The principal narrowed his eyes and leaned closer. “Two. Final offer.”
Leona tilted her head from side to side before looking over at me. To be honest, I’d come in her half expecting to be expelled. In the grand scheme, two days wasn’t too bad. I nodded with complete relief and heard everyone sigh.
“Deal. But nothing goes in our file. I’m going to Harvard in the fall.”
“I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to have you,” the principal said sarcastically and scribbled something on a piece of paper. “Fine. Now get out of my office, and just so you know, I’ll be watching you.”
“Uh, creepy,” Kira responded. I laughed.
“Get out!”
We scrambled up (well, I hobbled really) and exited the office, waving to Peggy at the receptionist desk on our way out. I wasn’t sure, but I thought she looked almost proud. Like maybe she understood why we’d done the spying. I liked to think that most of the girls would.
The squad and I gathered in the empty hall outside the office. “Two days,” I said to myself before looking up at them. “That was an amazing feat, Leona. Thank you.”
“No problem. I’m just glad I didn’t have to break out the sexual harassment defense.”
“Me, too,” Izzie added, gasping for breath. “I’m so not feeling sexual right now.”
We stared at her a minute before turning back to each other. “How about the rest of you?” I asked, looking around. “You girls okay?”
Most nodded. A few sniffled. As a whole, the Smitten Kittens were not used to being scolded. We were among the finest students in Washington High! But now, we were delinquents. I was certainly glad this wouldn’t go on our permanent records.
“I’ll tell you one thing,” Leona said. “I’m going to find the son of a biscuit that did this to us. Our lives are completely compromised because of some vengeful jerk! Whoever it is, they’ll pay.”
“Okay, Rambo,” Kira said. “Relax a little. We need to do this right.”
“Isn’t Rambo the governor of California?” Melanie, one of the Kittens, asked from the back. She was the exception to the honor-student rule.
“That’s the Terminator,” I said. “And Kira’s right. We need to do this right. If we just go about this wildly, we’ll get ourselves in more trouble. And we don’t want that.”
“I like trouble,” Leona said, her voice tight with anger. Then she exhaled. “But you’re probably right. Sorry, I refuse to say that Kira is right. The words are just unnatural.”
“Shut up,” Kira snapped.
“Squash it, ladies,” I said, adjusting myself on my crutches. “Let’s finish up tryouts and select our new members. We also need to focus on our remaining clients. Are we all in agreement that SOS is still functional?”
I looked around, and all of the girls nodded—some more emphatically than others. Some could barely lift their eyes out of suspension shame.
“Good,” I said. “First things first, now that we’re suspended, we’ll have to move tryouts to my backyard.”
“How about mine? I have more room,” Leona suggested. She was right. Her house was on nearly an acre with a beautifully manicured lawn. Way better than the hillside that I had.
“That’ll be perfect. Now, Izzie,”—I looked at her—“can you contact the candidates and give them the address?”
“Sure.”
“Am I invited?” Kira asked, trying to look as if she didn’t care, but I knew that face. She was feeling left out.
I sighed. Under normal circumstances, I’d freeze Kira out. Let her serve her punishment. But this was certainly not normal, and the fact was, we needed her. “Kira,” I said, carefully putting one crutch after the other to get closer to her. “Will you rejoin the squad and help us?”
Leona gasped, but I heard a few girls in the back clap. Shock crossed Kira’s face, and a smile pulled up the corner of her mouth.
“That would be … lovely,” she said, suddenly realizing that she was still mad at me. “Glad you’ve come to your senses.”
“Uh, hello, Tessa,” Leona said from behind me. “Love how we got to vote on it?”
She may have been right, but I didn’t have time for squad politics. Decisions needed to be made. Captains needed to be strong.
“These are desperate times. We need her,” I said.
“Like a hole in the head,” Leona retorted.
Kira scoffed. “Why would anyone need a hole in their head, idiot?”
Leona looked at me, a told-you-so expression on her face. I shrugged.
“Well, then,” Kira said, stepping in front of me to face the squad. “Since I’m back on the squad, I’d like to propose that we stop tryouts and go straight to a vote.”
The knife was just plunged into my back. She’d been on the squad 2.1 seconds, and she was already taking charge.
“No,” I said, but Kira turned to smile sweetly at me.
“Desperate times,” she answered and then swiveled her head back to the squad. “All in favor of inducting Chloe Ferril as the only new Smitten Kitten?”
It was straight out of a nightmare. Kira had filled my shoes (cast or not) and swooped in on my leadership. Every squad member (except me) raised her hand. I nearly blew a gasket.
“It’s settled,” Kira said, spinning back around. “Chloe is our newest member. Izzie, deliver the good news to her and make sure she’s at practice. We have a killer cheer to prep for ESPN.”
Kira started to walk away but paused, her mouth near my ear. “They’re all yours, Tess,” she whispered. I stood frozen as she strolled down the hall, clearly proud at how easily she had circumvented me. I glanced at the squad. They were watching me, waiting to be dismissed. At least, I still had the final say.
“So we’ll meet up at Leona’s in a few and get another practice under our Gucci belts,” I began, a bit unsteady. “After that, we’ll plan out the next mission. If Garrett Bash is cheating, he is so busted. We are in crisis mode, ladies. It’s time for true commitment. All Kittens on deck. Understood?”
They nodded enthusiastically. I appreciated their support. In fact, I needed it.
When I stole a sidelong glance at Leona, she pressed her lips together tightly and swallowed with a click. I remembered how brave she seemed when she faced Chris in the hall. And I knew that whoever turned us in was going to feel her wrath. Catching a traitor splintered the squad last time. I wasn’t sure we could survive it again.