I offer her a fake ass smile like she offered me when she pretended to be a friend. That was the first and last time I’d ever trust one of these girls.
“I have a lot of ideas about incorporating fresh routines into the Cougarettes legacy,” I continue.
“That’s not what the Cougarettes are about.” Audrey crosses her arms and glares at me. “You wouldn’t know that because you’ve been here for like five minutes, but our traditions are sacred. We perform the routines that have been passed down through generations because they are classics. And I can assure you the alumni won’t tolerate this sort of mutiny.”
Coach Lopez gives me the side-eye, leaving me an opportunity to handle this on my own. Audrey is flexing the muscle of her family name to stake a claim. She’s not going to make this easy for me. I don’t doubt she will involve her mother and half the other parents in this matter. But I came here expecting as much, and I won’t back down regardless of what her last name might be.
“You were captain of the junior team last year, weren’t you, Audrey?”
She stares laser beams into my head like she hopes I’ll spontaneously combust. “Your point?”
“Did you make it to championships?”
The vein in her forehead pulses, and someone in the back snickers. Audrey whips her head around to see who it was, and I use the opportunity to take back my power.
“The point is the Cougarettes haven’t made it to a championship in three years. And the year before that, the performance was a hot mess at best. We can do better, and we will. Coach Lopez has already approved the routines. If the alumni wish to be heard, they have that right, but ultimately, how we perform is up to us—”
“You can’t be serious about this, coach,” Audrey huffs. “She’s going to desecrate everything we stand for!”
“Audrey,” Coach warns her. “You can either get on board or ship out. Nobody is forcing you to be here.”
Everyone holds their breath while they wait for the toddler-sized meltdown Audrey is known for. But she surprises all of us when she schools her features and an eerie calm washes over her. I’m not fooled for a second. She’s biding her time and plotting my destruction. I just put a giant target on my back, and I’m going to have to watch it every second.
“I’m not going anywhere.” Her voice is syrupy sweet as she offers an apologetic smile. “I was just having a moment. I’m here for my team, coach.”
“Alright, then.” Coach grabs her clipboard and glances at her notes. “Then let’s get started.”
We spend the next forty minutes breaking down the first routine. Following Audrey’s lead, the girls refuse to make eye contact with me while she seizes every opportunity to make a snide remark about my moves. The battle lines have been drawn. It’s teenage warfare, and I’ve got an army of two. But it’s worth every second of discomfort to witness the agony on her face when she’s forced to listen to my directives.
I smile at her like we’re besties as we wrap up the session, and under her breath, she hisses. “I give you one week before you’re on a plane back to Hawaii, demon.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” I tell her. “Or, on second thought, maybe you should. It’s much nicer around here when you just don’t talk.”
She glances over my shoulder and smirks. “Oh, look. Here comes my boyfriend. You remember him, right?”
I follow her gaze to Landon and the rest of the footballers as they head for the locker rooms. Audrey has already imprinted an imaginary ring on his finger. In her mind, there is no other alternative. They’ll get married and spit out a couple of perfect kids who look just like them. Little does she know I have plans to destroy them both.
“How could I ever forget?” I spear her with my eyes. “Enjoy my sloppy seconds. I hope you think of me every time you kiss him.”
“You’re disgusting.” She flips her hair over her shoulder and shakes her head. “Everyone knows you followed him around like a pathetic little stalker, begging for any scraps he might throw you.”
“That’s open for interpretation.” I shrug and lock eyes with the guy in jersey number nine. “And trust me when I say you and Landon deserve each other. I think I’ll keep what I’ve got.”
Her head snaps back in shock as Jared Price swaggers up to me in his football uniform. He’s hot, ripped, and he has that bad boy personality that women eat up with a spoon. Audrey can hardly hide her disbelief as he greets me with a five-alarm kiss in front of everyone, sweeping me up into his arms and spinning me around like one of those scenes from a movie. When he plants me back on my feet, he slaps me on the ass for good measure, and I have to give him credit where it’s due. He’s good.
As one of the most popular guys at Black Mountain Academy, Jared has a reputation for being unattainable. He’s undeniably gorgeous, but sadly for the entire female population, he’s in love with the quarterback from our biggest rival, Maple Grove. A fact I only discovered because I stumbled upon them last week in the next town over when I was trying to lay low.
It’s an unwritten rule that nobody on the football team at BMA associates with Maple Grove. Cheerleaders, dance squad, other players. It makes no difference. They are our sworn enemy. I really don’t care who Jared dates, but I saw an opportunity when I saw the panic written on his face. Maybe it was cheap, but I needed an ally, and at this point, I wasn’t above negotiating. I assured him over coffee that his secret was safe with me once he promised to do me a solid and help me out here. Really, I like to think it’s a mutually beneficial relationship. He can keep his mystery boyfriend under wraps until graduation when the rivalry ends, and in the meantime, I get automatic street cred for landing one of the popular guys.
“How’s my girl?” Jared winks as he squeezes and releases me.
I smile up at him, and then my eyes drift to Landon, who’s rooted to the grass, frozen mid-step. His expression tugs at a familiar memory. The betrayal etched onto his face when he woke up and saw Carson lying on the other side of me that night. Apparently, it was all fun and games until after the fact. And the sweet cherry on that terrible sundae was that he had the nerve to look at me like I was the one who screwed up. More than anything else, that’s the thing I can’t seem to understand.
He had no regret. No shame. Just anger. The same angry eyes reflected at me now.
“Price?” he clips out.
“Yo.” Jared tucks me into his side and pivots to meet his gaze. “What’s up, Blackwood?”