Chapter 6: Shake It, Don't Break It

A Chapter by Tina Bee

The second day was like the first. I sat in Mr. Burkedale's room for the entire class time to my surprise and I even answered, correctly I might add, three questions. At lunch time I sat with Violetta and Amber. Violetta was excitedly chattering about her try-out.

"So last night I practiced all types of cartwheels and booty shaking routines," Violetta said to us as she chomped on a piece of celery.

"Hopefully you make the team," I chimed and Violetta brightened up.

"I just know I will. There's no reason I shouldn't, right Amber?" Violetta asked Amber who wasn't as talkative today as she was yesterday.

"You'll do fine," Amber muttered and Violetta and I exchanged puzzled looks.

"What's wrong?" Violetta asked and Amber squirmed in her seat before she spoke.

"I've been having nightmares again, you know, about Eliza," Amber confessed and I straightened up.

"What kind of nightmares?" I asked.

"I keep seeing her running through a field and that sicko is chasing after her," Amber said and by now I'd stopped eating.

"Can you see his face?" Violetta asked feverishly.

"No, but I can see him with a baseball cap on," Amber said and Violetta took out a some loose leaf paper from her backpack along with a pen.

"Describe the cap," Violetta said to Amber.

"Okay, well it's reddish, orange with some type of writing on the front that I can't make out," Amber explained to Violetta who had written down everything word for word.

"Sometimes Ambers' dreams come true," Violetta said to me looking up.

"That's incredible," I said with my mouth hanging open.

"No, it's a curse," Amber said and her face looked absolutely devastated.

I didn't have time to ask her what she meant because the bell rang and it was time for our next class. We all went our separate ways, but throughout Mrs. Quinn's class I brooded over the details of Amber's dream. Meanwhile I got more anonymous text messages about Rick, Kimmi, Daisy, and one really odd one about Langston. I told that person who sent that particular text message to f**k off. I saw something fidgeting in class and when I took a hard look at them their gaze dropped.

As soon as class let out I cornered them in the hallway.

"Who told you that?" I asked and the person looked at me.

"It's just a rumor," the person said.

"Honestly, Pete, I had more faith in you than that," I said to him and her cowered.

Peter Lopez was a good friend of Sonny's. Even though he was just a freshmen Pete had been held back in the sixth grade. He mostly spent time with Sonny in the streets selling whatever they could to crackheads downtown by 4th avenue. Pete was shorter than me with wavy brown hair and luminous green eyes. His pale skin was translucent at the moment out of fear.

"Please, don't tell sonny," Pete begged me.

There were students passing us giving condemning looks to me, but I ignored them. What Pete had sent me needed to be squashed right away for my own benefit.

"I won't and I better not read anything about that again. There's no truth to it so forget it!" I said to Pete in my most serious voice.

"So you're not pregnant?" Pete asked me and I almost slapped him.

"Hell no," I answered and walked away from him in time to get to Ms. Reynolds art class.

All period long Celia kept trying to make conversation with me. I just grunted answers to most of her questions and finally she gave up. At the end of class I walked out just as she was telling me about her and mom going on a shopping trip.

"She's picking me up, aren't you coming?" Celia asked when she saw I was going in the opposite direction of the school's main pick up and drop off area.

"No, I'm meeting some friends," I answered her with my back turned toward the gym.

"Oh, well see you tomorrow," Celia said and I just rolled my eyes as marched forward to watch Violetta shake her stuff.

Amber and I sat at the bleachers inside the gym that had been pulled out for spectators. Many other girls surrounded us, but they were far enough away from us that I could ask Amber about her dreams.

"How long have they been going on?" I asked her.

Today she wore bright pink jeans with a lime green shirt. Her make up consisted of pink lip gloss and dark green eye shadow.

"Sine I was twelve," she said to me.

The gym was about one hundred long and sixty square feet wide. The floor was a yellowish brownish colored that was glossed over so that slipping during basketball games was decreased. The bleachers on which we sat were navy blue.

The three head cheerleaders, two female and one male, were sitting at the other end of the gymnasium. In front of them was a rectangular table that had papers all over it. The male had a speaker phone next to him.

"Like I said earlier, that's incredible, but you don't look happy about it," I said to Amber and she pressed her lips together.

"It's stressful seeing things that others can't. I want to call the police and give them this lead, but they'll think I'm crazy," Amber said to me and I felt her pain.

"Maybe for now just write your down what you see and if you finally get to see the perverts face then call the police with a description," I said to Amber, but she couldn't respond because the guy on the speaker phone spoke.

"Alright ladies let's get this started, first up, Violetta Fabrizio," he said and Amber stood up and cheered.

Everyone was looking at us crazily, but with Amber's enthusiasm I stood up and began hollering too.

Music started playing on a boom box on the floor. Violetta got up from a spot where six other girls, who I assumed were competing too, sat in anticipation.

Violetta pirouetted onto the middle of the floor and began moving to the music, who's genre was pop. She was on beat and made no mistakes. By the end of her performance, which lasted three minutes, a strand of hair was in the middle of her face. This only enhanced her beauty.

When she was done we sat and watched the other girls perform. Most were good, but in my honest opinion they did not hold a candle to Violetta who now sat as still as a lioness in the jungle waiting to pounce. She wore a pair of blue gym shorts and a white tank top with ballet shoes.

"She used to be a ballerina," Amber whispered to me.

I squinted trying to imagine a little Violetta in a Tu-Tu spinning on her tip-toes. From her performance earlier it was easy to do that.

After thirty minutes the try-outs were over and every girl trying out was allowed to go sit with her friends while the judges deliberated. Violetta came up to us and she sat down without a word. I knew it was nerves so I decided not to speak and Amber did the same. I did, however, check my cell phone to read a text the Greg had sent me explaining that he'd pick me up in twenty minutes from the front of the school. I responded with an, "ok."

It didn't take long for the decisions to be made. There were three spots and seven girls which meant the four would be sent home to cry out their misery.

"This is intense," I said to both Violetta and Amber.

"I know, but V is going to make it," Amber said cheerfully.

"Those other girls were really good," Violetta said in a voice so sad I thought she would need a Prozac to pep her up.

"You were the best," I told her and she smiled weakly.

The seven girls were called down to the floor and the male cheerleader stood up. I looked at him for a moment and then realized I knew him. He was the hall monitor, Andrew, from yesterday. My heart began skipping beats and I stared at his chiseled features and built body that was even apparent all the way over here.

"Will the following girl please come up to the floor, Connie Dempsey, Wilma Hearst, Sandra Frost," he said stopping at just three names.

I held my breath and Amber let out a soft cry in defeat as the three girls went to the designated spot.

"She didn't make it," Amber said and it was likes she was reading my mind.

"Girls, I'm sorry, but you didn't make the team. Feel free to try out again next year," Andrew said and Amber and I looked at each other in disbelief, "anyone still sitting, congratulations, you just made this years Varsity cheerleading team."

Other groups of girls stood up and cheered. The friends of the losers exited quickly after their failed competitor. Amber and I carefully made our way down to the gym floor where we hugged and congratulated Violetta who was in shock.

"I did it! I did it! Myra, you said I could do it and I did! Thank you so much!" Violetta said as she and I twirled around holding hands like elementary school girls.

"I knew you could," I gleamed at Violetta.

"Now that the easy parts over, now on to the hard stuff," Andrew began this time coming toward us without the speaker phone.

"Practice is four days a week for three hours after school. We practice in the gym and sometimes in the fields. Here at Graham High we're lucky enough to have a football field where games are played so there isn't much travel except for home games. You're expected to purchase the uniforms, shoes, hair ties, and socks. Be prepared to run. You four have made the team, but there's nothing holding anyone of us back from cutting you," Andrew said sternly and we all nodded our heads as he spoke.

Andrew then handed out paperwork to each girl and wished them luck.

"He's hot," Amber said loud enough for Andrew to hear.

When he came to give Violetta her papers he spoke to me.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better, Myra," Andrew said and I felt like dying.

"Yea, I am, thanks," I said quickly feeling my face going warm.

"Looks like I'll be seeing you tomorrow," Andrew said to Violetta and walked away.

"You know him?" Amber asked me with her eyes wide open in shock.

"We met briefly yesterday," I said playing off my indifference.

Amber looked envious, but played it off with excitement for Violetta.

"If only I could move like you," Amber said to her.

By now we were walking out of the gym and into the side parking lot where the PE teachers and seniors parked. Violetta explained how her parents, so disconcerted by her decision to return to school, had purchased her a car four days ago from a used lot.

"It's a piece of junk, but it gets us around," Violetta said and Amber laughed.

"Yea it doesn't compare to Cameron's ride, but it drives," Amber added on.

The car was a silver Dodge Neon with four doors. I thought it looked really nice, but I didn't know much about cars so I kept my mouth shut.

"Well ladies, this was nice, but my ride is waiting at the front of the school," I told them.

"Oh, do you want us to walk you over there?" Amber asked quickly.

"No, I will text message you along the way. If two minutes goes by between the texts and I haven't reached the car yet get worried, but otherwise I'll be fine," I said and Amber looked a little relieved.

"We can't be too certain of things anymore," Amber said to me and her words rang so true through my mind.

I wasn't sure when the shock of Eliza's abduction and murder would leave us, but I hoped it was sooner rather than later.

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