(2)Homecoming

A Generation Ago; Tuesday, September 24th

“Look at the size of it!”

“Control yourself, Tin,” Bridget Fallon admonished her co-best friend without even glancing in her direction.

A gorgeous, sun-kissed blonde, Bridget rolled her blue eyes at her co-best friend’s inability to stay focused. Smart, busty, and a natural leader, Bridget had been elected without any doubt as her high school’s cheer captain approximately two months ago.

“I mean–shit!--it’s got to be twice the size,” Tinsley Day continued while peering around the corner of the bleachers.

“It is a little bigger than our old one, too,” Shayla Cooke admitted.

The dark-skinned cheerleader’s comment caused a pair of blondes to shake their heads at the younger girl for also getting distracted. Seemingly older than her age, Shayla could hold her own with her year-older friends and usually stayed focused on the task at hand.

“Don’t encourage her, Shay,” Miranda Underwood responded. They were on a mission and didn’t need Tinny’s usual antics to mess up their goal.

“Hey, I’m not saying bigger is better. The ambiance is fucked up,” Tinny argued. The petite brunette threw up an arm to point toward the gymnasium’s high ceiling. “It’s a given that the acoustics suck in here. I bet the crowd’s noises die up in those rafters. Homecourt advantage is over.”

The caramel blonde who first scolded her next-door neighbor paused momentarily before turning around to face her friends. The four cheerleaders hid on the side of the gym bleachers of Fairwater Junior High, the newest, modern addition to the Honey Hollow school district. The building opened only a month ago on the city's northwest side. That the school replaced her old Central Junior High still didn't sit well with Tinny, and now Bridget agreed.

"Central's cramped gym was awesome. Our cheers got the crowd so loud that you couldn't even hear yourself think at times. It's why our teams always won at home," Bridget declared, with Tinny nodding emphatically.

“It’s not like that had anything to do with having the best basketball players,” Miranda remarked sarcastically. Shayla, her fellow Harborside Junior High graduate, nodded in agreement.

“We commanded that gym as our stage,” Tinny proclaimed.

“Damn right we did,” her co-BFF asserted.

“Shhh,” Miranda shushed, motioning toward the gym floor. “It’s time.”

The other three girls swung their heads as the football pep rally switched toward their reason for sneaking in. A dozen girls hurried to line up as the crowd’s noise level rose. Suddenly, the Fairwater Junior High cheer squad commenced their routine.

“Not bad,” Shayla remarked, giving an early review.

“I count three girls totally off. Make that four,” Tinny appraised, her co-captain responsibilities showing.

“I do like their energy levels. Very enthusiastic,” Bridget praised.

“Way too much from the blonde with the largest rack. She’s already preparing for her future career at The Beehive,” Tinny cracked.

"Tin! Geez, they're only junior high kids," Miranda reminded, unsure why she felt shocked at her cheermate's stripper joke at this point in their friendship.

“I’d say the blonde’s a Sugarbee in the making except for—Whoa!” Shayla exclaimed in astonishment.

“Did you see that?” Tinny questioned needlessly as the other three high school cheerleaders had seen the moves. “That’s one of–”

“Carmella’s moves,” Bridget stated, her voice sounding strained.

Carmella Bruno, who was captain of the Honey Hollow High dance squad until graduating last year, had been a thorn in the girls' sides for years. Although despised mainly by the rival squad, the cheerleaders acknowledged Carmella as a creative dance choreographer. Her routines could often be complicated to execute, which made it shocking to discover a junior high cheer squad performing several of the moves.

“How the hell did they….” Shayla trailed off as they all witnessed a second series of unmistakable moves.

“I told you that we needed to come here,” Miranda pointed out. She’d been the one to alert her squadmates to something odd occurring at the new school.

“Wait, who’s their coach? Is she an ex-Sugarbee?” Tinny asked, peering around the bleachers. “Hold on! That’s Mrs. Kosmin.”

"Our old art teacher?" Bridget asked, leaning over her more petite friend's back.

“Is she an ex-cheerleader?” Shayla inquired.

“Neither. Mrs. Kosmin occasionally helped our coach out but didn’t really know anything,” Bridget recounted.

“Yeah, she was mostly an extra chaperone on game trips or filled in when our coach was sick,” Tinny recalled.

“Does the captain look familiar?” Bridget questioned.

“Huh? Oh, right! There is another tiny troll out there. The’s Didi’s sister, Dena,” Tinny said, sticking a finger down her throat as if gagging.

Didi Bing, the current Sugarbees’ co-captain, had long been Tinny’s so-called archrival. The buildup had begun long before they clashed hard two years ago as fellow high-flyers on the Honey Hollow JV cheer squad.

“The younger brunette on the back left side is Naomi’s kid sister,” Shayla pointed out, referring to another current dancer. “Noreen? Yeah, Noreen Fitch.”

“Are they teaching the moves to their sisters? Anyone see them around?” Tinny queried.

“No, I don’t see them…Wait! Holy shit, Trixler is here,” Bridget revealed.

“Trixler? Where?” Tinny asked. She leaned so far forward that she nearly fell to the floor.

“Get back! The squad is done. We better move before anyone spots us and starts asking questions,” Miranda reminded.

“Right,” her captain replied, pulling her petite co-BFF back.

The other girls swiftly agreed, turning around to exit through the double doors. Immediately, Tinny threw up her hand in front of her eyes.

“Ahh! Can those lights be any stronger?”

“Oh boy. It looks like Tin’s turning into a vampire,” Shayla cracked, even though she winced at the hallway’s brightness.

“Gawd, this place is a business office, not a school. Too big, too bright. And the paint on the walls makes me want to puke.”

“Who cares about a new junior high?” Miranda questioned.

“I care! They boarded up Central,” Tinny complained. “What kind of a name is Fairwater? The lake is on the other end of the city. I mean, what’s their mascot? A frog?”

"Uh, Tin," Bridget said, gesturing toward a colorful poster on the wall.

“Seriously? The Fairwater Frogs?! How weak is that?”

“Nowhere near as cool as the Mariners,” Shalya responded, referring to the Harborside nickname.

“Cool?!” Tinny repeated before scoffing as she turned to face Bridget. “Did she just say that?”

“She did,” Bridget smirked while folding her arms.

“Ooh, I’m sorry that our still-around mascot isn’t as cool as your dead snake,” Shayla responded, putting her hands on her hips.

“Cobras rule!”

“Shouldn’t we discuss more important stuff, like why Trixler is here?” Miranda asked, shaking her head at her cheermates.

"No!" Tinny snapped. "They shut down Central to make this prison. So now Teddy has to go to Harborside next year. Harborside!"

“Hey!”

“Guess it’s better than Meadowmilk,” Bridget remarked, motioning to Shayla to calm down. “That’s where Lauen’s little sister goes now.”

“Lisa got sent there? Fuck those rich bitches,” Tinny replied.

“Well, all the new home construction is out this way. Thus the need for a bigger school,” Miranda pointed out.

“So they shut down Central and sliced its school boundaries to send its students to three different places. Imagine if they’d done this years ago. Lauren wouldn’t have gone to school with us,” Bridget stated, referring to their recently graduated cheermate, Lauren Caputo.

“Now I’m pissed off more,” Tinny announced, stomping around the hallway corner. “This place sucks!”

“Hey, guys!”

The cheerleaders saw a short redhead rushing over excitedly. Although in good shape, the new arrival didn’t have the same fitness as the four cheerleaders.

“Isn’t this school great?” Cassandra Bank asked, her face beaming. “The classrooms are roughly thirty percent larger than those dumpy ones at Central. And the cafeteria looks sanitary. They even have a whole wing for music, art, and shop classes. How’s the gymnasium?”

“Way too fucking big,” Tinney replied, rolling her eyes.

“Cool!” Cassie responded, not catching the sarcasm in her excitement. “Guess what? The whole school has air conditioning.”

“What?!” All four cheerleaders roared.

“Yes, the whole school, not just the office like at Central.”

“And like at Harborside,” Miranda stated grumpily.

“Our high school doesn’t even have air conditioning everywhere!” Shayla nearly shouted in frustration.

“That’s…stupid!” Tinny remarked, shocking the other girls. “The whole fun of getting in trouble came from sitting in the air-conditioned office.”

“They did know you well down in the office,” Bridget admitted, chuckling.

“Hell, Belinda used to save me a spot on humid days,” Tinny boasted, referring to Central’s office secretary. “Lunch tasted better with cool air blowing in my face.”

“Hey, the library is on the second floor. Let’s go check it out,” Cassie suggested, nearly bouncing up and down in anticipation.

“Uh, maybe another time, Cass,” Bridget responded with an apologetic face. “We discovered a problem in the gym.”

Although not a cheerleader, Cassie served as the unofficial student manager for the squad, so she listened with rapt attention as her friends reported what they saw in the gym. Her face perked up at the revelation of Carmella’s moves being performed and the presence of Randi Trixler, Honey Hollow High’s librarian and dance coach.

“Mrs. Trixler is coaching the cheerleaders here? Can she do that?” Cassie asked.

The four cheerleaders all shrugged.

“None of us saw any Sugarbees in the stands, but they might have been here,” Miranda said.

“This is strange, too strange. We need to know more,” Bridget noted.

“And we have the perfect person,” Shayla announced, gesturing at Cassie.

“Me?”

“Yes, you!” Tinsley agreed. “Time to use your new connections to get the scoop.”

“I can’t ask around The Buzzy Bee. I’m merely the entertainment reviewer, and I just joined,” the redhead protested.

“And I’m not putting you in that position,” Bridget declared. “I’ll talk to Elliot.”

“Thanks, I don’t want–.”

“But…you do need to help,” the cheer captain interrupted, holding up a finger. “We need you to have a chat with our usual Sugarbee information source.”

“We have a source?” Tinsley questioned. “Ahh…right. Felicity.”

“Felicity Witt?” Cassie questioned.

“She’s the only Felicity in school and the same one you have English Lit with,” Tinny pointed out.

“It’s Short Fiction, and Mrs. Framwam hates talkers in class,” the bookish redhead replied.

“But she loves you!” Tinny countered.

“Cass, just ask Framwam to put you in groups tomorrow,” Bridget suggested with her other co-BFF protesting. “You know if you ask, she’ll do it. You’re her favorite student.”

“By far. I still remember her confused face when she learned we’re bestie buddies,” Tinny recalled.

“It doesn’t hurt to try,” Shayla said.

“Do I have to?” Cassie whined. “I hate taking advantage of Felicity.”

“You’re not taking advantage of anyone. Just get Felicity talking. She loves to talk,” Miranda pointed out as reassurance.

Wednesday, September 25th; 2nd Period

“Is something wrong with Kimmie? Why isn’t she sitting with us?” Felicity inquired.

A perky blonde with a sunny outlook on life and not one nasty bone in her body like many of her dance squadmates, Felicity’s brown eyes showed her concern for Cassie’s friend, who chose not to be one of the four people in their group. Although an airhead in many ways, the blonde dancer was an excellent student. She loved to discuss the stories they read with Cassie, so she jumped at the opportunity to join her when Mrs. Framwam unexpectedly put the class into groups of four.

Janet Napier, a studious brunette and one of Cassandra's closest non-cheerleader friends, also glanced over to hear the reason. Keegan Randle, the fourth member of their impromptu group, didn't hear or seem to care. As Honey Hollow High's resident class clown, it didn't surprise anyone to see Keegan hurriedly skim the assigned short story for the day. His initial fright over forgetting to read the story had been replaced by a stroke of luck when he'd ended up with three of the smartest girls in class.

“Kimmie is in one of her moods,” Cassie lied, feeling bad about doing so.

The bookish redhead couldn’t explain the real reason that Kimberly Goose had been **** to push her desk together with three jocks. Cassie couldn’t have the cheerleader in their group as it might cause Felicity not to share what her other friends needed to know. Besides, Kimberly had a reputation for minor mood swings.

“Ooh! The poor thing,” Felicity responded, appearing more concerned. “Now I feel bad for thinking she had a crush on one of the guys.”

“Fliss!” Cassie **** a fake exclamation. “I can’t get anything past you, can I?” Then, leaning forward, she whispered conspiratorially, “I won’t say which one, but Kim does have an eye on a special boy.”

“Aww!” the ditzy blonde cooed, clapping her hands together. The stern glare from their teacher went unnoticed. “Is she hoping to get a date for homecoming?”

“This is more for the long term,” Cassandra fibbed.

“Isn’t Kimberly going to homecoming with a farmboy she knew before moving into town?” Janet questioned, looking over at Kim’s three partners in confusion.

“That’s more an old neighbor type of situation,” Cassie replied, motioning for Janet not to ask too many questions. “Are you finished reading the story, Keegan, or do you need more time?”

The head of the lone male in their group shot up, showing a guilty expression. Keegan began to lie about not feeling well and falling asleep early last night until the redhead cut him off.

"That's fine, Keegan. Faulkner's writing style can be tricky to understand. We have plenty of time," Cassie reassured, setting up her gossip conversation. "So, yesterday, I happened to be over at the new junior high. The Buzzy Bee is considering an article about its opening, and I saw Mrs. Trixler there.”

Cassie cringed as she saw Kirk Langley raise his head before turning it around to glance inquisitively over his shoulder. Dammit! He just had to hear. With a quick shake of her head, Cassie mouthed that she’d tell the newspaper’s jack-of-all-trade reporter later. Great, now I need to think up–Wait! I don’t need to come up with a lie. Bridget’s going to fish Elliot for information. Knowing that the paper's editor-in-chief would mention the inquiry to his best friend, Cassie's subterfuge felt less awful. Still, she'd likely face questions the next time she visited the office.

"You did? Did you say hi? I always try to say hello whenever I see a teacher outside of school," Felicity proclaimed.

“Um, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to. I was busy with the article, and it looked like Mrs. Trixler might be helping coach their cheerleaders. Or at least helping Mrs. Kosmin. I recognized her as she was my art teacher at Central.”

"You thought Mrs. Trixler was their coach? Oh, you're super funny, Cassie," Felicity giggled. "Coaching two schools would be tough, and I think it might be against the rules. Isn't it moonlighting?" That last line had been whispered while she leaned forward. "Besides, Didi's helping Mrs. Ku…um, what did you say her name was again?"

“Wait, Didi’s helping coach Fairwater’s cheer squad?” Cassie struggled to keep her surprise and interest out of her voice. Fortunately, the Sugarbee didn’t find it suspicious.

"She wanted to help her little sister. Did you know that Dena is a cheerleader? That's so funny, but I guess Didi was once a Babybee. Hey, so was I! Wow, that feels so long ago. Wait, what were we talking about–Oh, right, Didi helping coach. It's so sweet of her to do that, which is somewhat strange as Didi isn't usually sweet. But I guess it's also because of Carmella's plan."

“Carmella has a plan?” Janet questioned, causing Cassie to beam in thankfulness for asking what she wanted to shout.

“She does!” Felicity responded excitedly before suddenly appearing sad as she crossed her arms. “But no one told me for the longest time. I only found out because Valentina told me.”

“Oh, Val is part of the plan?” Cassie dared to ask about the graduated dance co-captain.

“No, no. Val thinks it’s a waste and will only cause trouble. It’s also hurtful that no one told me,” the blonde admitted with glistening eyes. “Can you believe that only Naomi apologized for keeping it a secret? She said she only knew as Noreen goes to Fairwater. Do you know Noreen?”

"She's Naomi's little sister, right? So is Naomi also helping Didi?" Cassie queried, glancing around the room. Then, with a relieved sigh, she only saw Kirk eavesdropping on their conversation.

“Kinda. She said she likes helping Noreen and her friends but said Didi is…well, I shouldn’t repeat the bad name she called her.”

“That’s fine. Um, so is Gemma also helping?” Cassie asked about the Sugarbees’ captain and fierce rival of Bridget.

“Oh, no. No, no, no. Gemma wants nothing to do with the plan. She already warned Didi not to slack with her co-captain duties. I think she’s even mad about Didi dragging Naomi and a few of the younger girls along.”

“But Gemma’s your captain,” Cassie pointed out, hoping to learn about the actual plan without outright asking about it.

“I know! I couldn’t believe the big fight Carmella and Gemma had before the graduates left for college,” Felicity revealed, shocking Cassie.

“A fight?”

“Gemma warned Carm to stay away from her practices. However, Trixler seems to like the plan. Or at least I think she does.”

“Wow, that’s crazy,” Janet said.

The brunette made eye contact with Cassie and suddenly understood why her friend asked their teacher to put them in groups. With a slight nod, she agreed to fish for more information. However, that proved unnecessary as Keegan finally entered the conversation.

“Shit, did I miss the part about Bruno’s plan?” he blurted out.