Beautiful Chaos

Catfight

A few days later, I was sitting in the good booth at the Dar-ee Keen, which unofficially belonged to Link now. Some nervous freshmen actually cleared out when we got there. I remembered my freshman year when that was Link and me. He was nodding at girls as they walked by our booth, and I was eating my weight in Tater Tots.

“They must be buying a different kind or something. These are actually good.” I popped another Tater Tot into my mouth. I hadn’t touched one in years. But today, they’d looked good up on the grimy menu board.

“Dude, I think you’re losin’ it. Even I never ate those things.”

I shrugged as Lena and Ridley slid into the booth with two malts. Ridley started drinking both of them. “Mmm. Raspberry.”

“Is that a first for you, Rid?” Link looked happy to see her. They were speaking again. I gave it five minutes until the bickering set in.

“Mmm. Oreo. Oh my God.” She stuck the straws into her mouth and started drinking both malts at the same time.

Lena looked disgusted and pulled out a bag of french fries. “What are you doing?”

“I wanted raspberry Oreo,” Ridley mumbled, the straws slipping out of her mouth.

I pointed at the sign over the register that read: ANYTHING YOU WANT, ANY WAY WE GOT IT. “You know you can order it like that.”

“I’d rather do it my way. It’s more fun. What are we talking about?”

Link tossed a wad of folded-up flyers onto the table. “The big deal is Savannah Snow’s party after the game against Summerville.”

“Well, have fun.” I stole one of Lena’s fries.

Link made a face. “Aw, man, first the Tater Tots, now this? How can you eat that crap? Smells like dirty hair and old oil.” He sniffed again. “And a rat or two.”

Lena dropped the bag.

I grabbed another fry. “You used to eat this crap all the time. And you were a lot more fun.”

“Well, I’m about to get more fun, because I scored you guys invites to Savannah’s party. We’re all going.” He unfolded the orange flyers, and there they were: four orange invites, each cut in a circle and decorated to look like a basketball.

Lena picked up one by the corner as if it was actually covered in dirty hair and old oil. “The golden ticket. Guess that makes us the cool kids now.”

Link didn’t pick up on her sarcasm. “Yeah, I hooked y’all up.”

Ridley slurped her malts. She had drained both of them down to the dregs. “Actually, I did.”

“What?” I couldn’t have heard her right.

“Savannah invited the whole squad, and I told them I needed to bring my entourage. You know, for security or whatever.” She put down the glasses. “You can thank me later. Or now.”

“Say that again?” Lena looked at her cousin like she was crazy.

Ridley seemed confused. “You’re my entourage?”

Lena shook her head. “The other part.”

“Security?”

“Before that.”

Rid thought for a second. “Squad?”

“That.” Lena said it like it was a four-letter word.

It had to be a joke. I looked at Link, who was purposely not looking at me.

Ridley shrugged. “Yeah, whatever. Team thingy. I forget the name. I like the skirts. Besides, this gig is the closest I can get to being a Siren, as long as I’m trapped in this lame Mortal body.” She gave us her best fake smile. “Go, Wildcats.”

Lena was speechless. I could feel the windows of the Dar-ee Keen begin to rattle as if a gale force wind was hitting them. Which it probably was.

I crumpled up my napkin. “Are you kidding? You’re one of them now?”

“What?”

“The Savannah Snows and Emily Ashers—the kind of girls who harassed us all the time in school,” Lena snapped. “The ones we hate.”

“I don’t see what you’re getting so worked up about.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you joined the same squad that started a club to get me kicked out of school last year. You know, the Jackson High cheer-slash-death squad?”

Ridley yawned. “Whatever. Tell me something that has to do with me.”

I looked at the windows out of the corner of my eye. They were still rattling. A tree branch flew against one, as if it had been tossed up out of the ground like a weed. I pulled one of Lena’s curls straight between my fingers.

Calm down, L.

I’m calm.

She doesn’t mean to hurt you.

No. Because she doesn’t notice, or care.

I turned to Link, who was sitting with his arms behind his head, enjoying our reactions. “Did you know about this?”

Link grinned. “Haven’t missed a practice.” I stared him down. “Aw, come on. She looks pretty hot in those short skirts. Third Degree Burns, Baby.”

Ridley smiled.

I was pretty sure Link had lost his mind. “And you think this is a good idea?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Whatever floats her boat. And you know what they say: Keep your friends close and your enemies’ clothes…. Wait, how does that go?”

I looked at Lena.

This I gotta see.

The windows rattled harder.

The next afternoon, we went to see for ourselves. The girl had moves. You had to give her that. Even if Ridley wore her cheerleading skirt with a metallic tank top instead of the standard gold and blue uniform, you couldn’t deny it.

“I wonder if she’s good at this because she was a Siren.” I watched as Ridley pulled back handsprings down the length of the basketball court.

“Yeah. I wonder.” Lena didn’t look too convinced.

“What, you think there’s some kind of cheer Cast? Is there a Latin word for cheerleader?”

Lena watched Ridley nail another handspring. “I’m not sure, but I’m going to find out.”

We watched from the highest bleacher, and after the first ten minutes of practice, it was obvious what was really going on. The real reason Ridley joined the squad. She was replacing Savannah, in every possible way. Rid was the base, holding up the team during the pyramid. She was leading the cheers and, in a few cases, making them up on the fly, as far as I could tell. The rest of the squad was stumbling behind her, trying to copy her seemingly random moves.

When Ridley cheered, her shouts were so loud she actually distracted the guys on the court. Or maybe it was the metallic tank top. “Give it to me, Wildcat boys! You can be my Wildcat toys! Bounce your balls and shoot ’em high. Ridley’s come to Jackson High.”

The guys on the team started laughing, except for Link. He looked like he wanted to chuck a basketball at her. Only someone else was going to beat him to it. Savannah jumped off the bench, her arm still in a sling, and made a beeline for Ridley.

“I’m guessing that’s not one of their approved cheers.”

Lena put her head in her hands. “I’m guessing, between Ridley and Savannah, we’ll all be kicked out of school by the end of the season.” We both knew what happened when you took on women like Mrs. Snow. Not to mention Savannah Snow.

“Well, you’ve got to give Ridley credit for one thing. It’s October, and she’s still at Jackson. She made it longer than three days.”

“Remind me to bake her a cake when I get home.” Lena was annoyed. “The last time we went to school together, I spent half my time doing her homework. Otherwise, she would’ve gotten every boy in school to do it for her. That’s the only way she knows how to operate.”

Lena rested her head on my chest. Our fingers intertwined, and I felt a jolt. Even though my skin would start to burn in a few minutes, it was worth it. I wanted to remember that feeling—not the jolt, but the touch before it. They way her hand felt in mine.

I never thought there would be a time when I’d need to remember. When she would be anywhere but in my arms. Until last spring, when she left me, and the memories—some too painful to remember, some too painful to forget—were all I had. Those were the things I held on to.

Sitting next to her on my front steps.

Kelting with her while I was lying in bed and she was in hers.

The way she twisted her charm necklace when she was lost in thought, like she was doing right now, while she watched the game.

The nothing-out-of-the-ordinary between us that was so unbelievable and so extraordinary. It wasn’t because she was a Caster. It was because she was Lena and I loved her.

So I watched her as she watched Ridley and Savannah. Until the drama courtside grew louder, and nothing was silent—even though you didn’t need to hear what they were saying to know what was going on.

“Okay, that’s a rookie mistake.” Lena narrated the action for me as Savannah got into Ridley’s face. Ridley was snarling like an alley cat. “See what I mean? You can’t come at Rid like that without expecting to get your face clawed off.” Lena tensed up. I could tell she was debating going down there before things got ugly.

Emory beat her to it, luring Ridley over to the sidelines. Savannah tried to look angry, but she was obviously relieved.

So was Lena. “That almost makes me like Emory.”

“You can’t solve all of Ridley’s problems for her.”

“I can’t solve any of them. I’ve spent my whole life not solving Ridley’s problems.”

I nudged her with my shoulder. “That’s why they’re Ridley’s problems.”

She relaxed and settled back on the bleacher. “When did you get so zen?”

“I’m not zen.” Was I? In the back of my mind, all I could think about was my mom and the beyond-the-grave wisdom that was uniquely hers. Maybe it was creeping into the front of my mind. “My mom came to see me.” I regretted saying it as soon as the words came out of my mouth.

Lena sat up so fast my arm went flying. “When? Why didn’t you tell me? What did she say?”

“A few nights ago. I didn’t feel like talking about it.” Especially not after I’d watched Lena’s mother plunge further into Darkness in the vision that same night. But it was more than that. I was coming unglued—talking to my unconscious aunt in my sleep, forgetting things when I was awake—and the impossibly heavy weight of doom lurking in the back of my mind. I didn’t want to admit how bad it was getting—to Lena or to myself.

Lena turned back to the basketball court. Her feelings were hurt. “Well, you’re full of information today.”

I wanted to tell you, L. But it was a lot to take in.

You could have told me like this.

I was trying to sort some things out. I think I’ve been mad at her all this time, like I blamed her for dying. How crazy is that?

Ethan, think about how I acted when I thought Uncle Macon was dead. I went crazy.

It wasn’t your fault.

I’m not saying it was. Why is everything about fault with you? It wasn’t your mom’s fault she died, but a part of you still blames her. It’s normal.

We sat next to each other on the bench without talking. Watching the cheerleaders cheer and the basketball players play below us.

Ethan, why do you think we found each other in our dreams?

I don’t know.

It’s not the way people usually meet.

I guess not. Sometimes I wonder if this is all one of those psychotic coma dreams. Maybe I’m lying in County Care right now.

I almost laughed, but I remembered something.

County Care.

The Eighteenth Moon. I asked my mom about it.

About John Breed?

I nodded.

All she said was something about evil having a lot of faces, and that it wasn’t up to me to judge.

Ah. The judging thing. See? She agrees with me. I knew your mom would like me.

I had one more crazy question.

L, have you ever heard of the Wheel of Fate?

No. What is it?

According to my mom, it’s not a thing. It’s a person.

“What?” I caught Lena off guard, and she stopped Kelting.

“The weird thing is, I keep hearing that phrase—the Wheel of Fate. Aunt Prue mentioned it, too, when I fell asleep in her room. It must have something to do with the Eighteenth Moon, or my mom wouldn’t have brought it up.”

Lena stood up and held out her hand. “Come on.”

I got up after her. “What are you doing?”

“Leaving Ridley to solve her own problems. Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?”

“To solve yours.”