just as Stacey stops in front of us. I place my hands on my hips and square my shoulders preparing for another battle.
“Nice shirts,” Stacey says with a nod toward Madison’s t-shirt.
Madison rolls her eyes in Madison fashion, “Jealous?”
Alexa and I snort while Stacey’s face reddens just like that. “There isn’t anything to be jealous about.”
Alexa slams her locker shut and spins around, her anger present in her features. “You sure about that?” Alexa tosses her red hair over her shoulder as a smile plays at her lips. “Rumor has it that someone was throwing themselves at Landon just last weekend.”
I look to Madison waiting for her to come to my defense but she just continues glaring at Stacey. I take a step forward and Alexa slides back behind me. “Oh, you mean when you got high with him and offered to give him a blow job out back of Brian’s house?” I huff, “That’s classy.” Stacey’s face is now bright red, her hands are fisted at her sides and she looks everywhere but at me. “He’ll never want you. You’re too easy for him. Now, run along, Stacey.”
She growls and stomps off down the hallway.
Alexa and Madison wait all of about two seconds before they start bursting out laughing. I can’t help but laugh right along with them. Landon would never go for a girl like her. She has nothing to offer the all-star of Canby or any of the other guys for that matter. What she’s honestly after is a free ride to the top with one of the players. She really needs to understand that once they get into college she’s going to be a thing of the past. Stacey is easily replaceable when she needs to be irreplaceable.
Alexa nods her head in the direction of the gym, “We better get going. You know the boys won’t come out ‘til we’re seated.” They have in the past made the entire school wait ten minutes for Alexa once when she got pulled into the guidance counselor’s office. Landon, Steven, and Cash were benched the following game until they were down two touchdowns.
“Let’s go.” Madison answers.
As we walk down the hall a sense of anxiety rushes over me. So many things are changing and so fast. This is the last time I’ll ever walk down these hallways to a prep rally. This is the last time I’ll be wearing this very navy hoodie with Landon’s number and name on the back, same with Madison who is wearing Cash’s number and name, and Alexa too with Steven’s name and number. I’ll never go to another homecoming. This is our year that we rule the school, after this I don’t fool myself into thinking that everything will remain the same. I know it will never be. Friends will go off in various directions to college and those who we thought we’d stay in touch with forever will slowly fade away, just like the light of each day as it fades into the darkness of the night. I’m having a very melancholy moment right now before this pep rally. I seriously need to put my own game face on so Landon doesn’t think anything’s wrong. Nothing is, per se, but Landon knows me well enough that he will pick up on the fact that I’m having somewhat dark moments about our last few months at Canby.
Madison bumps me with her shoulder shaking me from my thoughts, “Everything okay?”
I look at my twin sister, she’s my complete opposite in so many ways but also the very same in others. “Yup, let’s go cheer our boys on.”
She winks at me, “I’ll see you in a few.” Then she runs off toward the boy’s locker room.
Alexa grabs my arm and together we walk into the gym. I push the anxiety far away in the back of my mind and concentrate on the here and now. Not the unknown, I don’t have time for that. Per the guy’s demands, we take our appointed seats on the bottom row of the bleachers center court. It’s an unspoken rule that was set our freshman year and somehow even the new freshmen who have come in behind us know that these three seats are unavailable. It’s loud in here. As I look around everyone is pumping with excitement and it’s a sea of navy and white, our school colors.
The cheerleaders, dressed in their short navy and white skirts along with their matching long sleeve tops with Canby written across