CHAPTER THREE
“PASS ME THE BOBBY PIN,” I SAID, CHEWING ON the corner of my lip as I fiddled with the padlock on Serena Santos’s metal school locker. I was glad it wasn’t a Master Lock—those suckers took forever to pick! Kira felt around in her blond curls for a second, then smiled as she pulled out a pin and handed it to me.
“Remembered it this time,” she said, beaming. Although Kira had called me about sixteen more times, her depression over Darren only lasted until about five this morning. I was proud of her bravery.
“Hurry, Tess,” she whispered, looking both ways down the hall. “The janitor will be here in twenty minutes.”
Sugarplum fairies! I’d better get to it.
I readjusted my stance, checking the half-lit walkway one last time before I inserted the metal pin into the padlock, twisting and turning it just right. It clicked.
Kira giggled. “I don’t know how you do that. I failed the lock-pick course three times.”
“I remember.” Poor Kira. She had a hard time learning new trades. Now, cheer routines? She was a pro at that.
“I bet Aiden would think it’s totally cute you can pick locks.”
My stomach turned as I looked over my shoulder at her. “Let’s not think about Aiden.”
She grinned, her dimples deepening in her cheeks. “Yeah. Good luck with that.”
Kira’s blue eyes twinkled as she wiggled her eyebrows at me. I couldn’t help it—I laughed. She was right: ignoring Aiden was impossible. And ignoring the guilt I felt for sneaking around was even harder.
“Hey,” she said, putting her arm over my shoulders. “Don’t look so down, Tess. I’m sure he’d understand if you just told him about SOS.”
Kira and the squad knew my inner turmoil about lying to Aiden. And even though they loved Aiden, it was too late for me to tell him the truth. I’d lied for too long. No, I’d just have to stick out the school year. SOS was the Smitten Kittens’ secret. I exhaled.
“We have work to do,” I said, and yanked open the locker with a metal clang.
Kira reached down to grab the equipment out of the backpack. She pulled out a jewelry-size black box and opened it, revealing the small GPS tracker that Leona had scored a few weeks ago with our frequent shopper’s discount.
I took the tiny tracking device from its package and peeled off the self-adhesive back. Then I stuck it in between the pages of Serena’s über-thick chemistry book.
SOS had been alerted that she was a “person of interest” in a new cheating incident. Apparently, Paul Masterson had been disappearing between seventh and ninth period every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So had Serena. Only, SOS hadn’t been able to find where they’d been sneaking off to, and we never accuse without proof. Even if the subjects cheated every time (which they did), we would never tell our clients that. They deserved for it to be definitive. One hundred percent. But it was always 100 percent bad news.
After the chip was settled between the pages, I turned to Kira. “Test it,” I said.
She pulled out the SOS phone, punching in the code with a series of beeps. Even though each of us had an encrypted cell, there was only one official SOS line. So at every meeting, we switched possession. It helped to make everyone feel included. Kira especially loved when it was her turn—total self-esteem boost.
There was a blip.
“Easy squeezy,” she said, holding up the phone to me. I watched the little red light flash, pinpointing our exact location.
I nodded. “All set.” I shut the locker, resetting the padlock, and grabbed up the pack from the linoleum floor. “What time is it?” I asked.
“Almost six.”
I groaned. “We’d better jet. Aiden will be at my house for breakfast at six thirty.”
There was a sound from behind us, and we froze. The janitor was never early! I put my finger to my lips, signaling for Kira to be quiet, and then we backed against the cold lockers, looking down the hall.
There were footsteps, along with the squeaky wheeling of a mop bucket. Double dang it!
“Shit,” Kira whispered. I gave her a dirty look and put my finger sternly in front of my lips again, shushing her.
The squeaking stopped. There was someone right around the corner, just yards away. My heart raced. If we were caught breaking into school, that would be a major violation. I didn’t have time for suspension. The playoffs were getting close. Oh, snapdragon! Please just let them leave.
Kira’s hand slid into mine. It was sort of sweaty.
Then there was a skidding sound, along with a sloshing, as the footsteps and squeaks went off in the direction they’d come from.
We waited until there was only the sound of the ticking furnaces and buzzing fluorescent bulbs before exchanging a glance. It was getting harder and harder to keep up this covert baloney. I missed just being a regular cheerleader. I missed worrying about high kicks instead of high jinks.
But I was a Smitten Kitten. I had responsibilities.
“Come on,” I said, dropping Kira’s hand. “I don’t want Aiden to get suspicious.” I jogged ahead toward the back double doors.
“Now that is a good-looking boy,” Kira whispered next to me in history class. “Heard he just transferred in from West Washington.”
I followed her devious stare over my shoulder to the boy in the back near the bookcase. He was new. Huh—that was odd. Principal Pelli hadn’t made me aware of any transferring students, and as head of the Washington High welcoming committee, I should have been informed. I twitched my nose.
“Yeah, I guess,” I said, turning back around. Mr. Powell was still at his podium in an animated discussion about the former Soviet Union. It was making my head hurt. He’d obviously had some pent-up anger about the Cold War, whenever that was.
“You guess?” Kira kicked at my sneaker under the table. “Look at that hair! He looks like that surfer I dated last summer. Remember him?”
Of course I remembered him. I had seen his sandy rear when I walked in on them at Leona’s parents’ beach house.
I exhaled and turned again. Sure, he did have that chin-length, chocolaty-cute hair that perfectly framed his strong jaw line. And okay, there were his eyelashes: long and curled, accentuating the soft olive tone of his smooth skin. But—
Suddenly he looked up, staring directly at me. My mouth fell open for a second in surprise, but I snapped it shut and offered a polite smile. He grinned. Slowly, and slightly mortified, I turned in my seat and dropped my head.
“Thanks, K. Now he thinks I was checking him out.”
“Well, I was checking him out,” she said, and then licked her lips. “He’s drop-dead delicious.”
“He’s okay.” My eyes flicked up to Mr. Powell. The marker was screeching on the whiteboard as he wrote the names of people I didn’t recognize. Wait, Reagan! Ha. One I knew! She was totally from King Lear!
Kira giggled next to me. “Sure, Tess. He’s only okay.” She grabbed her purple pom-pom pen and jotted down something from the board. “You are whipped cream,” she mumbled.
When class mercifully ended, I pushed back in my chair and dropped the ridiculously oversized book into my backpack. As I looked down at the speckled linoleum floor, I noticed a Birkenstocked pair of sandals pause and turn to me.
I glanced up the length of the body until I was staring into the face of the new guy, standing there in corduroys and a long-sleeve tee, grinning at me.
Straightening my posture, I pulled my eyebrows together.
“Hi,” I said. Wow, he was even better looking up close.
“You’re Tessa Crimson, right?” His voice was soft. I relaxed slightly.
“Um, yeah.” I slipped into polite mode. I was cheer director for a reason. “Tessa Crimson. Hi.”
“I’m Christian. Christian Ferril.” He outstretched his hand.
I took it without thinking, but when his cool palm touched mine, I felt my heart rate speed up. He was squeezing me just a little too tightly.
“Nice to meet you,” I said as calmly as possible. Where in the world had Kira disappeared? Discreetly, I tried to jet my eyes around the emptying classroom for her. She was gone. Great—it was her fault that I’d looked at him.
“How did you—”
“Know your name?” he finished for me, laughing softly.
I wasn’t sure why, but this hot surfer made me uneasy. Like he was in on a joke that I hadn’t heard the punch line for yet. I slipped into SOS mode, trying to seek out his ulterior motive, but then stopped. I had to remind myself that I was in school and not on a mission.
“Mr. Powell,” he said, tilting his head toward the front of the class. “He told me to see you for the notes from last week. He’s making me take the test tomorrow.” Christian rolled his eyes. “So he said to ask Tessa Crimson for the materials. And …” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his corduroys. “Here I am. Sort of embarrassing myself by rambling.”
Aw, it was nice of Mr. Powell to recommend me. Even though I was an A student, I was far from a brain. I’d certainly have to send him a polite thank-you note. I looked appreciatively to his podium.
“Tessa?” Christian asked.
I quickly turned back to him, realizing that I hadn’t answered. I shook my ponytail to clear my head. “My notes, right?”
He nodded and his grin widened, revealing a perfect set of teeth. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
“No, of course not. They’re in my locker and I’m going there now, but—”
“Great. I’ll follow you.” He stepped back, motioning his hands for me to go.
Tentatively, I stood. Aiden would be waiting at my locker for me. How would he feel if I had a new pup at my heels when I met him? This felt odd. And I did not like odd.
Ducking my head, I walked forward into the near-empty corridor. This part of the building only had a few classrooms, so it was quiet, other than the squeaks that my sneakers were making on the shiny linoleum tiles. I suddenly felt a little self-conscious, wishing I wasn’t wearing my shorter cheerleading skirt. But Aiden had wrinkled my good one. I smiled to myself, remembering.
“So,” Christian said from behind me. “Cheerleading, huh?”
I straightened my posture and looked politely over my shoulder at him. “Yep.”
His tone was not lost on me. Being a cheerleader meant getting used to airhead jokes and other stereotypes. That was why I felt it was so important for the Smitten Kittens to keep their dignity intact at all times. Stupid skirt.
“I’ll have to admit I’m surprised to get study notes from a person that spends time on the top of a human pyramid. I expected more of the chess club type—”
“I play chess.” I swirled to face him. I was pretty sure my bloomers flashed because his grin became a full-on smile. Was he trying to ruffle my pom-poms?
“Really?” he asked, tilting his head and looking me over carefully.
“Yeah.” My cheeks felt warm. I didn’t like defending my intelligence. Turning slowly, I began to walk forward again. My eyebrows pulled together as I contemplated. Something was off about this boy. Something unusual.
We turned down the busy main hallway, and I immediately spotted Aiden, his head poking out above the rest of the student population. He was resting his forehead against my locker, looking bored. I smiled. Seeing him always made me smile. Forgetting my uncomfortable shadow, I jogged through the crowd and wrapped my arms around my boyfriend’s long body from behind. He jumped but then laughed before turning in my arms.
“Hi, baby,” he whispered, needing to duck way down to kiss me.
“You smell nice,” I said, getting up on my tiptoes to peck him again. He’d just gotten out of phys ed. The boy wore sweat better than any cologne.
“Mm …” His hand lightly patted my rear. “You know I love this skirt?”
“I do. I wanted to wear—”
Someone cleared their throat behind me. Right. Notes.
Aiden’s smile faltered as he straightened up. Feeling awkward, I pursed my lips and then dropped my arms from around him.
“Aiden. This is Christian,” I said, pointing to him. “Mr. Powell sent him to me to get history notes.”
My boyfriend immediately reached out his hand to Christian. “I’m Aiden Wilder. I haven’t seen you before. Are you new?”
Christian’s smile looked forced as he shook hands. “Yeah. We just moved, and I transferred in today from West Washington.”
“Ah, a Duck,” Aiden said, moving to put his arm around me. “Well, welcome to Wildcats’ territory.” Aiden was being so polite! He’d sure come a long way with his manners. Not that I minded that he was a little rough around the edges—it was pretty steamy.
“Thanks,” Christian said, looking between Aiden and me. “So, the head cheerleader and, I assume, the basketball captain?”
There was that tone again.
“Uh-huh,” Aiden said, happily and without a hint of distaste.
“That’s cute,” Christian replied. I could tell that “cute” wasn’t a normal word for him to use. He seemed to choke on it.
“It is.” I narrowed my eyes. Odd.
Turning back to Aiden, I put my hand at his hip and tried to move him aside so that I could get to my locker. He did move but leaned down to my ear.
“I’ve got to take off. I’ll see you at lunch.” He kissed softly at my lobe and I giggled. I adored his adorableness. “Nice to meet you, Chris,” he called as he backed away.
“You too, but it’s Christian.”
“Right,” Aiden said, snapping his fingers. He winked at me and headed off to English class.
Sigh. School would be so much more fun without the confines of the academic system. I glanced back at Christian once as I swirled the combo of my locker without needing to look at it. He smiled.
I quickly turned around and yanked open the metal, pausing for a moment to glance in the magnetic mirror on the door. Hm. I liked this new lip gloss. It had just a hint of pink. Just enough.
Christian chuckled, and I caught his brown eyes watching me in the mirror, seemingly amused. I straightened up and grabbed my stack of notebooks from the top shelf. Flipping through the assorted colors, I found the purple one. I smiled. Color coordination made everything so easy.
“Here you go,” I said, holding it out.
“Thank you.”
As he took the bound paper, his finger touched mine. He did it on purpose. I could tell by the all-too-innocent expression on his face and the slight reddening of his cheeks.
The bell rang, and I looked up toward the dinging box over the adjacent doorway. Great. As if economics class wasn’t bad enough, now Mrs. Foster would make me sit in the tardy chair at the front—the one attached to her desk. Fantastic.
“Try and get it back to me tomorrow,” I said to Christian, feeling distressed and tossing a look at him as I slammed my locker door shut with a loud bang.
“Sure thing.” With another polite smile, I turned away and jogged toward the end of the hall. I heard a small sound from back by my locker and knew that my skirt was probably flopping up again, showing off my school-colored panties. But whatever, at least they matched.
SOS INTER-SOS MEMO
FROM: Leona
TO: SOS
As the secretary and treasurer, I have some updates and reminders.
First, the self-defense training class has been changed to Thursday night. Master Marco has asked that we wear our uniforms, but I’m not entirely sure why. Either he’s a perv, or he wants us to be prepared in all situations. It begins at seven sharp at the martial arts studio. Make sure to wear bloomers (Kira).
Next up, we just received a large donation in our PO box from Karen McKlusky, mother of Helena. Helena was the unfortunate client involved in that threesome. So gross. Anyway, the money is enough to buy the grappling hook that we were interested in or update our digital recording equipment. We can have a vote after practice on Wednesday.
Also, it has come to my attention that Peter Corning has been soliciting freshmen for dates. Even though he’s not technically cheating anymore, he still loses points for being a creep. Keep your eyes peeled for possible violations.
Finally, since Kara Martin is graduating, we’ll need to induct a new member into the squad and into SOS. If you know a girl with Kitten potential, submit it to me via text, and I can compile a list for us to look over. As Tessa has said, it’s important for the Smitten Kittens to all be on board with SOS to ensure our top-secret status. Please have your nominations in by next Tuesday.
That’s all for now. Let me know if you need any clarification or see Tessa with any questions.
Keep smiling,
Leona
SOS
Text: 555-0101
Exposing Cheaters for Over Two Years
SOS EQUIPMENT ORDER FORM
FROM: Leona
TO: SOS
Our monthly order is ready for Tessa’s approval. If there is any last-minute item you need, please write it in and submit it to me before Wednesday.
The order needs to be placed with xxx-com by Friday or we won’t earn the frequent buyer discount. The donations this month have been sparse, so please only ask for necessary items. No lip gloss!
ITEMS:
° Portable lie detector—$59.99
° High-resolution tactical camera with night vision—$299.99
° Pen audio recorder—$89.99
° Smart card file retriever—$59.00
° Tubular lock pick—$24.99
Encrypted Cell-/ lost mine!
6ít1ppling hook
EPS w/cell assist
Keep smiling,
Leona
SOS
Text: 555-0101
Exposing Cheaters for Over Two Years