partner. Take a moment and introduce yourself!”
I turn to her. “I think Mr. Glover wants us to be friends.”
“Should we be friends?” she asks.
“No way,” I say. We should be more.
“Well, regardless, I guess you’re stuck with me, Pony.”
She says my name in a way no one has ever said my name before.
“Or until the judge can keep you away,” I say.
She laughs. It’s a great laugh.
“Georgia, I think you might be trouble.”
She smiles. It’s a great smile. “You, sir, have no idea.”
Sir.
GEORGIA, 6:17 P.M.
There’s only one place to see and be seen in Addison, and that’s the Sonic drive-in on Midway Road. Sonic is the best fast-food chain, serving up burgers, fries, and tater tots covered in melted cheese. Also, crazy-good milkshakes and slushies.
At any hour, Sonic is swarming with Hillcresters. This is the spot to meet friends, to show off your date, to experience a life-changing cherry slushy with whipped cream.
It’s prime time at Sonic, so the place is extra packed. A post-practice Sonic run is pretty much mandatory. Football, dance, and cheer practices let out at the same time, and then it’s a race over here to secure a parking spot. Lucky for us, Mia snags the last one. Once this place is full, cars are banished to park across the street at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store.
Mia rolls down the window of her silver Mustang and yells our order into the crackling intercom box. “Four Diet Cherry Limeades, please.”
Lauren taps on Mia’s shoulder, all scared. “I want a chocolate shake.”
Mia scoffs. “You do not need all that dairy,” she says, then returns her attention to the intercom. Kelly, in the back seat with me, starts making fart noises, and we all laugh.
“Lauren, I’m sorry for the near collision at practice,” I say with my tail between my legs. I accidently stepped directly in the path of one of her high-speed tumbling passes. Just in time, I leaned back with my arms flailing wildly, like those floppy balloon tube men at car dealerships.
Lauren pats my leg from the passenger seat (she yelled “Shotgun!” first on the way from the locker room). “No problem, girl. You must have been thinking about someone special . . .”
“She was def thinking about Jake!” Mia says, turning down the music.
I was distracted, not by Jake but by the thought of missing that journalism meeting happening during practice. I wanted to be there. Maybe I subconsciously threw myself into Lauren’s path in hopes of a career-ending injury. I’m having trouble caring about cheerleading.
When I signed up to try out for the cheer team at the end of my sophomore year, I was kind of a nobody. But then I totally killed the tryout, made the team, and overnight, I was kind of a somebody. The invites to cool parties came in, and cuter guys started talking to me. A couple senior cheerleaders took me under their wing and picked me up on the way to school and parties. I’d show up with them, and then, I was someone.
I had leveled up, and it was exciting—so freaking exciting—but part of the deal was playing it cool.
What if I quit cheerleading and wrote for the Reporter? People would think I’d lost my marbles. There would be no coming back from that. So I’m kind of stuck here.
“Yes, Georgia,” Lauren says, hopping up and down in her seat. “Marry Jake and be set for life!”
Dating in high school can be so predictable, so boring. Mia is exclusive with the star linebacker, and Lauren is practically engaged to the captain of the soccer team. It’s all so obvious.
Kelly hasn’t dated much. She claims that being mascot takes up too much of her time, but I call bullshit. I have vague memories of a boyfriend in middle school for a month, but she’s not interested in all that. She’s smart.
“Nothing is happening with me and Jake,” I answer. “Remember? I’m not dating this year?”
Lauren waves me off. “Come on, Georgie! Me, you, and Mia could triple-date!” Her eyes get big, realizing that Kelly wasn’t in the triple-date equation. She tries to correct herself, “Kelly, you can come too! You can date one of Matt’s friends!”
Kelly doesn’t even look up from her phone. “Thanks, Lauren, very sweet of you, but I’m going to pass on that tempting offer of eternal love.”
I jump in to help. “Don’t worry, Kelly. There will be no triple date. You’re off the hook.”
“Phew,” she says.
Mia and Lauren both turn around, focused on me.
“Georgia,