CHAPTER FOUR

A couple of hours later, as I felt like I couldn’t cram one more formula into my tired brain, my cell phone rang out with the Natalie chime. That’s the sound my phone makes to ensure I don’t miss any of my girlfriend’s messages. She always texts me to say good night, and tonight was no exception.

Nat had been pretty busy herself that evening, cheering with the squad. That’s how we got together, actually—her cheerleading gig.

I love shooting sports because the challenge never gets old. The position, the angle, the timing, the light—all of them have to come together perfectly to get a decent action shot. But I have to admit, I kind of had a bias against cheerleaders. Still do. I just don’t get them. Everybody’s already there to watch the team, so why do we need girls in little skirts to get us to yell about it? The whole thing seems like a setup, an excuse for them to wear ridiculous outfits and date jocks.

I probably wouldn’t have even noticed Nat if she hadn’t fallen on me. I’d been shooting the year’s first home game, scrambling down the sideline to find a shot. I guess I ran behind the cheerleaders just as Nat took the top spot in the pyramid. She saw me zip by out of the corner of her eye and lost it. Yes, I was that freaking cute (her words). All I know is that one minute I was in motion. The next, I was on the ground, beneath a girl whose hair smelled like coconuts.

Honestly, after I scrambled to my feet, my first thought was for my camera. No damage. Then I took a look at the girl brushing herself off in front of me, and whoa. Curly hair, green eyes, and something clever in her expression.

“You know,” she said, “if this was a movie, I’d have to say something about falling hard for you.”

“Uh, right,” I said. “Good thing this is just real life, huh?”

I pride myself on knowing how to talk to girls, but all of a sudden I was out of words. So I smiled and asked if she was okay.

She smiled back. “Yeah. But maybe text me later to make sure I don’t, you know, have a concussion or anything?”

She gave me her number, just like that. And then she popped back in line with the other girls, shouting something about the superiority of our football players.

That’s how it began, with an accident. And in the weeks since, I’d wondered plenty of times if I could ever have a luckier one. Nat turned out to be the real deal, a girl I could laugh with, talk with, party with, even study with.

Anyway, the night after I took photos of Ms. Opal, my first instinct was to send Nat the pics after her text. But I hesitated. Opal wasn’t just the most popular teacher at our school. She was also the cheerleading coach.

From what Nat had told me, Ms. Opal was almost like a second mom to the girls on the squad. Helped them out with their personal problems, that kind of thing. Nat pretty much worshipped her. Something told me that my girlfriend would be upset about my discovery, even though I had no intention of being a narc.

It wasn’t often that I concealed things from Nat. In fact, this week had been the first time. I hadn’t told her I was going to try to steal the answer key to the trig test. But I guess there’s a second time for everything. I texted back good night and kept my secret to myself.