9781250209153

“The ‘elites’?” Danielle says with disgust. “God, they practically parody
themselves.”
“Weren’t you just saying you enjoyed their cheering section?” Kevin
teases, and Danielle shoves him.
I don’t say anything. A hot wave of embarrassment flushes over my
body. I’m mortified that Gino would write that. I’m even more mortified
that Tally saw it.
During first period, we have a special extended schedule so the video
journalism kids can broadcast their latest news segment. It’s Homecomingcentric,
with a choppy story about the football team’s practice regimen and
interviews with the student gov kids about their decorating plans. The last
segment is about Homecoming Court. Ten people from my grade are
nominated for the King and Queen spots, and one of the Cleveland triplets,
who have their hands in everything that goes on here, nabbed interviews
with them.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s an honor,” one guy says.
“I’m so excited, just so, so excited,” a peppy girl grins.
Charlotte Pascal is up next. “To get this kind of recognition from your
peers, it’s just—what more can you ask for?”
And then Irene’s face pops up, and I squirm uncomfortably in my seat.
“Are you so excited?” the Cleveland triplet asks.
“Yeah, it’s a trip,” Irene says with a casual flick of her hair. She sounds
like she couldn’t give two shits.
“Are you nervous?”
Irene blinks. “For the game, yeah. I’m concerned about getting our
routines right. We’ve been working our asses off, and right now I’m
splitting my time between football and basketball cheerleading, with
different sets for each—so I want to make sure we do everything right on
Friday night.”
“Why didn’t they bleep out ‘asses’?” my civics teacher asks. “And
what’s with this girl’s answer?”
“She’s cheerleading captain,” one of my classmates says.