After Boyd, Caitlin, the bus driver called out Campbell, Chase. “Here!” called Chase, cheerfully bounding up the stairs. Unlike Alicia, she wasn't giving Mary Rose or the other Lawman Creek girls a second thought.
“Ah don't lahk that one much either, but she at least seems t' have some backbone.”
“You think she really woulda fought you?” asked Louise.
“Ah do,” said Mary Rose. “Wonder if she'll try an' innerfere. Maht be prudentized ta see she don't.”
A girl with round, coke-bottle glasses interrupted her in a dull, simple voice. She had a long, sandy brown braid coming out the back of a baseball cap. “What were her last name? Campbell?”
“Yeah, reckon so,” said Mary Rose, disinterested.
“Oh,” said the girl. She thought for a moment, spat, then said, “Sorry, Mary Rose. But ah won't be able to make it ta practice tomorry.”
Mary Rose whirled on her. “What? Lila Jean, you must be jokin'! You ain't missed a practice all season!”
“Ah know, but ah'll have to miss this'un.”
“Why the hell for?”
Lila Jean spat again. “Feud-related absence.”
Mary Rose shook her head. “Ah forbids it, you already used up all yer feud-related absences for the season. You spent 'em all on that pointless Guffry clan.”
“No ah didn't, that was Jefra Mae, that was the Ruth-Guffry feud,” said Lila Jean. “Reckon this here is different, it's the Campbell-Swindle feud.”
“Oh yeah, ah know 'bout that! The ol' Campbell-Swindle feud. There was a classic. Lotsa blood, lotsa people gettin' kilt young,” said Louise fondly. “Thought your folks killed off all them Campbells.”
“Reckon not,” said Lila Jean, in her pedestrian, unconcerned way. She looked at the road where the Sunnycrest bus disappeared, and the heads of her squadmates turned to follow her gaze. “On account that Chase gal's name is Campbell, ah have to leave town and go kill her, as she is a no good varmint,” she said simply. She spat again, then added, “Reckon I ought to be back by Mondee.”
Mary Rose frowned. “Cain't the rest o' your clan do it? Why does you have to?”
“Well, mah ma and pa are both locked up, and ah ain't got no brothers or sisters,” said Lila Jean. “And thus it falls on me ta pick up the mantle. But it is a mantle ah am proud ta carry. Ain't never met a Campbell before, but Pa always said they're no good and ah dreamed of one day tryin' mah hand at killin' one. Didn't think it'd ever happen, since mah family hunted 'em to extinction. It's like gettin' a crack at mah own dodo bird.”
Initially, Mary Rose thought to protest this, but, well, she had some unfinished business with that Campbell girl herself. “Well, Lila Jean, ah reckon we'd be happy ta help ya.”
Lila Jean's eyes lit up. She looked around at her squadmates for confirmation. “Is that raht? That'd be jes' swell, ah could shore use the help.”
“Least we could do for a feller cheerleader,” said one of the girls.
“An' you did help my folks with our feud, after all. Only right ah should return the favor,” said another one.
“Well, how sweet of y'all. Ah 'preciate that very much,” said Lila Jean.
Mary Rose smiled. “No problem at all, no problem at all. If y'all keep that Chase girl distractified, that'll give me the chance ta settle things with that redhead captain... and that man o' hers.”
.....
It was a long drive home from Lawman Creek, and it was nearly midnight by the time the Sunnycrest High cheerleading squad got home. Though their bodies were tired, everyone was still buzzing with excitement over the win. Buzzing more than anyone was Chase, who had considered the whole away game experience a very thrilling adventure.
Alicia was in high spirits too, for she had enjoyed not one, but two victories that day: First in the football game, and second in words against Mary Rose. Between Chase and her, neither of the roommates felt like sleeping, so they stayed up a while talking about the day's events.
“I'm just glad nobody got hurt,” said Alicia, buttoning up her pajamas. Her hair, still damp from her shower, licked her shoulders. “I thought for sure a fight was going to break out.”
“Yes, big eye girl had much mean to fight,” said Chase. She was sitting on her open sleeping bag in her own pajamas, eating some pretzel sticks. “Could see not just talk. Her did want punch Vic and Leash and more too. It good you stop her.”
Alicia walked over and sat down on the edge of her bed. “Oh, come on. I didn't do that much. You stepping in did a lot more to defuse the situation, I think.”
Chase shook her blonde head. “No. Leash not talk, big eye girl still hit cheer. Not Vic, but me. And I might would hit cheer too,” said Chase gratefully. Laying on his side on the sleeping bag was Douglas the Gargoyle, the present Chase had received from Willard the scary kid. She'd taken to using it as sort of a plushie. A very cold and hard one. The thought of having to hurt a fellow cheerleader troubled her, so she pulled Douglas close to her, propped him up, and wrapped her arms around him for comfort. “Leash was much bold, much tough, help both me and Vic.”
It was a nice sentiment, but Alicia had a hard time seeing it the same way. All she could think of was how scared she had been, right at the end, before Mary Rose decided to call it all off. She certainly hadn't felt bold or tough in that moment.
Chase gave her a smile. “It too bad Kirk not see. Would think Leash much brave!”
Alicia turned red and gave an uncertain giggle. “No way, don't even say that. He'd think I was being a melodramatic dork.”
“No! Much good to show man brave and strong. Show Leash is strong mate,” said Chase.
Stolen story; please report.
Alicia turned a deeper red. “M-m-mate?! Wh-whoa, pump the brakes there!” She paused thoughtfully, then asked with curiosity, “Do me and him feel like that to you? I mean, do you think Kirk and I are serious? It, it kind of caught me off guard when Mary Rose asked if I had a boyfriend. I hadn't really thought about it before. I mean, I guess we are, we went to Harvest and we've hung out a few times since then, but I don't know if we're for real or if we're still just kind of testing the...I mean, we still haven't done anything, or...” Feeling rambly and too embarrassed to go on, she let herself trail off so Chase could offer her thoughts.
Chase was not the person to ask about this, but she offered her support anyway. “Yup, Kirk is boy, and Leash is friend,” she said succinctly.
“W-wow,” said Alicia. She looked elated, but also a little scared. “Kirk's my BOYFRIEND. And I'm his GIRLFRIEND.” After trying these labels on, she found she liked them greatly. She fell to the floor next to Chase and gave her a squealing hug. “It's everything I ever wanted!”
Chase smiled and patted Alicia's arm. “It right you glad. Kirk strong man, and good man. Him good match for Leash.”
This made Alicia even happier. “Thanks, Chase! That's really nice of you to say.” She broke the hug, but her hands didn't want to leave Chase just yet, so she left them on her shoulders. “You know, we should all do something. Tomorrow's Saturday, right? I think the Sandman is doing a matinee, so how about we do a double date?! Me and Kirk, and you and Torey!”
Chase had never heard of a double date before. “All at same place?”
“Yeah! All four of us together! Doesn't that sound fun?” asked Alicia.
Chase knew the Sandman was where the films were at. Those were fun by themselves, but being with Alicia and Torey was fun too. All of these things put together logically would spell a great time. “Yes! Much fun!”
Alicia wanted to call Kirk right away, but in consideration of the late hour, decided to put it off until morning. Something about their conversation nagged at Chase, lingering with her and giving her butterflies long after they finally bedded down for the night.
About a half hour after the lights went out, and Alicia was already asleep, Chase realized what it was: If Alicia was Kirk's girlfriend, and they were going on this double date together, what did that mean about Chase and Torey? Was she HIS girlfriend?
She lay in the dark and thought about it. The whole experience of being with Torey was very new to her, so it was hard to be sure. Maybe she was.
The possibility made her a bit uneasy. What did a girlfriend do? Alicia had definitely made a big deal about it, so it had to be something important. She was still trying to figure all this out, was she really ready for that kind of responsibility?
She recalled a word Alicia had used to describe her relationship with Kirk: “serious.” Was Chase “serious?” It was a pretty ominous and emergency-room-ish word to use to describe a state of love or affection.
Her mind was wandering now. Suddenly very tired, she fluffed her pillow, and rolled over, snuggling against Douglas the Gargoyle. She'd have to ask Alicia about all of it tomorrow.
.......
The girls made their plans for the date early in the day. Alicia called Kirk to set things up with him, and then she dialed for Chase (who still hadn't figured out phones yet) so Chase could set things up with Torey. After that, they began to really dig into the meat of the preparations: planning their clothes.
“Look good?” asked Chase, showing Alicia the outfit she'd picked out. Gradually, through numerous shopping trips, her friends had helped her build up a healthy wardrobe. They found her a fun person to shop for; it was all too easy to treat the pretty, impressionable girl as a doll to dress up.
Today, she had chosen a loose-fitting, canary yellow top with a brand name across her chest, black jeans, and skate shoes. She wasn't asking for a second opinion so much as a first opinion. She understood clothing, of course, but the intricacies of what made an outfit bad or good were well beyond her.
“Wow, too cute!” praised Alicia. “But also cool! You'll look really good next to Torey in that, you sort of match his style!” She struck a somewhat self-conscious pose. “What do you think of mine?” She was dressed in a snowy white sweater (which might have looked dull on Chase, but, matched with Alicia's red hair, looked stunning) and an impossibly cute A-line miniskirt of blue denim.
Chase was of the opinion that Alicia would look good no matter what she wore, and she sort of felt Kirk would think the same, but even she realized this was a good outfit. “Look MUCH nice, Leash! Look glow and shine!”
Alicia giggled. “Well, thank you! That's exactly how I feel right now! This is going to be so fun!”
Hearing how fun it was going to be reminded Chase of why she might not have fun. She went quiet for a moment, as Alicia turned to her mirror and started putting on her earrings, humming pleasantly. “Hey, Leash? Me see rus?” she asked.
“Huh?” asked Alicia. “Serious? What do you mean?”
Chase tried phrasing it a different way. “Me and Tor...like you and Kirk?”
Alicia stopped, then shifted her gaze in the mirror from her ears to over her shoulder at Chase. “You mean, are you boyfriend and girlfriend?”
“...Yes.”
Alicia could sense from Chase's tone that this talk would require a bit of delicacy. Unlike when Alicia asked her similar question, a yes might not necessarily have been what the blonde wanted to hear. She turned around. “Do you want to be?”
“Not know. What it mean, to have boy friend?”
“I don't know.” Alicia found it an interesting question. “I guess it just means you're dating each other, and you don't want to date anybody else. It means you like each other, you know? Do you like him? By which I mean, are you attracted to him?”
The answer came to her pretty quick, which surprised Chase a little. “Yes. Like to look at. Plus, him nice to me!”
Alicia nodded. “Then he can be your boyfriend if you want. It doesn't take anything more than that.”
“That it?” asked Chase, surprised. “Then sure! Would like Tor as boy friend!”
With a smile, Alicia said, “I thought you might! And I know he'd like you as a girlfriend, too!”
Chase didn't know what was humble or what wasn't, so she just stated the fact: “Yup! Him think me great!”
Seeing Chase's enthusiasm and confidence inspired Alicia a little. Even though she felt things were very good with Kirk, she was discovering that when it came to romance her nature was to worry and overthink, no matter how good things were. Chase, she assumed, did not do much of that.
Why would she need to? In Alicia's eyes, Chase had romance in her back pocket. She and Torey seemed to be doing great, and if she wasn't already dating him, she might have even been dating Kirk, since she was the one he asked to Harvest first-
Alicia quickly shook her head. She forgot she wasn't supposed to think about that. Nothing good could come of it. It always made her feel inexplicably guilty.
Just guilty, not paranoid. Or at least, not too paranoid. She knew from a logical standpoint that she had nothing to worry about, and that giving it a second thought was a waste of her energy. Chase had no interest in Kirk (in fact, she'd been very selfless in referring him to Alicia), and Kirk, well, he was with Alicia now. Even if he liked Chase at one point, that was in the past. Probably.
And even if it wasn't completely the past, it wasn't Chase's fault. That was probably the crux of why Alicia felt guilty. She and Chase had grown extremely close over the brief time they'd known each other and lived together, and to even go down that line of thought made Alicia feel like a shitty friend, like she was blaming Chase for something. Chase couldn't be held accountable for somebody liking her.
Alicia hugged Chase as a sort of silent apology, then separated from her and asked, “Hey, Chase? That stuff you said about being brave and strong for your man...did you mean that, or were you just trying to pump me up? Would Kirk really be impressed by what I did after the game?”
“Yes!” piped Chase. She was happy Alicia was following up on this. “Meant each words! Man love two things, girl and fight. If you girl who fight, need not much more.”
Alicia smiled. She wasn't so sure it was really that simple, but it made her happy to think it could be, so she did. If that was how things worked in Chase's world, who was she to argue? She'd taught Chase a lot of things since they'd first met, but maybe it was a good idea to learn a bit from her in turn, if she could.