Authors: Nikki Carter
It's All Good (5 page)
7
A
gigantic smile takes up half of Jewel's face as she opens our hotel room door.
gigantic smile takes up half of Jewel's face as she opens our hotel room door.
“This is hot to death!” she says. “Just the three of us in this big room!”
The hotel made a mistake and overbooked their rooms, so they had to give some of the kids from Longfellow High suites instead of the normal double room. Sweet!
We lucked up because we were at the back of the line. I could almost hug Kevin for losing one of his contact lenses on the bus (I said almost). Jewel, Kelani, and I stayed behind to help him find it and guess what? It was stuck on his shirt!
Normally that would've been a big, fat BOO to Kevin, but because his nerd steez got us an upgraded room, he gets a pass.
Kelani says, “I bet Valerie would be heated if she saw our room.”
“I know, right,” I reply.
Jewel squeals from the bathroom. “We have a Jacuzzi tub!”
“This is just like an episode of the
Real World,
” Kelani gushes. “I'm 'bout to tell my boo to come see this.”
Real World,
” Kelani gushes. “I'm 'bout to tell my boo to come see this.”
I clear my throat. “Kelani, you know what's up. We can't have any boys in our room. Not even for a minute.”
“Don't be a goody-goody, Gia. You act like I'm asking Chris to spend the night or something.”
Jewel pops her head out of the bathroom. “If you did, he wouldn't have anywhere to sleep!”
“Sorry, y'all,” Kelani says. “I just don't want Valerie inviting him to her room. I can't stand her.”
Jewel comes out of the bathroom and sighs. “I just want everyone to make up and be friends again. I don't like all this tension.”
Kelani ignores Jewel, pulls out her Sidekick, and starts clicking away. I wish Gwen would give me the money to buy a phone like that. My phone looks like it should have a picture of Dora the Explorer on the back. The buttons are all big and foolish! I don't let anybody see it.
Jewel asks, “Who are you texting, Key?”
“Nobody. I'm on Facebook,” Kelani replies.
“Can you just put that thing away for the weekend?” Jewel asks. “She gets on my nerves, Gia. Posting updates and surveys all the time! Ugh!”
I let out a laugh. “I'm not getting into any BFF brawls. Speaking of which, I'm supposed to be meeting my peeps in the lobby. Y'all wanna come with?”
“Sure,” Kelani replies. “Let me just finish this real quick.”
“What are you posting?” I ask.
“A comment about my survey, Sixteen Random Things About Kelani.”
“Why sixteen?” I ask.
“Why sixteen what?”
I roll my eyes. “Why sixteen things about you? Why not twenty?”
“Because twenty is too many things and I don't like people all up in my bidness like that.”
Ha! As if she had any bidness that people would want to know about.
“Girl, come on!” I know I sound bossy, but we're meeting for food, and a girl's gotta eat.
Hope, Kevin, Sascha, and Chase are chilling on the lobby couches when we get there. Only Ricky is missing from the crew. Valerie's not here either, but then she's not really a member of our clique. I guess Sascha and Chase aren't either, but since Sascha's sister drove, I guess it's cool if they hang. Sometimes she hangs and sometimes she doesn't.
“What it do?” I ask the group.
Hope sighs. “I thought you were cured of your 'hood tendencies.”
“I guess not,” I say with a shrug. “Kevin, where's Ricky?”
“He said he didn't wanna hang with us because he needs his rest for the game.”
“What's your room number?” I ask. “I'm gonna call and see if he wants us to bring him something.”
Jewel chuckles. “That's sweet, Gia. Take care of your boo!”
Grrr! See, this is why Ricky and I have been having all this BFF distress. Everyone is trying to force something to happen that Ricky clearly doesn't want. Notice that I didn't say I didn't want it! But I'm not going to force it, either.
“Whateva! Kevin, what's the number?”
“It's 507, Gia.”
I do my angry sashay over to the hotel phone and dial the number.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Ricky. It's me.”
“Hey, Gia. What it do?”
See! Someone embraces the coolness that is moi!
“I was... I mean we were just wondering if you wanted us to bring some pizza back from the restaurant?”
“Yeah, that would be cool. You know what kind I like, right?”
I smile. “Of course. Pepperoni, extra cheese, and mushrooms.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, see you in a little bitâbye!”
“Wait. Gia?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for thinking of me.”
“Of course I would think of you, dude! You're my best friend.”
Ricky lets out a little chuckle. “Well, I haven't been much of a best friend lately. I know I been tripping.”
“It's cool, Ricky. Must be those boy hormones or something. Get some rest.”
“All right, see you soon.”
Now what was that all about? Was that an apology for his foolishness of late? It sounded like it, right? Well, I'll just take what I can get.
The Pizza Palace is conveniently connected to the hotel, so we don't have to go far. There are Longfellow Spartans everywhere. We're seriously taking over up in this piece.
Our entire group crowds into a super-large booth. Chase is sitting so close to Sascha that she might as well be in his lap, and she looks uncomfortable. Did she forget to tell her dude that she's in a purity class?
Jewel asks, “So, Hope, what do the rally girls have planned for the game? I know y'all are doing something special.”
“We just made a bunch of signs,” Hope replies. “We're going to do a lot of chanting and a lot of stomping! That's it.”
“Y'all decided to fall back, and let the Hi-Steppers do our thing, huh?” Kelani asks. “It's about time.”
Hope laughs. “Yeah, I wanted to let my cousin get her shine on.”
“Whatever, Hope!” I object. “I'm always in shine mode, no matter what your status. Recognize!”
Hope sticks her tongue out at me. “Whatever, yourself!”
My miniature tiff with Hope is interrupted by Sascha. “Stop, Chase!”
Okay, I don't know what she's fussing about, but Sascha looks heated for real. Chase has this
what did I do?
expression on his face. I wonder what that's about, and I think everyone else does too, because we all totally stop talking.
what did I do?
expression on his face. I wonder what that's about, and I think everyone else does too, because we all totally stop talking.
“All right, chill, girl,” Chase says. “I'm just playing.”
“Well, it's not funny,” Sascha replies.
“What's not funny?” I ask the question that everyone else probably wants to ask.
Sascha replies, “N-nothing. I'm about to go to the bathroom. Chase, can you let me out?”
Chase rolls his eyes and flings his half-greasy bang out of his face. He stands up and lets Sascha out, but he takes his time doing it. Dude has a serious attitude.
“I'm going with you,” I say.
Chase narrows his eyes in Sascha's direction. Her nonverbal reply is a nod. I don't know what just went on between these two, but I for dang sure am about to find out. Number one, Sascha is my girl and I'm trying to look out for her. And number two, I'm nosy like that.
When we're in the bathroom, Sascha doesn't go into a stall. She just runs water in the sink and washes her face with a wet paper towel.
“What's up, Sascha? Everything okay with you and Chase?”
Sascha smiles, but it's not a happy smile. “Yeah, it's cool, Gia. We've been going together since freshman year, and he's starting to trip about some stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” I ask.
“Well, he's been pressuring me, because he wants me to be his first. He can barely keep his hands off me sometimes, but I don't want to hook up.”
“I totally understand. Did you tell him about the purity class?”
She shakes her head. “I tried to, but he doesn't listen to me half the time anymore. I keep thinking we should break up, but I really love him, Gia.”
“You do? How do you know?” I ask.
I really want to know the answer to this question. I hear people saying they're in love all the time, and I don't know what that's supposed to mean. My mom says that teenagers don't know what being in love means, but she's not right about everything.
Sascha hugs herself. “It's so intense. It's like I wouldn't want to live if he wasn't my boyfriend, Gia!”
Hmmm ... I don't know what I think about this. I know I've never felt this way about anyone. Definitely not Romeo and not even Ricky.
“Well, what if he breaks up with you because you won't give him your virginity?”
Sascha grabs both my arms. “I don't know, Gia! I don't even want to think about it. It would be awful.”
Tears come to her eyes, as if the thought of a breakup is too much for her to handle.
“Do you want to talk to my mom about it?” I ask. “She usually has good advice.”
“No. Chase would be mad if I told anyone. He'd be mad if he knew I was telling you. Please don't tell anyone!”
“Um ... okay, I guess.”
I don't like making promises to keep secrets. Especially if I think Gwen would go off on me if she found out I was keeping one.
“Thank you, Gia. You'll understand when you start dating someone for real. Like Ricky, maybe? Everyone thinks y'all already go together.”
“Well, we don't. We're just friends, so everyone can fall back.”
Sascha laughs. “Okay, sorry!”
The pizza is on the table when Sascha and I come back and it's already half devoured. It didn't seem like we were gone that long, but apparently it was long enough for my peeps to inhale half the pizza. I'm gonna have to order Ricky's slice separately.
Besides grubbing, it looks like something really funny went down, because everyone is in some stage of laughter. Hope is clutching her stomach and Jewel has tears streaming down her face. The only one not laughing is Kelani, and, as usual, she's on that Sidekick.
“What is so funny?” I ask as I sit down.
Out of the corner of my eye I watch Chase stare Sascha down
hard.
She doesn't even make eye contact with him and she looks totally scared. Me no likee. And me definitely no likee how he snatches her arm and pulls her into the booth. No one else seems to notice this but me. They're too busy laughing.
hard.
She doesn't even make eye contact with him and she looks totally scared. Me no likee. And me definitely no likee how he snatches her arm and pulls her into the booth. No one else seems to notice this but me. They're too busy laughing.
“Is someone going to tell me and Sascha the joke?” I ask.
Hope pulls herself together and says, “We're playing Would You Rather, and the question was, would you rather have a freakishly big smile or a freakishly little nose? And Kevin ...”
Hope bursts into a flurry of laughter.
Kevin rolls his eyes. “I just said I'd want the freakishly big smile because then I'd just look extra friendly. And then Hope tried to imagine me with a freakishly big smile and started laughing! Not even funny.”
A picture pops into my head of Kevin with a huge smile and holding a greasy bag with chicken sandwiches in it. Next thing I know, I'm laughing too.
“All of you get on my nerves!” Kevin mumbles. He crosses his arms and pouts. What a diva!
By the way, I'd take a freakishly big smile if I had to choose. I'd just mean mug everybody all the time and never, ever smile!
8
A
shiver runs through my body as I sit in the bleachers with the rest of the Hi-Steppers. It's times like these when I wish this skirt had a little bit more material, and that these shiny dancer tights were long underwear. I brush away a big, fat snowflake as it plops into my lap.
shiver runs through my body as I sit in the bleachers with the rest of the Hi-Steppers. It's times like these when I wish this skirt had a little bit more material, and that these shiny dancer tights were long underwear. I brush away a big, fat snowflake as it plops into my lap.
Ugh! It's cold.
Ricky's parents are here finally, and also huddled in the cold. When they didn't make it in the early afternoon like they planned, Ricky was in panic mode. He called them about fifty times asking if they'd left.
I think all of the Longfellow Spartans are happy that they showed up because my boy was tripping for real.
Valerie plops down next to me and shakes a pile of snowflakes out of her hair. “This weather sucks,” she says.
“Tell me about it. But it is November, so what do you expect?”
“True. Did you see the rally girls and those lame signs? They so are not the spirit ambassadors. I don't know how anyone got confused.”
“This whole hate-the-rally-girls thing you've got going has to stop. I heard you're even terrorizing rally girls on Facebook. What's up with that?”
Valerie tilts her head to one side. “Who said I was terrorizing rally girls on Facebook?”
“Nobody important,” I reply, not willing to give out any sources.
“I thought you knew me better than that, Gia. I guess not.”
I roll my eyes. “I don't think anyone cares about this whole spirit ambassador mess but you, Valerie. You and maybe Hope.”
“Of course I care. This is my last time wearing the Hi-Stepper boots. Not like anyone
cares
about that either!”
cares
about that either!”
I put one hand over my mouth! I totally forgot that this is Valerie's last game. Unless we do a parade or something in the spring, this is it for Valerie's Hi-Steppers reign of terror.
I wrap my arms around Valerie and give a little squeeze. “Aw, Valerie. I'm gonna miss you next year.”
“Yeah, right. You're gonna be so happy that I'm gone.”
“I'll only be happy about being the captain all by myself. Senior year is gonna rock.”
“Well, I won't be missing y'all. I'm gonna be too busy scoping out the college guys and trying to pledge a sorority.”
“I didn't hear anything in the mix about learning and education.”
Valerie laughs. “Girl, please. I'm going to college to find my husband. It'll either be an athlete or a nerd. Both make the long dough. You know what I mean?”
“No, and I don't think I want to know.”
Are we actually having a real friend-like conversation with no ulterior motives attached? Have Valerie and I moved to a new level in our friendship?
Valerie asks, “So, do you know what's up with Kelani? Is she really mad at me about Chris?”
I should've known there was something.
“I don't know what's up with Kelani. But I do think she thinks you're after her boyfriend.”
Valerie shakes her head and sighs. “Okay, so here's the thing. I
did
let him kiss me, and then he got all sprung and started acting stupid. He actually broke up with Kelani until I said I didn't want him. Then her little desperate self took him back.”
did
let him kiss me, and then he got all sprung and started acting stupid. He actually broke up with Kelani until I said I didn't want him. Then her little desperate self took him back.”
“What? Are you serious? Where in the heck have I been? I didn't know all this was happening.”
Valerie chuckles. “You were in Rickyland, drooling over your little almost-boyfriend.”
Almost-boyfriend!!!! Grrr ...
“I was absolutely not drooling over him. I'm too fly to be drooling over anybody.”
Valerie high-fives me. “I know that's right, chica. Do you think I have time to go holler at some of those cute Finley boys? A couple of them are looking real nice.”
I shake my head. “You better hurry up! If the game starts and you're not back, Ms. Vaughn might go ballistic.”
“True, true, and true. I think I do have time, though.”
Valerie hops up from the bleacher and pops her booty through the crowd, making the signature Hi-Stepper call, ooo-OOO! She sounds pretty lame doing it alone, but for some reason, I don't think the boys care.
The football team comes out onto the field with Ricky leading the way. The crowd goes wild as the future state champions wave at the crowd. I watch Ricky scan the stands for his parents and a huge smile bursts onto his face when he sees them. I wait for him to look my way, too. We make eye contact and he holds one fist in the air. I pump my fist in reply. We're like a teenage Barack and Michelle Obama! Can you see me rocking a fly afro in the White House? That would be hawt!
Would I be a bad BFF and almost-girlfriend if I tell you that I am not paying attention to this football game? I mean, they're running up and down the field and scoring points, but I'm thinking ahead to halftime. I always get a little nervous right before we do a new routine.
When the halftime buzzer rings, the Longfellow Spartans are barely ahead, 14 to 12. But we've got more momentum because we scored two touchdowns, and the only points the Finley Sabers put on the board were field goals.
The Finley marching band does their halftime show first, and it is not the bidness. First of all, the band has about thirty members, and the drill team looks like a bunch of hoochies. I'm serious. I would describe their routine as exotic dancer meets Beyoncé.
Like I said, not the bidness.
When it's our turn, we storm the field like an army. Our band is huge, and that's not counting the twenty-two Hi-Steppers. We're fierce, for real.
As usual, our routine is flawless. Or, I should say, mostly flawless. Kelani missed a crossover and a few of her claps were late. Maybe if she paid attention to the music instead of mean mugging Valerie the whole time, she would've done better.
Valerie is tripping, too. She's got her normal Hi-Stepper's smile on, and girlfriend went overboard with the Vaseline on her teeth. But she's got tears streaming down her face. A www ... she really is sad that her Hi-Steppers era is over. Who knew she could be so emotional?
As we march off the field, I tap her on the shoulder and ask, “You cool?”
She nods, but stays silent.
Someone from the stands shouts, “Ooo-OOO!”
Valerie grins, pumps her fist and hollers back, “Ooo-OOO!”
The rest of the Hi-Steppers follow Valerie's lead and yell back at the stands. The tears still run down Valerie's face, but she's smiling extra hard.
Since she can't leave her fans without a little
extra,
Valerie pops her behind the rest of the way off the field. Boys from both schools show their appreciation by cheering and whistling.
extra,
Valerie pops her behind the rest of the way off the field. Boys from both schools show their appreciation by cheering and whistling.
What part of Powerful Girls are Pure is this? Gwen would not be pleased. I'm just saying.
Now that we've got the halftime routine out of the way, I can be a real BFF and pay some attention to my boy Ricky and the rest of the team.
The second half of the game starts off with a bang and an early turnover by the Finley Sabers. The Spartans return it for a touchdown because they got it like that.
On the next Spartans possession, Ricky leads the team up the field, but the drive only gives them a field goal. Are you impressed by my football knowledge? Yeah, me too. Ha!
The Sabers aren't going down without a fight, though. They get a touchdown the very next time they get the ball. The Spartan defense better pull themselves together real quick. Coach Rogers must be reading my mind because he takes a timeout.
While the team is on the sidelines we start a “Spartans fight” chant. And the Sabers fans counter us by yelling, “Sabers roar! Grr!!!”
Grrr? Are you kidding me? We should win the game just based on the lameness of the Sabers fans. Boo!
The rally girls have pulled out flags and streamers and are lighting up the stands with red, white, and goldâthe Spartans' colors.
When the team takes the field again, Ricky turns and looks into the stands. Since he's looking over in our direction, I yell, “Go Ricky!”
A huge smile bursts across his face and before I can catch myself the thought crosses my mind that he looks totally hot. Wow. My best friend is a hot boy, and apparently I'm not the only one who appreciates all his fineness. A lot of the girls cheer when Ricky smiles up at
me.
me.
My heart sinks a little as I have a second revelation (Ricky being a hot boy was the first). Ricky can have any of these girls. Why should he settle for me when he can have anyone else?
What if Ricky's reluctance to date has nothing to do with purity and everything to do with playing the field? That would be all bad.
“What are you thinking about?” Kevin asks, snapping me out of my worst-case-scenario daydream.
“Nothing. Y'all did good at halftime.”
“Thanks. This is fun. I hope we make it to state again next year.”
“Let's get through this game first,” I reply.
As if the team hears me, Ricky throws a touchdown pass to Romeo. Every Longfellow Spartans fan jumps up because it's pretty much a wrap! The Sabers are trailing by eleven points with less than two minutes in the game. As long as the Spartans defense handles their business ...
Oh snap! Somebody missed a block because the Sabers just did a forty-one-yard run up the field. Me no likee. And neither does Coach Rogers, 'cause he's blowing whistles and carrying on like he's lost his mind.
Even from the stands we can tell that Coach Rogers is letting the defense have it, but he soooo has a good reason! We're like two minutes away from being the state champions! This is not the time to start falling apart.
The defense runs back onto the field with the Spartans fans screaming in the stands. I think we all want this as badly as the team does.
On the next snap the Spartans do what they're supposed to do! They've got the Sabers quarterback scrambling for a receiver and he can't find one.
I guess he thinks he sees an opening or maybe he's desperate, because he throws the ball directly into the hands of a Spartans defender, who runs a few yards up the field, but doesn't come close to scoring.
We run a couple of plays to take up the rest of the time on the clock, but the Spartans have victory on lock! That's what I'm talking 'bout!
When the time runs out, the entire team rushes onto the field to celebrate their victory. My heart sinks as I watch a cheerleader throw her arms around Ricky's neck and kiss him on the mouth!
Ugh! I can't believe she's putting her random germs all over him! And let's talk about how even though he
finally
pushes her away, it is totally not fast enough. I see right now ... somebody's about to get hurt.
finally
pushes her away, it is totally not fast enough. I see right now ... somebody's about to get hurt.
Let's just hope it's not me.
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