Our Little Secret

Don't You Trust Me?

"WE MADE IT!!!!" Kristi, Marissa, and I scream when we see our names in the list. We hug each other, squealing with happiness.

"Oh, my God." Marissa has a huge grin on her face. I feel bad for the girls who walk away from the list looking sad. "Wow! We actually did it."

"YES!" We look down the hall and see the boys high-fiving. Looks like they made the team too. They come bounding over to us. "WE'RE FOOTBALL PLAYERS!"

"AND WE'RE CHEERLEADERS!" We smile at them and I swear everyone in the hall hates us. We all start hugging.

Xavier grins down at me. "Ok, I'll take that hug you're always offering." I gleefully throw my arms around him and squeeze as tightly as I can.

"This means practice almost everyday." Marissa sighs, leaning into Michael. Her face breaks into a grin. "It's worth it."

"Lets get food now; all this good news is making me hungry." Aiden leads the way to the cafeteria.

+++++++++

Me and Marissa are in the girls' locker room getting ready for cheer practice. Some of the girls were on the team last year but a lot of us are new. The coach calls us out to the gym and me and Marissa go to find Kristi. We find her in the hall between the boys' and girls' locker rooms, talking to Xavier.

"...then Imma text him," Kristi is saying.

Xavier looks irritated. "So text him. You act like you're the only girl I'm talking to."

Kristi's back is to us so we can't see her face. "Is that why you won't have sex with me?"

Xavier scoffs and shakes his head. "Do you HEAR yourself?" He sighs and looks down to her. "I don't want to have sex with you cuz--"

I quickly clear my throat, making them look at me (and Marissa glare at me). "Practice is starting, Kristi."

She looks back at Xavier then back in our direction. "I'm coming." We all turn to walk back into the girls' room.

+++++++++

"I have never been more tired in my life," I groan, leaning against Marissa. "Is it too late to quit?"

"Bitch!" She looks at me like I'm crazy. "Do you KNOW how many girls wanna be us right now? We got lucky."

"Plus, you'll get used to it," Kristi adds. "Just imagine getting to perform at the game next week. All eyes are gonna be us."

"Does this mean you're over your stage fright?" I ask, zipping my sweater up and getting my duffle bag on my shoulder.

She gives me an iffy face. "I heard it gets better with practice so the more we perform..." she smiles at me, making the light bounce off her braces. "C'mon, let's get outta here." We walk out the school, arms linked.

The cool afternoon breeze blows in our faces as we stand in the school parking lot. Marissa looks at Kristi. "Are you getting a ride with Xavier?"

She shrugs. "Depends on him."

I awkwardly toe the ground. "Are y'all gonna be ok?" She shrugs again. I rub her arm. "Im pretty sure it will."

She offers me a small smile. "Thank you."

"Hey!" Aiden comes running from the field, the other two calmly walking behind him. He stops when he gets to us and shakes his head. "I still can't believe I'm actually on the team."