Miss Manners

Due to the proximity of the nurse's office to the cafeteria, Sean arrived to find the lunchroom mostly empty. With Newt and JoJo in the next lunch period, the lone member of their trio had to scramble at the start of senior year to find a table to sit at. Even Jayden Cooke had lunch for the fifth hour. That left Sean often seated at Jesse's baseball table. However, after saving Whitney's life, the hero found himself the male guest of honor at the cheer table.

Now, as Sean approached his destination, he saw an odd sight: two large porcelain dinner plates surrounded by an army of silverware. A possible explanation emerged as Yumi appeared, placing a pair of napkins and a covered server plate on the table. Sensing a person approaching, the sweet, innocent cheerleader shot up with a beaming smile at Sean’s approach.

“Ah, excellent timing! Our gentleman guest has arrived. Please be seated on this side,” the half-Japanese teen directed, pointing to the dinner plate with fewer items around it.

A senior cheerleader with long, dark brown hair (often worn in pigtails), light brown eyes, medium-sized breasts, and a tight tush, Yumi Nakano was a petite girl with a sweet, innocent personality who people immediately liked but sometimes grew annoyed with for her constant perkiness. A native of Honey Hollow, she'd move to Fountain Beach during the seventh grade. After living on the West Coast for nearly five years, she moved back to her hometown late last spring.

Having visited every summer and major holiday break, Yumi immediately fit back into the group as if she'd never left. Already close friends with Caterina Quill, as their mothers had been Sugarbee squadmates, Yumi was also close to Kaitlin Beal from their grade school days. Although a dancer at Fountain Beach, the mean-girl behavior on that squad eventually led the naive girl to join her cheer squad. A fact that Mrs. Brass had taken advantage of upon her return. With only six weeks left in the school year, Yumi became the cheerleaders' student manager before joining the squad in the summer after tryouts.

Although booksmart, Yumi inherited her mother's ditzy innocence. Aware of the bullying their old friend had endured while away, the cheerleaders took a protective stance toward the returnee. Even the new crop of Babybees loved and respected the senior who often acted as one of them.

Unsure what might be happening, Sean halted at the assigned seat on the bench before glancing at the spot at the end where he usually sat. Yumi realized the predicament, since the injured teen liked to have his cast resting outside the table.

“My apologies, but your presence is necessary over there. Can you just slide over, or do we need to wait for the Babybees?”

“No, no, I can scoot over by myself,” Sean insisted, definitely not cool with the idea of the sophomores pampering him even more in front of the growing lunch crowd.

“Wonderful! I’ll be right back. Need to make a pitstop in the kitchen!”

Shaking his head at Yumi's antics, Sean positioned himself in front of the dinner plate. The porcelain plates and silverware looked pretty fancy, which made him wonder whether the cheerleader brought them from home. The school certainly didn't have dinnerware of this sort.

“There he is!”

The shout alerted Sean to the arrival of several Babybees, with a panting, frazzled-looking Kizzy in the front. Rushing from the main doors, she weaved around or pushed people out of her way. Harley followed, apologizing for her best friend’s rudeness, while Beatrice explained that a situation had developed.

“Are you okay?” Kizzy gasped, nearly falling forward onto the table after sprinting through the central part of the school. “Lacey said you went to see Miss Zee. Should I call Grammy Pepper? Your mom?”

“What? No!” Sean exclaimed, spotting the phone in the JV cheerleader’s hand. “I’m fine.”

“I told you!” Lacey yelled across the cafeteria with Caterina following at a safe distance.

“The obsessed Babybrats never listen,” Cat pointed out. “They act like every situation is life or ****.”

Strutting into the lunchroom, Caterina had long, straight brown hair (dyed blonde for years), blue eyes, medium breasts, and a toned ass. Although selected as co-captain, Cat had a chip on her shoulder as she replaced Amberly Abbington, the shoo-in for the role, at the last minute, when the other girl moved to Blackbridge. This poor attitude sometimes popped up whenever she disagreed with Whitney’s choices as cheer captain. The daughter of a Sugarbee, Cat despised the dance squad, but she also took Harley as her little cheersister out of a sense of duty because of their mothers’ ties in their dance days.

Despite this choice, Cat often grumbled about getting stuck with the good girl of the JV squad. Often called the bad girl of the cheer squad, she’s a girl who oozes sex. It’s a well-earned reputation, as Cat loves sex while not coming across as an easy slut. Her problem is that she’s never met a guy worthy of monogamy.

“I tried to explain what Miss McGurk told me about you looking rundown. But as soon as Kizz heard Miss Zee’s name, she took off,” Lacey recounted.

“I’m more tired than rundown. Somebody woke me up way too early this morning,” Sean pointed out.

“Don’t look at me. Blame Yo or Say,” the ultra-concerned Babybee responded.

“Miss Zee again? Is that the first or second time you’ve been to see her this week?” Whitney wondered, arriving to study her rescuer with growing suspicion. “You sure seem to average two visits a week with her.”

“Maybe he’s dying,” a surly voice suggested.

Gasps rang out until a moderate thud sounded.

“Shut your trap, or I’ll break it! You should know better than to joke about ****,” the usually perky, petite redhead snapped after slamming down her bag. Then, pointing at the opposite end of the table, Lacey ordered her younger cousin, Cadence, to sit in her seat and be silent. “You’ve been getting mouthy again.”

“I’m on it,” Beatrice announced, ordering her JV co-captain to sit down and wait for her best friend, Mercedes Melrose.

"Gawd, she's like the evil version of–What the hell?" Whitney exclaimed, finally noticing the fine-dining set laid out in front of and across from Sean.

“Ooh!” Yumi squealed, racing around the table to greet the person she had been waiting for. “Please, your table is right over here, Miss Quill.”

“What’s going…What are you up to, Yumi?” Cat questioned, as her friend happily pulled her around the table. “Why is there a plate…”

“Oh, shit! I forgot today was February 1st,” Whitney admitted, wincing.

Nearby, Lacey started giggling, as did several Babybees as they sat down with their trays or lunch bags. Kizzy, in particular, had switched to bringing a bag lunch after realizing that Sean brought one every day. However, when Yumi noticed that he’d started to empty his bag, she practically threw herself over the table to stop him.

“No, no, you can’t eat that today! Um, donate your lunch to a less fortunate student,” the perky cheerleader suggested. “Ooh! I know. Digg can have an extra lunch to make up for Jesse getting sent home. Harley, could you be–”

“I’m on it,” the redhead said until her BFF stopped her. Kizzy insisted on handing over Sir Sean’s lunch to another student. Some claim that it needed to be done with proper respect.

“Move over. I don’t want to get caught in the blast radius,” Roxanne Kink hissed, realizing she’d sat next to Cat’s seat.

“Moving, I can not do. This location is best for my energy,” Dreama insisted, refusing to budge.

“Blast what? Oh, no…no, no, no! This had better not be a date with Tarver and me. Hell no!” Cat screeched.

“A date? Well, perhaps a practice one, but please be seated. We’re in a rush for time,” Yumi insisted, appearing slightly frazzled. To prove that mood, she literally shoved her friend down. Next, she spotted two individuals waiting in the wings and signaled to them.

“I want to know what is happening, and I want to know now!” Caterina growled.

“What in the…Fuck, is today the start of etiquette lessons?” the final member of the varsity squad who had fourth-period lunch asked, arriving late. "I forgot that it got pushed back until the 1st."

A senior with long, light-brown hair, baby blue eyes, medium-to-large breasts, and a firm ass, Kaitlin Beal was currently the one cheerleader with her actual sister on one of the squads. The girl in any group who always seemed to have boyfriend drama, Katie, had recently seemed to finally end her on-again and off-again relationship with Palmer Malloy, her boyfriend of the past several years, who had gone off to college.

Since the breakup on New Year’s Eve, Kaitlin had received plenty of invitations for dates because of the reputation in bed that Palmer had spread with his years of bragging. Surprisingly, the in-demand cheerleader had been especially choosy so far. A fact that upset Kizzy, as the young sister kept on pestering Katie to do the smart thing and go out on a few dates with Sean. As Cat and Yumi’s close friend, the last-minute arrival frowned in concern at what might happen next.

“Etiquette?” Caterina repeated.

“It’s what civilized ladies know, not savages like yourself,” a blonde-haired Babybee stated, sitting down next to Cadence.

“Hey, Mercedes, join Cadence in shutting up for the rest of today, alright?” Whitney essentially ordered the uppity Bumble Girl.

“Did Catgirl forget that her lessons began today?” Dreama inquired, unsure of the situation.

“Uh, we never told her,” Lacey admitted.

“Right! We decided that at our secret meeting,” Yumi pointed out, while Marcus Withrow and Wilbur Winkie approached the table. “Please sit still. Here comes your waiters.”

The latter, the school's clumsy kicker and punter, poured two glasses of water for Sean and Caterina from the large pitcher he carefully carried. Still, he nearly dropped it when Yumi thanked him. The worst-kept secret at Honey Hollow High was that everyone knew Winkie had a massive crush on the sweet cheerleader. That is everyone except for Yumi.

Carrying a large platter, Marcus placed a bread basket next to the covered server, then set down a salad in front of each diner. Yumi quickly lifted the server's lid to reveal butter beneath. She also instructed them to eat, since they didn't have enough time.

“No! I want to know about this secret meeting,” Cat demanded, pushing the salad bowl away from her. Yumi pushed it back, which carried on for several more turns until Whitney ordered her co-captain to stop the childish nonsense.

“Well, you see, um, Katie felt it would be best to keep it a secret when I first brought up my idea,” Yumi began, actually wringing her hands nervously. "That unanimous vote was that you might start trouble."

“And what idea is that?” the kept-in-the-dark-teen queried, shooting several giggling Babybees a glare.

“Actually, it was more of a plan than an idea,” the dark-haired cheerleader continued. “The germination started on New Year’s morning, which is why people should get up for breakfast rather than sleep in, when Aunt Danika called to complain about my replacing her role with Mom in their dance. She sounded very upset, which had our moms and Aunt Cordy complaining about her behavior.”

“My mother came up with this idea?”

"Oh, no!" Yumi insisted, knowing that Cat and Valentina didn't often see eye to eye. "It's more like your name came up as a special young lady who needed to learn her manners, or she'd turn into another Aunt Danika. I felt horrified and guilty. I understood that my moving away turned you bitter."

“No, she’s always been bitter,” Kizzy muttered.

“This stunted your politeness growth, which means I have to fix this error. So, I called Aunt Talissa for help.”

“You called Talissa? This better not be what I think it is,” Cat warned, realizing which of her mother’s ex-dancer friends Yumi had called.

“I needed an expert! And Aunt Talissa does teach etiquette classes at Thornapple Academy,” Yumi pointed out, earning nods from most of the Babybees. “She’s been super helpful. Gave me book ideas along with her course syllabus.”

“Hell no! I’m not learning–”

“Yes, you will,” Whitney interrupted. “Consider this your punishment for jumping the line and violating the cheer-hierarchy.”

“Right! That was decided at our meeting. Everyone is worried about you. We can’t let our friend leave for college without knowing her proper manners,” Yumi agreed before frowning. “Although I can’t remember what you did to violate cheer rules. Oh, dear! What if the stress of having a student is affecting my memory?”

“No, you’re not losing your memory, Yums,” Lacey hurriedly reassured.

“We didn’t tell you. It’s a Bad Cat thing,” Kaitlin added.

“Oh. I see,” the brand new etiquette teacher said before smiling brightly. “That’s why we need to transform her into Good Cat!”

“Gawd, no,” the bottle blonde co-captain groaned.

“Is that even possible?” Roxie questioned.

“Shhh,” Harley hushed.

“Doubtful, but I might be able to locate a crystal or two that might cleanse the anger from her soul,’ Dreama speculated.

“I think it’s more evil than anger,” Kizzy remarked, having known Cat since she could barely walk.

“Wait!” Yumi shrieked when Cat gave in and decided to eat her salad. “I screwed up already. I need to teach you the proper utensils and the order of use. Oh, my, I could have been terminated on my first day for such a blunder.”

The nervous first-time teacher rushed through an explanation about salad, dinner, and dessert forks. She also stopped to explain that proper dining etiquette centered around respect, cleanliness, and consideration for others. Key rules include placing the napkin on the lap immediately, keeping elbows off the table while eating, chewing with your mouth closed, and waiting for the host to begin. Avoiding phone use, cutting food into small bites, and keeping conversations pleasant were also paramount.

To prove these points, Yumi quickly placed the napkin on Cat’s lap, yanked her elbows off the table, and pushed her to sit up straighter. Additionally, she instructed her friend to keep her mouth closed while chewing and not to copy Whitney’s behavior in that department.

“What the hell does that mean?!” the queen bee challenged.

“Language should also be lady-like, Miss Diamond,” Yumi reminded sternly. “Sorry! But you do leave your mouth open sometimes when you get bossy while eating. I’ve tried to gently point that out in the past.”

“That’s why you close her mouth for her?” Lacey asked, covering her own mouth.

Whitney shot **** glares over at the Babybees, but she couldn’t do much more as Sean joined in to laugh the loudest.

“Now, besides your water goblet, I also placed red and wine glasses in their proper setting. As they remain empty, this is merely a presentation issue, as you will be unable to drink **** at dinner parties until after you turn twenty-one,” Yumi explained, appearing confused by the laughter at the table over her comment.

“You got it, Yums. Cat can’t legally drink at dinner until she’s legal. Until then, it’s just everywhere else,” Kaitlin noted.

“Um, okay. As you can see, on your right are the dinner knife, teaspoon, and soup spoon. While you need to learn proper soup consumption, I opted to skip that lesson for today. We’ll start with that on Monday.”

“Monday? No, this is a one-time thing,” Cat declared.

“One-time? We only have February to drill proper dinner etiquette into your brain for muscle memories, and February is the shortest month,” Yumi cried, glancing at Whitney for assistance.

“It’s sad that she doesn’t know this stuff already,” Cadence commented.

“Her? I think it’s pathetic that everyone else looks confused. No wonder they can’t get real men,” Mercedes added, turning her nose up at her fellow cheerleaders. “Hey!”

“If you can’t behave during lunch, then you can’t have lunch,” Beatrice declared, grabbing one, then two trays to hand over to Kaitlin, who passed them down to Whitney.

“That’s my food!” Mercedes yelled.

“Miss Melrose, please. Shouting is not appropriate dinner behavior,” Yumi reminded, in all seriousness.

“Margo will hear about this.”

“So? I’m not concerned one bit about your big cheersister,” Whitney mocked.

“And don’t even think of complaining to me,” Lacey told her cousin.

“We’re running out of time!” Yumi noted, checking her watch.

“You can’t give lessons five days a week, and you know that,” the varsity captain reminded.

“Three days?”

Yumi’s crestfallen expression led to a compromise: two days a week, plus a pair of additional weekend days for the month. As Caterina continued to argue, the etiquette instructor carried on.

“We’ll schedule lessons for Tuesdays and Thursdays. That means you should dress properly. I delayed soups because I don’t want you to stain your uniform. Based on how you eat other foods, I suspect we might encounter a slurping issue,” Yumi explained.

“Cat definitely loves to slurp,” Kizzy pointed out, laughing. “Anytime, anyplace.”

“Shut up, stalker! I will strangle you.”

“Lay off the **** threats. You walked straight into that one,” Whitney told her co-captain.

“I didn’t say anything of the sort!”

“Stalker? You’re the one who attacked Sir Sean. That’s how you ended up with this punish–” Kizzy started to remind until Yumi lost her cool.

“Silence! This is not proper dinner conversation, Miss Quill. Don’t make me a failure,” Yumi stated, tears forming. ”We’ll move on to social etiquette in March. Possibly in April, too, if I prove to be a poor teacher.”

“You’re not a failure,” Kaitlin argued, throwing her arm around her friends. Lacey and several Babybees agreed. “It’s that…Well, Cat isn’t the best student.”

“Don’t you dare start sounding like my mom.”

“I know that. It’s why I binged-watched Lean on Me, Stand and Deliver, Dead Poets Society, and Dangerous Minds last weekend. I even tried to watch The Substitute, but it turned very violent," Yumi recounted, sniffling. "I felt the need to prepare for an angry student who doesn't want my help."

“Caterina would never, ever act like those students, would she?” Lacey questioned through gritted teeth, while glaring at her cheermate.

Whether Lacey, Whitney, or Kizzy kicked Cat’s leg wasn’t known, but somebody did. The hard shot prompted the annoyed bottle blonde to agree to try to learn from her friend’s etiquette lessons, which brought a pleased cheer from Yumi.

“Oh, excellent timing! The chicken cutlets have arrived,” the instructor noted, spotting Marcus and Winkie carrying the main courses.

“Whoa! This is for me, too?” Sean asked, staring at the elaborate piece of prepared chicken and vegetables.

“Of course! Cat needs to learn how to dine with a gentleman. As Katie likes to say, she’s never met one before,” Yumi relayed.

“How in the world did you get this made?” Lacey asked, showing off the shock everyone else felt.

“Fortunately, Ms. Blick agreed to let me leave class early. She thinks it’s a properly needed lesson. But Mrs. Mascaro did the cooking. She also arrived early to handle her duties while helping me. Several of the lunch ladies didn’t want to allow this, but once I explained it was for Cat, they all agreed it was necessary,” Yumi explained. “Come to think of it, I haven’t found one person who thinks the lessons aren’t necessary.”

“Wait, you know the lunch lady’s name? You haven’t been back that long,” Cat remarked.

However, her point vanished when Kizzy, Harley, and Beatrice noted that they knew Mrs. Mascaro’s name. Lacey and the other seniors added that they all knew her name when they were sophomores. The kicker came when Dreama mentioned that she knew and could recall the helpful lunch lady’s name.

“Would there be anything else, madam?” Marcus queried, badly botching his attempt at a French accent.

“Oh, my. I don’t think we’ll have time for dessert, but it can’t go to waste. It was super pricey,” Yumi fretted, checking the time and the slow progress that Cat and Sean made in eating their chicken. “I guess I could, no, I shouldn’t…should I?”

“Just eat the damn–I mean, darn dessert yourself. Or give it to the kids,” Whitney directed, earning cheers from Kizzy and Harley. “Now, let’s move on to other business. I won’t be able to attend tomorrow’s JV game. So, somebody will need to record the Babybee performance for me.”

“Ah, you don’t need to do that,” Kizzy suggested, earning nods from all the JV cheerleaders except for Beatrice.

“Yes, you still need to be monitored,” the varsity captain declared. “Cat, as co-captain, it’s your–”

“No! I’m not going to the game to record the brats. I have plans. What do you have to do?”

“I’m going to the company for my training with Uncle Dalton,” Whitney replied, referring to Diamond Corp and Dalton Pierce, the CEO and her father’s close friend.

"Why? It's senior year of high school, not college. You have years to do that," Caterina countered.

‘No, I don’t. I mean, I don’t want to wait.”

Sean noticed the slight lip quiver. Immediately, he placed a comforting hand on the blonde queen bee's thigh. Only Lacey had been told about the dreadful cancer prognosis for Whitney's surrogate uncle and business mentor. As she always hoped to succeed Dalton in the future, the terrible change in her plans often brought the strong-willed teen to tears.

"Whatever. That's your life, but don't drag mine down with it. I have plans. Katie and I are double-dating tomorrow night," Caterina informed the table, missing Kaitlin's attempt to shut her up.

“With doppelgangers?” Yumi asked, laughing at her own joke, if it was one.

“With who?” Kizzy demanded to know, looking at her older sister.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but Beaumont Bascom is coming up from Breakwater for the weekend,” Kaitlin disclosed.

“Beau? You’re going out on a date with Beau Bascom? Ohmigawd! Can you be anymore ****?” Kizzy shrieked.

“How is that being ****?”

“You’re going out on a date with Palmer’s rival. That’s how,” the younger Beal sister shot back. “I swear, if this is another attempt to get back with that asshole, I’m blackmailing Mom into placing you under a psychiatric hold.”

“Wow, good one, Kizz,” Roxie noted.

“That’s not a good one!” Kaitlin bellowed. “Why is everyone giving me that look?”

“She’s not joking,” Harley whispered, shaking her head at Roxie.

“It’s…Well, we all kinda agree with Kizzy. This does seem like a **** move against Palmer,” Lacey admitted. “Isn’t it time to move on?”

“I have moved on.”

“How about dating someone decent for once?”

“Don’t bring up Tarver again, Kizz,” Kaitlin shot back. “No offense.”

“None taken. Just leave me out of this,” Sean muttered, focusing on the delicious lunch.

“I say this lightly and cautiously, but maybe this is the time to have Lace help you,” Whitney suggested, shocking most of the table. Even the petite matchmaker did a double-take as her co-BFF usually didn’t like her hobby.

“I don’t need your help.”

“Amberly and I can work on it as a side project besides our Valentine’s mixer,” Lacey speculated, ignoring Katie’s response. Rubbing her hands together, she looked thrilled. “We’ve been planning for this for years. I bet Double A still has our old folder somewhere.”

“I can help,” Kizzy offered.

“No!” Kaitlin and Caterina shouted.

“I can!”

“Yums, don’t you already have a lot on your plate?” Lacey responded, gesturing to the actual plate in front of Cat. “I suspect Cat’s going to be a difficult student.”

A solemn shake of the head let the matchmaker off the hook.

“Whatever. Can we decide on tomorrow, please?” Whitney asked.

“I can’t do it. Amberly is coming into town in the morning. We have a meeting about a possible venue.”

"Cutting it a bit close, aren’t you?” Cat challenged.

“Yes, we are!” Lacey snapped before apologizing. “Sorry, sorry.”

“S’mores!”

“Oh, right,” the petite redhead responded.

“I’m sorry, what?” the queen bee inquired, unsure why everyone else seemed to nod.

"Yumi didn't notice that the Witzler had s'mores pancakes on the menu until it was too late on New Year's morning," Lacey explained.

“I had already had two breakfasts by then. My tummy couldn’t take any more,” the perky, sweets-loving cheerleader admitted. “Yoshio complained to Mom all night that I had a sugar rush because of the two breakfasts.”

“Since she’s coming in early, I guess we can go to brunch,” Lacey said. “Does anyone else want to come with?”

“Put your hands down. You have a game to cheer at,” Whitney ordered Kizzy and Harley. “Take Katie. She can use the help.”

“I’m not going anywhere near that cupid conspiracy.”

“Besides, we have a double date to get ready for,” Cat reminded, gesturing at the rest of her chicken if Sean wanted it, which he gladly did.

“Maybe Rory can record the game cheers,” Roxie suggested. “I bet she’d take any excuse to get out of the house.”

"Good call. You can go with her, unless she can get someone else,” Whitney directed. “We can ask her at the meet-up after school. She can always use Mrs. Brass’s camcorder, since it seems to work better than our phones for this thing.”

“Whoa! That’s some dessert,” Lacey remarked, watching the multi-layered treats arrive.

“I know!” Yumi agreed, taking one for herself while instructing Winkie to slide the other in front of the Babybees. “Thanks, Will!”

“You really need to work on finishing that one off,” Kaitlin whispered toward Lacey, who nodded.

“Hey, before I forget. Did you mention anything to Ramsey yet?” Sean asked, causing his family friend to slap her forehead lightly.

“Not yet. But I’ll say something later in class. Uh, will Sunday work?” Lacey inquired.

“I guess, but it will have to be before dinner. We’re having it at Grandma’s again. Are you coming this time?”

“I could. I’ll have to see what my parents have planned. Dad’s been so busy, and the house is like an office with all the people coming and going,” Lacey disclosed, frowning in concern. Then, she stood up to throw out her garbage before hitting the ladies’ room. Several others followed her lead, including Cat.

“Let’s make sure that we outshine everyone tonight. Word is that Carlise isn’t the only Guzzle Cunt in town tonight,” Whitney informed the few girls remaining. “Bea, your girls need to play lookout.”

“Got it, Cappy,” the JV captain said, nearly saluting her big sister.

“YoYo and Saylor are ready if we need to make any mischief,” Kizzy revealed.

“Aren’t you always?” Harley responded, sighing.

“Dreama, we have a game tonight. It’s a home game, and the reason why you’re wearing your uniform. So no wandering off, got that?” Whitney challenged.

“Zara will handle it,” Beatrice replied for the spacey junior.

“Good. I don’t trust Austin, not after this morning,” Whitney revealed. “He’s going to use Astoria and her friends somehow.”

“Right. We need to protect Lace,” Katie declared, with Sean nodding in agreement.