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We chatted for a little bit longer and he talked my ear off about his new endeavor. I was happy that he was happy, and I hoped his fruit trees didn’t die like the time when he tried to set up an aquarium and ended up accidentally poisoning all his fish within the first week.
By the time I was done with my parents, the kitties were starving and I got up to feed them and realized that I needed to eat also and made a quick dinner. I needed to start meal prepping again, so I pulled some chicken out of the freezer and went through the pantry to see what I could make with it that would last a few days and would work for lunches.
I needed Dom to come over again and help me organize. He was an amateur chef and helped me learn how to use things like truffle oil and a microplane. I texted him and asked him what I should do with the chicken and he sent back the link to a recipe for chicken and veggies that you baked on a sheet pan. Thanks to Dom, I actually possessed a sheet pan. Before we met, according to him, I was living like an uncivilized troll. I tried not to be offended about that comment.
After dinner I was bored, so I started looking for a new ring. I really needed one with a red stone to go with this jumpsuit I’d just gotten and had plans to wear out when I went with my friends for a weekend trip to Portland. Sure, wearing ten finger’s worth of rings was fun in Corsica, but it could be a little excessive for a trip to the grocery store.
I didn’t find what I was looking for, but I did find myself back on Echo’s page.
“I think I have a problem,” I said to Meatball, who was sleeping on my feet. She woke up and made that sweet little kitty noise they make when they get surprised.
“You are so cute, yes you are.” I scratched her head and sighed.
How could I focus on beating Echo without focusingonEcho? Was there a way to fuel my spite without thinking about her every five seconds? If there was, I was going to find out how to do it. There was nothing that made you get shit done better than petty rage. Let that fuel flow through my veins, baby.
My next week was Echo-free (at least in person), but the article came out about me and the team. I tried not to cringe at the pictures and the quotes, but Megan hadn’t done me dirty and Camille was pleased with the results. She was sending it out to a bunch of rich alumni in hopes they would write some checks for the program. I was just glad that everyone would probably forget about it in a few days.
On Saturday, Dom pulled me aside and dropped a bomb.
“So, there is a situation.” His normally smiling mouth was pulled down, so I knew it was something serious. We pulled ourselves away from the squad to talk at the side of the gym.
“What’s happening? Is Heath okay?” That was my first thought.
“Oh, it’s nothing like that. Just that I got the news through the grapevine that a vandal set fire to the Heartwood High School gym last night and it’s pretty much just a pile of ashes right now.”
My stomach dropped. How terrible. “Oh my god. But no one was there, right?”
He shook his head. “No, it was empty, but they lost everything and it damaged part of the school before they could put it out. They’re pretty sure it’s arson.” Dom showed me the article in the statewide paper about it.
“Wow, this is awful.” My heart really went out to them. That was horrible. Corsica was about a half hour away from Heartwood, which wasn’t far enough for comfort.
“I wonder what the cheerleaders are going to do,” Dom said, scrolling though his phone and typing out a quick message.
“Shit, I didn’t even think of that.”
A burst of giggles and laughs distracted me for a second. I glanced back at the squad, which was supposed to be working on the dance, but they were having an impromptu dance-off. I’d yell at them in a second.
Dom looked up from his phone. “They’ll have to go somewhere. Or maybe this means their season is over? I don’t know how they’re going to practice. There isn’t a space around there that’s big enough.”
Both Heartwood and Corsica were pretty rural, without even the benefit of a YMCA or other community center with a large gym.
“Yeah, I don’t know. That sucks.” I spared a tiny bit of sympathy for Echo and then wiped it away. “Okay, that’s enough shenanigans, back to work.” I clapped my hands to get the squad’s attention, but it took me yelling at the top of my lungs. At this rate, I was going to lose my voice before the season was over.
We got through the rest of the practice with no major falls, just a few tears, and with me laying out the revamped pyramid.
“Okay, good job everyone. Remember, Saturday is all day. Don’t forget to hydrate, bring snacks, and I swear, if you stay up too late and whine that you’re tired, I’m going to lose it.” There were a few snickers at that, but they were silenced with one glare from me. I had polished that glare over twenty-six years of life. Almost like I was meant to do this job.
We did our little cheer to end practice and then Camille walked in.
“Hey, Cam, what’s going on?” She and I were casual friends and hung out sometimes outside of the school, but she was one of those beautiful intimidating women that I always found myself tongue-tied around. To add insult to injury, she was hopelessly heterosexual and married to a man who looked like he’d just stepped off the stage from a fitness competition and owned a local CrossFit gym.
She sighed and rolled her shoulders and I tried not to stare. I really needed to get myself under control. I’d been lusting all over the place lately.
My lust completely died when she responded. “So, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but the Heartwood gym burned down and I had an emergency conference call and we’re going to offer ours to their cheerleaders to practice here. It’s going to be a nightmare busing them over, but the decision was taken out of my hands. The principals are cousins.”
I bit my tongue hard to stop a loud curse from coming out. So hard that I might have drawn blood.
I had to close my eyes and take a deep breath before I could respond in a voice quivering with repressed rage.
