It's What Cheerleaders Do

Sitting on the toilet seat, Sean worked to regain his composure. Why do I let her get under my skin like this? I told myself I would handle her next round of crap calmly, but instead, I lost my temper and screamed. Knowing that he couldn't stay in the bathroom much longer before people started to wonder if something was wrong, he stood up.

Moving over to the sink, the teenager ran the water for several seconds before cupping a handful to splash on his face. Looking up in the mirror, Sean froze in realization. Shit, this was where it happened last night. Where I opened myself up to blackmail. Rapid images flashed through his head of Gabriela bent over the countertop, urging him on harder as Sean sawed his dick in and out of her married pussy.

Trying to block out the possible ramifications of what life would be like if his family and friends discovered what he did in this bathroom last night, Sean thought that maybe he needed to remind Whitney not to peep a word about it. He knew that he definitely needed to talk to Aunt Gabby at some point today. Those concerns and how to broach the conversations consumed his attention to the point he didn't notice for several tries that someone called his name upon leaving the bathroom.

"Sean!" came a loud attempt at a soft whisper.

Turning his head, the blond-haired teen saw Lacey standing at the end of the hall, motioning at him to come her way. Her frantic waves finally snapped him out of his funk. Walking toward her, Lacey smiled, gave a pleased nod, and went through the door into the den. When Sean reached the threshold, he saw her waiting next to the door, which she promptly shut upon his walking in.

"Are you ready?" the petite redhead asked.

"Uh, for what?"

"For what! For Operation: Tarver Love to take effect!" Lacey blurted out giddily.

"Oh, yeah, that's right."

"Hey! Let's see some enthusiasm at least," Lacey snapped, placing her hands on her elbows. "You've been waiting a long time for this moment."

"Uh, sorry, Lace. Just not feeling all that great today."

"You're not? Are you feeling sick?" The redhead's disappointment quickly turned to concern over his condition.

"No, I'm just feeling kind of down this morning," Sean replied but realized he needed an excuse before Lacey tried to figure out the reason. "Guess I'm kind of nervous that this will be a miserable failure."

"No! We had this talk already; we are not doing it again! Operation: Tarver Love will not be a miserable failure. It's going to be a rousing success and lead to Operation: Tarver Sex, Operation: Tarver Proposal and Operation: Tarver Happy Family."

"Yeah, I'm still not too big on the name of your plan, to be honest," Sean admitted. A revelation he quickly realized he should have kept to himself as Lacey didn't look one bit pleased to hear.

"Listen up, Mr. Tarver, the name of the plan is intended to keep the planned mission a secret--

"Really doesn't keep it a secret, Lace."

"--and should allow for flexibility. We can't have Operation: Ramsey Loves Sean now, can we? What if it doesn't work and we need to shift the plan to another target?"

"Doesn't work? Not really helping my confidence here, Lace!" Sean's heart started to race as he realized that even Lacey, his last gasp of a plan, might not make his dreams of being with Ramsey come true.

"It's just a contingency plan, nothing to worry about," the matchmaker said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "You and Rammy are perfect together; we just need to spark that idea into her head today. If we do that, then come New Year's Eve when the clock strikes midnight, the two of you will be sharing your first kiss."

"That sounds fantastic, but how are we supposed to get Ramsey to see us like that?" Sean questioned. "Ever since you screamed yesterday because of me, she's looked at me like a potential monster. I just don't--"

"No! No doubts. We don't have time to doubt. You got that?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

Sean's lack of conviction led to a loud sigh of frustration from his ally. Looking around the room, Lacey muttered in frustration. "Great, no mirror."

Watching as Lacey scanned the room in contemplation, Sean's attention began to drift. Suddenly, he felt his body jerk to the side as Lacey dragged him across the room. Placing him like a mannequin in front of the window, she stepped back.

"Okay, now tell me what you see."

"Uh, trees?"

Lacey's face met her palm. "No, not outside the window, but in the reflection. You can see a reflection, right?"

"A little bit."

"And what do you see?"

"Me?"

"Good. And do you see a monster? Do you see an ogre? A troll?" Lacey challenged.

"No."

"That' right, you don't. Why? Because you're not a monster. In this story, you're the hero."

"The hero?"

"To be exact: Sean, you're the knight in shining armor. You're here to rescue Princess Ramsey from the dragon that is the heartbreak of Micah moving away."

"I'm a knight?" Sean repeated, staring at his partial reflection.

"Yes, a knight. One ready to shoot Cupid's arrow into Princess Ramsey's heart," Lacey said in all seriousness.

Sean found himself smiling at the thought of being Ramsey's knight. "I'm a knight."

"Are you a knight that's going to fight for your princess?"

"Fight? No. I'll protect my princess," Sean responded, getting into the imagery that Lacey created.

"And once you slay that dragon, you can use that big sword of yours to conquer Princess Ramsey's passions."

"Uh, Lace, that last part sounded a little dirty," Sean noted, looking to the side to see Lacey struggling not to crack up.

"It's not supposed to be dirty in the fairy tale ending," she said, breaking out into giggles.

They shared a short laugh until Lacey asked if he felt better.

"You know, I do. You're good at brightening up people's moods," Sean remarked.

"Well, duh, that's what us cheerleaders do," she sassily replied. "Now, you all done being a worrywart?"

"Um, I do have a question. How are you going to get Ramsey to notice me like that? I mean, you can't just tell her to go off and like me. At this point, I think even hearing my name will probably turn her off."

"I told you that's not how I work. I don't just blurt out my goal," Lacey insisted, thinking up a way to describe how she worked. "Think of the frozen pond as a chessboard. I'm going to be maneuvering everyone like chess pieces. It doesn't take one move to win, but many. Have some faith, Sean; I've done this before."

"But doesn't a chessboard have two players against each other?"

"You're overthinking this, Sean. Why would there be another player on my chessboard? It's not like someone is trying to fix Rammy or you up with another person. We have the whole game to ourselves."

"Yeah, you're right," Sean nodded in agreement. "Thanks for your help, Lacey. It means a lot."

Lacey eagerly accepted his hug as a thank you. She couldn't wait to see the new happy couple she helped create. "Now, let's go get you a girlfriend!"

Whitney closed the sliding glass door behind her as she entered the rec room. Now that her talk with Owen was finished, she could finally get dressed for the big day of ice skating. Undoing Shenai's trench coat, she hurried over toward the stairs, only to slow down as she passed the bar. An out-of-place noise had caught her attention. That caused her to make a right turn rather than continue to the stairway.

Moving around, she saw JoJo sitting on the floor behind the bar; the brunette looked to be crying.

"JoJo? What's wrong?"

Startled, JoJo's head shot up. "N-nothing. I'm fine," she denied as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"Don't give me that 'I'm fine' line. You're crying." Whitney crouched down to be nearer to her. "What happened?"

"Nothing, I'm just being stupid."

"JoJo Gibble, did we not agree to be friends just a little while ago?" Whitney stood back up, hands on her hips. "Lying to me is not the way to start a beautiful, new friendship. Did we not bond over my underwear last night? Didn't we?" Loosening the top of her robe, Whitney flashed JoJo a glimpse of the lacy, black bra she wore. "I mean, this is some expensive, seductive material. Sharing this with you means we now share a sacred bond, a sisterhood!"

Whitney's theatrics worked by bringing a slight grin to the upset girl's face. Pleased, the blonde offered her hand. "Now, get up here and tell Sister Whitney about your troubles."

JoJo accepted the offer for help in getting up but hesitated on the second part.

"C'mon, girl, spill it!"

"Uh, I lost my temper and did something," mumbled the teenager, still wiping her eyes.

"Okay, what did you do?"

"I shoved Ms. Goose."

"Ah!" It was only one sound but the way Whitney said it conveyed that she fully understood. "What did Ms. Bitter Bitch do to make you that angry?"

"She won't leave Sean alone! She just won't!" JoJo rapidly blurted out.

"Yes, I saw some of that attention in the cave at the hot springs the other day," Whitney nodded sagely as she spoke. "What did she do now?"

"Well, I didn't know Sean was down here. I was in the laundry room washing that underwear, and I --"

"Did they come out okay? No problems?" Whitney asked, veering the conversation off-topic.

"Uh, I don't know. I left before it finished," JoJo said, thrown off a bit by the abrupt change in topics.

"Well, let's go check on them while you tell me your tale." Used to people following her orders, the cheerleader captain already started walking down the hallway.

"Oh, I found some towels in the washing machine. They must have been in there since last night. They were starting to get that mildew smell, so I put them in the dryer," JoJo revealed.

"Late-night dirty towels? Hmm, it sounds like somebody had fun making a mess," Whitney pondered who could have made that mess. "Nevermind, so then what?"

"So, I, uh, heard more loud voices, but this time it was a woman, so I--"

"More?"

"Uh, yeah, besides your dad and Mr. Singer. They were arguing right before I head Sean and Ms. Goose."

"Ah, okay. Carry on," Whitney said, opening the top of the washing machine and peering inside.

"So, I heard more loud voices and wondered what was happening. I probably shouldn't have gone to eavesdrop," JoJo admitted bashfully.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Sometimes you have to do a little eavesdropping--oh, good choice," Whitney remarked, holding up a cream-colored bra. "This will go nicely with your hair."

"Uh, thanks. So, I recognized Sean's voice but not the other person's. Then I heard Sean say something about getting blackmailed--"

"Blackmailed?! Plain, boring Sean, I coul--ooh, yeah, that might work," Whitney nodded knowingly.

"Wait, do you know something? What did Sean do?" JoJo questioned, mystified over what her best friend could ever be blackmailed over.

"Yeah, I never liked this color at all. But it might work on you more than me," the blonde held up a lime green pair of underwear that she pulled out of the washing machine. "Don't leave me hanging here, Jo. What did Sean say about being blackmailed?"

"I couldn't hear everything, but Ms. Goose said it was more like his way into a partnership with her. That if he did what she wanted, she would get his mother's friends to sleep with him," the shy brunette recounted, wide-eyed at the sordid suggestions she heard.

"Hmm, his mother friends, you say. Oh, not bad, not bad," Whitney said in response to seeing JoJo chose a pink and white polka dot bra. "Did she say whom?"

"She said Lacey's mom would be next!"

"Rachel? Oh, please, the Strattons have the most perfect marriage I've ever seen," Whitney remarked scornfully. "That woman couldn't get Mrs. Stratton to cheat on her husband. Now, I'm not saying she might not have sex with another man, everyone at least fantasizes about other people, but she would never do it without permission from Mr. Stratton."

"Sean seemed shocked at the offer. He said something else, and Ms. Goose said she expected payment in return."

"Payment? Like what?" Whitney noticed the look of disgust come across JoJo's face before she continued.

"She...she said that Sean would have to...ya know...do it with her, but that she wanted...Jared at the same time."

"Jared and Sean? Wow, somebody wants to be the queen cougar of the cabin, doesn't she? I bet that didn't go over too well with Sean," Whitney speculated as she pulled out another pair of underwear from the depths of the machine. "Ooh, I bet if you wore these leopard print ones, you could get a couple of fellas to double-team you."

"N-no, he called her by her married name," JoJo started, trying to ignore Whitney's lurid suggestion, but failing. Maybe if it was Jared and a different guy... "and then Sean screamed at her--Sean never screams at women--to fuck off."

"Good for him. Now, when did you go and get all violent?" Whitney asked, peering back down into the appliance.

"Uh, after that, Sean stormed off. That's when she noticed me standing there. I warned her to leave Sean alone, but she acted like I was nothing," JoJo recalled looking down in shame. "That's when I shoved her."

"Oh, Jo! I'm very disappointed in you."

"I know I shouldn't have done that. But Sean's my best friend and--"

"What? No, I'm talking about you only picking four pairs of underwear," Whitney stated, shaking her head at the other girl. "And not even one black selection. JoJo, every young woman needs at least one pair of sexy black underwear. We'll need to go through my drawers again tonight."

"Um, okay."

"Now, you shoved her, and what did she do?"

"Well, I guess I kind of threatened her." Whitney raised her eyebrows at his new revelation. "Yeah, I told her I would put my foot up her ass and in other places."

"Damn, I didn't think you had it in you, Jo. I'm very proud of you."

"Uh, thanks. That's when Ms. Goose got all horrible. She talked about my boobs, said I reminded her of herself at my age, and that she would be embarrassed if she had a daughter like me. And then...then she said I wanted Sean. He's my best friend! That's just...yuck."

"Is that why you were crying?"

"No," JoJo said with a shake of her head. "She gave me two choices. I could help her, and I would get to 'ride Sean's long lance' or--"

"It is a pretty impressive lance."

"Eww! Best friend and all..."

"Oh, sorry. What was the second choice?"

"If I got in her way, she would destroy my reputation. Make it so everyone next year at Zurbrugg College would think I was a slut, and no nice guys would ever want to date me," JoJo recalled, tears welling back up.

"Oh, fuck her!"

"Can she really do that?"

"What; spread lies about you? Yeah, I guess she could. She works up at the college in some department. So I guess she could tell some stories, but I wouldn't worry about that. First, I doubt she has that much pull. Second, I'll be up there with you, and no one talks shit about my friends and gets away with it!"

"Really?"

"Yes, really, JoJo. Still, I think we need to find a way to put this uppity bitch in her place," Whitney remarked, her mind already swirling with possible ideas.

"But what about Sean? Does she know something that can hurt him?"

"For now, we'll let Sean figure it out himself. I'm curious to see how he handles it."

"But he's my best friend; I need to help him," JoJo adamantly stated.

"Don't worry, if it comes down to it, we have the perfect way to shut Kimberly up for good."

"We do?" JoJo asked in confusion.

"Sure, we tell Bridget. Let momma bear protect her cub."