“So cheerleading tryouts are Monday after school in the gym,” Kimi tells us matter-of-factly. Mackenzie eagerly writes the time down in her notebook and the girls start talking about what to expect. I, of course, smile and nod, and then—
“Ow!” I cry.
It feels like someone just walked up behind me and flicked me on the side of my face. Looking down at the table in front of me, I see a thick triangular paper. I pick it up and look at Wolf, who is grinning devilishly, as usual.
“What was that for?” I demand, lightly touching my temple. Kimi and Sarah giggle.
“I don’t know.” He shrugs. “These girls are boring me to death with all their pom-pom chitchat. Wanna play paper football?” Their giggling abruptly stops and I abruptly soften.
“Sure,” I say. He makes a goalpost by putting his thumbs together and lifting both forefingers in the air. I balance the paper triangle on one tip, then flick it hard.
“Ahh!” he yells out, clapping his hand over his right eye, obviously hurt.
“Oh my gosh!” I yell, my hand immediately flying to my mouth. It was a direct hit.
He tilts his head back and pushes off of Laura’s chair, leaning his own chair way back on two legs. Laura looks at me wide-eyed and I freeze, stone still, next to Mackenzie. Kimi leans toward him over the table, her cleavage coming out to save the day, and Sarah just blows air through her bangs, looking totally bored. When Wolf puts his front chair legs back on the floor and lowers his hand from his face, we are all shocked, and relieved, to see that he’s laughing. He’s laughing really hard.
“I am so sorry!” I exclaim. And so embarrassed.
He blinks a few times and rubs his eye, really amused. “That’s the nature of the game, babe.”
I sigh, feel the heat in my cheeks, and look at the clock. Wolf asks me to play a game with him—me! out of all the girls at our table!—and I injure him. Flick him right in the eye. I mean, he’s obviously not mad, but the football made its way to his front pocket pretty quickly, and then he put his head down on his books. I try to focus on the exhilarating fact that David Wolfenbaker just called me “babe” and not on the fact that he probably won’t talk to me ever again. The bell rings and he’s out the door before any of us. As I sling my backpack up over my shoulder, I watch him walk away. Game. Over.
“See you at lunch, Ericka?” Mackenzie asks.
“Yep,” I say, snapping back to attention. “I’m already hungry.” She laughs and bounds off toward first period with Laura.
I make my way through the masses to my locker, where Kimi is spritzing her bangs in her locker mirror and Sarah is flirting with an older-looking guy. I slide in and drop my book bag to the ground.
“Okay, thirty-four, twenty-five, thirty-six,” I mumble to myself, trying to work my new combination from memory. My locker pops open and then—WHAM!—slams shut.
“Whoops.” Wolf appears next to me, leaning against his own locker.
I give him a not funny look and try again, a little more nervous this time as I spin the dial. So he is still talking to me. Thirty-four, twenty-five, thirty-six. Pop and slam.
“Man! These new lockers are touchy, huh?” he says.
“Wolf! I’m gonna be late!” I protest, a little annoyed and a lot liking the attention.
I give it a twirl again, and just then I see a cloud of big red hair rushing toward me out of the corner of my eye. It’s Candace, and although she’s definitely wearing a fashion “don’t” (even I know not to wear pleated jean shorts), her big smile makes up for it. Lost in her own world, she hip checks Wolf out of the way and grabs my arm.
“Hey! Are you still taking piano lessons, Ricki Jo?” she says excitedly.
“Piano?” Wolf asks, eyebrows arched, clearly entertained.
“Um, yeah,” I falter. “I mean, like, every now and then.”
“Well,” she begins, as if she has the best idea of her life, “band tryouts for new kids are Monday after school and I totally think you should go! I mean, we get to go to all the home games, and we’ve won state the last five years in a row. And it won’t matter that you don’t know the marches, ’cause the keyboardists stay put up front. It’s really fun and I can introduce you to lots of people!”
I look from Wolf to Candace, thinking about how I like them both, and how they couldn’t be more different if they tried.
“Um, yeah, sounds like fun!” I say.
Behind her, Wolf’s eyes bug out and he shakes his head no.
“I mean, maybe,” I recover, my smile fading and my confusion growing. “I mean, yeah, I don’t know.” Candace looks stunned, but Wolf gives me a thumbs-up behind her. That makes me feel a little better, but then I wonder why Wolf’s opinion matters so much. Because it does.
Candace is hurt, I can tell, but she covers quickly. She takes a piece of gum out of her purse, unwraps it, and pops it in her mouth before looking back up at me with a blank expression. “Yeah, sure. I don’t care. It was just an idea.”
I nod. “Thanks. Really.”
“Whatever. See ya in Spanish,” she says and walks away, blowing a big defiant bubble even though the hallways are crowded with teachers. I watch her go, feeling helpless. Feeling awful. And I’m not even sure why. I shake my head and turn back to my locker. Fitting in—trying to fit in, I mean—is really hard.
I reach for my locker dial once again, but a tanned hand with thick veins and strong fingers covers my own. Wolf is directly behind me and begins to work my lock, his arm definitely touching my side as he twists. His chin is maybe one inch from the top of my head and I am keenly aware of his body heat. I want to run away. I want time to stand still.
“Thirty-four, twenty-five, thirty-six,” he mumbles, and my locker pops open. I don’t move, blink, or breathe. “Listen, Ericka, I know you’re new here and you seem nice, so I’m gonna give you some advice.” His breath is warm in my ear. “Cool girls aren’t in band, okay?” I look up and over my shoulder at him, my body frozen in place. “Cool girls cheer.”
I could kiss him. I’m that close. I could kiss David Wolfenbaker right now.
“See ya in Spanish!” he says, flicking that paper triangle into my face and strutting off to class.
I shake my head, awake from the trance, and realize—
“Hey! How’d you know my combination?”
He half turns, midstride, and grins. Ah, that grin. I feel red and hot and tingly and in love all over my body. I close my locker and hurry off in the other direction.
It’s not until the late bell rings that I realize I never got the book I need.