Chapter 43: Chapter 43

“Do I want to know what you and Aaron were talking about?”

Siobhan was adjusting the band of her cheer shorts. She leaned down to look into my face, a mischievous grin on her face. I feigned a frown.

“Nope, you do not want to know.”

She put her arms akimbo. “Why not? Since when did we start hiding things from each other, Bianca Davis? I thought we were best friends?”

“We still are, stop being so dramatic.”

“Well?”

I eyed her suspiciously. “Why is it so important to you?” She pulled a face and I regretted being so harsh on her. “It’s between Aaron and me. I did what you said, I had a talk with him. I wasn’t so sure about it at first but I gave in eventually. We haven’t concluded our conversation so…I guess we’ll know later this evening.”

I rose from where I was stashing my normal school shoes into my bag. Siobhan suddenly grabbed my face between her hands. “See, Bibi, I love you, I hope you know that. I want the best for you. Whatever happens, I’m always here for you. If things don’t go well between you and Aaron I’ll be here to give you a shoulder to cry on.”

I smiled. “You always have to be the pessimist don’t you?” I held her hand in mine. “But I know you do wish me well. Thanks.”

“Hayes and Davis we don’t have all day!” Coach called out to us. “Let’s make good use of Dan and Gideon’s shoulders shall we?”

We left our bags on the benches and went to join the others. There on the field was Shewa in shorts and a tank top watching as we took our positions to practice our cheers.

“Since when did you become a cheerleader, Shewa?” I asked.

“Since never time. I’m just here on the field for some hot news to report this Friday on the radio.”

“Good luck with that.”

“And you too. Don’t break a leg before you make your decision,” she winked and mouthed. “Between Andre and Aaron.”

I rolled my eyes. I guess I should be thankful she hasn’t cornered me in my apartment to ask me about them already. Whatever she thinks she knows, tonight will change it.

We came up with a new cheer. It’s one where we call the players’ names while they play then we chant and do this clap and tap rhythm with her hands and feet. For example; “Ian!”

“Shoot the ball, Sho-Shoot the ball! Hey!”

“Aaron! Shoot the ball Sho-Shoot the ball! Hey!”

Then Coach came up with how we would use Gideon and Dan’s shoulders, when the boys aren’t playing well enough we cheerleaders would then switch our chants to a beat of hands on our thighs and the stamping of our feet. Then in between that, we would chant “EAC! Hey! Hey! Gooooo EAC!” after that Dan and Gideon might lift two girls for a final pump of pom poms in the air.

At this point three girls would do some stunts and the climax of that would be to balance on Dan and Gideon’s shoulders. Since Janet was the strongest girl in the squad she would lend a shoulder too. The three girls Coach picked were me, Eva, and Siobhan.

So we practiced all afternoon and when it became too dark to see and we became too exhausted, Coach decided it was time to end practice for the day. The boys were just concluding their practice too. I was surprised to see Mr. Jorge talking to them at the court.

“You boys are doing great,” he was saying. “I know how much this means to some of you, especially those of you hoping to get scouted this weekend. But you should remember to rest too and save your strength for the big game.”

“Yes, sir.”

“School is off on Friday so you all can rest.”

The other students who had been watching the game began to cheer when Mr. Jorge raised his hands to silence them. “Not for the whole school, for the Senior Class 3 only,” he corrected.

They muttered their disappointment. We on the other hand were glad to have a day off school. Saturday was the big game and we need all the time we have to mentally prepare ourselves for it.

“Well done guys. I should also appreciate the cheerleaders, you are doing great. I know we can bring the gold cup home and not just that, when you all return on Saturday we will have future Basketball stars among us.”

“Sure, Mr. Jorge,” Coach Fletcher assured him.

He dismissed us and we went to our apartments to go get cleaned up and ready for dinner. I went to my apartment, unlocked it, and resisted the urge to fall asleep on the bed because I was so exhausted. I still had my duties to perform during dinner and there was the issue with Aaron.

I took off my sweat-soaked cheer uniforms and put them in the hamper. I stood under the shower for a long time, letting the hot water loosen my tight muscles. I was so tired that standing there under the jets of water was pure luxury. After a while, I stepped out of the shower and grabbed my towel. I had just finished brushing my hair and putting the wet blonde strands in a high ponytail when a shriek cut through the calm of the night.

An apartment door was suddenly thrown open and the scream got louder. I dropped my brush and hurried to throw my front door open. I wasn’t the only one running to see what the cause of the scream was. And what we saw shocked us all.

There in the middle of the quarters, beside the swimming pool was a naked Eva clutching her hand to her chest, her body wet and slippery with soap.

“Eva, what the heck? What happened?” someone asked. Becca ran to her.

She was trembling like a leave. Even her wet hair trembled.

“T-there was a m-man. I s-s-swear there was a man who came through my balcony d-door.”

More doors opened and more seniors came out to know what the commotion was all about.

“Are you sure?” I asked, my legs automatically moving forward to help her. I looked up and some boys who had come out as soon as they heard her scream were already making their way into her apartment to see if there was anyone lurking around. While they searched around I wrapped my hands around Eva. “Can someone get me a towel please?”

Siobhan was already running over with a towel before I finished talking. I wrapped it around her trembling shoulders. She was shaking so hard that her teeth were chattering. She was even crying, but I guess I will be scared shitless too if a random person showed up on my balcony…Andre!

“I am not lying, Bianca. You have to believe m-me. He was t-there! R-r-right there dressed in black!”

“I believe you,” I assured her. Now where’s Andre?

I looked up and saw him come out of Eva’s apartment with Aaron, Ian and Gideon. His eyes met mine and a moment passed between us. His eyes told me what I needed to know. He wasn’t the one.

“Did you guys find anything?” Janet and Adeline asked, both of them already shaking.

“Eva, do you remember what this man looked like? What he was wearing?”

She shivered and clung tightly to me. “He was tall I t-think, he had a black jacket on…I couldn’t see what else but I noticed his shoes when he scrammed for the balcony when I began to scream. It was a worn-out Nike.”

Aaron raised his right hand, he was holding the left leg of a worn-out Nike shoe. Eva trembled harder.

“Yes! That’s it!” she cried.

“Oh my God, we have to report this! We are not safe!”