,” she snapped, adjusting her top.
Her catlike eyes darkened even more as another girl walked toward us. It was the blond I’d seen with James at the vending machines on the first day.
“That’s Taylor.” Poppy wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“I didn’t see you at morning practice. I’m talking to you three,” said Taylor, addressing Poppy, Ari, and Amelia. “If you screw up one step, even one, I swear I’ll cut you from the team right then and there.”
Then she glared at me.
“And you are?”
Certainly not a goddess on earth like you. I kept that response to myself and just muttered, “June.”
“Well, get lost, twerp. The first row is for cheerleaders.”
We all know that every school has their bitchy queen bee, but this was a bit much.
“She’s with me. She can sit here,” Amelia interrupted, coming to my defense.
“Technically, she’s not—” Poppy interjected, but Amelia motioned for her to shut up.
The head cheerleader intensified her gaze, staring at them one by one. Then she called her friend. “Tiffany?”
I recognized the chick who was out of breath as she joined them. It was the redhead who’d been with James. Was there any girl he hadn’t had his greasy paws on?
“Tell me, Taylor.”
“Can you remind these four bimbos who’s in charge here?”
“You?” she asked Tiffany, with an amused snicker.
“And who decides who can sit in this row and who should get the fuck out?”
“Bravo, it’s always you.” I groaned impatiently. “What do you want, a cookie? I’m leaving.” I turned around and walked along the first row of seats.
“June, sit here. Don’t go.” Amelia chased after me and pointed to the first row of bleachers where there was a duffel bag overflowing with bottles. “I’ll leave you with the water bottles.”
“Thanks. You know how to make me feel useful,” I muttered as I sat down.
Amelia went back to the team and started to warm up as the players filed onto the field. Brian was the first one out. He was wearing a white jersey with the number 15 on it.
James Hunter swaggered out a short time later.
He strutted like he always did, with his trademark arrogant scowl.
Once his teammates joined him, they started warming up.
He wasn’t wearing his helmet, and the way he carried himself made him look like he was showing off, sparking a flutter of murmurs from a sea of girls.
His jersey clung to him just right, the fabric emphasizing his lean frame as he strutted across the field.
Exhibitionist, I thought to myself.
I admired his rosy cheeks and the way his square jaw clenched as his eyes met Brian’s. They glared at each other.
James ripped his gaze away first, then grabbed a bottle from the duffel bag.
The veins in his neck swelled as he chugged the water like he hadn’t had anything to drink in years.
I immediately thought of his cologne. How absurd.
I’d never smelled something so intensely that it was etched in my brain for days.
He pulled his lips from the bottle and sneered maliciously at a group of girls who returned the glare with cackling greetings.
Poppy and Amelia headed toward the bleachers, drawing my attention.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t end like it usually does,” Poppy let slip as she went to retrieve a bottle.
“Why, what usually happens?” I asked inquisitively.
“Hunter and Hood beating each other up.”
“How come? Aren’t they teammates?”
Poppy was clearly the group’s loudmouth. If she didn’t tell me, who would?
“We gotta go, June. I recommend cheering for us,” Amelia interjected, dragging her friend with her.
Instinct told me Amelia had something to do with all this. Should I mind my own business? Absolutely. Was I planning on it? Absolutely not.
The first half went quickly, and Amelia came up to me at halftime. She was almost speechless.
“Don’t lose your voice,” I teased. I threw her a water bottle, and she winked at me.
“You wanna know what I think, June?”
Even though that made me happy, the statement weirded me out. “Tell me.”
“You think you’re better than others,” she said from the top of her perfect body.
“What do you mean ?” I replied, embarrassed.
“I see how you look down on us. You think we’re ditzes who like to show our asses.”
“Can you convince me otherwise?” I asked. Obviously I didn’t have anything against cheerleaders, but dressing like that and cheering for a bunch of sweaty guys who were killing themselves to catch a ball definitely didn’t do anything for me.
“Let me convince you otherwise,” she challenged. “Come to practice and try it out. You’ll see that it’s harder than it looks.”
>> <<
After the game the guys went to the locker room while I looked in confusion at the scoreboard. If it wasn’t for the block letters on the board, I’d never have figured out who’d won.
“Come here, June!” called Ari as she saw me stop between the first few rows.
“Since when do the water girls come with us,” Taylor said sharply as we headed toward the school lawn.
“Feeling threatened?” quipped Amelia, with an air of satisfaction.
“Why should I be afraid of a pair of stumpy legs?” Taylor shot me a disdainful look.
“Because they’re short, but they can easily kick your ass,” I exclaimed.
I heard a chuckle behind us. The football players had just gotten out of the locker room, and one of them laughed.
A tall, blond, well-built one. Jackson. I examined his athletic frame.
His height. His straw-colored hair. The piercings on his eyebrow and lower lip.
Now I was sure of it. He was definitely the guy I’d seen in the parking lot.
I wondered what he was doing with Blaze, since they hated each other.
“Okay, it’s official. I feel sick,” Tiffany exclaimed, fanning her face with her hand. After that, she leaned her elbow against the locker room outside wall.
“You okay?” I asked worriedly, noticing how pale she was. “Do you want to lie down?”
“No. I don’t feel too good,” she said again seriously, staring at a fixed point.
My concern vanished when I saw what she was staring at. Taylor was joining James on the other side of the lawn, planting a kiss on his cheek.
“Oh, come on.” I was so indignant that I left her to deal with her supposed illness.
Luckily, Amelia came back with a plate of snacks.
I devoured them in a frenzy as Poppy was telling me about her life, including regaling me about her pet rabbit’s trials and tribulations. But I often glanced in the other direction.
James looked tired.
Suddenly a pair of blue eyes were glaring at me.
I looked away immediately. Damn me and my curiosity.
“June!”
William’s voice. Finally.
“Will.”
I turned around to see that he’d already changed. His tousled hair was still wet.
“I’m happy to see you. Again.”
I was gobsmacked. Had he really just said that? Amelia, Poppy, and other girls from the cheerleading squad were next to me, staring.
“Are you part of the cheerleading squad now?”
“Um, me? No. No way.”
“That’s a shame, I wouldn’t mind seeing you around more often.” For a moment our eyes met, then we looked at each other’s mouths. It lasted only a moment, but I immediately noticed the chemistry between us.
And that revved me up.
“Will!” James’s grating voice ripped his friend’s attention away from me. “Come on. This joint won’t roll itself.”
Disappointed, I shook my head, but then again, what did I expect? If William was James’s friend, he certainly couldn’t be a saint.
“Sounds like you’re being summoned.” I bristled, but William immediately noticed my change in mood.
“You good?” he asked, scrutinizing me.
“Yeah,” I lied, pushing a lock of hair behind my ear like I always did when I felt uncomfortable.
Now the conversation was dead, and when I saw William move away, I was on the verge of saying goodbye when something made him turn back.
“You’re dating Blaze, right?”
“He’s my friend.”
“That’s not a problem, then. I’m asking because—” I saw him squint, almost nervous about what he was going to say. “Do you want to go out with me?”
“William, will you fucking get a move on?”
It was Hunter. Again. He was getting impatient, and I was getting annoyed with him. I turned around and shot him a look. He looked down his nose at me. He made me want to smack him in the face right then and there.
“Well, June?”
William. Concentrate, June. You’re talking to William.
“Just you and me?”
On the one hand, I was over the moon. He liked me. But on the other hand, I didn’t know who William Cooper really was.
“Just me and you, June. Even though, knowing them, my friends will be the first in line to snoop around.”
“Remember, James isn’t very cool with me,” I specified.
“I’ll make sure he’s not in our way. I’ll take you to Tropical.”
“What’s that?” I smiled a little too wide, judging by how my cheeks were starting to hurt.
“It’s like a café, an arcade, and amusement park . . . a little bit of everything. You’ll like it.”
I was losing self-control because I was hearing snickers behind me.
“Okay, but on one condition,” I said.
A chorus of taunts and jeers sounded behind us, and suddenly I felt transported back to elementary school.
William ignored it and furrowed his blond eyebrows. He was listening to me.
“I don’t want to see them there.” I motioned to his friends, who immediately shut up.
“Just me and you, June.” William grinned at me. “It’s a date.” Then he went back to them.
“Did it really take you that long, Will? And forget that fucking bitch.” James groaned between clenched teeth. I saw William smile. A big question came to mind: Was he really into me or was he messing with me?