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Leonora has to clench her jaw to keep from staring with her mouth hanging wide open as Prairie Ridge’s cheerleaders toss their blond captain in the air once, twice, three times before she twists gracefully in the air; she does what seems like a million turns and lands perfectly in the waiting arms of her team. They set her down and the ball of energy immediately starts yelling and jumping around. She does two back handsprings and the crowd goes absolutely insane. Her ponytail swings perfectly between her shoulder blades. Leonora wonders vaguely how many bobby pins and how much dark magic they had to use to get that maroon bow to stay in place.
Her own team is watching her, she notices, so she snaps out of her jealous reverie. “Alright, ladies! They’re good, but we’re better. Let’s show them what Gators can do!” She claps her hands exactly as the buzzer on the timer goes off and the game officially starts. She turns back to the court, feet shoulder width apart, hands clasped behind her back. She stands straight and tall with all the confidence she only ever feels during cheer. A quick glance at PR’s cheer team reveals that their captain (What was her name? Jane? Jordan? Jamara?) is staring at her with wide eyes and a small hint of a smile. Leonora narrows her eyes and the blonde snaps her gaze away with a fierce blush.
-
Leonora is the last person to leave the JV locker room they’ve been allowed to use while at their rival school. It’s nicer than most schools, at which the attitude is “You don’t need anywhere to put your shit or change.” She digs through her bag for a brush when she hears a voice coming from above her.
“I saw you watching me.”
Leonora whips out her can of hairspray, ready to blind any potentiol attacker. She opens her eyes, (when did she close them?) and sees the captain of the other school’s cheer team perched on top of the tall stack of lockers.
“Woah, put down the hairspray. I’m not going to hurt you.” She puts up her hands in defense.
“Well, you know what they say. ‘Can’t spell rape without PR.’” Leonora shoots back, not entirely serious.
The blonds lets out a giggle before dropping to the floor with the same catlike grace with which she executed all of her stunts during the game.
“Do you realize how dangerous that is?”
“I’m a flyer. I get thrown high into the air daily. Not too worried about some stupid lockers.”
“You’re going to break every bone in your body.” Leonora puts the hairspray back in her bag and finally finds a brush. She releases her long brown hair from its ponytail. The curls fall around her face and she brushes them a few times before doing a quick french braid.
“How do you do that?” The girl’s eyes are wide with amazement as Leonora finishes the braid.
“It’s just a braid. I’m going to change now. You can turn around if you’re uncomfortable with that.” The girl shrugs and doesn’t turn. Leonora strips down and she blushes when she can feel blue eyes bruning into her bare skin. Never in her life has she been self conscious about her body before but this girl (What is her name, even?) is making her nervous with the unblinking, unwavering gaze she has fixed on Leo. She finishes dressing in her jeans and t-shirt and finally looks away from the girl. “My name’s Leonora. Since you’ve seen me naked and all.”
“Would your name be different if I hadn’t seen you naked?” The girl jokes. “My name’s Jamie.” She smiles brightly and puts her hand on Leonora’s hip with trepidation. “And trust me, it was my pleasure.” Her breath is hot against Leonora’s ear and it sends shivers down her spine.
Leo gasps lightly and tries to make her heart rate slow down to a healthy level. Jamie steps back, fingers still lingering on her hip, playing with the hem of Leonora’s green shirt. “Damn, kid.”
Jamie grins and snaps up Leonora’s phone from off the top of her bag. She starts typing quickly and answers Leo’s question before she can ask it. “If you’re really not into me, that’s okay. I get it, but I really really think you should call me.” She hands back her phone with a nervous smile before dashing out of the locker room.
Leonora stares after her then looks back to her phone. She memorizes the number and turns the phone off before stowing it in her pocket. She knows that she’ll be too afraid to call Jamie.
Besides, she can’t date a rival cheerleader this close to competition season.
-
The next time she sees Jamie, Leonora’s doing her daily run through town and Jamie’s in the music store looking at books of sheet music. Their eyes meet and Leo, barely conscious of the action, slows down a fraction. Jamie notices and puts down whatever she was looking at and sprints out the door after her.
Leo sighs and tries (fails) to ignore the fact that she kind of did invite the other cheerleader to join her, even if it was nonverbal.
“Hey, Bones.” Jamie speaks nonchalantly as if she didn’t just chase Leo down the sidewalk.
“What’s up, PR?” Leo picks up speed and tries to convince herself that she does not want to talk to Jamie for hours.
“You never called me.” Jamie has no problem keeping up, even in skinny jeans and a leather jacket. “I thought we had something special.”
Leonora scoffs indignantly. “You ambushed me in a locker room.”
“You showed me your boobs.”
“You are currently chasing me down the street.”
“You slowed down for me.”
Leonora stops running and turns to Jamie, who smiles at her with the confidence of winning. “Look, kid, it’s not that I don’t want to date you. I do.”
Jamie throws her fist up in the air.
“But you’re the captain of our biggest competition at nationals this year. I don’t really see the problem but my girls would absolutely murder me.” She shrugs and tightens her ponytail awkwardly. “It’s stupid, but cheer is something that I actually care about.”
Jamie seems to think this through and for about three seconds, Leonora is sure she’s convinced that it’s a bad idea. It’s both disappointing and fulfilling at the same time. Suddenly, Jamie is lit up like a christmas tree. “I have an idea. What if you let me take you out and we just don’t make a big deal out of it?” She sees Leonora’s skepticism. “In public, we’ll just be unlikely friends. In private, we can be whatever you want us to be.”
Leonora feels relief that Jamie didn’t just give up and fear at anyone finding out. Prairie Ridge and Crystal Lake South have had a rivalry for about ten years that will probably continue forever. There are friends between the two schools, but the athletes definitely do not date each other. “Fine. Just tell me when and where.”
“Now? There’s a great mexican place just down the street.”
Leonora laughs. “Yeah, I know. I live in this town too, you know. Different schools, not different worlds.” She touches Jamie’s elbow lightly with the tips of her fingers. “Come on.”
They walk the short distance to the restaurant and Jamie holds the door open for Leonora, who scowls. (She actually finds the normally asshole-ish move adorable and it annoys her that she’s already so far gone for a girl she barely knows.)
Jamie greets practically everyone in the room with warm familiarity. People Leo knows go to Prairie Ridge shout out to Jamie to join them. Leonora feels vaguely invisible and wonders if she should leave, but Jamie nudges her foot and raises her eyebrows before turning the group down and guiding them to a table in the back of the restaurant. “Sorry about that. People can be so annoying sometimes.”
Leonora starts laughing hard. She tries-and fails- to hold in the dorky chuckles. “What’s so funny?” Jamie’s voice is filled with genuine curiosity.
Leonora manages to stop giggling eventually. “You’re basically the stereotypical head cheerleader to them, aren’t you?” She smiles and cocks her head to the side. “But you’re not, I think. If you were the stereotype, you’d be here on the arm of a hunky football player and he’d be wearing the leather jacket. You’d be wearing pink.”
Jamie eyes Leonora’s pink shirt. “So, does that mean I’m your football player and you’re my cheerleader?”
“In your dreams.”
“You bet.”
Everything goes silent after that and Jamie’s staring at her the same way she did in the locker room and suddenly Leo’s worried that Jamie will try to kiss her. She knows she wouldn’t stop it. She starts studying the menu with intent in a desperate attempt to change the topic. “So, tacos or nachos?”
A brief flash of something like disappointment flickers through Jamie’s too-blue eyes before she perks up and starts chattering again. “Nachos, but you have to let me order them.”
Jamie orders quickly and when the food comes, Leonora is sure she’s some sort of food wizard because they’re the best nachos she’s ever tasted in her entire life. She tells Jamie this and she claps and kicks Leo under the table with an “I told you so.” The kick evolves into a joking game of footsie that leaves them both a little breathless.
Leonora thinks it should be weird. It should be awkward like the first dates always are, but it isn’t. Jamie always has something to say and she’s funny, as much as Leo hates to admit that.
Jamie tells her about her brother who goes to Harvard and Leo tells her that she wants to be a doctor. Jamie tells her that she plays guitar and Leonora tells her about her time in choir. Jamie insists that she sing for her. Leonora denies but knows that she’ll do it anyway.
Leonora groans when they finish the massive plate of food and she feels like she’s eaten a small child.
“Don’t tell me you’re one of those crazy diet cheerleaders.”
“No.” Leonora waves her off. “I was just planning on running home but it’s three miles and I just ate more cheese and chips than I ever needed to.” She groans again.
Jamie sighs. “I’ll give you a ride home.” She says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “It’ll be like a real life date.”
“That’d actually be really really great.”
“Does this mean that I get to make out with you on your front porch?” Jamie smiles and waggles her eyebrows mischievously.
Leonora doesn’t dignify that with an answer, all the time wondering what those plush pink lips would feel like against her own. She’s glad that Jamie can’t read minds.
Jamie leads her a few spaces down. “Here we go!” She jumps off the curb and approaches...a motorcycle. “What’s wrong?”
Leonora starts fidgeting with the bottom of her shirt. “On second thought, I think I’ll run home.”
Jamie shakes her head and pulls her in by her elbow. “Come on. We’ll both wear helmets and it’ll all be fine.” She puts the shiny black helmet on Leo’s head and fits a similar one on herself. “See?” She knocks on the helmet with her fist. “Safe and sound.”
Leonora recognizes defeat. She sits on the bike behind Jamie and wraps her arms around Jamie’s slender waist, feels the muscles on her stomach. Her heart pounds wildly in her chest. Her head fits on Jamie’s shoulder and they’re off at breakneck speed.
It’s smoother and less terrifying that she expected. After Leo gets comfortable, she only pays attention to the smell of Jamie in front of her and the wind in her face, forgets all the danger.
“See? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you had at least a little bit of fun.” Jamie jokes after they’ve pulled up to Leonora’s house and have dismounted. “The windswept look suits you.” She reaches out and brushes a curl away from Leo’s face. He fingers linger and neither of them move for an eternity.
“Fuck it.” Leo surges forward and smashes her lips into Jamie’s. The blonde moans and wraps her arms around Leo’s neck. Leonora revels in the fact that Jamie’s lips feel even more amazing than she imagined. They kiss in the fading sunlight until Leo has to pull away and catch her breath. “You were wrong.”
“What?” Jamie’s eyebrows come together in the middle of her forehead.
“You didn’t even make it to my front porch.”
-
Leo’s team corners her in the locker room a month later. She’s just sent Jamie a text telling her to meet at Leo’s house in half an hour. A quick glance up from her phone finds seventeen pairs of narrowed eyes boring into her.
“What’s wrong, ladies?” She asks sweetly, trying to ignore the pounding of her heart.
“Take the phone.” Sierra, the ‘second in command’ of the squad speaks with a cool voice. One of the other girls surges forward and grabs the device from her hand. Sierra takes it and reads the messages on screen. Her scowl deepens. “Really, McCoy? I had hoped it wan’t true, but it appears you are stupider than we suspected. You actually really like her.”
Leonora crosses in her arms in defense. “Give me back my phone now, Sierra.”
“Honestly, we’ve no problem with ou dating a girl. We’ve all known about your preferences all along. If it had been anyone else, even a different person on their team, we would be fine with it, but Jamie Kirk? That nasty slut?”
Leonora feels rage bubble up inside her. “Don’t call my girlfriend a slut.”
“Really, she probably doesn’t even like you. She’s probably cheating on you. Or it’s all just a game and she laughs about it to her real boyfriend.”
“Real boyfriend?”
Sierra pouts sarcastically. “Oh, you didn’t know that she and Gary Mitchell have had a thing for about a year? Yeah, the only reason they aren’t officially together is because she sluts around way too much. Probably been sleeping with ten other people besides you.”
Leonora opens her mouth to deny it vehemently but something stops her. What if Jamie has been sleeping around and Leonora looks like an idiot now? What if she’s messed up majorly? “No. She can’t be.”
“You need to break up with her.” Sierra states finally.
“Why?”
“Because!” Sierra shouts. “They are our biggest competition at nationals and you are allowing yourself to be distracted and become lazy. They probably planned this, you know. They wanted to get you off your game so they could win. This is your last chance, you’re a senior. Are you really going to throw this all away? Break up with her or you are off the team. We cannot afford to have you as a captain like this.”
Leonora feels the air go out of her lungs when she realizes that she is stuck between a rock and a hard place. She doesn’t want to leave Jamie and she doesn’t want to lose cheer.
But if Jamie’s just been playing a game. If she’s been cheating on her like everyone says? Leonora knows her reputation.
“Give me time.”
“No.”
-
They’re at Jamie’s house in her bedroom. Jamie is curled up against Leonora with a smile and a book. “What’s the matter, Bones?” Her face is lined with worry for the girl.
“Nothing, darling. Go back to your book.” She cards a hand through Jamie’s blond hair. Her brain swirls with thoughts of cheating and lying and cheer and she wants to ignore it all and just be with Jamie but she can’t do it. She can’t.
“Bones?”
“Yeah, J?”
“I- I think I love you.” Jamie whispers it with self-conscious shakiness. “It’s okay if you don’t love me back. I just thought you should know.”
Leo realizes she can’t do it.
“I need to go.” Leonora stands up.
Jamie’s eyes begin to fill with tears, though she tries to hide it. “What? Why? I’m sorry if it was too soon. I’ll take it back.”
“No, Jamie. I mean I have to go. Like, as in forever. I can’t do this anymore.”
“Why?” It’s a whisper and a knife.
Leo straightens her shoulders and clenches her jaw to hold back any signs of weakness. “I just need to go. I’m sorry.”
She turns and walks out of the bedroom, out of the house. She hears Jamie calling for her as she drives away. Her phone rings and she turns it off and throws it in the backseat of her car.
She tries to ignore the beating of her heart that shouts “Jamie. I love you. Jamie. I’m sorry. Jamie Jamie Jamie Jamie.”
-
It’s the crosstown game at south and Leonora can’t look across the gym. She can only look at the players and the other cheerleaders on her team. She can’t bear to glance over and see blond hair. Blue eyes. Love.
But it’s too much. It’s too much for her to see the girl she loves, to be in the same room as her and act like a peppy cheerleader. It’s different when she’s at school and there’s no Jamie Kirk.
Place them in the same room, and she breaks.
She doesn’t even realize she’s left the gym until someone is grabbing her halfway down the hallway. “McCoy. Stop running.” Sierra’s voice is harsh and worried at the same time. Leonora wants to scream because this is the girl who ruined it all. “Come back to the game.”
Leonora shakes her head repeatedly, unable to get a word out because she knows it’ll break her to talk.
“Come on. Stop being so dramatic. It’s just a girl.”
Leonora does break at this. “She’s not just a girl! She’s the most amazing person I have ever met! She’s funny and smart and pretty and good. She’s so good. I gave up the most amazing person ever for what? For trophies and scholarships? It’s not worth it!” Leo grasps at her hair and wills the tears to stop flowing. “I love her so much. More than anything in the entire world and she will never forgive me because I ruined it all.”
“Bones?” A familiar voice trembles behind her back and Leonora doesn’t want to turn around and be disappointed, but she does anyway because what if it isn’t ruined.
“Jamie.” It comes out like a prayer. Leonora watches as the petite blond steps forward. “I am so sorry. I love you so much.”
Jamie breathes deeply and nods. “Yeah, I got that from the screaming.” The corner of her mouth quirks up. “I love you too, in case you were wondering.”
Leo nods slowly and they stand there in silence for what seems like forever before they’re both running at each other and grabbing whatever they can. It feels like if they don’t hold tight enough, one of them will float away forever.
“Please. Don’t ever break up with me like that again.” Jamie begs Leonora who holds her tighter.
“Never. God, I am so sorry.” She knows she doesn’t deserve it, but she feels forgiveness from Jamie and for once, she’s relaxed and safe.
For once, everything is right.