chapter 19
I was too stunned to talk on the way home. Joel. Joel had turned us over to the football players, ratting us out and causing our social exodus. He was partly to blame for my broken ankle. Joel.
When we got home, Aiden walked me inside, helping me sit down at the kitchen table before getting me a glass of water. I couldn’t believe this.
I clutched my cup, Aiden now across from me and looking worried. It couldn’t be true. Why would Joel do something so cruel? Why would he destroy our lives?
“You’ve made a mistake,” I said quietly, lifting up my cup to take a sip. “He wouldn’t do this.”
“Darrell confirmed it, Tess. Blaze wasn’t the only one Joel told. He’d met with them a few times in the locker room. He knew how to get through to SOS.”
“But how could he know that? I’ve never told him about SOS.”
Aiden stood up from the kitchen chair and took my near-empty glass from my hands and brought it to the kitchen. As he was refilling it, it hit me.
“Sweet’N Low! What if it was Kira?”
“You think she sabotaged you again?”
I blinked quickly. Did I think that? No. Not really. Kira had nothing to gain by telling Joel about SOS. And she loved spying. I didn’t think she’d jeopardize it.
Aiden came back over to the table and set the glass down in front of me. Then he squatted down so that he was at eye level, putting his hands on my knees. Him being that close made me dizzy. “I’m really sorry I had to tell you this,” he said. “I was planning on taking care of it myself, but then Darrell told me you were dating him. So I knew I had to tell you.”
“How were you going to ‘take care of it’?”
He glanced away, trying (but not that hard) to hide a grin. “I would have spoken to him about it.”
“With your fists?”
“You know I don’t condone violence.” Aiden winked and then stood up. He bent down and kissed the top of my head, making my insides flutter. “You gonna be okay if I take off?”
“Depends. Are you going to see Joel?”
“Um … no?”
“Aiden!” I wasn’t even sure if I believed that Joel could be involved—not without evidence. I didn’t want to falsely accuse him as I’d just done with Aiden. And I couldn’t very well let Aiden get in a physical altercation with him.
“Listen,” Aiden said from the doorway, zipping up his jacket. “I won’t punch him. I won’t even kick him. I just want to talk to the guy.”
“No. I think we both know you’re not great at self-restraint.”
He smirked. “Sometimes I am.”
“Not really.”
Aiden groaned, leaning his long body against the door frame as if exasperated. “You make me crazy.”
“Ditto.”
“Are you going to do something dangerous?” he asked. “Because I don’t want you to hurt yourself. Again.”
I couldn’t help the rush of warmth and protection that wrapped around me. Even though Aiden might be wrong about Joel, he still wanted to beat him up. Part of that was jealousy. And part of it was looking out for me. It made me feel pretty good.
Reaching out, I grabbed one of my crutches to balance on and hobbled over to where Aiden was standing. When I stopped in front of him, his face fell as if he were suddenly nervous. Like me walking up to him meant something.
I reached a hand behind his neck and drew him closer. And when he was within striking distance, I got on my tiptoe (one of them) and put my lips against the soft, warm skin of his cheek. I felt him touch gingerly at my back, like he was scared to touch me completely. As if I’d run away.
When I pulled back, I whispered, “Thank you.”
He laughed softly, his hand falling. He stared down at me. “Anything for you, baby.”
Then he turned around and left.
The first thing I did after Aiden left was take a deep breath. The second thing I did was turn on my phone and call Leona. But she didn’t answer.
Hello Kitty! I needed to talk to her. I was in a downward spiral and desperate for answers. I tried her house, but her mother (who’d just gotten back from a lengthy business trip) told me she hadn’t seen her. I dialed Izzie’s number, but her mother said she was at therapy. Well, at least, that was something positive.
I looked around the room, trying to figure out what to do next. I didn’t want to call Kira until I’d discussed the situation with Leona. She was great at evaluating emergencies. My cell phone began to vibrate on the table, and my stomach dropped when I glanced at the caller ID. Joel.
Argh! What was I supposed to do? I tapped my healthy foot on the floor and then impulsively answered. Maybe Aiden was wrong. “Hi.”
“Hey! I’ve been trying to call you. Where’ve you been?”
Okay, here was the point where I should fess up that I ate ice cream with Aiden and then ask Joel point blank if he told the football team that the Smitten Kittens were really SOS. But I was a spy. Point blank wasn’t one of my strengths.
“Spending time with my parents before their show.”
“That’s cool. So … do you want to do something tonight?” The oblivious tone of his voice could mean only two things. Aiden was completely off base, or Joel was a good liar.
“Did—” The words froze in my mouth. I couldn’t bring myself to ask him. I was so torn up and confused. I liked Joel. It couldn’t be true.
“Did what?”
I closed my eyes. “Did you want to do something tomorrow? I’m free then.” I needed to talk to Leona first. She’d know the correct way to handle this.
“What are you doing tonight?”
Spying on you. “I’ve got a headache. My father talks a lot.” It was the only thing I could do. I had to find out the truth for myself. I refused to confront him until I did.
“Ah, the old headache excuse.”
“No, Joel. It’s not that. I—”
“It’s fine, Tessa.” But he didn’t sound fine. He sounded annoyed. “I’ll see you tomorrow in school then.” And he hung up.
My eyes stung, and I put down my phone. I was losing my mind. Joel was my boyfriend! I shouldn’t be accusing him of things he didn’t do. And I shouldn’t be avoiding him. And I definitely shouldn’t still be thinking about how wonderful Aiden smelled when I kissed his cheek.
Wow. I was falling apart.
Ding Dong. I looked up at the sound of my doorbell. Butterflies fluttered as I wondered if Aiden had come back. I left my crutch leaning against the table and hopped to the door, swinging it open.
“Hey, Prez.”
“Chloe.” At this point, I wasn’t even surprised to see her. “I have a major bone to pick with you—like femur-sized.”
“Okaaay. Well, first, this is going to sound insane.” She brushed her long blond hair over her shoulder and shifted her weight to her left hip. “But I’m here to apologize.”
“You’re right. That does sound insane.”
“Can I come in?” she asked.
I looked behind me into the house, debating. She could be like a vampire. Once I let her in the house, she could enter at will. I smiled to myself, picturing Chloe turning into a bat and flying away.
“Fine.” I hopped aside and watched as Chloe strolled into my house, heading for the living room couch as if she owned the place. I sighed and shut the door.
I gathered both crutches and made my way into the room with her. Sitting down across from her in my father’s recliner, I tried to cross my leg over my cast, trying to look calm. “Why are you really here?” I asked.
“I told you. I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For accusing Aiden. I just bumped into him, by the way. God, he’s still so hot.”
“Ahem.”
“Sorry. Anyway, I just saw him filling up at the gas station, and he told me that he was just leaving your house. Nice.”
“Nothing happened with me and Aiden.”
She smirked, obviously liking my denial. “Didn’t say it did. Wow, paranoid, much? Anyway, I told him that I’d thought he was the one who tried to ruin the SOS, but he set me straight. Told me who he thought it really was.”
I flinched, partly embarrassed. “And?”
“You’ve got a problem. I’m pretty sure he’s right. Your new boyfriend totally sold you out. And I think I can prove it.”
I was waiting for the irony police to bust in at any moment. Chloe—of all people—helping me. “How?”
She batted her eyelashes innocently. “I might have hacked into someone’s e-mail.”
I gasped. “Whose?”
“Joel’s. And Blaze’s.”
A thought occurred to me. “And mine?”
Her snide look seemed to falter. “Occasionally. But now that we’re on the same team, I won’t do it again.”
“You read my personal e-mails!” I couldn’t believe that little snake. Then again, it was great that she knew how to hack. Still! My e-mails were private! “Wait, was that how you always knew where Aiden was?”
“Um … yup.” She didn’t look apologetic. “Are we going to dwell, Tessa, or do you want my help?”
I wanted to dwell! Deep breath. I needed to pull myself together and hear Chloe out. Maybe afterward, I could construct an appropriate punishment. “Okay,” I said. “What did you find?”
She leaned back into the couch and picked at her fingernails. “Blaze may have mentioned something about a meeting tonight—nine o’clock in the field house.” She grinned. “Wanna spy?”
My stomach twisted with anxiety. “Chloe,” I closed my eyes, scared of her answer. “You were wrong about Aiden last time. Do you really think it’s Joel? If you’re wrong and he finds out that I investigated him, he’ll hate me.”
She was quiet, but when I opened my eyes to look at her, she didn’t have her usual witchy expression. Instead, she shrugged. “Let’s go on a mission and find out for sure—he’ll never even know.” She grinned deviously.
“But I can’t get hold of Leona,” I said.
Chloe laughed. “She’s out with Chris. I saw them tonguing over at Cavallo’s.”
“We don’t say, ‘tonguing,’ Chloe. Making out is more appropriate. Wait. They were making out?”
“Sure were. Really going for it, too. Apparently, they’re back together.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. This girl had the pulse of the entire school. She was like a ready-made James Bond character—albeit an evil one. But a talented one nonetheless.
“And, yes,” she added. “I read their e-mails to find out what happened. They got back together earlier this afternoon. He forgives her. She misses him. Yadda yadda.”
“Whoa.” I couldn’t believe that Leona hadn’t called me immediately following her reconciliation. Then again, I knew what it was like to get swept up in the moment. Good for her!
Chloe flipped her wrist and glanced at her watch. “Look, there’s a meeting in, like, a half hour. Do you want to go or not?”
I bit down on my lip, unsure of what to do. I really wanted Leona or even Izzie’s opinion on this. Just then, Chloe stood up, looking me square in the eye.
“We’re teammates now,” she said more sincerely than I’d ever seen her. “I’m all in on this, Tessa. Sure, I may have hated your guts—pretty passionately—but I’m over all that now. I’m a Smitten Kitten. I’ve memorized the effing handbook. So if you’re ready to put the past behind us and rebuild our team, then I’m here to do it with you.”
Her eyes were twinkling, determination painting her cheeks pink. I couldn’t believe I was about to do this. I couldn’t believe I trusted her. “You said, ‘effing.’”
She smiled. “Told you I memorized the handbook.”
I nodded with a short laugh and watched as Chloe held out her hand to help me up. In some alternate universe, we may have always been friends. But here and now, this was a start. And I was scared as heck about it.
But I took her hand anyway.
To the Wildcat’s Den Editor:
I must take exception to Mr. Jimenez’s comments to the editor on October 10th. I understand his frustration with being caught cheating in the girls’ bathroom last year, but to be honest, it’s his own dang fault! It is irresponsible for him to blame others for his own adulterous actions.
And I find it highly offensive that Mr. Jimenez would call for the dissolution of the Smitten Kittens when he knows perfectly well that they are the most successful Washington High sports team. And, yes, cheerleading is a sport.
I think the real problem here is not that SOS investigates cheaters. The problem is that cheaters exist in the first place.
By the way, be sure to check out the Smitten Kitten’s new halftime routine. Word is out that the Guinness World Records will be there to document it. Apparently, it is the highest, twistiest, and most dangerous cheer ever attempted.
Keep smiling!
An anonymous, concerned student