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My life was so much better with Bowie. Because I loved him.
“Sidney H., will you please get your head out of your rear end?” Coach Sam requested at practice. “Did you notice I didn’t even start to say ‘ass?’” he said to Rylah, and she rolled her eyes back at him and answered, “Semper Fidelis.”
“That’s the motto of the Marine Corps,” Chanel whispered. “Oorah!”
“We’re all a little on edge, Coach,” Danni said. “You guys have been talking about bringing in extra people to watch us and there have been distractions.” Everyone’s head turned in my direction and I did what my sister would have: I stared back at each one of them, proud. Not proud of how I’d acted, maybe, with the secrecy and tricks, but proud of who I was now: Lissa Bowman, part of a team of two.
“I understand that,” Rylah said. “Sam and I decided that we’re not bringing in anyone else, not for help or criticism. You’re right that it’s not a good distraction.”
“What would be a ‘good’ distraction?” Sam asked her, but she ignored him.
“We need to relax,” she went on, “and remember that at our core, the barysphere—”
“She’s right! That’s what’s beneath the lithosphere!” Jalesia whispered.
“We’re an amazing squad,” Rylah continued. “We’re amazing if we’re all together, supporting each other. This season has had its ups and downs so far but one thing I know is that everyone in this room is trying her hardest to make the Wonderwomen the best in the football confederation.”
“Orhishardest,” Sam added.
“Let’s have fun,” Rylah announced. “We’ll go back to basics, Dance 101. Everybody line up in front of the mirror in first position.”
It was probably just like the first class that we had all taken when we were tiny girls. Rylah led us through a series of “plié, relevé!” and then we ran around the studio, skipping and galloping. We were laughing, too, and then Sam made us pull out the mats and do tumbling. He showed off some of his own skills, which we never got to see. It was good to go back to basics. That was what had gotten us to where we were, after all. The rest of it was just add-ons.
“That was the best practice of the season,” Ani said as we were leaving. “If we weren’t all in this bathroom right now instead of our locker room, I’d say it was the best day ever.”
“The locker room should be cleared next week!” Danni assured her. “They just didn’t expect that wall to fall down, but it will be really great when it’s repaired.”
“Hey, Chanel?” I asked.
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to practice our pass together? I don’t think I’m timing it right.” More than that, I knew I hadn’t been half as focused as I should have been, not through the whole season. “I need help, if you have a minute.”
She looked at me. “Yeah, I could do that. Let’s go outside.” The two of us worked together on a little practice field until I was pretty sure I was performing better. Also, my foot had started to hurt enough that I had to stop. I really would go to the doctor, next week.
As we walked back toward our cars, Chanel nudged me with her hip. “We’ve known each other since kindergarten. I don’t want to be mad at you, Sissy.”
“I hope you can get over it.”
“Everybody mostly has. It was hard, like, how you weren’t telling us stuff, but I get it. I guess there was a lot that you weren’t saying, for a long time.”
“Yeah.”
“And you know, some of the ladies are a little bit jealous. I wouldn’t mind if one of the Woodsmen fell in love with me. I told Quinn last season that Bowie was into you.”
My steps faltered a little. “What?”
She nudged me again. “You know, how he kept watching you? Whenever we were performing near them, his eyes were on you. Honestly, I wasn’t that surprised when I heard that you got together. Erin said he was following you around at your sister’s wedding, too.”
I stopped dead. “Bowie was following me?”
“Nothing creepy,” she assured me. “It was only like he was interested, and that was why Erin also wasn’t that shocked when she saw you coming out of his apartment. She was shocked,” Chanel clarified, “but it made sense that it was him.”
“It made sense that it was him,” I repeated.
“What are you doing now? Want to go get dinner?” she asked, and I looked at her in surprise.
“Me?”
