take off to the practice area, the sound of nervous, high pitch whispering going on between them. Brandy turns and faces me and Cami once more. “Can we try and work this out, just between us?”
“No. Freaking. Way,” Cami says through clenched teeth, glaring at me with narrowed eyes. She looks really evil right now. The worst feeling washes over me, making me sick to my stomach. It feels like I might’ve fallen into her trap. Like maybe she set me up, knowing I’d lose my mind over her rude comments. “I’m going to the office. I want the health aide to document this.”
“I am the health aide, you idiot,” Brandy says, making me crack up. Brandy sends me a look, essentially shutting me up before she continues. “You’ve only gone to this school for almost four years. Didn’t you realize this?” she asks Cami.
“I forgot, okay?” Cami shrugs. “Then you can take photos of me and all the damage Ava did to my face. I want this in my file, and I want it documented that Ava Callahan did this to me. It’s assault! I have witnesses!”
“Who saw it?” Brandy looks around, all of the girls returning their attention to stretching and not watching us, which is really what they’ve been doing.
“Everyone! Even her little friends. They’ll vouch for me. They have to,” Cami says, pointing at Dakota and Lindsey, who are both doing their best to not look over at us. I’m sure their ears are burning.
With a sigh, I decide to go ahead and confess. “It’s true. She said something rude, and I hit her.”
Brandy’s mouth drops open and she rests her hands on her hips. I can see the disappointment in her body language, the way she’s watching me. The utter disbelief in her eyes. “Are you freaking serious right now? What the hell, Ava?”
“I don’t know! She made me mad.” I throw my hands up in the air.
“Not a good enough excuse,” Brandy starts, but Cami cuts her off.
“There’s no excuse. I’m sick of her crap. I want her off the team!” Cami yells.
“Come on, settle down. Despite you always thinking you’re in charge, that’s not your decision,” Brandy says to Cami. “Let me look at your face.”
I wait for them while Brandy closely examines Cami’s jaw, the spot where I punched her. Did I really hit her that hard? No. Her skin has a small red mark, but it isn’t swollen or cut up or anything. I bet she won’t even bruise.
But she’s going to make a huge deal out of this. She’ll do her best to get me into lots of trouble, and I deserve it. I just might’ve fucked up my high school cheer career completely, thanks to my impulses.
And I’m not an impulsive person. Not by a long shot.
Brandy sends Cami over to the rest of the girls to continue leading practice before she turns to me. “Ava.”
The sadness in her voice just about breaks me.
“I know,” I say miserably. She doesn’t need to say anything else. I’m screwed.
“You actually hit her?” Brandy shakes her head. “You’ve got some balls, I’ll say that. No one messes with Cami. Most of the teachers leave her alone so they don’t have to deal with her wrath.”
“She’s a horrible human being,” I spit out bitterly.
“Doesn’t matter what you think of her, or how horrible she acts in your presence. You can’t put your hands on another student. You definitely can’t physically harm your teammate during practice.” A long, ragged sigh escapes her. “You know with this incident, I’m going to have to suspend you from the team.”
Tears start flowing down my cheeks, and I briefly close my eyes. I have no one to blame for this but myself. I ruined my cheer season. It’ll disappoint the girls who count on me, which is all of them, but especially my stunt team.
“For how long?” I ask, wiping away the tears, but they keep on coming.
“At least a week. I’ll have to talk to the athletic director about proper protocol with situations like this.” She makes a wincing face, as if she knows what she says next will hurt. “You’ll have to go speak with Adney in her office tomorrow morning.”
The vice principal’s office. Great. I’ve never gone there before in my life, with the exception of when I needed something from her in regards to leadership. I’m supposed to be a good kid, not a bad kid who gets busted for fighting.
“Okay,” I say, ducking