How to Stay Afloat

~12: Where She Tells Everyone Her Brilliant Idea~

Archer stepped closer to me till his hands were almost brushing mine. "Not to mention that earlier this year they flew in a professional videographer because the basketball team wanted to make a documentary about themselves." He added quietly.

Everyone murmured and nodded in agreement.

"So tell us what you guys have planned," Peyton spoke excitedly.

I gave her a wink, "Since the school clearly isn't going to do anything, we're going to hold an auction to raise money for both the Volleyball and the Swim team!"

"An Auction?" Peyton echoed. "Not to be a downer Fal but individually a new kit is going to cost us at least two hundred dollars each, so if we multiply that with all twelve team members that's over two thousand bucks."

"And considering the size and condition of our pool, the pool repair is going to cost us at least three grand." Colton added, "So we're looking at somewhere over five thousand bucks, I don't think auctioning off a bunch of stuff we don't need is going to raise that kind of money."

Everyone voiced their agreement.

I clapped my hands together to get their attention, "You guys didn't let me finish. You're right, auctioning off stuff we don't want isn't going to raise that kind of money." I paused, "That's why we're not going to be auctioning stuff, we're going to be auctioning people!" I finished excitedly.

There was silence.

"So, like . . . prostitution?" One of the guys from the Swim team finally spoke up.

One of the girls made a choking noise.

"Shut the fuck up, Emmitt." Archer tried to smack the blonde dude with the surfer cut on the back of his head but he ducked just in time and chuckled.

"No Emmitt," I couldn't hold back my own laugh. "I meant, instead of stuff we can auction dates, each person who is being auctioned would come with a unique date idea." I explained, "Like maybe one of you could take the person who bid on you to an amusement park, or a fancy restaurant or an art gallery, whatever's in your budget and it can be anything that you enjoy doing. And no, it doesn't have to be a romantic date, it can be a completely platonic-friendly date too! So one by one all the guys from the swim team and all the girls from the volleyball team will be auctioned off, and whoever bids the highest on you gets to spend an entire day with you. I already talked to my manager and she says she's cool with us having the auction here this Saturday. She'll have a 'Teenagers Only' slot during the auction that day and set up a stage and everything." I smile at them excitedly, "And I'll be the auctioneer of course!" 

The sound of sarcastic slow clapping resonated. "That's a great idea freckles." Colton drawled, "But you're forgetting something." He gestured toward the group, "We're not the kind of people that would have kids from school lining up to bid on us."

"I hate to say this but I kind of agree with him Fal, we're not exactly popular, I don't think a lot of people will show up and bid when we ask them to," Peyton said solemnly. 

For a moment my excitement dimmed. I hadn't really thought about people not showing up but they were right, kids from our high school wouldn't show up for a bunch of outcasts like us.

Suddenly an idea popped into my head. My lips twisted into a smile.

Archer elbowed my ribs gently, "What's going on in that head of yours Fallon?" He murmured.

"What if we get the cheerleading squad involved?" I spoke excitedly. I looked at the twenty or so expectant faces staring at me. "Just think about it, the cheerleading squad has some of the most beautiful and popular people in our entire school. If we get them to sign up people are bound to show up. We'll have to give them a portion of what we earn, of course."

"And how exactly are we going to convince the cheerleaders to sign up?" One of the guys from the swim team asked.

"Leave that up to me." I grinned.

"If you can get the cheerleading squad to sign up then this sounds like a solid plan, count me in freckles." Colton gave me a wink before giving me a mock salute and turning walking out.

Everybody started chattering excitedly amongst themselves.

"Told you it was a good idea," Archer murmured in my ear, he slung his arm casually around my shoulder, and for a moment I forgot how to breathe.

"Y-yeah." I managed to mumble.

"So how are we going to convince the cheerleaders again?" He whispered.

My smile was forced.

"I'm going to talk to Caroline Williams."

~~**~~

"So, we'd really appreciate it if you and some of the other Cheerleaders would sign up for our auction. It would definitely draw in a big crowd plus you guys get to go on a fun date, or it doesn't have to be a date if you don't want it to be, but you get a good time either way!" I tumbled over the words.

Caroline was the captain of the cheer squad so if I convinced her I knew the entire squad would sign up after her. I held my breath as I watched Caroline contemplate everything I'd told her.

Finally, her face broke into an easy smile. "Sounds fun! Count me in, I'll convince the other girls too and I'll post on all my socials about it so word gets out."

"Really?" I breathed out in relief, "Thank you so much! We'll divide the money earned evenly between the volleyball team, swim team, and the cheerleading squad."

"Don't mention it." She shrugged nonchalantly. "I know the kind of condescending assholes are running the school board. Last year they laughed at us when we told them we wanted to participate in a competitive cheerleading competition, they basically told us that we weren't athletes and that we should stick to being decoration pieces for the football and basketball teams."

My mouth hung open in shock, "You've got to be kidding me! Have they seen the kind of stunts you guys pull and all those hours of practice you guys put in? I mean all those tumbles, backflips, and pyramids, not athletes my ass!"

Caroline laughed, "I'm glad someone gets it. Also, don't worry about giving us a share of the money, we recently got called to do some of our stunts for a popular YouTube channel and they paid us a good chunk of money for it so we have everything we need right now. I'm just happy to support you guys because no one deserves to be an afterthought."

Wow, she's so nice.

No wonder Archer likes her so much.

I found a traitorous, selfish part of me wishing that she wasn't so perfect but I quickly extinguished that thought.

Because the truth was no matter what happened,

I was nobody important. I was an afterthought and that would never change.

I took in Caroline's silky hair, her sparkling eyes, and her breathtaking smile.

I remembered how I'd seen Archer look at her.

Archer Hastings would never look at me the same way.

~~**~~