“Yeah.” Maybe this is our guy.
“Yeah, I know him. He’s on the school newspaper staff.”
It’s my turn to curse.
“What should we do?” Ty looks between Jack and me.
“I say we go beat the shit out of him.” Jack’s pissed. I don’t blame him. I’m feeling the same way.
“That will only make things worse.” I scrub a hand through my hair, trying to think. “I think we need to wait. If we confront him, he’ll deny it, and we have no proof it’s him except a car he supposedly doesn’t drive.”
“Yeah, I agree. We need to just sit on the information,” Jack says. “It will come in useful when the time is right.”
“At least we know who’s behind the website now,” Ty says.
“Yes, but it still doesn’t explain how he’s getting some of his pictures. Someone is helping him because he wasn’t at my house Friday night after the Ravenwood game.”
47. Superpower
I’ve been dreading the parade all day. My only consolation is that most of the court nominees didn’t want to dress up in formal attire, so Leah, Piper, Bailey Eccles, a sophomore nominee, and I get to wear our cheer uniforms. And the guys on the football team get to wear their jerseys. This week has been great. I’ve had fun dressing up for spirit week, and I had a blast playing in the powderpuff game. I’ve just ignored all the Homecoming court stuff. June made me vote for myself this morning. It’s not like I was going to vote for anyone else. I have no expectations of winning. All the senior girls hung posters and handed out flyers with candy and goodies. I’ve done absolutely nothing. Ford and I have avoided discussing what happens when he wins, and I don’t.
When I come out of art design, Ford’s waiting for me. “Hey, I didn’t think you’d make it?”
“I finished up with Coach Freeman and his team about five minutes ago,” he says, taking my hand.
“His team?”
“Yeah, he brought three other coaches with him.”
“Wow.” That has to be a good sign.
“It was a little intimidating, but they’re all friendly and are excited to watch me play.”
“I’ve never asked what you talk about in those meetings?”
“Myself.” Ford laughs. “Sometimes I feel like a salesman trying to sell myself. Other times they’re the salesman pitching me to their college and telling me why I should pick their school.”
“What was it like with Sutherland?” I ask, out of curiosity. I know how much he likes this school.
“It was a little of both. They asked me a lot of questions about working as a team and getting along with other players. They had heard that students call me, and the guys the Holy Trinity and wanted to know why. It was a great meeting. Even my dad was impressed, and that’s hard to do.”
I jump up and down as we walk outside toward the float. “I’m so excited. I can’t wait for them to see you play.” Ford takes a couple of deep breaths and just nods. “Hey,” I tug on his arm and stop walking. “You don’t have anything to worry about, just go out and there and play like you always do.” I feel bad for getting overly excited and adding to his anxiety. “Leave everything but your love of the game on the sidelines and play your heart out. No pressure.”
For leans his head against mine. “No pressure. Thank you, you always know what to say.”
“You’re welcome.” I rub my hands up and down his shoulders. “Now, let’s go have some fun.”
Ford laughs. “You got it, Babe.”
“Okay, I’m impressed. The Homecoming court float looks amazing.” I thought it would be a mishmash of different pieces, but Bree and the other girls have done a great job of putting it all together. My balloon arch looks incredible. When they asked me to make it, I was pissed. It looked hard and time-consuming, but I asked Beth to help me, and it ended up being a good bonding experience for us, and was a lot of fun. Mrs. Bouchard hands everyone a sash that says Homecoming Court across it. Each grade has a different color. The seniors are black, which is nice because it matches my cheer uniform.
When Leah and I try to climb on the float, Melissa blocks the stairs. “You have to walk next to the float. Your uniforms clash with all the bright colors.” Leah opens her mouth to argue, but I grab her hand.
“No problem.” I want to make a snarky comment about her chasing me the other night, but I bite my tongue. I’m not going to stoop down to her level. Mrs. Bouchard bought little sashes, and cheap plastic tiaras for us to hand out to kids. Walking ends up being a lot more fun. We place the sashes and tiaras on the kids’ heads, and the guys run up and down the parade route, giving high-fives. The kids who know Ford and the guys get super excited. Hank and Scotty are sitting with their class when we walk past. They scream my and Jack’s name, and we give them hugs, and Ford and football players give high-fives and pay special attention to them. By the end of the parade, my face hurts from smiling so much.
“Did you have fun?” Ford asks as we walk back into the school.
“Yeah, I had a blast. I’d been stressing about it all day, and it was nothing like I thought it would be.”
