Ice cream can be used for many things!

The idea of me having a date with Leland Frick, the team photographer, almost caused a riot. By this time, there seemed to be sixteen girls —including me, damnit!— left at the party, and all of them had one thing to discuss: my supposed date.

At the top of their lungs — and cheerleaders live to be loud. All of them —again, including me— had something to say about it.

“Well, what was I supposed to do? He was all upset about the highlight reel he shot showing me taking down #17 of the Dogs, and …”

“And he wanted to make it up to you?” Jo supplied. “Relationship judo. You’re a nice person, and he used it against you.”

Megan was leading some of the other girls in an adlib cheer: “Pete! Pete! Petey’s got a date!”

“Wait, wait!” I almost shrieked it over the noise. “Lee is a nice person, too!”

“Oh, you’re defending your boyfriend?” asked Joanna with a grin. Talk about relationship judo!

Kat led another chorus of the combined cheering squads. “She’s gunna get Fricked! Just you wait and see! Number seventeen has a date with Lee!”

I felt my face twisting up. Was I going to cry? “Damnit!” I screamed to forestall any tears. “It’s not a date-date! Lee just wants a chance to apologize!”

“Oh, I bet he does!” Joanna cackled.

“Whatcha gonna go see? That new Halloween movie with the creepy alien monsters?” Darcy from the JV squad asked.

That got several squeals of laughter. “If you get scared, Lee will be there to hold you!”

I didn’t know which girl made that suggestion, but I determined that I would find out and tie knots in her baton. Well, she probably didn’t have a baton…. Drum majorettes had batons, cheerleaders had pom-poms, and you can’t tie a knot in those, ‘cause they already have a knot to make all the streamers stay together. So… I’d untie them then.

That didn’t make sense, even to me, and I felt my eyes burn and my lips twist again. “You guys!” I shrieked. “You’re just being mean!” Panic must feel like this.

And suddenly, I was in the middle of a huddle of girls being hugged and patted and even kissed, first by Megan, then by Joanna and more.

“Don’t be scared,” Megan said in my ear. “We’re here for you. And you and Jo just kicked ass on three grown men. Leland is only a film nerd with a limp!”

“He,” I stammered. “He… it’s his leg… he wears that shoe….”

She pushed me away to look into my face. “You like him, don’t you? Do you like Leland Frick, Petey?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know, Megan.” My face was wet, and my nose was running. “Not the way I like y-you?”

Someone handed me a tissue, and I used it.

“It’s different because he’s a boy,” Megan suggested.

I nodded, the tissue already as damp and miserable as me.

“What are you going to wear on your date, Gayle?” Darcy asked.

I lost it and started collecting tissues like a politician shaking hands.

“Ice cream,” someone yelped. “She needs ice cream! Stat!”

Jo handed me an icy pint carton. “Hold it to the back of your neck,” she ordered.

I did so, and the shock stopped me from crying, at least.

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