"Wait, our mascot is the hedgehog?" I asked.
"Up until a few years ago it was a Confederate soldier," Anderson told me. "But then everyone decided that was offensive, so they'd let the student body vote on a new one. That's how we'd ended up with the Mary Evans High Hedgehogs."
He nodded, and for the first time, I saw the mascot. He was standing near the cheerleaders. There'd been some attempt to make him look tough. The hedgehog's quills had been tipped with silver paint to make them look sharp, and his face was twisted into a snarl.
But all the quills and fierce expressions couldn't disguise the fact that, at the end of the day, the mascot was just a six-foot-tall hedgehog.
It was hard to tear my eyes away from that spectacle, but I finally turned to Romy and asked, "So what ghost business are you working on tonight?"
Romy huffed out a breath, ruffling her bangs. "Well, it was supposed to be the seance. My mom got off early tonight, so it was the perfect chance, but when we got here, the stupid trailer was locked."
Looking at me, she added, "I tried texting you like a billion times."
I'd left my phone at home. I still wasn't used to carrying it around, which I obviously needed to get better about. I really didn't want these three doing a seance.
"Romy asked us to break a window," Dex said, "but I told her I was not prepared to commit a crime, even in the name of science."
"Any chance you'll have another free night soon?" Anderson asked.
Before Romy could answer, Dex said, "Why is Adam Lipinski coming toward us?"
"Oh!" I had kind of forgotten about Adam. But there he was, making his way up the bleachers with two cups in his hands. "He's, um...we're here together," I said, and almost as one, Romy, Dex, and Anderson turned to look at me.
"Like, you're on a date?" Romy asked, both eyebrows raised. "And you came to sit with us?"
"He said to find seats," I told her, lifting one shoulder in a shrug.
"He probably meant for the two of you," Dex said, pulling his leg as far away from mine as he could. "And preferably seats that didn't have you wedged between two other guys."
Romy was already at the very end of the row, and Anderson was as close to her as he could get. Dex had a little space on his side, and he scooted away from me, giving Adam just enough room to squeeze in between us.
He handed me my Coke, the cup icy and slick in my hand. "Thanks," I murmured, suddenly unsure and embarrassed again. Was I not supposed to sit with my friends? Was that why Adam's shoulders were all...weird?
Taking a sip of my drink, I wondered why it was there were a million books on ghosts and legends and monsters, and nothing useful like, How to Go On a Normal Date Without Looking Like a Total Spaz.
"You guys talking ghost stuff?" Adam asked, and next to me, I felt Anderson tense a little.
But Romy leaned over, pleasantly surprised. "We were, actually. Okay, so everyone knows that this place has a ghost, and-"
"And you guys are going to slap on your tinfoil hats and get rid of it?"
Adam said it with a little smile, but it still sounded... snide. Mean, even.
Romy's expression hardened and she turned her attention back to the court. "No, we only use our tinfoil hats when there are aliens involved."
On Adam's other side, Dex sighed dramatically and leaned back against the wall, pulling his sunglasses out and slapping them on his face. He then stretched out his long legs, crossing them at the ankle, and folded his hands over his stomach.
Frowning, I leaned forward a little, trying to see past Anderson. "So, since the seance didn't work out, what PMS business are you dealing with tonight?" I asked Romy.
Her eyes flicked back to Adam for a second before she said, "I just thought with the mutilated doll and everything, we might need to keep an eye on Beth."
"She's cheering tonight," Anderson offered, nodding down at the gym floor. Sure enough, there was Beth standing in a line with a bunch of other girls in green and white, silver pom-poms in her hand. I remembered the doll wearing a rough copy of that same outfit, all mangled and covered in fake blood.
Then next to me, Adam snorted and said, "Oh, that psycho Barbie she found in her locker? Please, that was totally just Ben being a jerk."
"It's more than just that," Romy said, but Adam rattled the ice in his drink and rolled his eyes. "Of course it is. You know, Romy, this ghost hunter thing was cute when we were all in elementary school, but now it just makes you a weirdo. You get that, right?"
"Better a weirdo than a jackass," Dex muttered.
"You're one to talk, dude," Adam fired back, but Dex gave no indication he'd heard him.
"Whatever." Adam stood up and looked down at me. "I'm out of here. Izzy, you coming?"
As I stared up at him, I realized something. I wasn't irritated that Adam had interrupted Romy and screwed up my chances at getting more info. I was irritated because Dex was right. He was a jackass.
"No," I told him, curling my hands around the bleacher. "I think I'll stay here."
Adam hadn't been expecting that, I could tell. For a second he looked confused and then, I thought, hurt. But just as quickly, he gave me the same look he'd given Romy. "Okay, fine," he said, walking down a row. "The girl who's never seen TV before probably belongs with these freaks anyway."
With that, he turned and left. The four of us watched him go. Only when he was at the very bottom did Dex say, "Izzy, I don't think your new boyfriend is very nice."
I didn't bother to correct him about Adam being my "boyfriend." So my first date was a total bust, then. But why, watching him walk away, did I feel so...I don't know, relieved?
And then something else occurred to me. "Oh, crap. He was supposed to drive me home."
Dex slid his sunglasses down his nose, but before he could say anything, Romy leaned over. "My mom is coming to get me in like an hour. We can drive you home."
"Great," I told her, ignoring the tiny flicker of disappointment. I needed more of a chance to talk to Romy anyway.
There was a sudden shout from the crowd as-I guess-our team scored points. Everyone around us shot to their feet, clapping, but the four of us stayed in our seats.
"Well, Isolde," Dex said over the noise, "how does it feel to have declared for Team Outcast?"