Snitch (11 page)

“We need volunteers to help us with this next cheer! We have everyone’s name in this box
,
and if we call your name
, come on
down!” she announced.

The crowd answered her as
Tammera
and Catherine flounced to the center of the gym with a box decorated in green and gold.

Tammera
drew out a piece of paper and leaned forward into the microphone. “Angela Smith
, c
ome on down!”

Screams came from the stands as Angela’s friends pushed her up from her seat and down the steps to take her place in the center of the gym.
Chrissy
gave her a set of signs and directions as to what to do while Catherine pull
ed the next name.

“Simon
Indago
, c
ome on down!”

Simon quickly stood up holding his arms in the air for recognition. His friends slapped him on the back
,
grunting and raising their fists in the air before Simon ran down the steps to where
Chrissy
was holding our school’s large stuffed mascot. Roaring for the audience, Simon grabbed
the tiger and held it in the air as the crowd cheered even louder. He was so involved performing for the crowd, it took
Chrissy
three tries before she got him to stand to the right of the cheerleading line.

I knew how he felt; sometimes I feel like that too when the crowd is screaming for me. Once the nervousness of standing in front of the entire school goes away, it just feels good.

Chrissy
cal
led
out the
last name. “Kate
DuPrey
,
come on
down!”

The crowd yelled again
,
craning their necks for a look at Kate who didn’t stand up right away. Reluctan
tly she rose, shaking her head—probably pushed up by
the people next to her
—and
impelled by the crowd and their cheers. Kate smiled her quiet smile and nervou
sly walked to
Chrissy
who put a sign
in her hands and placed her next to Angela. After a few more directions, the cheerleading squad lined up behind the girls and Simon.

“We’re going to do a cheer and
it’s you
we need to hear!”
Chrissy
chanted
. “When we say, ‘Give us an inch’, you say, ‘We’ll take a yard’. When we say, ‘We’ll drive the ball,’ you say, ‘and fight them hard’! Got it?”

The crowd growled
,
making
Chrissy
smile. She took her place as the cheerleaders
,
with their hands on their hips
,
faced the crowd
. She
checked Kate and Angela who both nodded once to let her know they were ready.

They began.

“Squad!
Ready! Give us an inch!” they screamed, clapping their hands to the side.

“We’ll take a yard!” the crowd answered.

“We’ll drive the ball!” the cheerleaders
yelled, bouncing and clapping to the other side.

“And fight them hard!”

The noise was unbelievable as the cheerleading squad repeated the chant and the crowd answered. The second time through, Kate and Angela
, standing next to one another,
held up their signs each time the
cheer began. By the third time
both girls
,
caught up in the moment
,
held their signs high while the crowd yelled even louder. Even Kate seemed to have been taken away by the noise and the excitement.

Suddenly
Chrissy
appeared between Angela and Kate
,
pushing Angela a few steps right and Kate a few steps left. She shook her green and gold pompoms addressing the crowd. The girls moved to opposite ends of the cheerleading line holding their signs high as the cheerleaders stepped forward and repeated the cheer once again.

And then things went wrong. The tone of the crowd cha
nged from cheering to jeering. Instead of clapping
,
the crowds pointed and laughed.

And all of it was directed at Kate.

As Kate turned to
Chrissy
with a horrified look on her face, I saw what it was all about.

When Angela and Kate held
their signs together they said “
GIVE US N INCH
.” But apart, Angela’s said, “
GIVE U
.
”

That left Kate standing in front of the whole school holding a sign that said, “S-N-INCH.”

Mrs. Johnson, the school counselor,
made a beeline
over to Kate, grabbing her signs and leading her away. Miss Jacobs, the cheerleading coach, took Angela’s signs and motioned for the cheerleaders to stop.

The cheerleaders were confused, but I saw what I saw.

Everyone in the cheerleading line was clueless except
Chrissy
:
Chrissy
was beaming.

As we were ushered back to our classes, the contrast between the students and the teachers was obvious. Kids were loud, their voices echoing my thoughts.

“How could anyone do that?”

“That was totally messed up!”

Then I heard the opposite view
.

“That was awesome!”

“Did you see that?
S-n-n-n-itch!”

Teachers, on the other hand
,
were quiet in an angry sort of way. Subtle, knowing looks were exchanged
,
and every time their eyes met they shook their heads in disbelief.

We had been excused to our advisory classes and once there most kids spent the next ten minutes talking amongst themselves, but I watched Mr. Jones, my history teacher. His grim face let me know how angry he was, and his attention to his email alerted me to the fact that something was happening.

I sat quietly by myself in the corner of the room waiting for the dismissal bell, watching everything play out, my stomach turning as I felt the weight of everything settle on my shoulders. Part of me didn’t want to see Liz and her ready anger, but the other part needed to help ease Kate’s embarrassment. Kate had become my friend, and she hadn’t done
anything
to deserve the public shame piled upon her.

I tried to imagine what it felt like to be Kate. I knew what standing in front of the whole school felt like, but to be jeered instead of cheered was something I couldn’t even fathom.

Mr. Perkin
s
’
voice exploded from the intercom.

“You need to sit down and listen!” Mr. Jones commanded.

Even
with all the hallway drama
which
accompanied
the excitement of
our
pep assembly gone wrong
and the dismissal
bell about to ring,
our
class went pin-drop quiet and
we
took
our
seats to listen.
We didn’t know what was coming; we just knew it was inevitable.

“Ninth
-
grade students will report to advisory tomorrow before first period. Teachers, there will be a short meeting at 4:05 in the library after school today. Please do not be late.”

The intercom popped off and Mr. Jones stood facing us, his arms folded, his face set in admonishment. This time everyone saw it.

No one said a word until after the bell rang; our teachers were organizing.

Hate      Like       IDK                             

Liz hadn’t answered my calls all night. Finally, she picked up.

“I’ve called you about ten times!” I told her.

“I’m sorry. I’m busy. I’m at Kate’s; she’s a mess.”

“This whole thing is a mess.” My stomach tightened again, but I was glad Liz wasn’t angry with me or my friends.

“I knew
Chrissy
was a bitch, but I didn’t know she was a psychotic
one
! Mr. Perkins has been here trying to talk to Kate’s parents, but Kate has to interpret and she keeps breaking down. It’s horrible.”

“Can I do anything?” I asked.

“Just be t
here for Kate,
” Liz paused. “Have you ever known anyone as hateful as
Chrissy
? What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s
Chrissy
. Making other people feel like shit is what she does best.”

“Well, she went too far this time. Kate’s father is furious. He’s not going to let her come back to school for a while until things get sorted out. It’s weird; when he talks to Kate’s mom, he doesn’t make a sound, but I can hear him screaming just by watching him sign. Usually that’s
when Kate’s mom starts crying
,
which makes him ‘scream’ even louder. He
will
get to the bottom of this
,
and we all know who planned it. It’s sick. It’s just sick.”

“Do you think
Chrissy
will get away with this?”

“Oh, no.
They’re calling in the cops
,” s
he
explaine
d. “And
,
Andy, it’s not just
Chrissy
they
’
re going after. It’s everyone and anyone who has anything to do with this. Kate’s
d
ad is pissed and looking for blood.”

I stopped breathing and hoped Johnny had kept himself far from all of this. I would have to find out for sure.

***

The next day the whole school was buzzing. I figured it would be that way. Even the upperclassmen knew what had happened because Nick stopped me in the hallway to talk about it.

“That’s one mean cheerleader,” he said
, tucking his phone away
.