10. Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Sloane
I meet up with Maggie, Beth, and Annalise for our first pep rally of the season in the gym. We are all wearing our class of ’93 T-shirts designed by our classmate, Andrea, who is a huge fan of the Grateful Dead, so they have a 60’s hippie vibe. We take our position in the upper-middle section of the bleachers surrounded by our fellow seniors. During each pep rally the seniors, juniors, and sophomores all vie for the spirit stick which is basically won by the class that screams the loudest. While I'm an introvert, I am super competitive, and my family is big into football. I’m also excited to cheer for my favorite wildcat. The band is playing, the cheerleaders are cheering, and the wildcat mascot is jumping around working up the crowd.
My ears have a way of tuning into music, even music I don’t like. Especially music I don’t like. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was cursed. I turn to Maggie. “Is the band seriously playing Achy Breaky Heart ?”
Maggie giggles. “Yep, they sure are.” She starts to dance a little in her seat which causes me to roll my eyes and shake my head in jest.
Principal Buckley takes to the microphone to welcome us and start the festivities. After she's done, she introduces the football coach. Coach Harbin is a former college football defensive standout who is building a strong team at Dunwoody High. He further pumps up the crowd, telling us that this year's theme for the team is 'Relentless' before introducing the football team to wild cheers. The cheerleaders are assembled by the doors and hold a painted paper banner which reads, "Wildcats 'R Relentless!" and features a roaring wildcat with front claws extended in the center. As the team breaks through the banner and jogs out to the center of the gym, I look for number 44, Tyler's number.
"You know who's really cool?" I lean over close to Maggie's ear.
"Who?" she replies, as Coach talks some more.
"Tyler Finlay," I quietly divulge to the girl who's becoming my closest friend at school.
"Really?' she asks. "I thought he was just a hot jock and a bit of a rebel based on all the gossip about why he was kicked out of St. Christopher's."
I laugh, "Yeah, me, too. I've gotten to know him in marine bio. He's nice and has great taste in music. The rebel part is still to be determined."
"That's cool," she says. "He's certainly not hard to look at."
"Not at all," I say as my eyes are fixed on him. "His smile will melt you if you're not careful."
Her blue eyes sparkle from beneath her bangs and her dimple appears on her cheek. "Uh-oh. I guess I know who your favorite Wildcat is."
I feel my cheeks flush. "Yeah, but it's not like anything will come of it," I say as my eyes fix on him. "Why would a guy that hot, that cool, and that talented go for a girl like me?"
Maggie looks at me with sympathy like I'm a homeless cat. "Well, he should, but I get it. I'm so ready to graduate. All these cliques are so annoying. It's as if guys like him feel like they have to date a cheerleader, or at least someone in the popular crowd."
I nod my head as the football team takes their seats on the front row of the bleachers for their class. "It's so weird because I've gone seventeen years without anyone asking me to a dance or asking me out, yet I went down to Jacksonville over the summer with my friend Tameka, and I actually got interest from boys."
"That's because you are beautiful and sweet" she says as she gives my arm a squeeze.
"I'm so glad you didn't say 'nice.' That's like the kiss of death adjective," I joke.
Maggie laughs. "I know! When people call me nice, I'm like can't you call me interesting or sweet, or I don't know, maybe even creative."
"Yes!" I say a little too loud. "I certainly don't want to be called mean or rude, but nice just feels so…boring."
"Totally," she says.
"Also, I think because we're shy, we got lumped into some kind of classification from the time we were in elementary school, and it just stuck."
"Yeah, I think you're right," she says. "Plus, we're not partiers, and we don't sleep around."
"Exactly." I think about the friends I've lost because of my morals.
"The boys in Jacksonville met you as who you are now, which I'm sure is at least a tad more outgoing than you were in elementary school or junior high. And you were new to them. Plus, you're pretty, have legs for days, and of course, you're extremely nice ." She giggles as she says that last word.
I have to stifle a laugh which almost bursts right out of my mouth. "I do have an easier time meeting new people than I used to. I think I finally started coming out of my shell in tenth grade," I say quietly as Principal Buckley takes the stage before the spirit stick competition starts. "I always was a late bloomer," I joke and make Maggie laugh.
"At least Tyler is friendly. Do you talk much?"
"Oh yeah. We talk a lot about music and paired up on a lab together today."
"Well, that's something!" Maggie says optimistically. "Who knows, one of us nice girls may finish first for a change."
I smile. "Well, I'm not going to get my hopes up, but that would be a fabulous way to end my time in this place," I say as I look around at my fellow seniors. It's a weird thing to go through your entire school life with some of these people yet feel so detached from them. Maybe my standards are too high, but I'm certainly not going to change who I am to have more friends. I've seen other friends go the drinking, partying, and chasing guys route, but that's just not me. I've gotten used to being a loner, maybe college will be different.
"Honestly," I turn to Maggie, "I'd just really like someone to ask me to a dance this year. Preferably prom since it's practically a rite of passage, but I'd take homecoming."
Maggie's eyes get all sympathetic again, and she cocks her head. "Oh, Sloane, you'll totally have a date for prom. Any guy would be lucky to take you."
I can see in her eyes that she means it. "Thanks. Is it too much to ask for a tall guy to take me?" I half-joke. "I'd feel really awkward with someone shorter than me."
Maggie laughs as she waves her pom-pom. "Of course not!" She pauses to holler and cheer, and I join her as the spirit stick comes to the senior section. After that dies down, she says, "That will drastically reduce your options, but I bet one of the handful of tall guys will ask you. Who knows, maybe it will be Tyler Finlay."
I smile and feel myself blush. "Well, that would be amazing. It would be right out of a Hollywood movie, and I'd have the hottest date at prom." We laugh, but I start daydreaming about what it would be like to go to prom with Tyler. He's so handsome and tall, we have great conversations about music, and I can talk about football and baseball with him. Mental note, talk sports with Tyler so he knows I can talk about more than just music with him. But, he does scare me in a way. Not like he would hurt me, but he just seems way more experienced than me and most of the boys in our grade for that matter. As each of the classes yell and scream, my mind drifts to what it would be like to be on Tyler's arm. I've always wanted to date an athlete. Maybe this will be my year?