Out of the Loop

Chapter Twenty-Two

For Jynxi, who edited :3

Kelli walked into the girls’ locker room after school to change for cheer practice.  Heading to her locker at the middle bank, she set down her backpack and began to enter her combination.  Around her, the chatter in the room slowly fell into a hush. Kelli paid the lack of noise no heed and began to change into her gym clothes.  

As she pulled her tank top over her head, someone cleared their throat expectantly behind her.

Kelli turned around slowly, trying to pull her unruly hair into a ponytail.  

Three malicious-looking cheerleaders stood imposingly in front of her.  Even without the stilettos that many of Shannon’s pack seemed so fond of, the leader was as tall as Kelli, nearly as tall as Shannon.  

“Hi, guys,” Kelli said cheerily, “What’s up?”

The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees as several girls edged away from Kelli. They watched expectantly, as if they knew what was going to happen next. She began to wonder herself what they were here for.

The lead girl, whose name Kelli recalled was Paige, sneered.  “What is up?  You shouldn’t be here, that’s what.”

The red-head’s stomach began to churn. Has this prick lost her mind? “What do you mean?  I’m on the cheer squad.”

Paige rolled her eyes, tolling locks of corkscrew-curly ebony hair over her shoulder.  “Puh-leeze,” she drawled in a too-dramatic voice, “You haven’t been on the team since you and those freaks got Shannon suspended.”

Kelli crossed her arms and shot a glare at the girl, who stepped back in shock. What a blockhead. “Excuse me, I haven’t been removed from the team, and Shannon got herself expelled by attacking Maz! There’s no one to blame in this locker room.  Now, I need to finish getting ready for practice.”

Paige stood stunned for a moment, then rebounded.  “We’ll see how long you want to be on the squad, you pathetic loser.”  She flounced out of the locker room, her two lackeys and other supporters following with noses upturned.  

The few girls that were left shyly smiled their approval at Kelli, then exited as well.  

Kelli continued to worry, however.  It had gone against every fiber of her being just to stand up to Shannon’s replacement, and her stomach was still rebelling.  To make matters worse, it seemed that almost everyone was either with Shannon and Paige, or too scared to speak up against them.  

It was really sad how things worked Creek. If you weren’t bullied, you were the bully. If you were neither, you were invisible. If you were lucky enough not to be any of those, you still didn’t exist to people like Paige and Shannon- unless of course, they were expelled for beating you to a bloody pulp. And then everyone blames you.

This school is twisted, she thought, and shook her head in dismay.

Looking at the clock, Kelli frantically pulled on her sneakers and ran outside.  Her group was readying to form a pyramid.  Kelli hurried up just in time to be the point.  Despite her height, she was the smallest girl in her group.  

Suddenly, someone let out a yelp, and the human structure began to wobble.  Kelli pitched forward, plummeting to the mat.  Luckily for her, no one was in the space where she landed, spinning and bending her legs to soften the impact.  

She looked back at her teammates as she stood up.  Two of the girls who had made up the base smiled coolly at her, then turned away.  Kelli watched as they stood in tight cliques, twirling their hair with their fingers and shooting menacing scowls at her.

She endured the rest of the practice, managing to dodge most of the “accidents” directed at her. Some were far too obvious, such as how three girls tried to trip her - which they didn’t hide very well - two more almost dropping her in various routines, and three more girls “forgetting” to catch her after they threw her into the air.

She hurriedly changed and went home, anxious and exhausted.

Kelli sighed and dropped her bag into her chair. It had been a long day, and her mind was full of racing possibilities of what could happen.

She glanced at the mirror, Maz’s injuries covering her own face. She silently gasped and laid a hand against her cheek. It was fine, she was just seeing things.

Would she take that sort of damage for Maz?

Yes, she would, if it meant they’d leave Maz alone. She just didn’t deserve how they treated her!

But you do? A little voice in the back of her mind asked.  That’s fair too?

She grimaced and went downstairs to get a bottle of water from the fridge, then raced back upstairs to her room.

Kelli wondered to herself now just exactly how Shannon was justifying this. Was she really blaming her, one of her good friends, for standing up for Maz? Didn’t she stand up for Shannon once? It was the same thing, right? Shannon used to be in Maz’s position - bullied, alone and rejected by popular people.  Had she forgotten all of that?

It was the ice queen’s darkest secret, one Kelli promised to never tell even though she was the one that helped Shannon gain her “popularity”.  No one had even recognized her after she came to middle school.  The summer had transformed her into a beautiful creature, which brought near-instant popularity.  Unfortunately for Maz, the second Shannon was no longer ridiculed, she turned the full force of her power onto the quiet girl.  The two had never spoken before sixth grade as far as Kelli knew.  Why Maz?  Hell, why Kelli?

Kelli almost became angry. How could Shannon be so thick headed? Was she really that shallow? She couldn’t believe that Shannon had picked her as a target now.

No, calm down. She breathed in as she turned on her stereo in her room. Don’t start blaming Shannon. You’ll bring yourself to her level. Be the bigger person.

Perhaps Shannon was even setting up people like Paige to do her dirty work- which now included discouraging Kelli. Shannon wouldn’t do that, right? She was her friend.

Or was.

Kelli hesitated in front of her bedroom window, staring out at the street. Maz was her new friend, whether those stuck-up prudes liked it or not.

She smiled to herself, comforted by her own conclusion. Besides, even if the other cheerleaders somehow managed to break Kelli, they’d never get past Derek. He had a backbone of steel for Maz, and it was so obvious.  He’d take anything just to make sure she wasn’t hurt; Kelli had seen it the moment the three of them met in the hospital.  

Too bad Maz couldn’t see it as clearly as everyone else could.

She giggled to herself. Perhaps she could help hint Maz along . . . .

Kelli headed to the point where she knew Maz and Derek were meeting later.  Maybe she could say something to Maz, then leave the two alone.  She grinned, and headed out the door.