Singles Brunch

“What the hell is this?!” Kaitlin exclaimed as the cheerleaders stopped at the back of a long, snaking line in the lobby.

“I believe it’s the line to get into the restaurant,” Roxie responded.

“I know that! I mean, why the hell is it so long?” Katie shot back, groaning in frustration.

"The Wiztler staff opened up the conference rooms and provided cots for ballgoers stuck here last night because of the ice. Clearly, this is a side effect of the expanded number of people," Zara theorized.

“Thank you, Miss Know-It-All,” Kaitlin replied sarcastically. “Dreama, can’t you do something about your cheersister? She’s…oh, forget about it.”

YoYo and Beatrice shared a look. Directing the spacey junior to do something was pointless. If anything, it was Zara who kept her older cheersister from wandering out of the line and away from them.

“Maybe we should’ve come down earlier with Yumi,” Zoey suggested. The lone non-cheerleader with the group, she’d ducked out of her family breakfast as her mom had started to grow exasperated in her texts over JoJo’s lack of an appearance. It didn’t help that their father had been to work overtime all night due to the ice storm.

“Don’t tell her that! Whatever you do,” Katie warned.

“Seriously, we’d never hear the end of it,” Roxie agreed.

“I wanna know why they aren’t handing out numbers to us. Having to stand in line for this long is unacceptable,” Caterina said, simmering with annoyance.

Further back in the group, Kizzy and Harley held an unspoken conversation. It led to the quiet redhead leaving the line to investigate. After only several seconds, Harley returned to nod at her best friend.

“Uh, I think this is the line to get our number,” Kizzy revealed.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Cat snapped.

“Caterina! Language,” Beatrice admonished the varsity co-captain.

Kizzy and YoYo nudged each other as they giggled at how their friend almost mimicked Whitney’s voice at the automatic order on behalf of their innocent cheerleader.

This caused the bottle blonde to whip her head around to stare at the JV captain. However, before she could challenge the younger girl for scolding her, Roxie stepped in to de-escalate the potential fight.

“It’s okay. Cat is just getting it out of her system before Yumi rejoins us.”

A seemingly forever seven minutes ticked by. The girls passed the excruciating wait by checking their phones, people-watching, or gossiping. Finally, a voice caught their attention.

“Excuse me,” a hotel employee apologized, clearing his voice. “We’ve opened up some additional seating in the ballroom for dining. Perhaps some of the youngsters would prefer to avoid the wait time by going over there.”

The cheerleaders didn't have much of a choice, as his eyes seemed locked on them while he motioned for them to head in the opposite direction. Several older groups in front and behind the teens appeared to sigh with relief as the impatient squads walked away.

“What was with him? He sure stared us down,” YoYo complained as they headed toward the ballroom.

“Blame Katie. She always gets us kicked out of places,” Kizzy replied.

“I do not!” Kaitlin shot back at her younger sister.

“Who cares? I don’t like the youngster crap. I’m a full-grown woman,” Cat proclaimed, running her hands down her body.

“Not really. Zoey’s got bigger tits than you,” Kizzy snickered.

“She’s also bigger than you,” Caterina shot back after stopping the group. “Just for that, you can go inform Yumi of our new seating arrangements.”

“Okay,” Kizzy responded, pulling out her phone.

"No, you will do it in person," Cat directed.

“In person?! Why? I can just text her.”

Kaitlin reminded her, “Yums is often too excited about something in front of her to check her phone. You know that.”

“She prefers to talk to people face-to-face,” Roxie pointed out.

“And I also don’t want to deal with hotel security if she panics after not finding us. You know it wouldn’t be the first time she tried to file a missing persons report on one of us,” Cat added.

"She really did that?" Zoey whispered at Zara, who nodded and gestured that she'd tell her about it later.

“Finally, this is just one part of your punishment for telling Yumi that I have a farmer fetish,” Cat brought back up.

Throwing her arms out, Kizzy stomped away. However, after about twenty feet and an expanded audience, she turned around to throw her barb.

“Hey, Caterina Quill! Do you yell hee-haw while riding your farmer boyfriend?”

The Babybees and Zoey all immediately cracked up. Even Roxie covered a grin with her hand as Cat screamed at the younger girls to shut up. But the girls only laughed harder when Dreama inquired if Cat had a new farmer boyfriend, as she’d missed out on Yumi’s confusion earlier due to her earplugs.

“No, I don’t!” Cat screeched before snapping at a guy walking by. “What the fuck are you looking at?”

“Calm down, calm down,” Kaitlin said, working to soothe her close friend.

“I swear, I’d your sister if it weren’t for your mom,” Caterina declared.

“Yeah, you would be pretty high on Mom’s list of suspects,” the older Beal sister agreed as they entered the scene of last night’s events.

The ballroom seemed far larger than it did last night, but most of that feeling came from how empty it now was. Wornout-looking hotel employees scurried around as they hastily set up over a dozen tables. The eight-person tables were in the section of the ballroom nearest the bar.

“I feel I’ve been here before in a past life,” Dreama announced, spinning in a slow circle as she checked out the cathedral ceiling.

"Maybe last night?" Zara prompted. "You were here for about five minutes before we went upstairs."

“After you went to several wrong parties,” Roxie added.

“Ah, yes. That is how I know these walls,” Dreama agreed.

Roxie took the lead, walking to one of the tables closest to the bar. It was a practical choice as it was also the closest option near the hallway down to the kitchen. Yet, Caterina snapped her fingers to stop the girls.

“Gawd, they’re still here?”

“Who?” Zoey asked, scanning the few occupied tables.

“Guzzle Crossing bitches,” Kaitlin supplied, nodding toward a table with a few of the out-of-town dancers.

“Let’s take the one farthest away,” Caterina said.

The two squads split off, with Caterina, Kaitlin, and Roxanne heading to Cat's selected table. The Babybees and Zoey head to the one next to it. After a momentary thought, Roxie grabbed Dreama's arm, pulling her toward the varsity table.

Once seated, Roxie started typing on her phone, which Cat noticed.

“You better not be texting Yumi.”

“I’m letting Rory know where we’re at. Is that okay with you?”

“Don’t get smart with me,” Cat replied before overhearing a comment from the next table. “No, I’m not crabby this morning, Yolanda.”

"This is what happens when you don't get laid," Kaitlin also pointed out, typing on her phone. She continued to be in the dark about her closest friend taking Sean out for a ride without permission.

"Hmm, maybe we should let Shortstuff know where we're at," the co-captain pondered.

“Already on it,” Katie revealed. “Lacey will be here a little later.”

“Same with Rory,” Roxie added.

Nearly ten minutes passed.

“Anything from Whitney?” Katie inquired, noticing Caterina reading her phone.

“Nothing.”

“I bet if she were here, we’d get a table in the restaurant. This feels like we’ve been sent to the kids’ table during a family party,” Kaitlin grumbled.

“I know! Isn’t this so cool?” Yumi cheerfully questioned, announcing her arrival. “We get the whole ballroom to ourselves!”

“Take you long enough?” the older Beal sister asked sarcastically of her younger sister.

“She had to stop and wish every single person a Happy New Year,” Kizzy called over while sitting down at the other table.

More time passed as the tables started to fill up. During that time, Yumi re-told nearly everything she had learned during breakfast. They heard about how Yoshio skipped out on his friends' game, causing them to die, and the confusion it caused Yumi and her mother. Then, Yumi mentioned Valentina complaining about her daughter's present for her husband.

“That’s nothing new around our house. At least Dad will be happy.” Next, Caterina groaned as another group of girls she didn’t like entered the ballroom. Part of the volleyball team had arrived.

Winnie Wirch waved excitedly. Her parents had given her permission to eat with her friends. Well, at least her dad had over her mother’s objections. So Winnie left one friend in Robin Ridge as she rushed over to sit at one of the remaining seats at the Babybees’ table. Zoey seemed extra excited to have another non-cheerleader sitting with them.

With two tables free, Robin nudged her teammates toward the one next to the Babybees. Claudia Cork paused when she saw the varsity cheerleaders sitting opposite the JV squad but shrugged it off.

“I almost forgot last night that Robin was one of them,” Kaitlin admitted.

“I didn’t,” Cat stated.

“What’s wrong with Robin? I like her!” Yumi proclaimed.

“She’s a volleyball player,” Katie explained.

“So was Rory, and I like Rory,” Yumi said, her face frowning in confusion.

“That’s the issue. Rory quit playing volleyball to join the cheer squad. She was one of their best players, so they don’t like us now.”

“They don’t like me?” Yumi queried, her lips already quivering.

“No, no, they like you, Yums,” Roxie jumped in to reassure.

“Right! Everyone likes you,” Kaitlin scrambled to add.

“Well, I like everyone too,” Yumi announced, turning around to wave hello to Robin.

“Still, something is bound to happen between Claudia and Rory by the end of the year,” Caterina foresaw. “Whitney is sure of it.”

“Oh! I almost forgot. Whitney’s cabin lost power last night,” Yumi revealed, sending shockwaves through both tables.

“When did you find this out?”

“Did you talk to Whitney? Who talked to her?”

“Way to bury the main story, Yums!”

During this question-and-answer session, a frazzled waitress finally hurried over. Immediately, she apologized for the extended wait. The cheerleaders soon learned that most of the staff working this morning were those who got stuck at the hotel last night and were to spend the night. Most of the morning shift couldn't come in yet due to the icy roads. The extra guests also to shelter at the hotel only exacerbated the problem.

"Don't worry about it," Kaitlin reassured the waitress. "How about you just leave the menus and a couple of sheets from your order pad? We can write down what we want. If you want, we can add our names to each order to make it easier later."

“You girls don’t mind?”

“Not at all. We totally understand,” Kaitlin reassured while Yumi nodded wholeheartedly. Only Cat appeared a bit annoyed by Katie’s offer. “If it’s okay, we can even grab water and drinks from the bartender.”

The waitress profusely thanked the girls for their understanding before hurrying off to a table with a college-aged crowd. Cat questioned why Kaitlin had to do that while the elder Beal tore off a sheet before flipping the pad over at Kizzy with a quick explanation.

“You know my mom waited tables while in college. Kizz and I have heard plenty of horror stories about asshole customers. It’s how people treat servers that tells a lot about their personality. I’ve told you that before,” Katie reminded with a glare.

“Oh, I really shouldn’t. I already had breakfast,” Yumi said after the order sheet was placed in front of her.

“And it’s now brunch,” Roxie pointed out.

“You don’t need to get another meal. Just order a dessert or something,” Kaitlin added.

Yumi’s expression turned wary at once as her eyes darted off to the side where Caterina was seated.

“Cat lied about the diet rule. Remember?” Roxie reminded her when Cat glanced up from the menu.

“And if you don’t order anything, you’re going to be bored while sitting with us,” Kate added, looking over at Cat more than Yumi.

“Fine. Just order a damn dessert,” Caterina sighed, realizing that her old friend would just be a chatterbox while they ate.

“It looks like I have perfect timing,” Aurora said, sliding down on an empty chair.

“Rory!”

“You just saw her less than an hour ago,” Cat responded to Yumi’s excitement.

“Well, well, well, if it isn't the future Mrs. Kieran Danforth,” Katie teased, causing Rory to blush.

“He proposed?!”

“It’s just a figure of speech!” Kaitlin hurriedly clarified before Yumi could scream in joy.

“Oh, right,” the innocent cheerleader nodded before abruptly shifting back to the menu selections. “Hmm, they have lemon blueberry breakfast cake. That looks delicious. Hey, Katie, they have homemade honey cinnamon rolls!”

“And she’s not getting any. Stick to a regular breakfast, Katie. You’re a single lady again and need to look sharp for guys,” Caterina pointed out.

“Just because I’m single again doesn’t mean you’re going to tell me what to do,” the brunette shot back.

Yumi gasped. However, it wasn’t about her friends bickering.

“They have s’more pancakes, and I didn’t know that! My new year is starting off awfully,” she moaned, looking sad and annoyed.

“Don’t worry, Yums. We can always make a special trip here some morning for them. I promise,” a new voice interrupted.

“Lacey!”

This time, Yumi jumped up to hug the latest newcomer. Yet, all the girls were shocked to see Cadence with her cousin. Still, several hid smiles as the usually sweet cheerleader barked an order at the younger teen.

“Get over there and be part of your team!”

“I can’t believe you snitched to my mom!” Cadence yelled back.

“I warned you last night. Next time, I’ll rat you out to Grandma,” Lacey vowed. Her words worked as the JV co-captain slunk over to sit in the last free chair at the Babybees’ table.

“Whoa! What was that about?” Kaitlin inquired.

“Long story. Let’s just say that Cadence has been pissing me off royally since last night,” Lacey replied before catching herself over her language. “Oops, sorry, Yums.”

“That’s okay. Cadence lied this morning about being an award-winning actress,” Yumi pouted, crossing her arms over the earlier incident.

---

“Okay, I have the calendar with me,” Zara announced once the girls returned from getting their drinks from the surprised bartender. “As you can see on the back, I managed to learn three of Sean’s classes.”

“Sir Sean,” Kizzy clarified, scrambling over the table to grab the list of classes. Immediately, she was impressed by the tough classes listed. “Wow, he’s smart and hot.”

“We’ll have to find out his other ones by the end of the day,” Beatrice declared, already taking charge as she didn’t want to disappoint Whitney.

“Hey, Zo, don’t you know Sean’s classes?” YoYo asked.

“How would I know?” the busty brunette responded, drowning out Kizzy’s repeated insistence on using Sean’s new title.

“Your sister is his best friend.”

“So? I might know some of the classes he’s taking but not when and with whom,” Zoey pointed out, already growing annoyed at being treated as the Sean expert.

“Okay, I broke down a daily schedule of when Sean will need us based on Bea’s and Kizzy’s suggestions,” Zara began, passing out her notes. “As you can see, Sean will need a morning pickup team to bring him to school. I believe most of us have our driver’s licenses, but if not, we’ll have to place those people with someone who does.”

“Kizzy does, but she’s also a horrible driver. So Harley’s in charge of that part of their duties,” YoYo cracked, earning a dirty look from her cheermate.

"Hey, I haven't assigned partners yet," Beatrice pointed out. The rest of the squad groaned as The Beal and Peel Team was inevitable.

"Okay, once we learn Sean's full schedule, we can figure out who's closest to his classes for each passing time. After that, we'll need a crew for lunch and afternoon dropoff," Zara continued.

“Pickup and dropoff? What is he a pre-schooler?” Cadence cackled.

“We also need to be on-call for any evening events or weekends that Sir Sean will need our help for,” Kizzy added. She took it upon herself to write down the extra responsibilities rather than wait for Zara to add them. “We also should ask his mom for a spare key or keys to their house.”

“Oh, my gawd,” Zoey muttered under her breath.

“Don’t forget to add the sponge bath sessions, Kizz,” YoYo teased with an unintentional purr.

“No! Whitney expressly forbade those activities,” Beatrice reminded.

“I believe Bridget also said no to stuff like that,” Harley added.

“Fine!” Yolanda agreed reluctantly before mumbling something about getting him another way.

“Alight, we can’t decide anything else until we have more information about Sean’s class schedule. So, let’s move on to assigning partners. I think teams of two should be sufficient for most of our duties,” the Babybee captain stated. “However, we do have an issue, as we’re down to only nine helpers.”

“Good. You girls are finally learning,” Cadence proclaimed, folding her arms in victory.

“Oh, I’m not talking about you, Cady. You’re part of the nine,” Beatrice declared.

“What?! There is no way that I’m going to play nursemaid for him. I already said this several times last night,” Cadence insisted.

“Stop being such a bitch,” Kizzy responded.

“Yo, Lacey! Your cousin is refusing to help us again,” YoYo called over to the varsity table.

“Cady, I am not dealing with this shit anymore. Sorry, Yumi. You’re co-captain, so start acting like one,” Lacey ordered.

“They want me to play nurse to your first boyfriend! I’m not doing that.”

“Wait, what?!” Kizzy screeched, her head swiveling around in confusion.

“When did Lacey and Sean date?” YoYo questioned.

“They never did,” Harley responded.

“That was a fake wedding, and you know it,” Lacey corrected. “You’re just pissed that Lana strapped you in your car seat at the back of the audience.”

“They were all stuffed animals!” Cadence shot back, causing her cheermates to start laughing.

“And if you don’t help your squad with Sean, I’m so getting your mom and Grandma involved. You know they take cheer duties seriously.”

For now, Lacey's continued threats over using their relatives shut up her cousin. Beatrice brought the discussion back over to their uneven numbers.

“What if Zoey fills the last spot?” YoYo suggested.

“What? Me? Why?!”

“Oh, you should totally do it, Zo. It sounds like fun,” Winnie prodded.

“Then you do it.”

“But I live on the other side of town, and I don’t have my license yet,” Winnie explained her reasons.

“You do live next door to Sean,” Beatrice pointed out.

“This is all pointless. Sean doesn’t need morning pickups or afternoon dropoffs,” Zoey argued. “He has his own car, and JoJo or Newt can help him.”

“Didn’t I hear that Newt is a terrible driver?” Zara questioned, recalling JoJo complaining about him while she was over at the Gibbles.

“Well, yeah, but Jo can–”

“We can’t push our responsibilities onto your sister. Whitney won’t approve,” Beatrice interrupted with her counterpoint. “Besides, it would be like the old days when you were a cheerleader.”

"Or do you want us to let Fern back into the rotation?" Kizzy asked, mainly as a threat.

“It’s perfect! You unofficially replaced Fern as Fairwater cheer captain last year, and you can replace her as a Babybee. Unofficially, of course,” YoYo proposed.

“And who cares if Fern gets even more jealous of you? It’s bound to happen anyway,” Zara added.

Zoey made several more attempts to escape this new responsibility. However, she could hear her mom's voice in her head, in full agreement with her friends. Also, somebody would need to protect Sean from some of the overly obsessed girls.

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

“I knew we could count on you!” Beatrice cheered, hoping this would be the first step in drawing her old cheer rival back into the fold. “Now, we just need to decide on partners.”

“Don’t bother arguing and wasting time. Just put Kizzy and Harley together,” YoYo suggested.

“I’m with Mercedes or Saylor,” Cadence proclaimed.

“No, you’re not,” Beatrice responded.

“Then, I’ll take Uma.”

"And boss her around? I don't think so. You're with me," the Babybee captain declared, knowing she was the one person over whom Cadence couldn't use her co-captain powers.

“I’ll join up with Uma,” Zoey announced. The brunette figured the future Sugarbee would be quieter and less peppy than other Babybees, thus making her less annoying to deal with.

“I can handle Mercedes if needed,” Zara offered, causing Cadence to glare at her for her tone.

“That leaves me with Saylor,” YoYo concluded.

“I…I don’t know about that pairing,” Beatrice admitted, frowning. Putting two of the squad’s biggest flirts together might be an issue, especially with Yolanda’s repeated comments about somehow getting a piece of Sean.

“Alright, it’s all settled,” Kizzy announced.

“This going to be so fun,” YoYo added, rubbing her hands together.

"Maybe I better get Whitney's approval before the pairings are finalized," Beatrice proposed, but her squad ignored her concerns.

---

“Okay, you can let Lacey go now,” Kaitlin gently suggested to Yumi. Although the brunette didn’t follow her own suggestion, reaching out to hug the petite redhead as well.

The varsity table had just heard all about Lacey's night at the hospital and dealing with more fallout between Lana and Finn. Lacey left out many details about Finn's night, including the more salacious parts. Yet, it was still enough to give a picture of Lacey's high-stress late night, even before adding in her breakup with Austin.

“Don’t worry, Shortstuff. It will be like old times from sophomore year. You, me, and Katie are all single and on the prowl,” Caterina said.

“Um, if it’s like the first half of sophomore year, then they’d be single, and you’d be the one with a boyfriend,” Roxie pointed out.

“That never happened!” Cat screeched.

“Wait…I can play Lacey and be the matchmaker for all of you!” Yumi squealed with excitement over the idea.

Kaitlin and Lacey locked eyes in concern.

“That would be great, Yums. However, Amberly already has plans for my new status,” the ginger revealed.

“Of course she does,” Cat remarked, rolling her eyes.

Yumi proposed, “I can be Amberly’s assistant. I’m sad that we never got to be cheermates and friends.”

“You know, I can suggest that to her. She’s thrilled that her favorite target is also back on the market,” Lacey revealed, winking at Kaitlin.

"Oh, please, no. I can't take Strattington being back," Katie moaned, even more concerned about Yumi's possible involvement.

“Amberly never liked Palmer. She did warn you repeatedly about him,” Lacey added. “Still, I think you might be safe until Valentine’s. Unless her message at four in the morning was about moving up the event. I couldn’t really tell as it was drunken gibberish.”

“Let me see it. I’m great at deciphering when Cat and Katie send me those kinds of messages,” Yumi offered.

“Hey, our food is here,” Roxie announced, thrilled to change the subject.

“Thanks again for helping out, girls,” the now less-frazzled waitress repeated. “Okay, so Caterina?”

“Over here,” Cat announced, raising her hand before taking her omelet from the woman.

Lacey frowned at the hotel’s inferior version of her mother’s favorite dish. She nodded in approval at the pancakes that she and Dreama ordered.

“Um, Yummy?” the waitress asked, holding out the lemon blueberry breakfast cake.

“It sure looks yummy,” Yumi moaned, checking out her morning dessert.

“Yummy?” the waitress inquired again.

“Oh, it’s pronounced You-Me, not Yummy,” Kaitlin explained.

"Oops, sorry," the waitress apologized. Yumi waved it off, as people often made that mistake when reading off her name.

“Wow, that’s some breakfast,” Lacey remarked, eyeing up the breakfast cake.

“It’s like coffee cake,” Yumi explained, taking a bite. “Mmm, this is way better than those regular pancakes I had earlier.”

“I bet. And don’t worry, we’ll come here soon for those s’more pancakes,” Lacey added.

“Next weekend?”

“Maybe not that soon. We can either come with Whitney or if Amberly drives up some weekend,” Lacey put forward, attempting not to disappoint her cheermate.

“I love those ideas!”

“Count me out. Hey!” Cat screeched, feeling somebody kick her leg.

Nearly five minutes passed in mostly silence. The only interruption came from Yumi needing to try Rory’s French toast after the blonde raved about how great it tasted. Surprisingly, the squad’s foodie wasn’t as impressed.

“Ohmigawd!” Kizzy suddenly screeched from the other table.

“Holy shit!” YoYo followed.

“Nosy Nectar now!” Kizzy ordered. Still, she immediately messaged her sister with a direct link to the newly posted gossip.

“Cheerleaders,” Claudia remarked, rolling her eyes at Brennah over at the volleyball table.

“What the…fuck!” Kaitlin bellowed upon seeing the headline and accompanying picture.

“Katie!” Yumi scolded before her mouth dropped open. “Did somebody kidnap them?”

“What?” Caterina asked, suddenly interested in the new gossip.

“Do we have to raise ransom money?” Yumi asked.

“Whoa!” Rory sounded, seeing the picture.

“What did you do, Cat?” Roxie challenged.

“Cat?!” Two tables repeated.

“Shit,” Caterina mumbled, wondering if it was about her supply closet fling with Sean.

Upon recognizing the same supply closet in the photograph, her fears grew for a split second. However, the bound and gagged Palmer Malloy and Dennis Conway in a laundry cart was news to her.

“I didn’t do that. I swear!”