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Tiffany bounces over to our group in the parking lot before school. We’ve made it a habit of not going in until the warning bell rings, so you can usually find us out here until then. Her cheerleading skirt swishes as she moves, and her high ponytail is bouncing in time with her steps. She has a capital C on her upper left chest that matches the C on my jersey.
She walks right up to Cooper and immediately puts her arms around his waist.
I don’t know exactly when it happened, but after years of Tiff annoying the shit out of us, she has become part of our crew.
“God, I love the first game of the season. It’s so exciting! Everybody is pumped and ready. My girls are in top form this year. Are you boys ready?
Murphy laughs. “Jesus, Tiff, do you ever stop to breathe? I’ll bet that comes in handy, huh, Cooper?”
Cooper punches Murphy in the shoulder. “Shut the fuck up, Murph. Don’t make me kick your ass.”
“Aww, Cooper. You can try, but I’d hate to see you get embarrassed in front of your girl.”
Tiffany laughs. “Murphy, has a girl ever been able to stand you long enough to come back for seconds?”
Chloe interrupts. “Children, can we please all remember we are on the same team today?”
The warning bell rings.
“Alright. Saved by the bell. I hate being the youngest one here. You all suck.” Chloe sprints off to the farthest part of the school, where her homeroom is. The rest of us head in together.
As we walk into the school, we can see that the cheerleaders were hard at work last night. There are blue and gold streamers strewn all around the halls.
Every player’s locker is decorated. There are hand-painted banners hung on anything that stood still long enough to be assaulted. Each player is supposed to have a secret cheerleader that decorates their locker before the games each week. The cheerleaders always want us to know who they are. They usually add their touches.
Sometimes they give us candy or something that goes with the theme of that week’s game. I look at Tiffany, still attached to Cooper, and take a not-so-wild guess that she’s his.
He has a big card hanging from his locker with hearts all over it, and it looks like sweet tarts candies pouring out of the envelope.
“Man, QB. This is school spirit taken to a whole new level.” Natalie is laughing at me, looking gorgeous in a tight white sweater, skinny jeans, and brown booties that add a few inches to her legs. The smile on her face is contagious, until a girl with jet black hair and a cheerleading uniform comes up to me. Her name is Aria, and she was my secret cheerleader last year.
I also made the unfortunate mistake of hooking up with her after one of our first home games of the season and had a clinger for the rest of the year. I never took her out and never meant to fuck her again but woke up next to her at one of Landon’s parties drunk after we lost the state championships. She kept trying to make a go for the third time, but it never happened, and she never stopped trying. She summered in France with her family over the break, and I was hoping that she wouldn’t be trying again this year.
“Brady Ryan. Do you like your locker?”
She studies Natalie like she’s a bug under her shoe that needs to be squashed. Then presses up against me in an attempt to be sexy.
“I tried to make sure it was just the way you liked it.” Turning her nose up at Nat, she whines, “Cute shoes.”
Stepping back, I try to put some distance between us. “Thanks, Aria. It looks great.”
Nat looks pissed.
“Come on, Nat. We don’t want to be late. Bye, Aria.” Nat and I turn and walk away.
“She seemed nice.” Nat isn’t looking at me as we sit down in time, not get marked late.
“I wouldn’t exactly call Aria nice. I guess she’s my secret cheerleader again this year.”
“Your secret what?”
“Secret cheerleader. She’ll decorate my locker and shit like that this season.”
“Oh, goodie,” Nat mutters sarcastically.
I don’t hate seeing this sweet girl jealous, even if she has no reason to be. I’m hoping that means she feels as possessive of me as I do of her. I can’t wait to take her out tomorrow night and show her that she’s it.
I’ve been so busy trying to keep our team from imploding this week that I haven’t planned anything for tomorrow night yet.
