Page 17 of Something Rad
We both break off into laughter, shaking our heads.
“Okay, enough,” Alice chuckles. “I’m going to find Daniel. We’re going to the mall after school today. Do you want to come?”
“Can’t. I’m with Ms. Rose after school. And then I’m working tonight.”
“You’re with Ms. Rose even on Fridays?” Alice asks, her brows raised.
I shrug. “Thank you for the offer though.”
“Bay View doesn’t deserve you, Sara,” Alice says, squeezing my hand and turning to walk away.
“But you do,” I call to her over Principal Whileyman’s introduction of the cheer team.
Alice turns back to wink at me. “You got that right,” she says. “Call you tomorrow?”
“You better,” I reply, winking back at her as the band starts to play and the cheerleaders start flipping and cartwheeling their way into the center of the gym.
Alice nods, smiling, then weaves her way up into the bleachers in what I assume is Daniel’s direction.
I return my attention to the gym floor as the cheer routine begins, Denise standing front and center of the pack as always. I carry on taking pictures, but people are hooting and hollering so loud that it totally drowns out the clicking of my camera.
I capture every twirl of a blue skirt and every pink lip gloss coated smile over the next minute until something draws my attention to the side.
The basketball boys have broken their tight huddle and are scurrying away from the bleachers, their heads tucked low as they bolt in the direction of the large double doors leading to the back parking lot of the school.
Huh?
I begin to pull the camera from my face but quickly snap back into gear as I hear a resoundingAhhfrom the bleachers, knowing that means the cheerleaders are assuming the formation of their signature pyramid.
I manage to snap a photo right as Denise spins into her place on top in the center of the group. Her stunt group tosses her high up into the air and her legs shoot out on either side, allowing her to perform a perfect toe touch before the girls below catch her again. The moment they do so, however, a loud slam rings out throughout the entire gym.
I jolt along with everyone else, and the band’s music cuts off in an awkward sputter. Everyone in the gym glances around for the source of the disruption, looking confused.
I take note that all the cheerleaders, however, don’t look that confused at all.
That is, except for the one that is front and center.
All of the girls are blushing and smiling at Denise as she stares back at them with wide eyes.
It all happens so fast.
Every cheerleader but Denise skips off of the floor, ducking behind the bleachers and out of view. I don’t even have a moment to question what they are doing before the sound of a very particular and familiar set of horns and drums filters into the gym.
The volume of the music rises from a faint whisper to a blare of speakers in a matter of seconds, and I instantly register the tune as Peter Gabriel’sSledgehammer.
My eyes follow the sound like a magnet until I finally locate the mysterious missing basketball boys. They are split in two groups, each of them holding open the gym doors. I happen to realize Jesse Lamonte has suddenly disappeared from the group, but that thought is quickly lost to the void as my jaw all but hits the floor at the sight of a bright red car barrelling through the doors.
A red car driving into the gym.
A red car that is clearly the source of the music, its JVC speakers giving every ounce of their power and worth.
A red car–
No.
My jaw unhinges further.
Not just any red car.
