Dropping my phone on the table with a clank, I rubbed roughly at my face, smearing the tears around. After a few long seconds of even breathing, I looked back down at my phone. I needed to let this go. I had to let him go.
I scrolled though my phone book until I found his listing. I hit edit, and when it came up, I stared at “Mr. Awesome.” He’d even uploaded a picture. It was him against the brick wall of a building wearing a backward hat and smiling widely, ridiculously. It was absolutely adorable.
So I shut the phone off and didn’t change a thing. Not yet.
The Kittens and I met in full uniform in the gymnasium Monday morning. To keep the peace, I’d told them all about Aiden and let Chloe explain her evidence. Several of them offered their condolences, but I just waved them off. I didn’t want their pity.
Before school, I’d e-mailed Joel and asked him to keep our relationship status secret until I could talk to Kira in private. But now that I was here, I didn’t have the guts to tell her. It was just that it was so nice having us all gathered around, forming plans of action. I’d ruin the moment if I told her. But I would. Eventually.
We’d all arrived at school early enough to miss the crowd. Or rather, angry mob. Things hadn’t really toned down yet. After the weekend, I’d had the small hope that the student body had moved on to bigger news. Cheerleader spies. Jeez, was there nothing else going on?
But I did look into our latest SOS case and planned to steal the SIM card from Midas’s phone later today. I thought the girls might appreciate my ambition.
As I crutched to center court, ready to begin practice, Kira stood up from where she was sitting on the bleachers.
“K!” I gasped, touching my chest. “Your skirt is well above regulation length.” And that was putting it mildly. Her maroon skirt barely covered her bloomers.
She smiled. “Well, I figured if the boys were distracted, they might not be so mean.” She tapped her temple. “I’m thinking ahead.”
She had a good point. Kira’s legs were well-known for their distractive quality. But still, we had an image to maintain. “Make sure you wear matching bloomers, then.”
“Got it, Tess.”
“Now,” I said, looking around at the girls. “I have something amazing planned for the ESPN game. It came to me last night, and I worked it all out so that despite my handicap, we should be able to pull it off no problem.”
“Excellent,” Leona said, coming to stand next to me. The girls were buzzing about the possible routine, but I looked at the empty spot in my lineup and felt sad. No Izzie. It just didn’t seem like the Smitten Kittens without her. “She’ll be back soon,” Leona whispered, bumping my shoulder. “I’m going to go by there after school, so I’ll teach her the moves so she’ll be ready on game day. We won’t go on without her.”
I smiled. “You’re the best.”
“Actually,” Kira called, putting her hand on her hip. “I was hoping we could try my routine. It has way more pizzazz.”
“K, it’s way too dangerous. Someone could get hurt.” Kira’s cheer was great, amazing really. But the projection of the jumper and the impossible amount of twists made it a no-no.
“But a stellar cheer can get the school back on our side!”
“I agree,” Chloe chimed in, tying her blond hair up in a ponytail. “I’ve seen Kira do it, and it freaking rocks.”
“I like you’re train of thought,” I said to them. “But I’ve been working on a cheer, a safer one, that I think can still wow the crowd without needing an ambulance.”
Kira’s eyes narrowed. “Is that what this is about? You want to use your cheer instead?”
“No.” I looked around and saw all of the girls watch me suspiciously. “That’s not what I meant. It’s just—”
“Whatever.”
Kira and I stared each other down. “I’m thinking about our safety,” I said, my adrenaline heightened now that she was confronting me. “Not about taking credit for a cheer.”
“Sure, Tessa. Of course.” She smiled as if all were forgiven, but I knew differently; I knew her. And suddenly, I realized that she already knew about Joel and me. I could see it in her blue, icy glare.
I blinked quickly and moved back on my crutches, confused. How did she know?
“See,” Leona said, looking back and forth between us. “All better. Now, let’s see Tessa’s routine before the bell rings.”
And just then, my cell rang inside my backpack, the sound echoing through the gym. I didn’t recognize the standard ring tone. “Hold up.” I crutched over to it, unzipping and pulling it out when Kira scoffed.
“Answering your phone during practice?”
“I’m waiting for a call from my doctor. We did x-rays on Friday.” It seemed that all the progress that Kira and I had made had just flown out the sunroof. She’d been faking friendly earlier—maybe hoping to get her cheer in the rotation.
Mr. Awesome. My mouth twitched when I saw Aiden’s alias on my screen. What would the girls say if I answered? What would Aiden say?
But as I stared at his goofy smile, I couldn’t help picking up. Maybe it was important.
“I’m at practice,” I said as a greeting. I glanced nervously over my shoulder and saw Chloe watching me, her head tilted slightly. The rest of the squad started talking among themselves.
“Didn’t think you would answer,” he said with an embarrassed laugh. “Sort of hoping I could just leave a message.”
“Why?”
“Uh … it’s sort of hard to say, Tess. And now that I’ve got you on the phone, I’m not really sure where to start.”
Well, he could start by apologizing, admitting what he’d done and then possibly explaining why he did it. But I wasn’t Aiden’s guardian angel. He needed to figure it out himself.
“Try.”
He sucked in a breath as if he really didn’t want to. “Look, will you meet me? I’d rather talk about it in person.”
My stomach dropped. “What?”
“It’s complicated. If we had dinner, maybe I could explain better.”
“Aiden, I—”
“Wait,” Kira snapped. “You’re talking with Aiden?”
I looked back at her, hearing the accusation in her voice. “Yes, but he knows who—”
“Wow,” she said, turning away from me. “It’s never enough for you, is it?” “Hey!”