through tryouts or practices. I guess the administration didn’t have the heart to fire her after so many years. Or maybe she hadn’t thought to ask for a raise in half a century, so her “coaching” was insanely cheap. At any rate, for tryouts Mrs. O’Toole did nothing more than sit at the end of the football stands with an umbrella over her face for shade. Whether she was awake or asleep was anyone’s guess. Hell, she could have been dead and no one would have noticed until the flies started swarming. I sank down onto one of the bleachers and opened my copy of P&P . I was just at the part where Mr. Darcy first
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recognizes his feelings for Elizabeth. I didn’t get very far, though. I couldn’t help daydreaming that I was Elizabeth and Gabe was Mr. Darcy, fighting against his blossoming feelings for me. Discovering that his passion was beyond his control and finding me more and more desirable each time we met. I, of course, was coy and witty and said all the right things at all the right times and filled out the top of my empire-style dress quite nicely. I played the pianoforte as he listened and watched me with sultry eyes. It was a love that would grow despite the denial of both parties. Despite the opposition of others. It was simply irrefutable. But we would have to wait for it. Wait. Because you can’t hurry love. You just have to wait. Love don’t come easy. It’s a game of give and take. Oh, dammit. Now I had a song from one of my father’s crappy old vinyl records stuck in my head.
I set my book down and watched Todd, Amanda, and a whole gaggle of girls squawk around. There were even a couple of guys waiting to try out, too. I guess Todd had degeeked cheerleading enough for them. Or maybe the whole
“looking up girls’ skirts” thing had finally caught on. Jamar Douglass was there. And Oskar Leahy. And who was the guy on the opposite bleachers? Was it . . . ? Hold the phone. I jumped up and “casually” strolled a bit closer. I blinked my eyes in the sun. It couldn’t be, could it? But it was. Gabe.
Why was he here? He couldn’t be trying out. He was just sitting there. Watching. With sultry eyes like Darcy’s. And suddenly it hit me. The girls. One of the girls was the one he was dating. Had to be. Then Amanda went over and sat 100 Kristin Walker
next to him, and I did a mental head-smack. Of course. He was only there because they were fake-married. That was it. Right? But there was a girl, somewhere, who he was seeing. Maybe she was here. Wait a minute; did he just smile at Sonja Pressman?
“You know, if you’re going to stalk someone, you should be less obvious.”
I wheeled around. It was Todd. He’d snuck up on me. He said, “For starters, try not standing in the middle of a field, gawking at your prey,” he said.
I kicked at a dusty clump of grass. “Gawking? I . . . I’m . . . not gawking. I was just watching your girlfriend putting the moves on someone else. Jealous?”
“Of Gabe Webber?” Todd laughed. “Uh . . . no .”
I shielded my eyes from the sun. “Why? What’s wrong with Gabe Webber?”
“Nothing. As in, there’s nothing there. He has the personality of dry toast.”
How dare he insult my Gabe? “Oh yes. I forgot. You prefer the company of assholes and jerks. As they say, ‘Birds of a feather . . .’”
“That must be why you hang around.”
I opened my mouth to come back with a zinger, but I couldn’t think of anything to say. Blank. I just stood there with my yap hanging wide open.
Todd smiled and shook his head. “Ya got nothing?”
I did the only thing I could. I shut my mouth, shrugged my shoulders and said, “Nope. Nothing.”
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Todd laughed again. A real laugh, though. Not an evil one or a suspicious one. A real, hearty-type chortle with his face all loose and bright. “Give it time. You’ll think of something,”
he said. He started walking back to the crowd, but said over his shoulder, “I’ll
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recognizes his feelings for Elizabeth. I didn’t get very far, though. I couldn’t help daydreaming that I was Elizabeth and Gabe was Mr. Darcy, fighting against his blossoming feelings for me. Discovering that his passion was beyond his control and finding me more and more desirable each time we met. I, of course, was coy and witty and said all the right things at all the right times and filled out the top of my empire-style dress quite nicely. I played the pianoforte as he listened and watched me with sultry eyes. It was a love that would grow despite the denial of both parties. Despite the opposition of others. It was simply irrefutable. But we would have to wait for it. Wait. Because you can’t hurry love. You just have to wait. Love don’t come easy. It’s a game of give and take. Oh, dammit. Now I had a song from one of my father’s crappy old vinyl records stuck in my head.
I set my book down and watched Todd, Amanda, and a whole gaggle of girls squawk around. There were even a couple of guys waiting to try out, too. I guess Todd had degeeked cheerleading enough for them. Or maybe the whole
“looking up girls’ skirts” thing had finally caught on. Jamar Douglass was there. And Oskar Leahy. And who was the guy on the opposite bleachers? Was it . . . ? Hold the phone. I jumped up and “casually” strolled a bit closer. I blinked my eyes in the sun. It couldn’t be, could it? But it was. Gabe.
Why was he here? He couldn’t be trying out. He was just sitting there. Watching. With sultry eyes like Darcy’s. And suddenly it hit me. The girls. One of the girls was the one he was dating. Had to be. Then Amanda went over and sat 100 Kristin Walker
next to him, and I did a mental head-smack. Of course. He was only there because they were fake-married. That was it. Right? But there was a girl, somewhere, who he was seeing. Maybe she was here. Wait a minute; did he just smile at Sonja Pressman?
“You know, if you’re going to stalk someone, you should be less obvious.”
I wheeled around. It was Todd. He’d snuck up on me. He said, “For starters, try not standing in the middle of a field, gawking at your prey,” he said.
I kicked at a dusty clump of grass. “Gawking? I . . . I’m . . . not gawking. I was just watching your girlfriend putting the moves on someone else. Jealous?”
“Of Gabe Webber?” Todd laughed. “Uh . . . no .”
I shielded my eyes from the sun. “Why? What’s wrong with Gabe Webber?”
“Nothing. As in, there’s nothing there. He has the personality of dry toast.”
How dare he insult my Gabe? “Oh yes. I forgot. You prefer the company of assholes and jerks. As they say, ‘Birds of a feather . . .’”
“That must be why you hang around.”
I opened my mouth to come back with a zinger, but I couldn’t think of anything to say. Blank. I just stood there with my yap hanging wide open.
Todd smiled and shook his head. “Ya got nothing?”
I did the only thing I could. I shut my mouth, shrugged my shoulders and said, “Nope. Nothing.”
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101
Todd laughed again. A real laugh, though. Not an evil one or a suspicious one. A real, hearty-type chortle with his face all loose and bright. “Give it time. You’ll think of something,”
he said. He started walking back to the crowd, but said over his shoulder, “I’ll
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