One of the Girls (Friendzone #1) Read online

  “Uh…” What was I going to say? Oh yeah, the team. “You made the team,” I sputtered. I’d only gone mute for a moment, but it was long enough to make me feel stupid. Hopefully Nick didn’t notice.

  “Seriously?” He shot up straight. His departure from my personal space was enough to ground me back in reality.

  “Yes, seriously. Do you think I’d lie to you about that?”

  “This is awesome!” he replied. Before I knew what was happening, he swept me into a tight hug. I maintained my composure this time, even though I couldn’t think past how nice it felt to be appreciated. Especially against his surprisingly firm chest. But as quickly as it started, the embrace was over. He pulled back abruptly and held me by the arms, his face panic stricken.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, worried by how worried he looked.

  Nick let go of me and brought his hands to his face, steepled over his nose and mouth. He drew in a large breath and held it, then dropped his hands in his lap. His shoulders sagged. “I have no idea how I’m going to tell my grandpa,” he answered. I reached out to place a comforting hand on his knee and he froze, glancing at it before looking back to me.

  Great, did I make him uncomfortable? I figured benign touching would be okay. I mean, he’d practically smothered me a second ago. I gave his leg a quick squeeze and pulled my hand back, then went into captain mode. “I’m here for you if you need help figuring it out. I’ll even tell him for you, if you want.”

  He relaxed a little, and the smile returned to his face. “As much as I’d love to take you up on the offer, my punishment will be worse if I don’t own it like a man.”

  “Punishment? Like, a literal punishment?” I gasped. “Oh my gosh! You aren’t going to get grounded or something, are you?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “Nothing like that. It’ll be more of a silent treatment thing.”

  I frowned. “You really think your family will be that opposed to you joining the cheer team?”

  “Not my family, just my grandpa. He’s kind of an old-school man’s man type. Mom already knows I tried out, and she’s all for it. I was waiting to tell my dad. He’ll be disappointed for sure. Not because I’m joining cheer, but because I’m quitting football. He played in college, and it’s always been his dream for me to follow in his footsteps.”

  I tipped my head to the side and asked, “Then why are you quitting?”

  Nick shrugged. “Because it’s not my dream.”

  “And cheering is?” I cocked a curious eyebrow.

  “I don’t know about that.” He laughed. “But what I do know is that I’m stoked to be Roosevelt’s first male cheerleader.” He gave me a goofy grin. It melted my insides a little bit.

  “Well then, welcome to the team.” I held out my hand, and he shook it firmly. “It’s a fun group. You’ll have fifteen instant girlfriends, whether you want them or not.”

  “I don’t need fifteen.” Nick winked. “One should do the trick.”

  My breath stalled. I’m sure he didn’t have one specific girl in mind. If so, it certainly wasn’t me. He’d been teasing. I think. Holy crap, it was hot in here. I needed a fan. Or a glass of water. Maybe less clothing. No, that would be bad. More clothing. I needed more clothing. And a cold shower—in my clothes.

  The amount of heat coursing through my body was completely inappropriate. I was his new teammate, his captain. I had a responsibility to mentor him and teach him. Forget the fact that I wasn’t allowed to date right now. Under no circumstances was I to develop a crush. Nick Moody needed to stay squarely in the friend zone. Because ladies were always professional. And gosh dang it, I was a lady.

  Chapter 7

  Mia and I were having a real conversation. I mean, it was small talk, but that didn’t make it any less real. I owed Sean big time for pulling those girls away. I should find a mug or a T-shirt that said World’s Best Wingman. Of course, I couldn’t give him all the credit. Mia and I had been sitting here for twenty minutes, and I hadn’t botched things up yet.

  As if talking to her wasn’t surreal enough, she told me I made the team. I was suppressing a ridiculous amount of giddy right now. Like honest to goodness giggles bubbling under the surface. Maybe estrogen is contagious? I probably should have been more stressed, given the looming consequences. Still, all things considered, I wasn’t sure this evening could get much better.

  Eventually, Sean managed to lose his freshmen shadows and Stacie came back with sodas. The couch was more of an oversize love seat, so the four of us were squished together. I had zero complaints, because it left Mia and I practically attached at the hip. We were arguing with Sean and Stacie over which class was worse, English lit or European history, when this guy named Clint approached us.

  “Hey, Mia,” he greeted her, not bothering to acknowledge the rest of us.

  She looked up at him. “Hey, Clint. How are you?”

  “Good. This party’s crazy, huh?”

  “Yeah, it’s a little wild.” She nodded with a smile.

  There was a long pause. “Sorry about Cole,” he finally blurted.

  I bet Mia was sick of people bringing it up. I’d have told him to bug off, but she handled it graciously. “Thanks, but I’m pretty much over it.” Her tone was light, though not entirely convincing. I wondered if she still had feelings for Cole.

  “That’s good. He didn’t deserve you anyway.” Clint chuckled.

  Mia chuckled, too, but hers was markedly morose. “So I’ve been told. Seems like everyone knew but me.” Those words could have come across as bitter or arrogant. But Mia sounded discouraged and resigned. I thought Clint should change the subject, but he clearly didn’t have my knack for reading social cues.

  “Then I’m sorry I didn’t say something sooner.”

  I snorted under my breath. As if Clint could have broken them up. The guy’s family might be rich, but that’s all he had going for him. He was totally average looking and kind of dull. Mia deserved better than Anderson and Clint. Heck, she deserved better than me. At least I was self-aware enough to know that.

  “Well, you said it now, and that’s what counts.” Mia sounded sincere. Was she just being polite? Or was she actually buying his cheesy line? Clint’s eyes darted to Sean and me, then over to Stacie. Yeah, bozo, you have an audience.

  “So, uh, you have big plans for the weekend?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “Not really.”

  “Cool.” Another long pause. “Do you want some?”

  Was this blow hole asking her out? Right here in front of us? While she’s smashed comfortably up against me? We aren’t here together, but he doesn’t know that. I had the sudden urge to put my arm around her so the guy would back off. But I’m a chicken, so I didn’t.

  Mia stiffened. I doubt anyone saw it. The only reason I knew is because I felt her arm twitch. “Oh. Uh, thanks.” I peeked sideways to see her cheeks growing red. “But I think I’m going to lay low this weekend. There’s this book I’ve been waiting to read.”

  Boom! Take that Clint. Take it and scram.

  “Oh yeah? What book?” he pushed. “I love to read.”

  For real?

  “Just some teen romance that came out this week.”

  Clint shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “I’m halfway through a series right now. You could come over tomorrow and read with me by the pool.”

  Dude. She already turned you down. Have a little dignity.

  “Yeah, not this weekend, but—” Stacie cut Mia off by elbowing her in the side. “But…I hope you enjoy your book.” Mia’s sudden change in word choice was obvious, and Clint turned almost as red as Mia. Now everyone felt awkward. “Thanks for the invite. Really.” Her afterthought was hasty, but she looked truly gutted about turning him down.

  “No problem.” Clint held his bruised ego high as he walked outside into the backyard.

  Mia angled herself toward Stacie and smacked her on the arm. “Why did you do that?”

&nb
sp; “Ouch!” Stacie scowled at her. “Because you were going to offer him a some other time.” She used air quotes.

  “What was I supposed to do?” Mia hissed. “He looked so uncomfortable.”

  Sean finally spoke up. I was proud that he watched that whole exchange without making a peep. “That’s not your fault. Clint was uncomfortable because he doesn’t know when to quit…or when to start, for that matter.” Stacie shot her arm out to Sean without taking her eyes off Mia. He gave her a fist bump.

  “You were doing fine until the but,” Stacie answered.

  “Clint’s a nice guy. And I don’t care what you say, shooting someone down in front of people is mean. Forgive me for not wanting to be a jerk.” Mia scowled.

  Stacie gave her a flat expression. “You were far from jerky. It’s his fault for pushing.”

  “I agree with blondie.” Sean bobbed his head up and down.

  Mia leaned back into the couch, folding her arms over her chest. It was a full-on toddler-style pout, and it still looked cute. She huffed out a large breath. “Well, thanks. We sit across from each other in AP Government, and now it’s going to be weird.”

  Stacie took a swig of her soda. “Look at it this way. I bet he doesn’t ask you out again.” Mia glared at Stacie. If looks could kill, she’d have been reduced to a pile of ash.

  I didn’t like how Stacie and Sean were ganging up on Mia. And I really didn’t like that I couldn’t read Mia’s true feelings about the situation. “Not that I’m team Clint here, but if you like him so much, why didn’t you just say yes?” There, that ought to get me some answers.

  “I don’t like him,” Mia replied at the same time Stacie said, “She’s not allowed to date.”

  The relief from hearing Mia’s words was immediately squelched by Stacie’s comment. “Why not?” I asked in alarm.

  Sean knocked his knee against mine. In hindsight, I guess I did sound a bit desperate. In my defense, I was desperate. The major reason I joined the cheer team was to get close to Mia. My grand plan started with a few friendly outings and ended with us declaring our love from atop the cheer Homecoming float as we rode off into the sunset. If she couldn’t date, it’d throw a gigantic wrench in the works.

  Mia rolled her eyes. “It hasn’t even been a week, and I’m already starting to regret this arrangement.”

  “What arrangement?” Again, I sounded too eager. But if I didn’t figure out what was going on soon, I’d go crazy.

  Mia turned to me, and with a sassy tone replied, “The team banned me from dating.”

  “It’s for her own good,” Stacie rebutted, as if Mia had zero say in the matter. “She has to learn to say no. You saw what happened with Clint. Sweet, nice Mia here is constantly getting walked on. Or taken advantage of. Or going out with losers and dorks because she doesn’t want to hurt people’s feelings. That’s why she ended up with Cole.”

  “Hey! I liked Cole,” Mia argued.

  “But if you’d thought about it hard enough, you would have realized that you two were all wrong for each other. He’s manipulative. You’re a yes girl. The only person who was benefiting from your relationship with Cole was Cole.”

  “That’s not true.” Mia was starting to sound annoyed. “And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to make your boyfriend happy.”

  “There is, if he’s not doing the same for you,” Sean interjected.

  “Dude, not your business,” I warned. I agreed wholeheartedly, but Mia was visibly upset now.

  “He’s not wrong,” Stacie quipped, holding her hand back out for another fist bump. Of course, Sean obliged. That was the breaking point for Mia. She shoved their hands out of the way and stood.

  “Mia, I’m not trying to be mean.” Stacie finally realized how harsh she sounded.

  Mia turned back to us, one stray tear rolling down her cheek. “You could have fooled me.” She spun around and navigated her way through the crowd until she escaped through the front door.

  Stacie started to stand, but I held out my hand to stop her. “Why don’t you let me go?”

  She sighed. “Probably better anyway. I really wasn’t trying to be mean, you know.”

  “Maybe it wasn’t the best time for some tough love,” I replied, and left to track Mia down. She hadn’t gone far. I stepped onto the porch and quickly spotted her on a white rocking chair under the dim porch light. The chair was part of a set, so I took the other one. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” she mumbled.

  “So…Stacie.” Hmm. What to say? Crying girls weren’t exactly my area of expertise. “She’s kind of bossy, yeah?”

  Mia sniffed loudly, followed closely by a strangled laugh that came out through her nose. “You’re very observant.”

  I laid my arms on the armrests and rocked back and forth. The air was warm, but there was a cool breeze. Most of the crowd had moved inside. All that was left were the random kissing couple or two and a group of people sitting on the tailgate of a pickup. “I try.”

  “Did she send you out here to calm me down?” Mia glimpsed at me while dabbing at the corner of her eye.

  “No. I volunteered. Figured you might not want to talk to her right now.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Anything for my captain.” I hoped teasing would help.

  She chuckled softly. “Stacie’s your captain, too.”

  “Yeah,” I said dismissively. “But I have an allegiance to the captain that’s leaking from her eyes. I’m trying to earn some points here. You want me to go back in there and pick a fight with Stacie? Throw down some slappy cheerleader-on-cheerleader action?”

  That made her laugh. “Nobody’s supposed to know you’re a cheerleader until Monday.”

  “Oh, right. Guess that idea’s out, then.” I made a big show of being disappointed.

  Mia relaxed against her chair and started rocking it to the same cadence as mine. The soft sound of wood clicking rhythmically over floorboards was soothing. “I’m sure you’ll get another chance. The team isn’t without our share of squabbles and drama.”

  “I can imagine.”

  She gave me a lopsided grin. “Is this the part where you make some suggestively virile comment about catfights?”

  “Virile? Are we whipping out the SAT words now?”

  “If it fits.”

  “For your information”—I tried to sound offended—“I would never…ever…be so dumb as to say something like that. I might be thinking it, but—” Mia grabbed an empty cup off the tiny side table between us and threw it at me. “Geez, that’s some arm you got. You know, I heard the football team is looking for a second-string quarterback.”

  Her lips twitched. “Really? What happened?”

  “Not entirely sure.” I gave her a confused look and scratched the side of my head. “He said something about preferring skirts to jerseys…”

  Mia threw her head back in laughter. “You know you don’t have to wear a skirt.”

  “But I thought we decided my legs would look amazing.”

  “Yes, yes, we did. But they’ll also look good in cheer pants.”

  “They will?” I raised an eyebrow. “What about my butt?”

  I thought my comment might ruffle her, but she was cool as a cucumber. “Don’t know. Haven’t paid much attention to your butt.” Mia bit her lip to keep from smiling.

  “That’s outrageous! Here, let me model it for you.” I moved to stand.

  Mia batted at me and clucked her tongue. “Sit down, dork.”

  We grew quiet, but the silence was amiable and comfortable. I’d successfully managed to lighten the mood and hoped what I was about to say didn’t ruin it. “You could tell Stacie to get bent, you know. She doesn’t run your life. Only you know what’s best for you.”

  The group from the pickup slammed the tailgate shut and stomped up the porch, laughing and talking loudly. They went inside, leaving the front door wide open. Some sleazy hip-hop song blared from the stereo, and a couple girls shrieked, killing the chillness o
f our ambiance. I was about to get up and shut the door, but Mia spoke.

  “Unfortunately, I think Stacie’s right on this one. I’m a people pleaser. I didn’t see it as a bad thing until the girls brought it up on Monday. Cole was never really that great to me. It was always, ‘Mia, could you do this for me?’ or ‘Baby, could you get me that?’ He was never unkind, per se, but it was clear he always came first.”

  “Sounds like Anderson,” I grumbled.

  “There were lots of little things. He would have never talked with me the way you and I are talking right now. He didn’t really care what was going on in my life if it didn’t affect him.”

  What a freaking tragedy. How could a guy land a girl as incredible as Mia and not appreciate it? I’d only spent an hour with her—cumulative—and already knew I’d jump through fiery hoops if she asked me to. “You told me a secret earlier, so I’ll tell you one now.” I leaned closer and touched her hand, as if it were mind-blowing news. “Cole’s kind of a douche.”

  Mia giggled. “I don’t know if that’s so much a secret. I just didn’t recognize it until he acrimoniously dumped me in front of the whole school.”

  “Acrimoniously? Crap. I’m gonna have to pull out my SAT study book before we have any more heart-to-hearts.”

  The screen door creaked, and Stacie stepped onto the porch, a penitent look on her face. “I’m sorry. Are you still mad at me?” She walked over until she stood directly in front of Mia, then reached out to pull her from the rocker.

  “No,” Mia replied, and the two girls hugged it out. “You’re lucky. Us pushovers don’t tend to hold grudges.”

  After Stacie pulled back, she looked at me. “The team could always use a good peacemaker. Maybe we’ll keep you around.” As Stacie was teasing me, Mia leaned out from behind her and winked conspiratorially. “I don’t know about you guys, but I need some grub. There are pretzels and chips in the kitchen. Want to join me?”

  “Sure,” Mia replied. She held out her hand to help me up and yanked. After I was standing, she wrapped her arms around my neck. “Thanks,” she whispered quickly before letting go and trailing behind Stacie. I couldn’t move, paralyzed with shock. Two hugs in one night? I think I’d died and gone to heaven.