She must hate me now…

            Duh… Of course she does you ***** head… You just humiliated her last night…An imaginary hand slapped the back of Nicole’s head.

            Okay, so I went there to prove a point…That I am not attracted to her and that her kiss had not been branded on my lips and in my heart…But as soon as she opened the door and I saw her in a night shirt… I completely forgot what I was supposed to do except that I wanted to be with her… That scared the ***** out of me…and after making love…
             Oh, that sounded good… Not just ***** but making love… And as I lay in her arms… I realized that I Nicole Julian, second in command of the cheerleading squad, one of the most popular girls in school – is actually falling…

            “Nicky…”

            Nicole’s mental tirade burst with a pop.

            “Where were you last night?” Mary Cherry asked.

            Nicole froze. “At home…”

            “No, you weren’t…” Mary Cherry said. “I called your house and your maid said you went out. I tried your handset but it was turned off…”

            “Oh, yeah… I went out for a while… I must have left my phone switched off…”

            “Oh, okay…” Mary Cherry sounded satisfied with the answer.

            Nicole turned back her earlier task but she realized the troop were nowhere to be seen. She bit her lips. Damn… Oh, wait… There they are… Huh… Spam is at her side again. What’s up with that girl? Can’t she find someone else to cling to?

            ****************************

            Brooke squinted in the harsh glare of the sun overhead. She could barely see the track team going through their routines among the heat line that emanated from the tracks. It had to be at least ninety degrees and with each step, her sneakers sank into the sticky tar.

            She looked around to see where her squad is. She saw Poppy talking to one of the athletes while Mary Cherry was…err… Sunbathing? She couldn’t tell but she was sitting in the middle of the field in a lounge chair, putting suntan oil on her legs. Whatever… Brooke shook her head. Nicole was nowhere to be seen.