Burn for Burn (Burn for Burn 1)
“I thought she saw me for sure.”
“Well, obviously she didn’t!” Kat pumps her fist in the air. “I just wish I could’ve seen Lillia’s performance.” She mimics, “‘I don’t feel so good.’”
I try to smile, but something doesn’t seem right. “Did you make sure there were enough votes for Ashlin to win?” I ask.
Kat brushes me off. “I’m sure it’s fine. There were plenty of votes for her, and I grabbed, like, twenty of Rennie’s votes.” She sticks both her hands into her bag and pulls out two big fistfuls of ballots. “We got this. Trust me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
LILLIA
THE LAST SECONDS TICK OFF THE SCOREBOARD IN WHITE round bulbs. Three, two, one. The referee runs out to the angry seagull painted on the fifty-yard line and reaches for the air horn clipped to his belt. I don’t hear it blare because of all the cheering.
We killed them.
Jar Island 38, Tansett 3. A homecoming victory.
Reeve leads our team off the football field, holding his helmet high over his head. He’s soaked with sweat, and it makes his hair darker and picks up the curl. There are a bunch of scouts on the sidelines, men wearing different college windbreakers, holding clipboards and video cameras. One of them smiles proudly at Reeve, as if he’s his dad or something.
All of the cheerleaders jump up and down and hug each other. I look around to find Rennie. She’s by Nadia’s side, ruffling the top of her head. It messes up Nadia’s ponytail, but Nadia doesn’t care. Then Rennie turns a bunch of back handsprings. I’m surprised she’s not totally nauseated by this point, since she’s been doing them all game long. Rennie put on such a show cheering for Reeve, it was like she thought his scouts might offer her a scholarship to be his personal cheerleader.
I give my pom-poms a halfhearted shake. We always have a big crowd for homecoming. Practically the whole school is here, teachers, parents, some alums, too. Everyone joined in our call-and-response cheers, and they knew every word to our fight songs.
Reeve did have an amazing game. Perfect pass after perfect pass. He even ran one in for a touchdown himself. Our fans screamed their throats raw, chanting his name, but not me.
I don’t know if Mary came to the game or not. I didn’t see her in the bleachers. I hope for her sake, she stayed home.
As PJ walks past me, I pat him on the back. He’s not even sweaty. “Good job, PJ,” I say. I do a quick tuck jump.
He smiles and pumps his fist in the air.
Alex trails behind him. As he passes our bench, he turns so he is jogging backward and, with a big smile, calls out, “Thanks for the great work tonight, ladies!”
Smiling, I shake my head at him.
Nadia yells, “You’re welcome!” Her friends fall over each other in a fit of giggles.
A few weeks ago that would have ruined my night. But now, after talking to Alex, I know I don’t have to worry. I believe him when he says he’s not interested in Nadia. He’d never do something I didn’t want him to. And, in that way, I guess my revenge was a success. We’ve gone back to the way things used to be. When Alex would do anything I asked him to. Only this time I’m not going to take advantage of it. He’s a person with feelings too.
The boys gather up their equipment and head toward the field house. Everyone but Reeve, who is immediately surrounded by the scouts. The band finishes the fight song, and the bleachers start to clear out. Some of the girls start putting away their pom-poms in the big team duffel bag.
Rennie sees this and turns red. She storms over and shouts, “You cheer until every last player is off the field!”
I don’t remember this being a rule. Apparently Ashlin doesn’t either, because she gives me a confused shrug. By this point Reeve is the only guy left, and it feels weird for us to keep cheering for him, because he’s talking to the scouts. I guess Rennie realizes this too, because she eventually sighs and tells the new girls to take down the banners and load the equipment into the back of her Jeep. She lets Nadia be in charge of her keys.
* * *
On the ride home Rennie is bursting with energy. She has on a CD of cheer dance tracks, which are club songs sped up even faster. Her radio volume is turned way up, and the bass makes her speakers crackle and buzz. I turn it down.
“Wasn’t that game amazing, Lil?”
“Totally,” I say. I worry for a second that I don’t sound like I mean it, so I cheerfully add, “Everyone’s going to be in such a good mood for the dance tomorrow.”
Rennie nods. “We should start thinking about a new halftime routine for play-offs. Just to keep things fresh.” Then she reaches into her backseat, trying to find her purse. We nearly veer off the road.
I swear, Rennie is the worst driver. I push her arm back toward the wheel and say, “What do you need? I’ll get it for you.”
“Can you call Ash?”
I do. I call Ashlin, put her on speaker, and hold my phone up between us.
Rennie says, “Hey, Ash. I don’t know about you, but I am soooo amped up right now. Let’s go do something.”
“Come over!” Ashlin offers. “You can finally see my new sauna!”
I like the idea. I went in a sauna a few times, when my mom took Nadia and me for a spa day. It would be nice to relax and unwind a little, especially because, the closer tomorrow gets, the more I feel nervous about our plan.
I glance at the clock on Rennie’s dashboard. It’s ten thirty. Mary and Kat are supposed to come over later to go over everything, and Kat’s bringing the ecstasy with her. But there’s plenty of time before that happens. I told them to come at two in the morning, because I know my mom and Nadia will be asleep by then.
“Sounds good to me,” I say.
“Yay!” Rennie says. “Ashlin, you call PJ and Alex and Derek. I’ll call Reeve.”
Glumly Ashlin says, “Derek can’t come. He has a family thing.”
I put my hand over the phone. “Why can’t it just be us girls?”
Rennie laughs at me. “Don’t worry. No more spin the bottle. I promise. Bye, Ash!” I hang up, and Rennie nudges her chin at me. “Now call Reeve.”
I find his name in my phonebook and press send.
He answers after a few rings. “What up, Cho!” Apparently Reeve’s already celebrating. “Are you calling to congratulate me? This really is my lucky night.”
Before I can answer, Rennie takes a hand off the wheel and pulls the phone out of my hand, and squeals, “Yay for Reevie!”