Tony The Tiger

Chapter Five: A Side of Bitch

Alicia's POV

I don't have claustrophobia but right now, I can barely breathe. 9 people should not be sharing one table. It's just not practical. At the moment, everyone was telling the waitress what they wanted to drink. I got weird looks for ordering a coffee.

"Fuck you lookin' at? Y'all got my ass up past midnight when we got finals coming up and you think I'm supposed to have all of this energy?" I snapped at the group.

Instantly, Taylor started admiring the case of her phone, Tony and the strange boy began chatting about the chilly weather, Abayomi began to read the deserts menu in front of her, and the cheerleaders just stared wide-eyed at me.

"Anyway..." the main cheerleader began, after letting out an awkward cough, "What's your name again?" She looked straight across to Tony, who looked like a deer in headlights.

"T-Tony. Who's asking?" She said, sitting up a little taller. What a shrimp.

"I'm Imani," she said, "This is Jenny, Amber, and Marisol." Each girl waved when her name was called. This meant that Imani had to be the only black girl of the group, Jenny was the freckled one, Amber was the quiet one, and Marisol was the Latina. Interesting group of girls.

"I'm Taylor!" You can guess who yelled that...

"My name is Abayomi."

"Alicia." I said in a low voice. 

"And not that it matters, but I'm Nick." Everyone turned their heads toward Tony's new guy friend. I was about to have a vote whether or not he should leave, but the waitress came with our drinks, so I kept quiet.

"As you all know, Tony broke the jaw of our head cheerleader,  Ceecee-" Imani began, but was interrupted when Tony exclaimed, "I broke it?!"

"Daaaaaaaamn, girl. Don't worry. When we get back to the house, I'll return everything I ever borrowed from you." Taylor sputtered. Sometimes, I just think that we should carry around duct tape for when Taylor says something unnecessary, but then I remember that there isn't enough duct tape in the world. I'm sure that she even says outrageous things in her sleep.

"Yes, you broke it." Imani continued before sipping some of her lemonade, "To make up for it, we need you to fill in as our head cheerleader." Her speech was followed by a long silence, in which everyone shifted their eyes to someone else, with questioning looks.

Out of nowhere, Taylor bursts out laughing loudly. And I mean really loudly. Enough to make several other tables look at us, with irritation. Instead of scolding her, I found myself laughing as well. And shortly after, Abayomi and Tony joined us. The rest of the table's confusion grew with time.

"You want...haha..you want Tony! Haha, Tony as not only a cheerleader...but a head....a head cheerleader?" Taylor exclaimed between her giggles.

Imani's face contorted into a frown and she crossed her arms, "I don't see what is so funny?"

Jenny looked around as if trying to find a camera to show that she was being pranked.

"I do not get it. Why are they laughing? What did we say?" Marisol asked Amber, who just shrugged and responded with, "They're just some weirdos."

Tony laid her head on the table, trying to control herself, but giggles kept erupting.

"Let me get this straight," I said after finally quieting down, "You want Tony. Our Tony. To be your head cheerleader?"

"She cannot even do the Cupid Shuffle and you want her to dance for you?" Abayomi followed up.

The cheerleaders looked at Tony with uncertainty. 

"Look, we don't really even want her, but Ceecee is requiring it."

When Tony finally settled down, she replied, "Let me stop you right there. I don't answer to anybody...except for my dad because he gives me an allowance, but that's all."

Amber was visually becoming irritated, "Either you replace her, or you get Daddy to pay for her medical bills!"

Tony was still trying to persuade her father to get her a car, so there was no way that she was going to choose for him to pay some stranger's doctor instead. Taylor and I were here on academic scholarships so neither of us had money to spare. So I turned to Abayomi, who responded by whistling and checking out the decor of the restaurant, which we all means no.

"But...but I have no coordination. I can barely play Just Dance. You wouldn't want me for a captain." Tony whined.

"Hey, think of the good news. If you were on the cheerleading team, we'd see each other at every game, since I'm on the football team." Nick piped up. 

Jenny frowned, saying, "Actually, it's called a cheerleading squad."

Tony flashed him a sad smile and then said, "Okay okay. I'll do it."