Chapter #33Athletically Gifted by: rugal b.   "So, you've made a choice," Fairfax asks as you take a seat at the table where he's chowing down on a box of (leftover?) Chinese food. Keith is already there.
"Yeah, I think so," you say as you search through your book bag and pull out the list. You shove it over to Keith and Fairfax who both take a look at it. "Look for the check marks."
"Amanda Ferguson, Mia DeWitt, Catherine Muskov, Tara Weston and," Fairfax stops to re-examine the list, "Jamie Bornholm?" He takes a moment to readjust his glasses and when he speaks it's with something close to the tone of a disappointed father admonishing his child. "I said I wanted a choice, Will. You said you had a choice. These are options."
"I have one I'm leaning towards but I figured it would be best to get together to finalize it," you say diplomatically. You then take your finger and point at a name... or you try to. You want to go wtih the athletes but you're having a hard time determining which one to go for. "Well I have a few I'm leaning towards," you sheepishly admit.
"A few," Fairfax asks with a bit of incredulity creeping into his voice. "It would probably be easier if you just went with one of the cheerleaders..."
"Look, it's between these three alright," you say as you point to Catherine, Tara and Jamie's names.
"Athletes," he says. "Well there is a connection to the cheerleaders with any of them even if it's not anything as explicit as sharing classes or similar groups."
"Right, the cheerleaders are always going to have a connection to the teams," you add. "But there's more than that as well. I think those three specifically can give us insight into other things that we might not get from the cheerleaders."
Fairfax cocks an eyebrow and takes a bit of food. "You have thoughts on this I assume," he asks before shoving the food into his mouth.
"Yeah, definitely. Take Catherine Muskov for instance," you say as you point her out. "Well, what do we know about her? She's on the track team of course. She transferred over from Eastman last year too. Well, I was at her place over the weekend --"
"Bullshit," Keith blurts out. "No way were you ever at Catherine's!"
"Stephanie invited me out although I think she was trying to humiliate me by putting me in an awkward environment," you groan. "But that's not important. What is important is that I saw a bunch of Eastman jocks at her place when I was there which means she probably still has a lot of friends over there."
"I think I understand," Fairfax states as he finishes chewing. "So not only would we have data on how the athletic circle works but we could find out about inter-school relationships and could parlay that into info on Eastman. That's not a bad idea actually."
"Right, and look at Tara," you say as you move on to her. "Even I've heard the rumors about her."
"Rumors," Fairfax asks.
"Yeah, like she's into girls or something," states Keith.
"Well that's the rumor anyway," you add, "so if I was her we could see how someone like that deals with rumors constantly swirling around them. That's kind of the same with Jamie," you state as you go to her name.
"I see," says Fairfax. "Apparently Chelsea likes to spread rumors about her and her family. It's stuff I've overheard some of the other cheerleaders I share classes with talk about."
"So she covers the swim team and athletes," you tell him, "and the rumor angle but with the bonus that, if Shanks is going to be Chelsea, then we can see how that stuff plays out on both sides." You then cast a glance towards Keith. "Plus she shares a circle with Cindy so if they're friendly we can get one through the other."
"When we get Eva and Jessica we could get Cindy through them," Fairfax states. "Then through Cindy we could get Jamie." He seems to be working everything out in his head. "Then through Cindy or Eva or Jessica we could probably get Maria and through Maria is Chelsea," he reasons. "If we're efficient we could all be in place by tonight."
"So you're saying Jamie would be the best bet," you ask.
"I'm saying she would be the easiest, yes," he answers. "But all of them do offer nice possibilities. I'll let you decide but we need to act fast so text me before eighth. Make sure to tell Mike and Carlos as well that we're getting Eva and Jessica first. You've thought of that, right?"
"Ugh, sorry but it slipped my mind," you confess. "I've been so worried about my own list. But Jessica and Jenny have this lunch too so if I can catch either of them..." You decide to not waste any time for a response from Fairfax and hop up from the table to try and find either of them.
* * * * *
You don't really have far to run though because no sooner do you round the corner that leads to the hall between the outside walkway and the library do you see Jenny coming from the other direction. "Hey," you call out happily, "just who I was looking... for..."
That jovial expression is replaced by a more concerned one as Jenny is headed your way (which is good) with a pretty sour expression on her face (which is not so good). "That's nice and all but you're not who I'm looking for," she says as she walks up. "Though maybe you'll do."
"You pissed about something?"
"Carson and James dipped out on lunch," she says with frustration in her voice. "They've been flaking out a lot on me, James especially, and I've about had it."
You note that it's James that's really sticking in her craw due to the fact that she likes him. So you try to reassure her. "They've probably got good reasons," you say. "They've been going around talking about chemicals and stuff right? So maybe it's related to school?"
Jenny laughs in your face at that. "Like hell they are, not if I know them," she says. "No, if I know them they're up to some dumb shit prank or something childish and when I find them I'm kicking their asses for it." She sighs and seems to have calmed down thankfully. "Anyway, you said you were looking for me?"
"Oh, yeah, I just wanted to know if Jessica was with you at lunch today. I need to talk to her."
"Obviously not if I'm marching around the halls looking for those two idiots," she replies. "There's nothing today so she doesn't have any reason to come over. What'd you need to talk to her about though?"
"Yeah. Mike Hollister and Carlos Montoya have their video thing right," you say to her.
"I've heard of it from the Two Man Idiot Squad," she replies.
"Well, they're working on one today, Bring It On or something like that I think," you tell her. This is all going to be one big lie of course but if you're lucky it's a lie that'll work. "So because of that they want a cheerleader to show up. Not to say anything but like a silent walk on cameo or something."
"You want me to talk to Jessica about doing it," she asks. "I mean if you need a cheerleader I'd have better luck with Yumi."
"They were kind of insistent on it being either Eva or Jessica," you quickly counter. "Something about how they're filming from the neck down to conceal the identity and that Eva and Jessica have that classic cheerleader look. I guess they figured they'd have a better shot going to them than they would going to Cindy or Chelsea."
"Chelsea would probably drive her car into the river before she agreed to do that. Hey, maybe we should ask her then," Jenny jokes. At least you think she's joking. "I've only got study hall third period with Eva but I've get Jessica in eighth so I can talk to her there for you. I can probably convince her."
"That's great," you exclaim. "You're a life saver Jenny, thank you!"
"And you can pay me back by telling me if you've seen the dipshits," she responds.
You shake your head at that. "I'm as in the dark as you are, sorry," you tell her.
She grunts at that and bids goodbye. You're out of the woods which is a huge relief off your shoulders except... "Hey, before you go," you say as she walks past you. "Uh, make sure that Jessica knows it's recorded at... you know that storage complex? Top Self or Top Shelf or whatever," you ask which gets a nod. "Well that's where Carlos has his studio so tell her to come out there around four."
* * * * *
Your next class is Mr. Kowalski's calculus class which is one you've always enjoyed. Math isn't too much of a problem and Kowalski has always been one of more jovial teachers but more than an easy to get along with teacher is that you share it with girls like Anne Starkey and Cindy Vredenburg; and sitting next to Cindy is Jamie Bornholm.
Jamie is not the first person you'd think of when you'd think of a swimmer. Compared to others like Andrea Varnsworth or Olivia Byrne, her body is lithe and thin though with long, strong legs; she reminds you more of a ballerina than a someone who would be on the swim team. All of that is reinforced by dark hair that, while cascading in waves, is today done up in the kind of bun you'd expect to see on a dancer. That hair is contrasted by fine, flawless skin that you don't think you've ever seen tan.
And while Cindy has always given you attitude, the interactions you've had with her have been pleasant insomuch that she's always given you small smiles and has been courteous. There's an elegance to her that has always drawn your eye, as if she comes from an earlier time. She's not your first choice, Catherine and Tara are slightly ahead of her, but she'd be the easiest to get, Fairfax seems to desire to get everything done as fast as possible and it's not like you'd have a problem being Jamie.  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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