A Quiet, Productive Day?

Sunday, September 30th

“You alright over there?” Tinsley inquired, barely holding back a smirk.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Bridget responded from where she squirmed in the passenger seat. When she arched her back, her best friend jumped at the opportunity.

“It might be time for reduction surgery. If you’re having this much back pain, imagine what carrying those water balloons around will feel like in twenty years.”

“I’m not in pain because of my boobs, Tin,” the busty blonde replied. “Just because you’re jealous–”

“Jealous? Ha! I’d never stop falling over if I had tits that humongous!” the petite brunette exaggerated, acting out a wobble as she drove erratically as usual.

“Hey! Pay attention!” Bridget ordered after the car swerved.

“We’re fine. Nobody else is on this creepy back country road on a Sunday morning,” Tinny responded.

“Really?” Bridget remarked as a pair of vehicles appeared in the distance. “What about them?”

“Those? Oh, those are just the people fleeing the chainsaw-wielding murderer who killed their friends last night. They won’t bother us,” the smirking teen declared. Then, Tinsley’s smirk turned devilish. “Actually, you better duck down. They might see your big tits and think they found a proper pair to distract the killer for their final escape.”

“Laugh it up, Miss Board.”

“I am not flat! These are delightful perky, average-sized tits,” Tinny defended. “As they say, anything more than a handful is a waste.”

“Men don’t think that when they see mine,” Bridget chuckled.

“Laugh it up. Wait until you’re a hunchback in old age because of them. Or are you sore for a different reason? Something to do with your date, perhaps?”

“Tin,” Bridget hissed, gesturing to the back seat.

“Oh, right. We wouldn’t want to corrupt Brandy’s innocent ears,” Tinny proclaimed sarcastically.

“Don’t care. Don’t bother me,” the younger blonde responded from the back. The eight-year-old appeared deep in thought. “Hey, Tin, do you remember seeing any good-sized rocks around yesterday?”

“Like boulders or the kind for throwing?”

“Don’t ask her that!” Bridget admonished her best friend. “And you won’t be throwing any rocks, Brandy!”

“I guess the same size as for throwing. Not that I’m going to throw them,” Brandy responded, stretching out the garment in her hand.

“Wha…Is that a…Is that one of Dad’s socks? Brandy!” Bridget exclaimed.

“Oh, that’s what you want them for. You know, I think I saw some crumbled bricks in that shed, Dee,” Tinny recalled. “Those should work the same.”

“Don’t tell her that!” Bridget yelled, slapping her neighbor’s arm before turning to face her sister. “You are not to use that sock as a weapon…of any sort. Got that?”

“I need to protect myself. You’re the one who left me defenseless. Who’s going to watch my back today?” Brandy challenged.

“Wrenn didn’t even want to come back. And Fawn started trouble yesterday,” Bridget pointed out.

“Teddy started it by hitting on those whores.”

“Brandy! Don’t call Audra and her friends that! If you do, I’m telling Mom,” the older sister warned.

“She’s got a point.”

“Don’t think I forgot who called them whores first,” Bridget shot back at Tinny.

“Don’t look at me. My mom agreed and ground the brat for hurting Fawn’s feelings by flirting with Audra,” the co-captain argued.

“Don’t use your mother as a shield. Besides, Teddy continues to be clueless about Fawn’s crush,” Bridget reminded. “Still labeling thirteen-year-olds as sluts is uncalled for…even if one of their older sisters is fair game.”

“Luckily, you weren’t around to have a say. I know you would’ve backed up his claim that smiling at or chatting with a girl is acceptable.”

“It is!” the cheer captain exclaimed, throwing her hands up.

“Tin only called Annette and Audra whores. I’m the one who decided that Calista and Brooklyn show also be included,” the grade-schooler announced.

“You see? She’s her own person and can make her own judgments,” Tinsley pointed out.

“Please, she’s more a mini-version of you than anyone,” Bridget groaned.

“Mini-Tin. I like how that sounds,” Tinny decided, causing Brandy to giggle.

The remaining ten minutes of the drive were spent in silence as Bridget refused to talk. Eventually, they turned off the county road and went onto the dirt driveway. Tinny couldn't help but comment on the farm's creepiness again.

“You better fill that sock up just in case,” she suggested.

“I already said—How the hell is everyone else already here?” Bridget shifted topics upon spotting the rows of parked cars. “It’s not even ten yet. We should be one of the first people.”

“Oh, Cass really meant it,” the petite brunette mumbled more to herself than anyone. “I assumed she was joking about everyone showing up an hour earlier today.”

“Tin! We’re the officers. Do you know how bad this looks?” Bridget questioned.

“We can always blame Brandy,” Tinny suggested.

The younger blonde started to protest before shrugging.

The three girls exited Mrs. Day's car and saw the expected auburn-haired welcome party marching over.

“Where have you been? You’re almost an hour late!” Cassie noted, pointing at her wristwatch.

“Uh…”

“It’s Brandy’s fault,” Bridget blamed, gesturing at her kid sister.

The irate bookworm took a long look at the quiet girl before shaking her head.

“Don’t blame Brandy,” Cassie ordered. “I bet this is about your date, isn’t it? Well, you can gossip while we work, Captain.”

With that, the cheer squad’s student manager turned and marched into the barn. The usually friendly redhead barked orders to several Babybees, who’d been watching the scene.

“Uh-oh. She’s pissed,” Tinny groaned.

“It’s your fault for screwing up the time,” Bridget pointed out.

“I can’t believe you blamed Brandy.”

“It was your idea!”

“I didn’t really mean it,” Tinny protested, despite meaning it.

Before Bridget could respond, their fellow cheerleaders swarmed the new arrivals. Numerous voices spoke simultaneously, asking questions that mixed together. Unable to understand more than bits and pieces, Bridget raised her hands while ordering everyone to be quiet. Once her charges fell silent, the blonde addressed her future successor first.

“How was the date, Cappy? Have a good time?” Shayla inquired with a teasing tone.

“Oh, we know she had fun,” Haley laughed.

Behind the chuckling junior, Tanith, Lemon, and Regina giggled. Another Babybee mimicked moaning before Sabrina commanded her to get inside the barn.

“All of you, get back to work. We’re pressed for time as it is,” the junior varsity captain reminded.

Her order left only part of the varsity squad left.

“I can’t believe that was you,” Zita remarked. “If Ollie knew that, he’d have busted his nut within in a second.”

“I thought you said you didn’t–” Haley began to question.

“I’m talking handjobs,” her close friend clarified.

“What did you do?” Tinny asked, turning to study her co-BFF with a shit-eating grin.

“I didn’t do that either!” Bridget replied, joining Zita’s insistence.

“I guess that explains why you’re sore,” the petite brunette noted.

“I think everyone at Shanty Point last night knows why Miss Perfect is sore this morning,” Annette announced, attempting to join them. Miranda worked as hard as she could to slow her best friend down.

“Annie was at Shanty Point? I’m shocked, shocked!”

“Not helping, Tinsley!” Miranda yelled over her shoulder.

“Don’t mom me. You’re not Rachel,” Tinny shot back. “You should be worried about who Annie was with last night. Or should I say how many she was with?”

“Tin! Brandy’s here,” Shayla admonished before realizing the youngest Fallon sibling had vanished.

“Wait, who were you with last night?” Haley asked Annette.

“Whoa, were you the screaming skank?” Zita inquired.

“I’m not the one who claims to be a good girl while slutting up the lakefront like a porn star,” Annette accused, staring at her captain.

“Ann, it’s not like you to spy. I’m sorry you thought River would be your man last night, but I won fairly and square. There’s no need to drive to Shanty Point all by your lonesome to watch me,” Bridget commented, laying on the sympathetic attitude relatively thick.

“I wasn’t by myself! I was with…it doesn’t matter who I was with. You’re the two-faced whore who needs to be exposed,” the milk chocolate-haired cheerleader declared. “At least show some creativity and not copy porn.”

“Don’t mind her, girls. Annie doesn’t have a rule about not fucking on the first date. So, she forgets that you sometimes need to playact to get your man to blow like Old Faithful,” Bridget stated.

“I don’t need to playact a slut to give my man a good time,” the wannabe Homecoming Queen proclaimed.

“Because you’re a whore, right?” Tinny cracked.

The insult nearly caused Annette to break past Miranda to attack Tinsley. However, Shayla and another junior helped hold her back.

“Dammit, Tinsley, you’re not helping,” Miranda responded. “Somebody…Maura, go get Cassandra and Rain.”

“Whoa! Don’t play the Cassie and Rain card on me, Randa!” Tinny replied, suddenly looking concerned. Her threatening gesture caused Maura to pause.

“Okay, let’s all calm down,” Bridget ordered. “I’m sorry that I lost my cool, Miranda. Annie sometimes pushes my buttons wrong.”

“Everyone regularly rings Annie’s button,” Zita cracked, earning a finger point from Miranda.

"I don't know why Miranda scolds me over how to behave when you act like a slut," Kimberly complained, burning with jealousy while she glared at Bridget.

“Kimmie!” Maura exclaimed.

“It’s true. Annette told–OWW!!!” the platinum blonde shrieked.

“Brandy!” Bridget bellowed, spotting her sister just as the swinging sock hit Kimberly in the leg.

“Hmm, I think these rocks are too small. Where were the bricks?” Brandy asked, looking at Tinsley.

“The little shit hit me!” Kimberly cried.

“I’m so sorry, Kim,” Bridget apologized, suddenly worried about the day turning into another clusterfuck.

“Somebody better find the first-aid kit,” Miranda said.

“I-I’ll find Cassie,” Maura replied, racing away.

“Punish her!” Kimberly demanded through tears while jabbing a finger at the eight-year-old.

“Me? You’re the one who needs to learn manners. Start with the one about fucking around and finding out,” Brandy stated.

“Tin, can you handle her?” Bridget asked.

“Come on, Mini-Tin. Let’s go find your squad.”

“I don’t like them.”

“You like that Sherry, don’t you?” Tinny pointed out.

“I guess.”

---

Oddly, the next several hours passed in relative peace and quiet. Monty Rusk returned to help with the final changes to the float’s structure. After finishing the alterations, the Homecoming float began to take on its eventual appearance as the cheerleaders covered the frame. They made enough progress that Posey could explain her decoration plans more clearly. That next phase wouldn’t begin until Tuesday or possibly Wednesday. However, Rain and Cassie started to feel less pressed for time after last week’s theme shift.

After working so hard, the girls were pleasantly surprised when Lucille McCracken, Cecelia Bank, and Eleanor Ridge appeared shortly before one o’clock with lunch. Although none of the mothers had an actual cheerleader on the squad, Cassie didn’t officially count as a student manager; they wanted to help out. Rachel’s mother appeared to miss being part of the activities, while Eleanor never had any daughters to help.

“Thanks for the pizza, Mrs. Bank!” Shayla yelled.

“I could’ve gotten you a discount,” Zita pointed out upon spotting the Luigi’s branded boxes.

“Don’t worry about it, dear. It’s our treat,” Mrs. McCracken responded.

“My, how adorable,” Eleanor clapped after getting a short preview of the youngest girls’ parade routine.

Despite her years-long prank war with Elliot, Tinny always liked his mother. The co-captain had surprised several of her squadmates with how eagerly she’d suggested the showcase.

“Did you like it, Mrs. Ridge?” Brandy inquired.

“I loved it! But where are your friends? Didn’t they want to be little cheerleaders?”

“Fawn and Wrenn are a bunch of worrywarts. They both thought the float looked dangerous. Hell, that’s half the fun!” Brandy stated. “I think Darla’s rubbing off on them. I’ll need to try harder.”

“I’m sure you’ve tried enough already, Dee,” Cecelia said knowingly.

“I guess. But I have a new friend who takes orders,” Brandy announced, throwing her arm around a smiling Sherry Stackhouse.

Suddenly, a commotion sounded from outside. One easily excitable Babybee rushed inside the barn while repeating, “He’s here! He’s here!”

“Who’s here?” Lucille McCracken asked, amused by the reactions around her.

“Bee’s date from last night,” Cassie revealed, leaning over to see outside.

“McCoy Quarry?”

“Someone way hotter, ma’am!” Lemon gushed before rushing off.

“Right, sorry. You probably don’t hear the gossip as much with Rachel and Gabby away,” Cassie realized. “Coy’s parents refuse to let him date during the football season.”

“Yes, this does sound familiar,” Eleanor recalled. She and her husband knew some of the fathers believed strongly about avoiding distractions, but they found it laughable. Rusty had been allowed to date since he played junior high school football.

“Cass said Bridget was quite upset the other night,” Cecelia recalled, joining her daughter. “This boy chose another girl for his Homecoming date.”

“He did, but not Gemma Harlow. She and Bee are rivals and were both after Coy,” Cassie revealed.

“Oh, I’m sure Lucy has never heard of a rivalry between a cheerleader and a Sugarbee,” Eleanor laughed, well-acquainted with the woman’s family’s generational feud with a dancing family.

“Tell me about it,” the former cheerleader chuckled. “So, who did the quarterback choose?”

“Connie Dearden. She’s a junior and a family friend,” Cassie explained, leading to oohs and ahhs from the older women.

“Bridget better watch out. Those family friends are always trouble,” Eleanor noted.

Outside, Bridget finally ordered all the fawning girls to leave River alone. After a brief conversation with this year’s cheer captain about River’s insistence about stopping on their way back to Arbor Corners, Sela went inside to greet the three mothers.

“Hi,” the handsome surfer greeted, surprisingly bashful.

“Hi, back,” Bridget responded, grinning. “Just couldn't leave without seeing me again, could you?

“Um, kinda,” River admitted, loving the way she flicked her blonde locks over her shoulder. “After talking to Sela, I thought I’d rather do this in person.”

“Oh, my, that sounds ominous,” Bridget said, faking alarm.

“No, it’s not bad.”

“You don’t know your distant cousin like we do,” the busty blonde pointed out.

“Yeah, I get that feeling,” River conceded. “Despite the conversations around yesterday, I didn’t realize how important your Homecoming might be. Sela mentioned how the guy you liked kind of, well, he–”

“Screwed me over?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t feel afraid to say so. I’m not the only girl he fucked over because of his parents’ stupid rule,” Bridget explained.

“Well, no pressure, but if you need somebody on your arm for the dance, I’d be willing to help out. Wait, shit, that didn’t come out the way I wanted it to,” River revealed, unsure why his laidback charm around girls suddenly vanished around this particular blonde. “What I meant is that I know we just met yesterday and–”

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Bridget said, putting a finger to his lips. “We made each other cum last night. No need to be shy.”

“Yeah, well, last night is the reason why I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

“No worries. I know neither of us are interested in a long-distance relationship. So I’m not the type of woman who’s going to misread your offer.”

“Good, good. Like I said, there is no pressure. If you have somebody in town that you’d rather attend the dance with, I’d totally understand,” River said. “I don’t even need to know right now. I’m available until the last moment.”

Bridget joined his laughter.

“Are you sure? Most men need time to find a tux. Oh, wait, you’re technically a Wynwick. You probably have a whole row of tuxes in your closet,” the potential queen joked.

“Honestly, I don’t. At least not at school,” River added. “However, I’m sure that Sela or Uncle Fenton could scrounge one up for me.”

“I bet they could. Um, can I think about it for a day or two?” Bridget asked before hurriedly adding. “Not that I don’t appreciate the offer or find it very intriguing. It’s just that this weekend has been crazy, and I need to catch my breath.”

“Absolutely,” River replied, digging into his pocket. “Here’s my dorm phone number. Let me know what you decide.”

“Thanks! You’re such a sweetheart.” Bridget leaned in to deliver a short, passionate kiss. Hearing the catcalls from her fellow cheerleaders, she added, “Don’t think I don’t realize how envious the girls will be if I have you on my arm.”

“Hey, I can’t wait to show pictures of you around campus or back home,” River half-joked.

Sela and River stayed for around another thirty minutes. The primary reason was for the former co-captain to ensure her younger sister and cousin behaved. Despite Tinny’s insistence, Sela only left placated after Miranda agreed with this year’s co-captain. By that point, the three mothers had also departed.

Annette’s sulking after seeing River again could’ve sparked another scene, but Miranda nipped that in the bud by telling her best friend to suck it up. Eventually, the two-and-a-half squads broke up shortly before five in the afternoon. Several girls had to be home in time for their weekly family dinner.

“Outside of Annie, today went pretty well,” Bridget remarked as they drove home. “How are the future cheerleaders working out?”

“A lot better today. Lisa’s probably the best one–”

“Hey!”

“I was going to say the best one after Dee,” Tinny stated after getting interrupted.

“You better have been.”

“Marielle and her friends are pretty good too. Nothing that will embarrass us,” the co-captain evaluated.

“What about Audra’s group? Any attitude issues?” Bridget inquired.

“A little. Not as bad as yesterday. I think they’re unsettled around a certain pint-sized terror,” Tinny commented.

“They better be,” Brandy stated. “Fiona, Lottie, and Sherry are fun to practice with.”

“And Trista? Is she any good?” the older sister asked.

“Ehh. At least she doesn’t trip over her own feet.”

“Trista’s good. The girl knows how to move,” Tinny praised. “Only somebody doesn’t care for her.”

“Just deal with it. You have less than a week until you won’t see her again,” Bridget informed her annoyed sister.

“Not until we go to the same school.”

After foreseeing her future, Brandy stayed silent until they reached the Oakfield Park neighborhood. Turning the final corner, Tinny peered ahead in curiosity as she approached their homes.

“Hey, who’s car is in your driveway?”

“Beats me,” Bridget replied, with Brandy groaning in the backseat.

“Looks like out-of-state plates,” Tinny added, noticing the difference.