Our Little Secret

The Sleepover

It's finally Friday! That means game day. Which means we getta wear our uniforms and jerseys ALL day. And it's AWESOME. Like people notice us and wish us luck on the game. Guys have even flirted with me!

"I am LOVING this!" Michael holds his hand up to my face. I think it's to give me a high five but it's only to show me some girl's number scribbled on his palm.

That's when Rissa comes bounding up to us. She hugs me and turns to Mike. "I need for you to tell the other two fleabrains that y'all can't come to the sleepover anymore."

Both of us look at her like she's crazy. "Why not?" Mike asks her.

She shrugs and flips her blonde ponytail over her shoulder. "Cuz I told Kristi about it and she wants to come and I want her to come. And it would be weird if Xavier was also there, so... y'know?"

"Um... ok, I guess. Makes sense." I can tell he's unhappy about it, but I guess he doesn't wanna argue.

She puts a hand on his shoulder. "We can always reschedule, right?"

"Right."

She grabs my arm and starts dragging me away. We see Xavier walking down the hall and wave. I smile at him. "I'm digging the waves, Babaneaux," I compliment his haircut.

"Well, I'M digging the skirt... West." He smirks at me and ruffles Marissa's hair.

She smacks his hand away. "Stop it, Xavier!" He laughs and saunters away. "It's almost time to go and coach wants us to meet in the gym for a little pep talk, I guess."

"Is Kristi already there?" I ask.

"Yeah."

Turns out it's not only the cheer squad in the gym, the football team is also here. I see Aiden with the guys and run over to hug him cuz he's the only one I haven't seen yet.

"Hey, Zakiyah," goes one of the guys on the team. It's Kishaun. He smiles at me, checking me out. I smile back.

"Your bow's crooked,"someone goes behind me.

I lean my head back and see Xavier looking down at me. "Fix it?" Surprisingly, he decides to be nice and helps me.

"Zakiyah!" Coach Jen calls me to the other side of the gym. I jog to the girls and listen to coach. Coach Jen looks around at us in our red and black uniforms. "We've worked hard, we've practiced, and sometimes even cried..." Everyone glances at Evelynn when she says that cuz sis is a crier. "...but we're here now and we're gonna show out and show school spirit!"

"Yeah!!" We all scream, shaking our pompoms and jumping in the air.

"Come on!" We meet in the middle of the gym with the boys and huddle up in a boy-girl-boy-girl pattern.

"I!" Coach Jackson leads the chant and we repeat him. "I believe!"

"I believe!" We respond.

"I believe that we...!"

We say the last part all together. "I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win! I believe that will win!" We all hug and God! The energy here is great.

"Alright team, let's go!" We all head out to the buses that are taking us to the other school.

Kristi is all jittery on the bus. "Is anyone else nervous about this?"

"What? No. C'mon." I look out the window. "We've been waiting for this moment."

"Yeah," Marissa nods. "I'm so ready for this."

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The five of us meet just before the game starts. We do our secret handshake and wish each other luck. Our school goes wild when we come out.