chapter 2
“All right, girls,” I said, clapping my hands. “Let’s take it from the top.” The candidates were bent over, hands on their knees and staring at me as if I were crazy.
“Tess,” Leona whispered from my side. “I think you’re going to kill them.”
I considered this. Little Maureen’s normally well-tanned face was beet red and swollen. Sara and Anne were leaning against each other, murmuring something that sounded like, “Water. Water.” And then, of course, there was Chloe Ferril. She was standing up straight, retying her blond ponytail, and wearing a black-velour sweat suit, even though she wasn’t even breaking a sweat.
“I think they’re fine,” I whispered back to Leona. Okay, maybe I was being a bit overzealous, but I was committed to making the Smitten Kittens the best team in Washington! This was it—our senior year. And I wanted to leave with a stellar reputation.
Truth was getting new candidates for the squad was extremely difficult. Especially since it meant they would become members of SOS. There was extensive psychological testing, physicals, and then nominations. It was only after a girl was vouched for that she could officially try out—and of course, sign a legally binding confidentiality agreement. Since Chloe Ferril had known about our SOS identities after trying (and failing) to steal my ex-boyfriend, she got an automatic pass to tryouts. Not to mention that Kira vouched for her. My guess was that she did it to spite me.
“Take a break everyone,” I heard from behind me. Before I turned, the candidates sighed with relief and ran for the hall water fountains. See. They were totally fine.
When I looked over my shoulder, I saw Kira standing there, her blond curls perfect around her face. My eyes narrowed as I met her cool blue ones.
“Kira,” Leona said immediately. “You’re suspended. You’re not allowed to—”
“Relax,” she interrupted. “I’m not trying to interfere. I just need to talk with Tessa for a minute. If you don’t mind.”
Leona tensed next to me. We’d only recently discovered that Kira was secretly trying to destroy me, trying to steal the squad, and more importantly, trying to turn SOS into something vengeful. But in the spirit of the Smitten Kittens, we decided to forgive her. Or at least, that was the way it looked on the outside. She and I were still far from okay.
It didn’t help that I was racked with guilt about her and Joel splitting up. Even though, technically, he and I weren’t even dating. Still, it was bad form. And if I could have prevented it, I would have. I’m sure I would have.
“Why don’t you take a break, too,” I murmured to Leona, touching her arm. “You’ve been working double overtime with these tryouts.”
Leona chewed on her lip for a second, then glanced at Kira before nodding at me. “Fine. But I’ll be outside if you need me.”
“Whatever, Leona,” Kira snapped. “What do you think I’m going to do?”
“Don’t know, Kira. Bat-shit crazy is your department.”
“Language,” I said.
Leona rolled her eyes. “See you in five.” She walked slowly to the gym doors, looking back once. I smiled reassuringly. Even though Kira had been a bit out of control, she and I had agreed to behave. No public displays of dissention.
“You could have waited until after practice,” I said in low voice, turning away from the Kittens still in the bleachers. Kira stepped up so that her shoulder was next to mine, even though she was facing the opposite direction.
“It’s about Joel.”
My stomach took a swift left turn. Even though Kira and I called a truce for the sake of the Smitten Kittens, we hadn’t mentioned Joel since the day she was outed as the copy-Kitten. She’d told me that she was still in love with him. She’d asked me to stay away.
“What about him?” I looked sideways at her.
“You two aren’t”—she pulled her light eyebrows together—“dating, are you?”
“No,” I responded quickly. Perhaps too quickly. Her jaw tightened.
“Great.”
“Great,” I repeated. Obviously Joel was wrong. Kira was upset with me.
“Because he’s a really nice guy, Tess. I wouldn’t want to see him get hurt.”
Hold on a second! I was offended. Why would she assume that I’d hurt him? I cared about Joel. “I’m not sure what you mean by that,” I started to say. “But I assure you, I’m not going to hurt him.”
“Maybe not on purpose. But you do damage—even when you don’t mean to.” Kira turned to lock her eyes on mine. “And you know what he means to me.” Her bottom lip quivered for a split second before she spun on her heels and walked back toward the bleachers.
My face tingled from embarrassment. Kira was a trained spy. I would bet my buttons that she could tell I was hiding my relationship (or almost relationship) with Joel . And she may have been implying that I was indeed a bad friend. But the worst part: I couldn’t stop. I liked him too much.
“She’s right, you know?”
Startled, I looked up to see Chloe, sipping from her bottle of water. “About what?”
“Being destructive. You drove my brother f*cking nuts.”
Grrr … “First”—I held up a finger—“watch your language. Second, your brother tried to trick me into dating him.” She seemed to forget that major point.
“Only because you made him think he had a chance.”
“I did not!”
Chloe shrugged. “Whatever. I’m not here to argue about your seduction skills. I’m here to get a spot on the squad.”
“We’ll see how you do,” I replied coolly. Chloe had gone from venomous psycho to gothic vixen. And then suddenly, she throws on a sporty ensemble and tries out for cheerleading? It was all a bit fish fry to me.
She smiled. “Oh, come on, Tess.” She ran her hand down her ponytail, smoothing it over her shoulder. “You know I’m kicking ass.”
This girl burned me up. “Chloe, if you want to be a Smitten Kitten, one of the first things you’ll need to learn is manners. No swearing at all.”
She laughed, tilting her head. “Prez, I’m not just going to be a Smitten Kitten. I’m going to be their new captain.”
My face fell. Was she serious? But before I could ask, she offered a sarcastic pageant wave and turned, walking across the gymnasium.
I stared after her, my heart racing. First Kira and now Chloe? Was the rest of my cheering life going to involve constantly looking over my uniformed shoulder to see who was trying to sneak up on me? I put my palm to my forehead. It was so overwhelming.
“You all right?”
I looked up at Leona holding out a paper cup of water. I exhaled, taking it from her. “Not really. Chloe told me she’s going to be captain.”
Leona pursed her lips. “I could see that.”
I choked on the water, drops of it dribbling onto my uniform. “What?”
“She’s good, Tess. I mean, sure, she’s unbalanced and homicidal, but she has real natural talent.”
“I’m not sure I agree.” Had the world gone Looney Tunes? Chloe as a Smitten Kitten? It was crazy.
“Well,” Leona said, folding her arms across her chest, “unless you can break her in the next few days, she’s in. Hey, who knows? Maybe she’ll turn sweet.”
Leona and I stared at each other for a second before busting up laughing. Chloe turning sweet was like water turning into wine. It’d have to be a flippin’ miracle.
The candidates began filing back in the room, fawning over Chloe’s amazing high kick, and I chewed on the corner of my lip. I was all for giving second chances. Heck, I was letting Chloe try out, and she’d tried to steal my boyfriend and had hit me in the head with an alarm clock last year. But letting her take over my post as head of the Smitten Kittens? No way in tarnation I’d let that happen.
I glanced at the wooden bleachers where Kira was sitting, talking on the phone. I wondered if she’d be interested in Chloe’s takeover plan. But then I wondered with both of their histories if Kira wasn’t already in on it.
Kira caught me looking and raised her hand in a wave, a slight grin on her lips. I quickly darted my gaze over to Izzie, trying to shake off my paranoia. She was sitting, her bag in her lap as she stared toward the gymnasium windows near the ceiling. Her eyes were glassy as if she were about to cry. She looked lonely.
“Are we going to start or are you too tired?” Chloe called out to me from center court.
I nearly imploded. Instead, I straightened my posture and took a cleansing breath. “Let’s take it from the top,” I said in my strongest captain’s voice. The other girls groaned, but Chloe smirked.
I was going to break her.
From: Kira Reynolds <[email protected]>
To: Tessa Crimson <[email protected]>
Sent: Mon, October 7, 2:45 PM
Subject: btw
I think your cheer lineup is all aerobics and no skill. I know you think you’re the supreme leader of all things SK, but I’ve been working on a routine that I think will fit better.
Unless of course you want to steal that too.
K
From: Tessa Crimson <[email protected]>
To: Kira Reynolds <[email protected]>
Sent: Mon, October 7, 3:15 PM
Subject: Re: btw
My cheers are a test in endurance, K. I don’t expect you to understand since you haven’t properly trained in months. And I didn’t steal anything. Unlike you, who stole my black one-piece kitten suit.
See you at tryouts.
Tessa