9781250209153

19
Life settles into a calmer pace over the next week. With the season over,
and the trophy won, my afternoons are suddenly free. I spend the time
hanging out in the parking lot with Irene and our friends.
On a brittle late-February afternoon, Irene shocks the five of us into
silence when she casually announces she’s dropping out of the SAOY
competition.
“Are you out of your mind?” Danielle asks.
“Irene, you can’t do that,” I plead. “You’ve been working toward this for
months. Years, even.”
The boys stay quiet, but Honey-Belle says, “Let’s hear her out. I trust
Irene’s intuition.”
Irene smiles. “Well, I hadn’t even told you this,” she says, kissing my
temple, “but my mom had this big talk with me last night. Her office is
filming a new commercial soon. She wants the squad to be in it.”
Honey-Belle’s eyes light up. “The squad?”
“The squad. Me.” Irene looks ready to burst. “She wants me to come up
with a catchy cheer for Grandma Earl Eye Associates.”
“Oh my god!” everyone says at once.
“Only problem is, what rhymes with ‘associates’?” Gunther asks.
“Invertebrates,” Kevin says seriously.
“Okay, let’s worry about that later,” Danielle says. She turns to Irene.
“You said yes, right?”
“I got up and spelled it out.” Irene pretends she has pom-poms in her
hands. “Y-E-S!”