Chapter 9

News of the bared cheerleader backsides rocketed through the school Wednesday morning, possibly spurred on by the blurry photos of the two shapely asses that had been placed on every bulletin board in the school. I was not surprised when neither Missy nor Lisa showed up for English. There were no confrontations between my entourage and Junior's gang all day. Even Thursday passed with little more than a few barbs hurled across the cafeteria.

School settled back into what passes for normal until lunch on Friday. The football team was playing their last two away games of the season and the week after the last away game was Homecoming. The cheerleaders opened sales of tickets to the Homecoming dance at lunch on Friday.

Luckily, Mrs. Hinckley, the cheerleader coach, was sitting at the table when Bobby, Kenny and Willie decided to buy tickets. Candy Lewis tried to deny them tickets. "We don't need your kind at the dance. You don't support the team anyway."

"Why, Candy Lewis, you know better than that! The dance is open to ALL students, Candy," Mrs. Hinckley said sternly. Bobby said Candy took their money and handed them the tickets, but was pretty unhappy about having to do so.

I was glad I had given Bobby money for two tickets. I had no idea who to take, but I was sure I could sort that out in a week or so. Missy wasn't so lucky. Lisa Stewart and Candy Lewis were very vocal in their refusal to sell her tickets, and Mrs. Hinckley wasn't around to save her.

In fact, Friday's big rumor was that Missy was no longer head cheerleader. In fact, the rumors said she was no longer a cheerleader at all. I knew how hurt Missy would be if it was true, so for the first time in my life, I felt that I had to find out if a school rumor was true. Missy wasn't talking to anyone, however, and after her confrontation with Lisa and Candy, seemed to disappear.

Monday rolled around. The bruises faded away over the weekend, and my knee was back to its normal shape. Life at Ridgemont had returned to normal. The football team managed to win without Junior and Boardman, and although the game had been closer than it might have been, a win was a win. There were no rumors of parties at the lake. All in all, the mood was upbeat.

The only one who seemed down was Missy. She didn't smile when she sat down next to me for English and said little more than hello when I tried to talk to her. She walked between classes by herself, going out of her way to avoid everyone. By the time lunch rolled around, I was convinced that she hadn't said more than was absolutely required to anyone, not even a teacher.

I had a sack filled with leftovers from Tracey's weekend parties, so I walked past the long line of people waiting for the chemistry experiment they were calling meatloaf. I sat down and opened the sack.

"That definitely looks better than the meatloaf, Robinson," Bobby said as he put his tray down and sat opposite me.

I smiled. Tracey's finger sandwiches were a little soggy, but they were definitely better than the institutional meatloaf.

"So, who are you taking to Homecoming, John?" Betty Lou asked as she sat down beside Bobby.

"I haven't decided yet," I answered honestly. "I'm not sure if I even really want to go." I knew I was going. I just felt the urge to tease Bobby a bit.

Bobby stared at me. "No way, John!" he said firmly. This is our last Homecoming, and we need to make it special. We need to make some plans, Robinson!"

I grinned at Bobby's enthusiasm and gave up any pretense of ambivalence. "Okay, Bobby, you're right. We have eight, right? You and Betty Lou, Willie and Amy Sue, Kenny and Lisa, and me and my date," I counted them off on my fingers. Bobby and Betty Lou nodded.

"Any chance Mary Jo and I can horn in on this," Jesse Caldwell asked as he set his tray down next to me.

"Mary Jo and you?" I asked, turning my face to a scowl. "That's new."

"Yeah, well, I, umm, umm..."

"Relax, Jesse," I laughed. "I've got no claim on Mary Jo. You're both welcome as far as I'm concerned." Jesse gave me a scowl of his own before joining my laughter.

Kenny and Lisa had arrived about the same time as Jesse. I looked at Kenny. He nodded. Bobby and Betty Lou did as well.

"Okay, we're ten. I talked to Tracey about this yesterday. She was willing to cater dinner at our place for eight. I'm sure two more won't be a problem. That is if you guys can stomach Tracey's cooking."

Bobby shot me a look. "You talked to Tracey last night, Robinson? What happened to 'I'm not even sure I'm going to go'?"

I couldn't help it, and I laughed out loud at the look on Bobby's face. "I'm sorry, Bobby," I told him. "I just couldn't resist. Did you really think I would miss out on our last Homecoming?"

"You're a punk, Robinson," Bobby said, laughing back. Everyone else joined in the laughter.

"So I am," I grinned. "But what about Tracey cooking for us?"

"Sounds like a good plan, John. The Café, Parker's and Watson's are probably all booked up already. I really didn't want to drive to Oakville for dinner anyway," Bobby replied.

"Tracey's going to want help setting things up and stuff," I added.

"And we should pay her for the food, at least," Jesse said immediately.

"Damn straight," Kenny added.

The rest of lunch was filled with menu ideas and logistics. Getting ten people from my house to the gym took some horse trading, but by the time the bell rang, we were all set.

Betty Lou put her hand on my arm as I started to get up. The rest of the gang wandered off.

"Have you talked to Missy today?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I tried, a bit, in English. Should I try harder?"

"I haven't seen her say two words to anyone, and her 'friends' are shunning her."

"She split out of English and World History before I could say more than 'Hi.' I don't have any more classes with her today."

"She looked a little down in math last period, and I noticed she didn't even come in here for lunch."

"Thanks for the heads up, Betty Lou. You're a good egg."

Betty Lou smiled and headed off to her class.

"Missy, wait up," I yelled when I saw her headed toward the parking lot at the end of the last period.

She turned and looked back at me. Then she turned around and continued on.

I hurried and caught up with her before she could get to her car. "Are you okay, Missy?" I asked, trying to catch my breath.

"I'm just fine, John," she said with a big sigh.

"You've been uncharacteristically quiet today."

"Yeah, well, talking hasn't been helping much."

I must've looked puzzled because she continued with another deep sigh. "Why are you here, John? I mean, you got what you wanted. Junior's lake parties are over. I'm not going with Junior any more. My friends won't talk to me. I'm not even a cheerleader any more. I can't even go to homecoming." Missy yanked her keys out of bag. "Now if you don't mind I'm going to go home and pretend to study because it's all I have left to do. Thank you very much, John Robinson," she ended bitterly.