“Ms. Vaughn somehow convinced me.” I shrug my shoulders, taking out my sandwich from my lunch bag. “Whatever, I’ve committed already.”
I take an angry bite of my sandwich and look back at my friends. Priya looks worried for me, but Alli and Grant are exchanging looks, almost as if they’re communicating through these glances. “What’s with you two? You’re looking at each other all weird and creepy…”
Grant nudges Alli’s elbow, making her yelp. “Ow, bitch.”
“Tell her.” Grant replies, tipping his water bottle at me.
“Tell me what?” I look at Grant and Alli.
Alli pushes her lunch away slightly and turns to me, holding both of my hands. “Please join cheer.”
This bitch is crazy. But I don’t say that out loud. Instead, I laugh maniacally in her face, thinking she’s joking. That’s what this is, a joke. It has to be.
“You’re crazy. Good one, Alli.” I release my hands from her grasp, but she reconnects them again.
“I’m serious.” Alli gives me a stern look, one that she doesn’t share often unless she needs to be taken seriously. Most people think she’s joking. Once, she told her uncle at their family union that she wanted to be a chef. She literally cannot cook to save her life. Yeah, she can roll a mean egg roll, but Allison Castillo can burn water. “I need you.”
Grant adds his hand to the pile. “We need you.”
I give them both a what-the-fuck look. “I’m not following, still.” I look back at Alli. “Didn’t you have tryouts in the summer? Why are you trying to recruit me?”
Alli lets go of my hands and buries her face with her hands. “We did have tryouts.”
I could barely understand her, so I leaned forward, trying to move her hands off her face. “And?”
Alli looks to Grant and waves at him to continue. Geez, she looks stressed.
“Alli’s being Alli. Look,” Grant turns to me, the playful Grant no longer there. “We did have tryouts but one of our girls, Imogen, broke her leg. She literally did everything in our routine!”
I wince at that explanation. “Jesus.”
“Yeah, I know.” Grant replies after seeing my twisted expression. “We’re fucking screwed. We don’t have anyone else that can do everything that Imogen did. So Alli and Coach Miller have been dividing parts but–”
“But we need a badass tumbler, so I said I knew someone.” Alli blurts out. She turns to me with pleading eyes and hands together in a praying motion. “Please Serena, I need you.”
“Alli, you know how I feel about cheering again. I’m not sure if that’s what I want–”
“Please. I’ll get on my knees right here, right now.” And she follows through. Allison Castillo gets on her knees. The students nearby can’t help but glance over, some stifling giggles and some furrowing their brows. “I realize you quit years ago, but consider it a massive favor for your best friend. It’s my final year as captain, and I’m in desperate need of your help.”
“Allison Marie Castillo, get up.” I grit through my teeth with pleading eyes. “You’re making a scene.”
“Join the team and I’ll owe you for life.”
Oh, God, she’s losing it. Should I slap her?
“Don’t make me serenade you, because I’ll do it.”
Maybe I should slap her.
I sneak a glance at Grant and Priya, looking for backup, but they’re “too busy” hiding in their textbooks. Frustration bubblesup, and I release a sigh of exasperation, reaching over to haul Alli up. “You owe me big time for this.”
Alli springs up, clapping her hands happily. “Name it, I got you. Thanks, chica.”
I sink my teeth into my sandwich before replying. “So, what exactly am I doing?”
Grant and Priya lower their textbooks, realizing the attention has shifted. I shoot them a glare for abandoning me with Alli’s pleading antics.
“Tumbling,” Alli answers.
