"This is all your fault, director's pet. This is a play. I'm not falling in love with you, and I would never ever go out with you, Jack Garrison."
Jack and Shayna can't get through a rehearsal without fighting.
Cheerleader Shayna loathes perfect Ja...
This book is for C. Thank you for inspiring me. You were taken from us too soon. RIP
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When I pulled into the theater parking lot, I saw a red Jeep Wrangler parked right by the entrance, which sent my stomach to the floor. It was bad enough that I had to see it sticking out in the parking lot at school, but both the Jeep and its owner had followed me into the only extracurricular I liked.
It was a shame the red Jeep drew crowds. Most of my fellow juniors considered its owner, Jack Garrison, perfect. Anyone who didn't like him was just jealous.
Jack played quarterback for the football team and was voted junior homecoming king. When he was elected class president through write-in ballots, he humbly gave the presidency to someone who actually campaigned. Girls swooned when he breathed. Everyone treated him like his family money and charm held a halo around his blond head.
People had been shipping me with the golden wonder since the third grade. I'd long lost track of how many times the other cheerleaders had begged me to say yes when he asked me out.
Two months ago, I had the same sinking stomach reaction parking on the first day of school when I spotted Jack holding court in the parking lot. Then, I avidly ignored Jack climbing down from the car and walked into the school with my stomach doing flips.
Usually, my brother Parker kept me in line and reminded Jack that I didn't want anything to do with him. I was used to riding Parker's coattails. His popularity got me voted cheerleading captain. Even though he was graduated and off at university, I was still Parker Christian-Porter's little sister.
Without Parker, I felt alone. We liked the same movies and music. We both thought our dad was a deadbeat and supported our mom. Parker always came to my cheerleading events, and I attended all his games. We agreed on everything except Jack Garrison.
For reasons I couldn't fathom, Parker and Jack were friends. My brother mentored him in football. Then Jack ruined our lives. Instead of punching his light out like a good big brother, Parker forgave Jack. I was the only one who wasn't blind to it all. There was nothing perfect about Jack Garrison.
Even though I did my best to ignore him, he was always there. That day, he was chatting in the back of my first-period English class with his football pals and his best friend, Carson. They were laughing about something ridiculous, so I sat in the front with my back to Garrison's groupies.
There was a general babble until the teacher quieted the room for the morning intercom announcements. Normally, I didn't care what club was recruiting or whatever inane dribble someone stuck into the announcements. That day, however, I needed to ensure the principal announced cheerleading tryouts.
As captain, it was my job to ensure the word got out. They'd just finished a segment on mascot recruitment when a separate announcement caught my attention.
