9781250209153

She purses her lips. “For how long?”
“Until we play Candlehawk in the district championship in February.”
“Four months?”
“It’s not as long as it sounds,” I insist. “Look, if you can get your squad
to cheer for us, it’ll have a huge effect on our playing. We’ll beat
Candlehawk in the Christmas Classic, and then we’ll ride that high straight
into the championship, by which time you will surely have snagged a
nomination for SAOY.”
She shakes her head stubbornly. I have no choice but to pull out the big
guns.
“Or…,” I say innocently, “you could quit cheerleading for four months
while you work off your debts to your parents. Not sure that would help you
win SAOY, though, which means you’d have no shot at going to Benson.”
I feel shitty about leveraging her dream, but I need her to say yes. My
heart is almost beating out of my chest at this point.
Irene runs her finger along her mouth, thinking. “Will you give me the
money up front?”
“Yes.”
“And you won’t tell anyone we’re doing this?”
“Not if you don’t.”
She smooths her bottom lip again. It’s actually very distracting. “I can’t
believe I’m considering this.”
“Neither can I,” I admit. “But I also can’t believe you’ve converted me
into a secret cheerleading fan who will probably vote for you for SAOY. I
guess this is just an unprecedented week.”
She looks at me, her eyes twinkling the tiniest bit. “Fine,” she says,
extending her hand for me to shake.
I grip her warm, soft palm and squeeze. A rush of excitement shoots up
through my arm. This is the first thing to go right in a long, long time.
“How do we start?” Irene asks.
“You got your car back from the shop, right?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” I smirk. “First step: You drive us to school on Monday.”