Lesson by Her [Book 1]

Chapter 17

"So did Ms. Quinn totally catch you out for cheating?" Cora asked as she wrapped a ribbon around her high ponytail. The girls' changing room at West High was a heady mix of perfume and hair spray as the cheerleading squad prepared for their Tuesday night practice.

At practice, you could always tell the juniors and sophomores from the seniors, who were more meticulous about how much effort they had put into their appearance. The younger members of the squad would wear the standard uniform, often creased, and rarely tied their hair up for practice.

They wore the obligatory white Converse sneakers, but on weekdays, they would be scuffed. It was only the seniors who really took pride in their uniform for practices, as they knew they were drawing closer to the inevitable day when they'd cheer for the last time.

The seniors were trying to savor the experience while their younger teammates were still just taking it for granted, as they themselves had done when it had been them. "Yeah, totally." Dusty sighed, forcing herself to sound despondent.

"She's like a hot evil genius," Cora declared, checking her reflection in her handheld mirror as she slicked on some red lipstick. Dusty was in the middle of lacing up her shoes when her cell phone vibrated on the bench beside her.

Surprised, she checked it. The only person to usually text her during school hours was Cora, and she was standing right beside her. Dusty felt her heart flutter when she realized that she'd received a message from Valentine.

Without realizing, she turned crimson and tried to discreetly read the contents of the message.

Can you come to my office after practice? I have a surprise for you :) x

Dusty had no idea what the surprise could be, but she was giddy with excitement at the thought of finding out. "You texting a someone?" Cora asked with sudden interest when she spied the coy smile that had spread across Dusty's face.

"What?" Dusty looked up in shamed surprise.

"Or are you sexting them?" Cora continued to pry, her eyes wide with intrigue. "Come on, spill, who is it?"

Dusty could feel a number of eyes upon her as she sat on the bench, her cell phone gripped tightly in her hand. She knew that she had to say something or else she risked them snatching her phone and ruining everything. If there was one thing she had learned, it was that girls could be vicious in their pursuit of gossip.

"It's just someone I met." Dusty shrugged.

"Tell me more," Cora demanded.

"There isn't much to tell. She's a bit older, and I'm just getting to know her."

"Ooh—an older girl, I love it." Cora beamed.

"See, Cora, you're totally off the hook for getting with Justin since Dusty has already found herself a mystery person," Farah said spitefully from across the room, where she was covering herself in a mist of cheap perfume.

Cora looked pained by the comment and averted her eyes to the floor. "Hey, how are things with Justin?" Dusty asked, wanting to reassure her teammate that she was pleased about their blossoming romance.

"They're good." Cora nodded overenthusiastically. "He can just be a bit, you know, distant. But then, he's a guy, and guys are like that." Before Dusty could offer any words of comfort, the team began filing out of the changing room, ready for practice.

**** 

After an hour of jumps, shouts and splits, Dusty's hair was still immaculate; more a reflection of how much hair spray she used than anything else. The girls all filtered back into the changing room, but Dusty hung back.