Shucked (6 page)

What if I was the jerk? If I took
everything my mom did at face value then she was protecting me and sending me a
gift. If it was all true, I was terrible daughter for doubting her. There were
a million times over the years when she could have shipped me off. Her job
wasn’t easy, or stable. It’s not what most parents would want for their kids.
She dragged me all over the world, but it made me the kick ass girl I was
today.

I liked me. I wouldn’t want to be all
of those other kids who grew up living in the same place their whole lives.

But something about this didn’t seem
right. Why now? And where was she?

Chapter Seven

The
next morning, nature’s alarm went off at five. I smacked my pillow over my
head, wishing that rooster was what's for dinner. If it didn't stop, I was
going to break out the fryer.

My
bedroom door flung open. "Time to get up, sleepyhead," Mimi boomed
from the doorway. "Cheerleading practice starts before school."

"What
are you talking about?"

"Joan
called me last night." Mimi ripped the covers off, exposing my
tank-top-and-boxers clad body to the morning chill. "She was so happy to
have some new blood on the team. She's hoping you'll bring that extra zing to
the squad. Most of the girls have been cheering since they were four. Same
girls, same cheers, same uniforms, only bigger. They could use someone like
you."

I sat
up in bed. "Mimi, you know me better than anyone else. You know I can't be
a cheerleader. I don't have pep. The word makes me want to vomit. And all of my
workout clothes are dirty."

Mimi
tossed me a pair of sweatpants that must have been a hundred years old.
"These were your mom's. Put them on and I'll take you to school for
practice. You're going to try it."

I blew
my hair out of my face. "Fine. But I won't like it."

"Cheerleading
runs in your blood, you know."

That
stopped me. I let one leg of the sweatpants dangle over the side of the bed.
"What? Who?" Mimi, my mom, and I were the only women in our family. I
was pretty sure there weren't any mysterious aunts hiding in closets. I glanced
at the old wooden door to my closet. At least, I hoped there was no one in
there.

"I
was a cheerleader." Mimi's chest puffed up, her torpedo boobs pointing
proudly at the seam between my wall and ceiling. "Damn good one too.
Bottom of the pyramid. Strongest cheerleader in the tri-county area."

I
squinted. Not because the morning sun was crawling through my bedroom window,
but because I was trying to imagine Mimi as a young cheerleader. "I need
photographic evidence."

Mimi
pulled her hand away from behind her back, flourishing a picture in the air.
She was always prepared for anything. "Here!"

I
snatched the picture from her hand. Sure enough, that was my Mimi. Torpedo
boobs and all. Except all the cheerleaders had them. Must have been in fashion.
I wonder how many eyes they put out with those things.

The
skirt was longer, down to the knee, but it was the same pleated gray and maroon
as I’d seen yesterday hanging up in the locker room after gym. Mimi's long wool
sweater stood in stark contrast to the teeny belly shirt I'd have to wear.
Would they make me remove my belly button ring? I wasn't even sure anyone knew
I had one. My mom didn't even know.

I
looked back up at Mimi. She was expecting me to say something. "I bet
Gramps thought you were hot stuff in that uniform."

A blush
spread across her normally stoic face. I didn't even know that was possible.
She plucked the photo out of my hand. "He did. That's why we're married
today."

"What's
that mean?"

The
blush only deepened. "Time to get out of bed. I have eggs and bacon
waiting for you downstairs. Every good cheerleader needs lots of protein."
Mimi shut the door behind her, leaving me alone with my mom's ancient purple
sweatpants, made of really thick cotton.

I
looked down at my ankles, cradled by the most horrific elastic I'd ever seen. I
pulled them off, and then searched my laundry basket for a pair of black yoga
pants. I stared at my taekwondo uniform, debated putting it on for shock
effect, then pushed it to the bottom of the basket. If I was going to stay here
and be forced to interact, I didn't need to alienate everyone with my bad
attitude. I'd have to find a way to be me while still navigating my way through
high school. It was going to be the biggest challenge of my life.

After
consuming the high-protein, heart attack-inducing breakfast, I pulled my hoodie
over my head and hopped into Mimi's station wagon. I remembered being embarrassed
by it when I was a kid, but now I thought it was kind of retro cool. I'd
backhand anyone who disagreed with me. It still had the original brown wood on
the side and an 8-track player with a Beach Boys tape stuck in it. We could
listen, but never swap it out. Gramps was good with anything mechanical and had
kept it running all of these years because Mimi claimed she was too old to
learn to drive anything else. Gramps would do anything for her and her torpedo
bra boobs.

I
watched the corn amble by as Mimi drove fifty-five miles per hour. Not one
more, not one less. She slowed at every corner, even the ones without stop
signs, and peered down the road to make sure no one else was coming. "A
kid dies every year speeding through these intersections," she told me at
every corner. Ten minutes later we pulled into the parking lot of the school. A
handful of cars and one tractor dotted the lot. I wondered if a kid drove it to
school or if it belonged to the school. Weird.

"Not
many people here yet," I remarked.

"Just
the girls. Cheerleading, cross country, and soccer," Mimi said, carefully
sliding into a parking spot.

"What?
So the boys all get to sleep in while we have to get up early? Let me guess,
they get the gym and practice fields after school, right? So we little ladies
can go home and make them dinner?"

Mimi
sighed. "Tabitha, the boys are already up and doing chores like milking
the cows. Some of them might be cleaning equipment, getting combines ready for
harvest."

"Oh,
sorry." I felt bad. I really did.

"There's
a lot of you have to learn about how our little farming community works. Try to
hold your judgments to yourself until you learn the truth."

I
nodded, my hand on the door handle. Mimi put the car in park and turned off the
engine. While yesterday I didn't want her to leave me alone at school, today I
didn't want her anywhere near cheerleading. I had to do this on my own. If I
walked in there with Mimi, the girls would eat me alive. Or worse, they'd think
I'd been put on the team because of Mimi and Mrs. Jordan’s bridge club
friendship.

"I
got this, Mimi," I said with a smile. Her eyes narrowed. Damn! A smile was
the wrong tactic. I quickly erased it from my face, replacing it with a scowl.
"I mean, I'll go in there, but I won't like it."

I
stared her down, but she locked eyes with me. She was good, too good. Mom was
right, I was a lot like Mimi, but I could win this by trying a new tactic.
Something unexpected.

"I'm
really nervous, but if you walk in there with me, it'll only make me look like
a baby who can't handle herself. I know you were a cheerleader and probably
think they're all great girls, but I saw them in the hall at school yesterday.
They want to eat me alive. And one of them's already mad because supposedly her
boyfriend broke up with her because of me. I can't show any weakness. I just
can't."

Mimi
shook her head. "You've been hanging out with Becky too much. You're
already talking like her." She started the car. "Get out of here
before I change my mind."

"Thank
you, Mimi. You're the best."

"I
know. See you after school.”

I
grabbed my bag, which I'd filled with school clothes and all the stuff I'd need
to take a shower in the locker room, and jumped out of the car. I waved over my
shoulder and it was met with a simple nod from Mimi as she drove out of the
parking lot.

Squaring
my shoulders, I walked toward the gym, prepared to wow them with my skills, but
scared to death that I was about to experience the biggest failure of my life.

Chapter Eight

"Welcome
to cheerleading, Miss Smith," Mrs. Jordan said when I walked into the gym.
"The girls are warming up over there. Join them and they'll tell you what
you need to do."

I
nodded, keeping my stride firm and my chin up. I wouldn't let them see how
nervous I actually was. Stupid, right? Nervous of being around a bunch of girls
my age who I could totally beat up if I wanted to.

They
all looked up in unison, staring at me through their highlighted bangs. They
all had the same exact haircut. I tried not to shudder. I would not become a
clone.

"Hi,"
I said, with a calmness that surprised even me. "I'm Tabitha."

"We
know who you are," the first blond girl said. "I'm Britney." She
pointed to the girl next to her. "Brittany." Then the girl on her
other side. "Brit." The girl behind Britney raised her hand.
"I'm Brit-Brit." The small girl, probably the top of the pyramid
smiled. "And I'm Britney Lynn."

I held
my breath. I wasn't sure whether I should laugh or cry.

The
first Britney grinned, showing me all of her perfectly white straight teeth.
"We're totally messing with you. I'm Jan." She jumped up, offering
her hand to me. I took it, giving it a firm shake.

"You
had me." I laughed, despite my pre-conceived notion of these girls.
"I fell for it."

"We
figured you would," the tiny girl said. She started doing a set of jumping
jacks. "I'm Callie. It's great to meet you, Tabitha, instead of just
seeing you skulk around all summer. There was no reason to be afraid of us.
We're really excited to see if you can breathe some life into our cheering
squad. When Mrs. Jordan told us you had a black belt in taekwondo, we got super
excited. I hope you can teach us some really rad moves.”

I
smiled and dropped my bag on the bleachers "I'd like that. And maybe you
can teach me to be, um, peppy? What's first?"

The
other cheerleaders spent the next fifteen minutes doing a warm-up. I kept up
easily, glad I'd spent all that time running over the summer.

Jan
stood up in front of the group, clapping her hands to get our attention.
"We're going to start out with something simple today. Callie, show
Tabitha how you climb up on Tallie's shoulders."

"Callie
and Tallie?" I looked over the tiny, curly-haired girl and the hulking
brunette next to her. "What? Are you guys twins or something?"

"Actually,"
Tallie said, "we are twins. I'm older than Callie by four minutes."

I
looked back and forth at them. "Seriously? I was just kidding because your
names rhyme."

"We're
fraternal," Callie said with a smile.

Well,
that was a no-brainer. Tallie looked more like a bodyguard than a high school
cheerleader. But someone had to be the bottom of the pyramid.

"So,
why do I need to know how Callie climbs on her sister's shoulders?" I
asked, watching as Tallie squatted, holding her hands behind her back. Callie
hoisted herself up with one foot, and then in one smooth motion, Tallie flung
Callie up onto her shoulders. Standing with both feet firmly in place.
"That's pretty impressive."

"Now
it's your turn," Jan said, pointing to another girl whose name I hadn't
caught.

"Mine?"
I pointed at my chest. I looked up at Callie grinning as she balanced on her
sister's shoulders. "You want me to do that?"

"Yeah.
That's not going to be a problem, is it?" Jan asked, her hands on her
hips. Suddenly I didn't feel so sure they were being nice to me. Who does
mounts on their first day? "I mean, it sounds like you're so tough and all
that. Get up and show us."

I was
tough, but I'd never stood on another person's shoulders before. Shouldn't
there be some kind of trust formed first? A bond like Tallie and Callie's was
obvious. I had nothing but apprehension for whats-her-name over there. Instead
of telling them I wasn't ready, I threw back my shoulders and smiled.
"Okay. No problem."

I stuck
out a hand toward the other cheerleader. "Hi, I'm Tabitha."

She
turned her back on me, squatted down, and thrust out her hands, just like
Tallie had done for her sister. I placed my hands on the girl's shoulders and
hefted myself up. Without any warning, she launched me into the air, my arms
and legs flailing.

Panic
swept through me as I imagined landing on the gym floor, my head cracking open,
and my brains spilling out everywhere. I closed my eyes, forcing my body flat
with my shoulders up and my toes pointing toward the ceiling. I landed with a
thud on my back, smacking my arms out to the side. I laid there for a second
before allowing my head and feet to touch the floor. Taekwondo didn't just
teach me how to fight and defend, it also taught me how to land by distributing
the impact across my trunk. I leapt up, my hands in fists at my sides.