The Naughty List (The Naughty List #1)(53)
Author: Suzanne Young

The players took the court, some laughing. Aiden shot a glance over to me, still wide-eyed. I almost smiled at him, but he looked away before I could. The plump ref stood in between Dwayne and a Duck. I was mildly amused that the opposing player actually resembled his mascot. Ducks were so lame.

The room hushed. The ref tossed the ball into the air and both boys jumped. Dwayne was the first to touch it, knocking it toward Aiden. Aiden snatched it out of the air and pulled it down. He began dribbling it toward the basket, then stopped, standing at the outside of the key. Coach Taylor screamed out a play. Aiden continued to dribble and nodded at him. He passed the ball to the center, who in turn attempted a layup. It bounced off the rim into the hand of a Duck, and the teams raced down to the other end of the court.

Aiden was slow. Watching him now, I realized how right Kira was. He looked like a pile of sugar cubes. His shirt wasn’t even tucked in.

The next twenty-four minutes were a slaughter. The Wildcats only scored twelve points. The Ducks had scored forty-eight. When the halftime buzzer finally sounded, the entire gymnasium let out a sigh of relief. There was only so much pain a group of overeager spectators could take.

“Tessa?” Kira approached me slowly. Her blue eyes watched me cautiously.

“Yes?”

“Um. Did you have a specific cheer in mind for halftime?” She looked frightened. I realized she’d never heard me cuss before. It must have made me look pretty hard core.

“K …” I paused and looked at the rest of the squad. They’d lost faith in me. I’d been a total downer for weeks and, as a result, the Smitten Kittens had lost their purr. SOS was dead. There was only one thing to do. Step aside. “You lead them,” I told Kira, lifting my chin to her.

She gasped. Then the rest of the squad gasped. Well, except Leona. She said something closer to, “You have got to be kidding me.”

Kira began to tear up and I smiled. She deserved this moment. She’d been loyal all this time. She’d been cheated on, lost out on Christian, and yet—she’d never let it affect her cheering. She should lead the big game.

“Really?” she choked.

“Yeah. Really?” Leona asked, unnerved.

“Kira is your lead today,” I announced, sounding brave. “Make me proud, girls. I’m sitting this one out.”

They looked me over sympathetically. I was one sad Kitty. They could see I needed a rest. With a quick embrace, Kira thanked me and jogged out enthusiastically into center court as the players filtered into the locker room.

The squad began a spirit-inspiring cheer about making a comeback, and I took my spot on the gym floor sideline. I picked at the shiny gray material of the pom-pom. Maybe I’d just go home. I glanced up into the crowd and saw my parents waving at me. They were so sweet.

Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aiden’s mom. We looked at each other, and I totally expected her to gloat in some way. Instead, she raised her hand in greeting, giving me a small smile—almost like she was happy to see me. Stunned, I smiled back politely and then turned to look down into my lap. That was very strange. Quite odd.

Truth was, there was no reason for me to be here anymore. In fact, I was surely the reason Aiden was messing up. He was probably wishing I were gone. He’d never forgive me, let alone speak to me.

I was just about to stand up when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I twirled on my butt and came face to crotch with Christian. My lip curled.

“Sorry,” he said and took a step back. “I know you don’t want to see me.”

“You’re right. I don’t.”

“I just want to talk to you.”

I pursed my lips. Yuck. I couldn’t believe I fell for his lies. I couldn’t believe I knew what he tasted like.

“I’m sorry I kissed you,” he said, standing and looking down at me.

That was surprising. I hadn’t expected him to say that. “You are?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “You were upset. I sort of took advantage of that. It wasn’t right. I just really liked you, Tessa. I just wanted a chance.”

He meant it. His face was obvious in its admiration. And suddenly, I kind of forgave him. Oprah once said that forgiveness was the first step in healing. And even though Christian’s actions were heinous and completely out of line, the boy took a chance. There was a time when I would have fought that hard for Aiden. I should have fought harder.

“Sorry,” Christian mumbled.

“Thanks for your apology,” I said. He met my eyes and grinned, a glimmer of hope sparkling there. “But.” I held up a finger at him. “I still think you’re a jerk, and I’m still not interested. Clear?”

His smile faltered. “Crystal.”

I sat and he stood, and we looked at each other. The sounds in the gym were relatively quiet. Our team was getting the stuffing beat out of them; that generally cramped school spirit. I could hear Kira’s voice shouting chants, but Christian took a step toward me. I felt immediate panic as I realized that he was going to embrace me. Wait. He wanted a hug? Had he lost his marbles?

A roar rose from the crowd behind him and I looked up into the stands. The fans were cheering and pointing toward the court. I turned slowly, wondering if Kira’s cheer had gone terribly wrong. Instead, I saw Aiden, stalking out of the locker room and crossing center court.

My eyebrows pulled together. What was he doing? Why wasn’t he involved in the coach’s halftime talk? As he got closer, Kira’s voice trailed off as she watched him stomp past the cheer squad.

Oh. My. Word. He was walking toward me. I was still cross-legged on the floor, with my lip-locking mistake hovering over me.

Aiden’s face was red. Holy snapdragon! The boy looked angry, He looked …

“Damn,” Christian mumbled.

I flipped my head back to look at him just as a fist connected with his jaw in a loud thwack. I screamed, my eyes following the length of the tan arm that was attached to Aiden’s body.

Christian stumbled backward, landing in the laps of a stunned front-row fan fest. The crowd erupted in cheers. Did they think this was a stunt? Part of the halftime show? Or were they just happy to watch Christian get hit?

Wait. Aiden just punched someone in the face. He totally just hit someone without provocation. I got to my knees, beginning to scramble up to sort out the situation.

Suddenly, Aiden took me by the elbow and pulled me to my feet.

“What—”

“Zip it, Tess,” Aiden said as he tugged me toward the locker room. And although I appreciated him defending my honor … or his, I was not about to be yanked across the court. I pulled my arm out of his grasp and swung to face him.