The Date

Bridget stood stunned at the breaking news. After her heart plummeted, a sense of failure rose inside her mind. How had she managed to not only lose Coy to Gemma but also let down her cheer squad? As the captain, it fell to Bridget to set the tone, and losing the most desired guy–the freaking star quarterback, no less–to the leader of their hated rivals would embarrass every single cheerleader.

“How dare that jerk lead Bee on? Who does he think he is?!” Shayla demanded to know.

“Jerk? Try asshole,” Haley specified.

“Oh, I’m going to **** the motherfucker. No one makes a fool of my best friend, either of them,” Tinny declared, clenching her hands into fists. “Coy is dead. Gemma is dead. Hell, Didi is dead, too, just for living. Brandy, get your girls ready. Get my brother. We’re taking them all down.”

“Oh, crap! Hold on! Gemma Harlow isn’t Coy’s date,” Fawn revealed.

“Looks like someone forgot a big detail,” Wrenn muttered at the bookish blonde.

“I’m sorry that everyone isn’t perfect like–” Fawn shot back before the cheerleaders’ voices drowned her out.

“What?!”

“Way to forget the lead story!”

“Then who the fuck is he taking?” Tinny questioned. She noticed that Bridget still seemed lost in her own world.

“Go ahead, Miss Perfect, you can tell them,” Fawn directed Wrenn.

“Um, well, we didn’t quite hear enough to be sure. People were very loud around us,” the brainy girl defended. "It is a football game!"

“I think the name ended in a y or ie,” Fawn added. “We should stake out his house.”

“Why not tap his phone?” Wrenn added sarcastically.

“Ooh! Great idea, kid. Let’s get Zita and see if her family knows any mob guys that can do it,” Haley suggested excitedly while bouncing on her toes.

“The mob? Shit, we got Mr. Fallon. No doubt he’s done that before,” Shayla argued. “And I bet he can get into the Quarrys' house without breaking a sweat.”

"What are you all talking about? I'm going to march right up to McCoy," Tinny said his name mockingly. "And break his nose. Then, if he wants to save his nuts, he'll give up the bitch's name. You with my, Dee?"

Looking over at Tinsley, Brandy’s expression morphed from sadness to sinister. The eager nod even frightened Haley and Shayla.

“No,” Bridget spoke, snapping out of her funk. “I’ll handle this…alone,” she added as a certain vengeful co-BFF opened her mouth.

Her friends all looked at each other and nodded. Bridget, aware that Coy often interviewed with the radio station, the Daily Flyer, and The Buzzy Bee after a game, headed back toward the field. Tinny motioned for Fawn to come over before ordering her to find Cassie. Brandy ran off to pass the news to their mother.

Marching with a purpose, the blonde captain walked against the crowd, leaving the bleachers. Usually polite, Bridget didn’t apologize as she bumped hard into several shoulders and sides. Even greetings failed to register as her mind ran through potential girls that Coy might be taking to homecoming. It has to be someone in college. It has to be!

Once past most of the departing spectators, the irate blonde spotted a ginger leaning against the chain-linked half-fence gate separating the bleachers from the field. The cherry-haired bitch smirked as she spotted the approaching cheerleader.

“Don’t even look at me,” Bridget said, holding an open hand up at Gemma’s face. “Unless you know the identity of Coy’s date.”

“Don’t wave that hand at–What? What the fuck did you just say?!” Gemma responded, standing up straight as Bridget barreled past her. The Sugarbee captain immediately followed her and asked questions. “Did you say that Coy has a date? Who?”

“I just said that I don’t know who!”

Elliot Ridge had just begun his interview of the school’s quarterback after waiting for the local news reporter to finish. Glancing up, he spotted the unlikely pair of captains marching over with angry expressions, so Elliot paused his question.

“I think you have company, Quarry.”

The smile on the star athlete’s face vanished as he immediately held up two hands.

“You have some explaining to do,” Bridget shouted as they grew closer.

“Who? Who the fuck is the cunt?!” Gemma screamed over Bridget’s back as they slowed down.

“This feels like gossip, so I’ll step aside,” Elliot muttered, moving a half dozen paces to the side.

“Whoa! Calm down, girls,” McCoy started, gesturing with his hands again.

“Calm down? I had to learn from McBoobs here that you have a date,” Gemma snapped.

“And I only learned because my kid sister sent her friends to spy on your parents,” Bridget relayed.

“Seriously?” Gemma asked before turning her anger back at the boy they’d fought over for months. “Way to fucking man up and tell us, asshole!”

“Look, I was going to tell each of you at the party tonight. It’s not my fault, I swear. But my parents–”

"Oh, it's your dad's fault you couldn't tell us first?" Bridget challenged, cutting him off.

“And his whole no distractions bullshit is so fucking old,” Gemma added, causing her rival to nod.

“You don’t think I know that?! Having the two of you circling me like vultures is way more distracting than dating one of you,” Coy argued.

“Did he just call me a vulture?” Gemma questioned, turning toward the cheerleader.

“It’s pretty spot on, but he also called me one!” Bridget responded.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Coy protested.

The usually confident quarterback glanced over at Elliot for help, but the newspaper editor shrugged and looked up to study the stars. Having grown up with Bridget, he knew better than to get in her way during a moment like this.

“Then, please tell us what you meant,” Bridget demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

“Look, I need to concentrate on football if I want to impress college recruiters,“ Coy pointed out. “And my parents are kinda right. The two of you are way too hot not to be a distraction. There is no way I could keep my hands off either of you.”

“Flattery won’t make this right…but it’s a start,” Gemma stated.

“No, it’s not,” Bridget countered. “You left us both hanging. Homecoming is a week from tomorrow. And now we’ll have to scramble for a date because I’m not going solo.”

“Huh? Wait, Blondie is right! You fucked us over by not fucking us,” Gemma declared.

"I'm sorry. I tried!" Coy apologized. "I thought my mom would help, but then she threw a wrench into the whole deal. She's the one who suggested I take Connie to the dance."

“Who?!” Gemma questioned.

“Connie, you know Constance Dearden,” Coy clarified. “Our moms are close friends. So, Mom saw it as a compromise.”

“Not for us!”

"We agree for once," Bridget said. "And I'm no longer going to bother to chase you during the football season. However, it's your loss if I find a better guy."

“Yeah! Wait, a better guy? Who do you have an eye on?” Gemma questioned with suspicion. “Who?!”

“Gemma,” Bridget hissed.

“Right! Yeah, I’m going to play the field too until the season ends,” the dancer declared. She wasn’t sure why she followed her hated rival’s lead, but it seemed to make sense after this embarrassing development. “So have fun with your family friend, Coy; she might be the only girl you get to date this year.”

Gemma’s next words died out as Bridget turned to leave. Not wanting to appear **** to Coy, the cherry-haired dancer followed her cheer rival. Still, she knew enough to wait until they were out of easy hearing range to ask the burning question on her mind.

“Who the fuck is Constance Dearden?”

“You know Connie,” Bridget answered without turning around.

“I wouldn’t ask if I did!”

With a loud, exasperated sigh, Bridget stopped at the gate to face the other woman.

“Connie Dearden. She’s a junior and in charge of the yearbook.”

“Yearbook? Wait! That annoying little blonde?” Gemma questioned, getting confirmation. “What. The. Fuck. She’s a boring good girl.”

“Precisely why Momma Quarry wanted her little boy to take her,” Bridget spat before heading off again.

“Wait, who’s your backup option? Come on, Fallon, tell me!”

"None of your business," Bridget yelled over her shoulder. But, truthfully, she didn't want to admit to anyone that she didn't have a backup plan.

"Well, I will find a date that makes Coy jealous. He can watch me crawl all over one of his friends," Gemma declared. "Let's see how likes that shit."

“Whatever!”

---

Meanwhile

“Tinsley, you need to step up in your duties before these issues get more out of hand,” Sela told her successor as co-captain.

Tinny, Cassie, Shayla, and Haley had just finished filling their former cheermate in on all the recent developments. Thanks to Rachel and Gabby, Sela was already aware of the Sugarbees' plan and Annette's rebellious actions. However, she gave a highly disappointed tisking sound after hearing about Bridget's ongoing trouble over Coy and accepting a homecoming date.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. So who’s the hottie with you?” Tinny asked, peering over the icy blonde’s shoulder to check out the brown-haired young man about fifteen feet away.

"I am serious, Day. I shouldn't have to return to town to help fix your money woes," Sela responded sternly.

“It’s not our fault. Your bunch left us with Carmella’s scheme when you went off to college,” the petite brunette shot back.

"I am talking about the lack of a viable fundraiser. As co-captain, you are responsible for selecting quality and profitable events, not holding them like weekly flea markets."

“Whoa! Did the princess just blame me for not having a dependable fundraiser? Gee, I wonder what ever happened to our carwashes,” Tinny asked, throwing her hands up.

“That was not my fault. Gabriela planned and conducted that–”

“But you were co-captain!” Haley pointed out.

“Thank you, Hales,” Tinny responded. “You were the co-captain who didn’t want to get her hands dirty, so you passed the responsibility off to Gabby. What did you think Gabby would do with that power?”

"His name is River Sandberry," Sela announced, realizing she didn't have much of a leg to stand on in the car wash argument. Her abrupt change in the conversation threw the others off for a few seconds.

“Wait, Sandberry?” Cassie queried.

“That’s your cousin, right?” Haley double-checked.

“The resort owners?” Zita practically squealed, having just joined them.

“Yes, the Sandberrys are a distant branch of my family,” Sela confirmed. “And they do own the Beachberry Resort in Hawaii.”

“What’s he doing here?” Haley questioned as every single one of them leaned around Sela to check out River.

“Ooh, he does have that surfer look–sexy surfer look,” Zita remarked.

“He’s a freshman at Zurbrugg,” Cassie explained, shocking nearly everyone.

“How do you know that?” Tinny challenged. “Have you been gossiping with Gabby? Tell me what she said!”

“No, Elliot mentioned that Sela and Calum’s distant cousin just started school with them. Rusty and Ned were showing River around the campus,” Cassie revealed about the Ridge brothers and a specific friend of the oldest brother.

“Ned!” Tinny gasped before playing it off as nothing.

“Ooh, Ned!” Shayla, Haley, and Zita teased about the guy she met over the summer at Shelly Penfold's party.

“Shut up, bitches, or I’ll resume my pranks,” Tinny threatened, pointing a finger in warning.

Sela went on to say that Cassandra was correct about her cousin. She mentioned that they'd only met a little over a half-dozen times, mostly on vacations to the resort.

“River has only visited Honey Hollow twice, with the last time eight years ago for…well, that doesn’t matter,” Sela explained.

“What happened eight–oww!” Zita started to question before Haley elbowed her hard. She turned to glare at her best friend, then her expression softened as Haley mouthed, ”Her mom.”

“River asked to come with me when he heard I was coming back. He wanted to see my branch of the family and witness a Honey Hollow High football game.” Sela’s tone showed her disdain for the last part.

“You should bring him to Quillan’s party,” Haley suggested, her eyes raking over the visitor’s body.

“Really? Should I tell Graham that you requested Sela bring him?” Tinny challenged, shutting up the younger cheerleader.

“A Diamond at a Falkenburg party? We will pass,” Sela stated before moving on to other business. “Tinny, I have a request.”

“Uh-oh,” the brunette sounded.

“As Bridget is distracted, I’ll ask you to consider Fiona for your homecoming parade plan. She’s been acting out again and could use even a week’s worth of structure to give her a purp–”

“We’ll take her! Shit, Fi already knows most of our cheers, so she can help us train the other kids,” Tinny interrupted.

“Isn’t she friends with Annette’s sister?” Cassie inquired, receiving confirmation back.

“That’s great!” Shayla cheered. “Now, we have an extra person to pressure Audra into participating, even if Annie is against it.”

“I will bring her tomorrow. What time?”

“Nine,” Cassie replied to Sela. “We’re building it out at–”

“Nine in the morning?! Who the hell decided to start that early?” Tinny questioned.

“We have a lot of stuff to do with all the changes,” Shayla explained.

“Howell Farm,” Cassie continued to reveal. “It’s kinda tricky to find. Uh, let me get Kim. She can give you directions.”

"No need. I shall find it," Sela stated, ending the conversation. Then, she gave a nod in departing.

“Now you see why I had Teddy and Brandy bow to her?” Tinny asked.

---

“Connie Dearden.”

“What?”

“Seriously?”

"That makes sense," Cassie responded to Bridget's revelation. Then she noticed her friends' expressions. Am I the only one who pays attention?"

"Pretty much. I rely on you for this stuff," Tinny admitted.

“The Quarrys and Deardens are close friends,” Cassie continued. “That’s a connection that Connie has made clear on her visits to The Buzzy Bee.”

“What’s she doing there?” Haley questioned.

“Sniffing around. Elliot thinks she’s plotting to take it over next year,” the bookish redhead said. “He’s on the lookout to add a couple of sophomores to the paper as we don’t have any juniors. Somebody needs to run the Bee next year.”

“But Connie already is running the yearbook,” Zita pointed out. She recalled the yearbook editor coming to Luigi’s to collect on their annual advertisements.

“I wouldn’t put anything past that little kiss ass,” Shayla remarked,

“That’s the word that I had on the tip of my tongue,” Tinny blurted out, snapping her finger. “She’s a little kiss ass.”

“She went to Harborside with you, right?” Bridget asked, thinking it sounded familiar.

“Yep. Maura and Connie can’t stand each other.”

“Maura?! Who the hell doesn’t like Maura?” Tinny exclaimed about their fellow cheerleader. “She’s like the nicest and quietest person I know after Cass.”

“Connie doesn’t. So you can imagine what she’s hiding behind her sweet smile,” Shayla commented. “I’d keep an eye on her, Bee. That’s if you haven’t given up on Coy.”

“I don’t know what I want,” Bridget admitted, sounding tired and slightly depressed.

Her tone caused all her friends to look at each other in concern. This wasn’t the Bridget they knew. The only other time that Tin and Cass could recall seeing her like this was after her first serious boyfriend, Charlie Otterson, moved away.

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s go get drunk and flirt with guys at Quillan’s,” Tinny suggested.

"I'm going to pass," Bridget replied, causing a round of gasps. "I think I'll help our moms clean up the bake sale and head home with them."

“B-but…what?! You love post-game parties,” Tinny pointed out.

“Not tonight. I probably need a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a full day.”

“I’ll stay and help you,” Cassie announced.

“No, no, go have fun,” Bridget said, turning down the offer.

“I want to. Besides, you know I don’t really like parties.”

“That’s why I want you to go. Have a little fun,” Bridget countered. Then, she leaned in close to the redhead. “Go. Someone has to keep Tin from getting into trouble and watch over the Babybees. Please?”

Backing away, Cassie met Bridget’s gaze and nodded.

“What did she whisper to you? Was it about Coy? Was it about me?” Tinny rattled off to Cassie as Bridget walked over toward the bake sale.