We walked in a deathly silence until the end of the road. "I'll be ok from here thanks Josh," and I turned to go left when Josh grabbed me. Hundreds of thoughts rampaged through my mind wondering what he was going to do as he held my shoulders.
"Where are you going Krystal?" he laughed.
"Home of course." The first sensible thing I'd said.
"Ahh?.you live that way." He pointed in the opposite direction as my face flushed again at my stupidity. Of course, I was heading towards my own home, not Krystal's.
"I'm definitely seeing you safely to your door," he said. "You really must have bumped your head."
I laughed coyly. "Yes I did."
What a gentleman. He was 'seeing me safely to my door'. It was like something out of an olden day romantic movie. Why was such a nice guy wasted on a mean girl like Krystal? Maybe it had something to do with those two bumps that were on my chest, the gorgeous golden hair and long tanned legs. I couldn't wait to find a mirror to look at my face??er..?her face.
He grabbed my hand and took me in the other direction. "Here, I'll take your school bag." Oh my! No-one had ever offered to take my school bag before. Even my dad used to make me carry it to kindy.
"No it's ok, but thanks for offering," I replied. He laughed, looking bewildered. Perhaps Krystal made him carry it all the time. Maybe she was bossy to him.
When we got to Krystal's house, I let go of his hand and thanked him for walking me home.
"I always walk you home."
"I know, but today was different. I was glad you were there."
"What, you're not normally glad?" he said with a cheeky smile.
"No. You know what I mean." I looked up into his blue eyes and imagined what it would be like to reach out and hug him, just to say thank you. He took a step closer and crooked his neck slowly coming closer towards me.
'Oh no!' I thought, not quick enough to escape as his lips gently brushed over mine. I pulled away as soon as I felt the warm touch.
"What are you doing?"
"What do you mean 'what am I doing?' I'm giving you a good bye kiss like I always do," he laughed.
'WHOAAA. HOLD YA HORSES MAMA,' I thought. Holding hands was one thing but I was not stepping up to a full on, lip locking kiss. NO WAY! Not all in the one day anyway. And definitely not with someone else's boyfriend. I would feel like I was cheating with Krystal's boyfriend even though I was Krystal?.sort of. Oh this was getting way too complicated.
"Agghh?I mean?" I stuttered, not wanting to look more of an idiot than I already was.
"I have a coleslaw. I thought I told you I had a coleslaw." I laughed awkwardly and he laughed back at me even louder.
"You have a coleslaw? You eat coleslaw with KFC. I don't see any coleslaw on you, otherwise I could eat it up." EEEWGHH, gross. What a thought. "And I don't see a cold sore on you either," he added.
"Yeah, I mean cold sore and it's an invisible cold sore. I mean it's kind of inside my lip. I don't want you to risk those gorgeous lips." AGHHHH! What was I saying? 'Those gorgeous lips'. Oh kill me now. The next thing I'll be telling him is he has a cute butt. I ran away before I could say anything more embarrassing.
"Seeya, thanks again. Seeya tomorrow."
"Face Time me," he yelled out.
"Ah sure," I said, uncertain as to whether that would be a possibility.
First challenge over. Then it was time to face the family.
19. Something Smells Fishy
The night spent with Krystal's family wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be. Her mom and dad were quite nice surprisingly, but they spent a lot of time on their computers working or something. Krystal's younger sister was away on camp which was a pity because I could have found out some dirt on her somehow. I spent most of the night in her room pretending I was doing homework. I couldn't find the iPad so I couldn't FaceTime Josh thank goodness, and probably missed 100 messages from Tiffany.
As soon as I got to school the next day Tiffany grabbed me. "Why didn't you answer me last night? I face timed you like a hundred times." I chuckled to myself.
"Sorry. I don't know where it is. I think I've lost it."
"LOST IT! You would never lose it. You always keep it under your mattress when you leave for school." Well now, that's a place I didn't check, but it explains the distant sound of music I kept hearing.
"Well I've sorted it all out," Tiffany announced.
"Sorted what?" I asked.
"You know."
"Do I?"
"Krystal don't be dumb. Are you suffering from post-traumatic amnesia still?" She laughed.
"Maybe. Try me."
"Well, we had prawns for dinner last night," she continued.
"Yum!"
" I know, but I held myself back and only had a few. I kept sneaking them under the table. AND I left them 'out' of the fridge all night. Phewie!" She screwed up her nose as she spoke.
"You're telling me this because?..?"
"So this morning after she left her bag in the locker room, I kindly made a lovely donation of prawns into her school bag and sort of rubbed a few around her cheerleading uniform. I'm such a genius."
"She?"
"Yes."
"Who is 'she'?"
"Krystal, are you trying to be funny? Because you're not doing a very good job. You're starting to worry me actually, not to mention, annoy me seriously. I'm talking about the plan to stop Kaitlyn from getting through to the final." My heart hit the ground with an almighty thud. So it really was true. They were ganging up against Kaitlyn. But why? It just didn't make sense.
Before I could think what to say, Chantelle arrived looking very excited. "So did you do it? Is the deadly deed done?" Her eyes twinkled menacingly as she spoke.
"Aha," Tiffany grinned with a deadly smile. "Her costume will be so stinky, there's no way even a monster from the dump would wear it. She'll have to pull out." They both burst out laughing smugly.
"Isn't that a little mean?" I offered. "Her costume will be ruined and she'll probably get in trouble." My comment silenced them abruptly.
"WHAT?" Tiffany's laugh came to a sudden halt as she looked at me menacingly. "You're the one who suggested we put dog poo in her bag. I think that's meaner than prawns."
"Yeah and it's not as mean as stealing my boyfriend while I was away," Chantelle added, finally dropping the bomb that I had been waiting to hear. So that was it; that was why they were so vindictive.
When Chantelle left the school at the end of sixth grade, she had been going out with Connor and was part of the princess gang, but she'd had to break up with him. Kaitlyn, who was new to the school, started dating Connor and eventually hanging round with the girls, probably because Connor was friends with Josh and Luke, Tiffany's boyfriend at the time. When Chantelle unexpectedly came back from overseas to find Kaitlyn walking her territory, she set about designing a revenge plan. It made me sick to the stomach to know that girls could be so vindictive and revengeful.
I looked at my watch. There was ten minutes until the school bell. If I used a little bit of magic power to transport me back to Krystal's home in the name of saving Kaitlyn, I could be back at school before the bell rang.
"Gotta go girls. I forgot something."
"You'll be late Krystal."
"No I won't," I shouted as I flew out the school gate in a rush to the closest tree of large proportions.
Behind the tree I instantly transported myself to Krystal's bedroom. The closet was full of cheerleading outfits. I quickly chose a fluoro green, off one shoulder number with high cut pink and black shorts, and in thirty seconds I was back at the tree. I stuffed them in my school bag and walked to class puffing, out of breath, but decidedly satisfied with my accomplishment.
At lunch time the finalists milled around the gym excitedly chatting and anxiously waiting for Cranky Pants to open the doors so we could dress ourselves and make ourselves beautiful, or in Tiffany's case, even more beautiful.
I observed Kr
ystal in my body hanging with Mishy and Sarah. I had a pang of jealousy wishing I could be standing with them and not with meanies. I looked around for Kaitlyn but couldn't see her anywhere. Tiffany gloated, "Looks like we won." She high fived Chantelle and went to do the same to me. She looked stunned when I didn't meet her hand slap.
"What do you mean, 'we won'?"
"Der. Look around you. Who's not here?" I knew exactly what they were talking about, but I didn't want to join them in their gloating. But I also didn't want to give anything away so I just kept quiet and waited till Cranky Pants arrived.
"Now let's act like ladies," Cranky said when she arrived, "not animals, no pushing, no pulling, no rushing or running. You have ten minutes to be ready and on stage."
I looked around and Mishy was standing behind me. I couldn't resist saying, "Good luck," to the surprised girl.
"Oh! Thanks. Same to you." She was definitely stunned that Krystal would bother speaking to her. She had no idea that it was really me.
"Tiffany, I'll be back soon. I think I've left my shoes in my locker," I said before running off to find Kaitlyn.
"You're kidding right? Hurry or you'll miss the start and you'll be out."
I raced out of the gym and into the nearest girl's toilets. I couldn't see Kaitlyn there. There was just a bunch of tough chicks trying to hide something behind their backs. I ran round to the grade eight area and looked everywhere for her. There were seven minutes left. I checked every toilet block in the whole school and finally when I thought she must have gone home, I heard some quiet sobbing in the last cubicle of the toilets furthest away from the gym.
"Kaitlyn," I whispered. There was no answer, but the sobbing ceased.
"KAITLYN. I know you're in there." There was still no answer.
"Kaitlyn. I recognise your shoes. Please come out."
"I'm ok," came a timid little voice from behind the door. "Go away."
"I'm not going until you come out. We have four minutes to get on stage or we'll both be disqualified. Please don't let me miss the competition."
"Just go by yourself Krystal." Secretly it didn't worry me if I didn't get back in time because it would be Krystal missing out, not me. Krystal would be competing for me, not that she would realise. That's one of the good things about this spell. It blocks the mind of the beholders so they become almost 'brain dead' for the duration and they don't remember anything.
"Kaitlyn, if you don't do it, I'm not, and that's that."
"You don't understand. I have nothing to wear."
"Look, tell me about it later. I brought a spare costume with me. You have two minutes to put it on and two minutes to sprint there and get on stage. If we don't go now, the only thing we'll be wearing is egg on our faces. LET'S GO!" I commanded.
The door slowly opened and I grabbed Kaitlyn's hand and flung the costume at her. She put it on and we raced to the gym faster than a gazelle being chased by a hyena. Kaitlyn started laughing crazily like she was a hyena. I was starting to think she was bipolar. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she squealed.
"Shut up Kaitlyn. Conserve your energy," I joked.
We got to the gymnasium with about one minute to spare.
"Thanks for the costume. I mean really, thanks," Kaitlyn said looking at me thoughtfully.
"Just don't stink it out with your BO."
"Hey I don't have BO."
We were still putting on our shoes when we heard Cranky Pants blow the whistle. It would be too normal and nice just to say "Into position girls." She has to blow our eardrums out with a shrieking high pitched whistle.
"Let's go Kaitlyn."
"I'm coming. I'm following you," she replied.
I ran up on stage and took my spot next to Tiffany who gave me the strangest look. I'm not sure whether she was annoyed, confused, angry, or all of the above. But when Kaitlyn came on, Tiffany definitely looked as though she was fuming. I looked at her in disbelief as if it was a complete shock to me too.
That's when the music started thumping and I had to focus all my energy on the routine for Krystal's sake. I couldn't help but look over to Krystal to make sure she was doing a good job so that I would get in too.
At the end of the routine we had a five minute break before the next song. Tiffany ran up to Kaitlyn and in her sickliest fake voice said, "Where were you? We were worried you weren't going to make it." She looked over to Chantelle with a sly smile.
I've never had the urge to push a girl over before, but right at that moment, I had to force myself to keep my hands behind my back to stop myself doing something I would regret.
"I just had a costume malfunction, but my fairy Godmother came to my rescue." She smiled at me.
"Oh, so who was your fairy Godmother?"
"No-one you'd know," Kaitlyn replied which surprised me. Was she protecting Krystal? Did she know that Tiffany and Chantelle were behind the prawn cocktail incident? It was too complicated to even bear thinking about.
As we stood waiting for the next song, Carrie, a seventh grader came up to Kaitlyn.
"I love your outfit," she said. "I love that green, but then, I do own three frogs," she giggled. "Where did you get it from?"
"A really nice friend lent it to me," replied Kaitlyn. She looked in my direction. Tiffany and Chantelle were preoccupied reapplying lipstick. SERIOUSLY! How vain can a 13 year old girl be; reapplying lipstick after a three minute song?
"Where did you get it Krystal?" Carrie asked me.
"Ah I don't remember, Mom got it for me somewhere."
"Well it's really cool and I love your outfit too. It's cute," said the friendly girl to me.
I was wearing a purple and black crop top with high wasted black shorts and my hair was tied up high with a matching purple bandana. And with a body like Krystal's, I looked great. Krystal on the other hand, stuck in my body looked ?.?.athletic, in a plain kind of way. My body was certainly fit looking, but dressed in my standard, one size fits all, everyday red short suit, I realised I looked a little boring, and certainly 'out of fashion'. Now I understood why Tiffany raised her eyebrows at me every time. In the past I wouldn't have even cared, but since wearing Krystal's gorgeous costume and seeing her lavish wardrobe, I started to wish I had a little more choice in my humble closet. But Cranky Pants, Mr Gorgeous and Mrs Carmichael wouldn't be looking at out costumes. They'd be more concerned with the moves and how well we took direction and how in time we were, blah blah blah.
As we took position for the next song Tiffany leaned over to me and whispered, "Ok, this is the song with the 'you know what' moves."
"Huh?"
"You know, the one with all the 'right' moves." She winked at me. It was such a shame someone so cute could be so ugly inside. I'm sure they wrote the song 'Ugly heart' just for her, even though it's about a boy. It only took me a couple of seconds for my brain dead brain to realise what she was talking about. This was the song they had given Kaitlyn the wrong moves to.
I wished I could cast a teeny weeny spell on Tiffany so she would trip up on her own butt cheeks and land on her nose, breaking it in three places. But it wasn't my style to hurt someone just because they were hurting someone else.
The powerful beat boomed through the speakers as all the girls jumped into action doing high kicks, jumps and punching the air. When the time came to do the bridges I glanced over to Kaitlyn to make sure she was bridging and not doing cartwheels. Relief flooded my veins when I realised she'd got it right. When we jumped up and sashayed to the left, I distinctly thought I saw Tiffany's face turn a shade of green, but I couldn't focus on her. I had to keep pounding the floor and keep in time to the music. I'm sure she was gobsmacked that Kaitlyn had the right moves after they had maliciously taught her the wrong ones.
By the time the song was over, most of the girls had beads of sweat running from their foreheads, some with smudged mascara and blotchy foundation blending into a messy palette. I was glad I hadn't worn any, even though Krystal normally did. Cranky Pants addres
sed the girls in her normal warm hearted way. "Thank you girls. Call backs for the final on Friday will be on the board by the end of the day. If you don't get in, for goodness sake, don't have a tantrum. Dismissed."
Kaitlyn looked around excitedly at me. She was obviously very happy with herself, and was reeling excitedly from the adrenalin pumping through her body. I felt the same. For a moment I forgot about the competition and the nasty element that cast an evil shadow over it. I was too caught up in the thrill and exhilaration of moving to the beat in a well-rehearsed routine. I loved cheerleading so much.
"Thanks again for talking me into it and for the outfit," said Kaitlyn, "I had so much fun. You're such a good friend Krystal."
"Aw stop the mushy stuff you."
She laughed and turned. "Hang on a minute." She went over and talked to ?well to me (Krystal in my body). I couldn't hear what they were saying without looking like I was sticky beaking, but I felt a bit soft and gooey knowing that Kaitlyn was making an effort to go and talk to me. Krystal smiled, so whatever she said, it must have been nice. She then ran back to me and hugged me.
"Wow, you're in a good mood."
"I just feel great after doing that, and having you help me, and others who have been helping me." She glanced back towards Krystal as she spoke. "I don't care what happened to my outfit or how or what or why. I just want to move forward and make it to the team." She leaped into the air doing the splits mid-flight. She was definitely a very flexible person. I could see why she was likely to get on the team. I just couldn't see why the princess gang didn't want her to.
After Kaitlyn left me and went to another class, I sped up quickly so I didn't have to speak to Tiffany or Chantelle. I didn't like lying but I wasn't going to tell them I'd replaced the costume.
'BUM,' I thought, as I felt a light tap on my shoulder knowing who it would be.
"Where are you going in such a hurry speedy Gonzales? Don't you want to debrief about the comp?"