I remember last night, lying with him on the bleachers. I don’t know if he realized his hand was over my hair¸ shielding me. He instinctively protected me.
What am I thinking? What am I feeling?
I’m not even sure myself. Lately I’ve been so confused and my emotions have been a mess.
I smile at Vic, then get back in formation for the next cheer. Cassidy Richards, standing next to me, shakes her head. Her lips are formed in a tight, thin line.
“You okay?” I ask her.
“I’m fine,” she snaps.
“You sure?” She’s not acting like she’s fine.
She rolls her eyes just slightly, as if my questioning is annoying her. “I said I was fine. End of story.”
Whoa. “Okay.”
To say that Cassidy has been moody lately is an understatement. I figure it’s the stress of school starting. Everyone around me seems stressed lately.
Well, except Bree. That girl never gets stressed. She’s so self-absorbed she’s oblivious to the world around her.
“Ready?” Bree calls out with a big, white-toothed smile on her face. She calls it her “cheerleader” smile.
“Ready. Okay!” I call out.
We start our next cheer.
We are the Rebels, we’re number one!
We won’t give up until we’ve won!
Fremont High School, what’s our fate?
Our team will make it all the way to State!
Yeah!
Woo-hoo!
Bree made that cheer up, which was better than her initial cheer about Fremont having the best-looking team and something about looking at the rivals in the mirror makes us scream. Leave it to Bree to make up a ridiculous cheer.
After halftime, Jet runs up to Bree before the refs blow the whistle to start the second half.
“Yo, Bree!” Jet yells above the crowd.
She bites her bottom lip. “Yeah?”
“Go to homecoming with me!”
Bree gives a short laugh and puts a hand on her hip. “Seriously, Jet? Was that even a question or a statement?”
Not to lose a moment where Jet can focus all the attention on himself, he gets down on one knee. He’s still in full football gear and even has his helmet on. To the crowd, it must look like he’s proposing marriage to her.
Everyone goes wild.
He takes her hand in his. “Bree Turner, will you do me the pleasure of going to homecoming with me?”
“Okay,” she says. “I’ll go with you. Now get up. You’re making a scene.”
Everyone who knows Bree knows she loves a scene. This is so perfect for her.
Instead of going back to his teammates, Jet holds his arms out wide like an eagle in flight and yells to the crowd, “She said yes!”
Everyone is screaming in celebration as he picks Bree up and twirls her around before getting yelled at by Coach Dieter to rejoin the team.
“That was embarrassing,” Bree says after Jet is back on the field. “Now half the school probably thinks we’re engaged.”
She’s smiling wide.
“Who cares. You love Jet,” I tell her.
“Yeah. In a friends-with-benefits kind of way. I mean, he’s a model and super hot.” She checks out his butt, then wags her brows. “And he knows his way around a girl’s body, which is a plus. But I don’t want a boyfriend. Blech!”
“Thanks,” I say.
“It works for you and Trey,” she says, backtracking. “Just not me.”
“You and Jet should get married,” I tell her. “You’re both cut from the same mold.”
She looks at me curiously. “Speaking of married life, has Trey asked you to homecoming yet?”
I shake my head. The moment Bree knows about my relationship troubles, half the school will know. “No.”
“It’s just a matter of time. You, me, and Ashtyn have to go shopping for dresses.” She motions to Ashtyn, who’s kicking a football into the practice net. She picks up another one and stares at it. From this distance I can tell she’s reading something on it. With a little squeal, she runs up to Derek and says “yes!” before hugging him tight.
Yeah, he just asked her to homecoming. No doubt about that. As I stand here happy for my best friend, my heart is sinking into my chest at the knowledge that Trey and I aren’t madly in love with each other like Ashtyn and Derek.
I look over at Trey. He probably hasn’t even thought about asking me to homecoming. He’s too focused on everything else, including Zara Hughes.
Bree taps me on the shoulder with her perfectly manicured nails accented with little gold hearts. “We need to make Ashtyn look like a girl for once, instead of a football player. Homecoming is our chance!”
“If I even go,” I tell her.
“Trey will ask you. I’m not too sure about our resident grumpyface Vic though. He might be a lost cause.”
We both focus on Vic. It’s not surprising that he’s in the face of an opposing player, challenging the guy. I cross my fingers that he doesn’t get into a brawl and get kicked out of the game.
“Don’t be an idiot and get over it already!” Vic’s dad growls loudly from the stands. Everyone can hear him, including the opposing team.
After the altercation, Vic glances into the stands where his dad is sitting. Mr. Salazar looks completely pissed that Vic was about to get into a fight.
Usually during games Vic looks determined and focused. But now he’s got a fierce, almost defiant look on his face. He shoves his helmet over his head and runs onto the field. During the next play, Vic pushes the offensive lineman out of the way and rushes the quarterback, tackling him to the ground with such force it’s surprising they both didn’t get the wind knocked out of them. The crowd cheers and the guys on our team pat Vic on his helmet in celebration, but it doesn’t look like he notices at all.