A few minutes later, Warren dropped a small plastic bag on top of the stuff piled on the porch before he came to join us. It was my turn to walk off and leave him and Vonnie alone. For once, Warren didn’t just climb into his car and get ready to drive away. He actually stood and talked to her. Maybe, there was hope for my big brother.
Vonnie’s dad pulled into the drive, and we went to meet him. Police Chief Rocky Rivers was tall with graying hair that he kept short like he was still in the Army. Most of the time, he was real nice, but nobody dared to give him any “sass,” as he called it. He gave me a solid once-over, as if I were a logger or gravel-truck driver ready to raise hell and put props under it, as Grandma said.
“It’s good to see you up and walking around, Sarah. How do you feel?”
“Better.” I felt my face heat up when he eyed the mountain of stuff on the front porch. “If I leave my favorite things here, they get trashed. Priscilla loves to play ‘dress-up’ with her friends.”
Chief Rivers laughed and tugged on Vonnie’s braid. “You say your brothers, Owen and Rob are total pains, but at least they don’t wear your clothes.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Vonnie said.
Chief Rivers studied me again. “Do me a favor tonight, Sarah. Tell Rob it wasn’t his fault you fell. He thinks he should have grabbed you. He says he could have saved you.”
“What?” My jaw dropped. It was a wonder nobody had to scrape it off the deck. “Who does Rob think he is? A super-hero like Warren? Nobody could have caught me, not even him.”
Especially when no one had seen me fall down the stairs. Oh, my Gawd! Maybe Rob did see. I shouldn’t have talked to him during the break at practice. I knew better. If he saw what happened, did he tell his father?
“I’ll talk to him, Rocky,” I promised. “No way was it his fault. I don’t want him to feel bad.”
“Okay. Now, let’s haul it, ladies.” Rocky winked at me. “No offense, Sarah. But I don’t much care for your dad’s Army stories and how he could have won the Vietnam War by himself if he was old enough to go.”
I picked up some of my clothes and started for the squad car. “Bruce isn’t my dad, Rocky. He’s my mother’s husband. Warren and I don’t much care for him either.” I shrugged. “It’s okay. He doesn’t like us.”
Vonnie followed me. “Last word, Sarah. Use it.”
I glanced back at her. “What? You mean the sir, or ma’am thing? The game’s called, ‘Last Word.’ Why?”
“In the Army, the enlisted always get the last word,” Chief Rivers explained. “It’s, yes or no, sir or ma’am. Vonnie uses it to get her way with authority figures like teachers, preachers, lawyers, judges, her grandparents, and anyone else she wants to con. It doesn’t work on me.”
“He knows I’m not being polite,” Vonnie said. “I’m one step away from calling him really rude names and being grounded for life.”
“Got it.” Now, if I could just learn to use it. Somehow, I didn’t think that would happen anytime soon.
On the way to Vonnie’s, I pulled out my cell phone and read the latest text. “U r coming 2 the game 2nite. C u there. Ily. Jason.”
* * *
It wasn’t hard to get into the football game at the academy when I showed up with the police chief. I sat down next to Vonnie in the bleachers and tried not to care about the people who stared at my bruised face. At least, nobody asked what happened to me.
The school band started playing and the cheerleaders raced out in front of the grandstand. Nine girls in red sweaters and Royal Stewart tartan skirts made up the squad tonight. That wasn’t right. With me, we had twelve cheerleaders on the squad. Without me, there should be eleven. I didn’t say anything to Vonnie, but I wondered where Denise and Janet were. They barely tried during our practices, which seriously annoyed Ms. Olson. I’d bet they’d blown off this game because the football team was on a losing streak.
Ms. Olson always freaked when we acted irresponsibly, even if she didn’t rat us out to our parents or the headmaster. No way would our coach excuse the two seniors from tonight’s game, not when everyone in town would be here to watch the cheer routines. Missing a game meant suspension from the squad, no questions asked or answered. I hoped by showing up I wouldn’t be a goner. Cheer was my life. Since I’d made the Varsity squad, more kids actually spoke to me in school than last year when I was in charge of Junior Varsity.
Abbie led the squad straight into the Louie, Louie cheer and got the crowd yelling before the Highlander football team hit the field. Kaitlyn spotted me and gave a quick wave with her pompoms. Black braids flying, Rita signaled me to call her, but made it look like part of the dance. I waved back at her, thrilled to be part of the squad. We were sooooo tight.
Jason said all I needed was him, but I still wanted girlfriends. After all, I couldn’t tell a guy some things, not even Jason. It didn’t mean I didn’t care about him, did it? Hearing him call me his lucky charm thrilled me all the way to my toes.
The team came out with Jason in the lead. Since it was a home game, the guys wore their dark blue jerseys. He nodded when he spotted me, then shook his head at the sight of Vonnie. The two of them didn’t care much for each other.
I’d have to tell him that he looked really hot, something else I didn’t mention to Vonnie. Finally, the game got underway. Tonight, the Highlanders were playing the Eagleford Wildcats. As usual, Eagleford had a great team. They hadn’t lost a single game all season. Not like us. We’d only won two out of the five we played so far, and that record totally pissed off Jason.
Eagleford’s receivers were in the right places at the right time, not like ours. Their quarterback made great calls. In the first quarter, Eagleford scored three touchdowns. They were awesome, as always.
There weren’t any movie theaters or bowling alleys or video-game arcades in Stewart Falls. We were too high-class for that, so everyone turned out for the activities at the academy or the other local schools in the area, well everybody except Mom and Bruce. She always had Friday midnight sales at Book City and he was too busy for anything Warren or I did at school or in real life. Of course, things were different when Priscilla had plans like tonight’s slumber party, which would totally wreck the house.
A string of communities around three separate lakes, S. F. had its share of groceries, gas stations, restaurants and other stores. The post office, library, and town hall clustered in one strip mall near Lake Charles. Most of the people who lived around Lake Mary had estates with private docks. In between the other two lakes, gated housing developments surrounded Lake James.
I heard people grumble behind me as the Eagleford Wildcats scored another touchdown. They still rooted just as hard for the Highlanders. They stomped, yelled, and whistled. The bleachers shook underneath me.
During the second quarter of the game, Eagleford nailed us even harder with four touchdowns and two field goals by half-time. We didn’t have one. Jason’s anger showed in his hunched shoulders when he trotted by the stands with the rest of the team behind him. Dave, the left tackle, waved at me.
I waved back and gave him a thumbs-up sign. Vonnie yelled encouragement to her brothers. After the team had left the field, I poked her. “Come on. Let’s go to the refreshment stand.”
“Why?” She wrinkled her nose. “All the cheerleaders will be down there selling stuff. They look at me like my deodorant failed.”
I sighed. “I’ve told you forever. Most of them are shy. They try to hide it by acting cool. And it’s tough because we have to be together nearly every day for practice. Then, there are the games on most Friday nights, and the academy is different than other schools. We cheer for football, then basketball, then some of the spring sports. Add in that Varsity goes to Rec Cheering on Saturdays and we barely have time to breathe. We don’t have time to make a lot of other friends.”
“I know. I know.” Vonnie got to her feet. “During football, Rob and Owen only have buddies on the team. They barely do anything else. I guess I was buying into stereotypes.”
Sometimes, she was strange. I gave her a look as we started down the steps. “Where do you come up with these words?”
“I read.” Vonnie tossed her blonde head and led the way along the front of the grandstand. “My dad says we may get a free ride at the academy because of his job, but if we want to go to college, we’d better plan on scholarships and grants, so I have to keep a four-point if I want a life beyond high school.”
I wrinkled my nose. “That’s rough. I know you have better grades than I do, but I didn’t realize you were already planning on a four-year college. Where are you going to apply?”
Vonnie shrugged. “Washington State University in Pullman is my top choice. They have a great journalism school.” She paused and studied me again. “You look wiped. Shall we head for my house?”
“Sure. We can leave after I let Abbie know I showed up.”
“Works for me.” Vonnie stopped at the end of the sidewalk to talk to her dad. “We’re headed home.”
“I’ll drive you.” Chief Rivers glanced at the other uniformed officer. “I’ll be right back. Watch for liquor. It’s not allowed on school property.”
“You don’t need to, Rocky.” I hoped I sounded innocent. “I’ll get Warren. He and Timber can take us.”
Chief Rivers tried to look stern. I saw the laughter in his eyes. “I don’t know, girls. I really can slip away. It’s not a hardship to take you home, Von.”
“Oh no, Dad. I’d rather...” Vonnie’s whole face turned bright red. “I mean we don’t want to inconvenience you.”
“No problem at all,” the other officer said. His name-tag read Morrison. “After working Vice in Seattle, I can handle a ball game for a few minutes. Go ahead, Rivers. Be a father.”
I bit my lip hard. I grabbed her arm. “Come on, Vonnie. They’re just hassling us. It’s what cops do. Right, Rocky?”
He laughed. “You bet, Miss Smarty. I’ll see you two later.”
We headed off toward the refreshment stand. Behind me, I heard Officer Morrison. “Somebody hurt that little girl bad. Who was it?”
“She says she fell,” Chief Rivers said. “She’ll be safe at my place all weekend. Leave it alone, Lando.”
“Are you, Chief?” Officer Morrison asked.
As hard as I tried, I didn’t hear Chief River’s low answer. I prayed as hard as I could. Let him leave it. Please, let him leave this alone.
We rounded the corner, and I saw Warren and Timber by the refreshment booth under the grandstand. I walked up to them. “Hi.”
Warren frowned at me, concerned. “What are you doing here? You should be at Vonnie’s resting.”
“We need a ride there.” I tipped my head back so I could look up, up, up at Timber. “Do you have your truck? Can you take us?”
He nodded. His shoulder-length black hair rippled from the motion. “No problem, kid.”
I giggled. “Is that all you can say?” I teased. It was one of his favorite slogans.
“Nope.” He winked at me. Then he touched the top of my hair. It was so soft, so gentle that I figured I imagined it. “I need a chocolate chip cookie fix. Or do you just make them for Jason these days?”
I shook my head a little. “No. He says my cooking makes him sick.”
Timber shrugged one wide shoulder. “I’ve never had your cooking. I couldn’t say.” He put on a pleading look then dropped to one knee. “Please make me chocolate chip cookies. Please. Please. Please!”
I laughed so hard I thought I’d fall down on top of him. He always made me feel good about myself. “Come on, you goon.” I pushed his arm. “I’ve got to check out with Abbie first.”
“She’s going to rip off your ears.” Timber stood. “I’ll protect you.”
“Yeah, right,” Warren said. “She’s still pissed at you for getting the entire senior class to call her Abbie—Normal.”
“She’s my cousin. I’m allowed to bug her. She says bigger is dumber, and that’s the real reason why I’m a junior again this year, not the car accident last spring that made me miss so much school.” Timber took my hand. “Come on, kid. If she calls me names, I’ll hide behind you.”
“How are you supposed to protect me from her, then?” I started to laugh again. “You two wait here,” I told Warren and Vonnie. “We’ll be right back.”
“Take your time,” Vonnie said.
Timber waited until we were alone before he asked. “Who pushed you down those stairs, kid?”
I shook my head. “It was an accident. I fell.”
“Was it Denise or Janet?” Tim held me prisoner with his dark gaze. “I’ll let Abbie-Normal have them. She’ll fry their livers, not just for you, kid. She’s desperate for college and she needs a cheerleading scholarship at a four-year university. She wants a future outside of Stewart Falls and she should have one.”
“You’ll get in another fight,” I said. “It doesn’t solve problems. Leave me alone.”
“Except when you need a ride and you’re playing matchmaker with Vonnie and Warren.”
“Yeah, except then.”
“Okay. No problem, kid.” He smiled, just a slight twist of his mouth. “I want lots of chocolate chip cookies if I don’t get to go after the football team and knock a few heads together. You owe me, kid.”
“In your dreams, Timber Ethan Watkins.”
“Oh, I’ll be in yours too, Sarah Caroline Flynn, when you grow up.”