Curse of the Fountain -12- by Melanie Brown

By

Melanie Brown

Copyright © 2025

Part 12

In many ways, it was like my first day all over again, except I didn’t have Mom’s hand to hold. And while I had to deal with getting stared at by boys, they didn’t drool then. When did cheerleader uniforms become sex symbols? I guess forever.

I wasn’t the only cheerleader in my first-period English class. I smiled at Katrina as we took our seats. She smiled knowingly back. She’s the head cheerleader nobody likes. But she seemed okay to me. We were members of a very exclusive club. I hate to say it this way, but we were goddesses among the mere mortal girls. Desired by boys simply for wearing short skirts carrying pom poms. I’m serious. Even back when I was in high school before, cheerleaders were at the top of the girl pyramid. From the looks I’m getting from boys, I don’t think that has changed much, if at all.

While the rest of the students were coming into class, the girl sitting behind me poked my back. When I turned to see what she wanted, she grinned, “Is it true you’re dating Jeff?” No last name necessary. Everyone knows who Jeff is. Even other boys named Jeff.

I forced a smile. “Yes and no.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked accusingly.

I scowled at the girl. “For starters, it’s none of your freakin’ business. But I haven’t gone out with him yet.”

Her voice dripping with sarcasm, she said, “Sorry.” She turned to the girl behind her and said, “Cheerleaders are such snotty little bitches.”

I rolled my eyes and turned around to listen to the teacher who had just stepped up to her lectern.

About mid-way through the teacher’s lecture on Silas Marner, Katrina caught my attention with a wave. She mouthed the words, “Let’s go now.” I nodded.

Katrina raised her hand, “Ms. Longtree? Nell and I have to leave for the pep rally.”

Ms. Longtree looked up and said, “That time already? Okay, girls, like the rest of the class, your assignment this weekend is to finish reading the book and do at least a four-paragraph report on it. Have a good weekend and go, Marauders, eh?” Oh, our team is the Murdoch Marauders.

Grinning. Katrina said, “Thank you, ma’am.” We both picked up our books and rushed to the hall.

Frowning, Katrina said, “I don’t have time to write a stupid report this weekend!”

“Me either,” I agreed. I’ll have my legal team write a college-level dissertation on the book. Hey, it’s what I did the last time I was in school. I hated that book.

Coach looked up as we entered the field house. “You guys are here early, too.”

Sissy grinned at us. “Glad you guys are here. We’re all here.” All five cheerleaders were present early. Me, Katrina, Sissy, and Sam and Trudy. This was our first pep rally, and we’re already a tight-knit group.

Coach said, “Okay, guys. We have some time before the rally. You might want to go over the cheers and the skit. Sorry, Nell. You don’t have much to do this time. We’ll get you more involved next week.”

I raised my hands in a defensive gesture. “Hey, I’m good.”

It was noisy in the field house as school staff set out folding metal chairs for the football team to sit on, and band members did the same for their own seating. When I was in school before, I never realized how much prep work there was for a pep rally.

I just sat up on the top row with the stoners and watched the cheerleaders. Not that I was a stoner, mind you. It was only that could be by myself. It dawned on me what a worthless little creep I was in high school. Maybe karma does exist.

I stood idly near the center of the field house, watching the band take their places. I also started watching as the student body rolled noisily into the field house. Even though they weren’t, I felt like everyone was staring down directly at me. They were all talking, laughing and shouting. Happy to not be in class.

I looked nervously around at my fellow cheerleaders. In a few moments, we’re going to be the stars of this show. All eyes on us. I sighed. The other four girls wanted to be here. They wanted the attention. I wanted to crawl under a rock.

I know what my niece-turned-mom would say. “Have fun! You’re a kid again. This is no big deal. Who cares, right?”

Maybe long term, that’s true. But right now, it’s as embarrassing as hell. Next week, the coach plans to conscript another girl.

“You okay?”

I looked over to see Sissy looking at me with a look of concern. I shook my head. “I’m nervous as hell.”

“I thought you looked a little pale.” She poked me in the arm. “Don’t worry. You got this, girl. You got all the cheers down. You know most of your stunts. You’re a very popular girl, and you have the most popular guy on the planet… well, at least at HMM. So don’t be such a hangdog.”

Nodding, I lied, “You’re right.” I still wanted to go home!

When the last of the student body entered the field house, the doors closed with a loud bang. I expected the lights over the audience to be turned down, but it stayed light. I asked Sissy about it, and she casually said that a few years ago, a girl got pregnant when it got dark. I half expected her to say that a student was murdered.

The principal strutted out to the center of the field house floor. A bright spotlight illuminated him. Squinting in the bright light, he said, “Welcome, Marauders, to a new school year!” The crowd went mild with a smattering of applause. “This is going to be a great year for Murdock High. We have a great chance of making State this year. And that’s just the band! And now I’d like to hand the mic over to Coach Schwachsinn. Take it away, coach!”

“Thank you, Principal Strickland. Tonight, we plan to annihilate the Crane Chihuahuas. We have a great team this year, so let’s get them introduced! Our team captain, ‘Stove Top Stuffer’ Bernie Schwartz!” The cheerleaders cheered at each name the coach introduced. “Next, our very own heartbreaker, ‘Artful Dodger’ Jeff Jankowski…”

I turned to Sissy and asked, “Artful Dodger? Is he a pickpocket?”

Sissy laughed. “No. He somehow dodges attempts to tackle him. I know. It’s stupid.”

Jeff waved and grinned at me as he took his seat. I waved back. I have to admit he is cute.

Sadly, we had to perform a song, and I had to participate. Jeff stared at me the whole time. It might be one thing if I wanted his attention. I’m sure our date Saturday night will cure him of any interest in me. I know I look like a girl and walk like a girl and at times even smell like a girl. But I sure as hell don’t think like one.

Have I mentioned how blue his eyes are?

The skit was a success. The two boys who volunteered to pretend to be Chihuahua cheerleaders were even hairier in person. It was funny and everybody laughed. Not sure what to think about what the Crane high school did, though from what I heard. Instead of football players dressed as cheerleaders they had cheerleaders dressed up as football players. The girl wearing Jeff’s number was totally gorgeous and feminine. Sam was incensed. But turnabout is fair play.

Finally, the pep rally was over, and I had survived. Before the football team filed out of the field house, Jeff motioned for me to come over to him.

Smiling, I said softly, “Hey, Jeff.”

Grinning, he said, “Hey, babe.” He then grabbed some strands of my hair and gently pulled me close to him. I have to admit I didn’t much like that.

He pulled my face close to his with a seductive look. I was deathly afraid he was going to kiss me. He said, “See you at the game.” Then laughed, let go of my hair and walked away.

Contradictorily, I was both relieved and furious at the same time. Sam and Trudy had watched and both laughed at my expression. Why am I pissed?

                    *

We were all handed a box of chicken nuggets and a water bottle as we exited the bus at the stadium. Zero hour had arrived. We took our seats in the stands to eat our chicken. The stadium was starting to fill up with the fans. Or maybe just the player’s parents. The sun was still high and blindingly bright when trying to look across to the opposite side of the stadium.

As we ate, the band noisily took their seats next to us. Oddly, we took our cues from the band. The director was a rather handsome young man who was unmarried, and the female band members drooled over him—well, not literally, but you know.

I had no idea where they were keeping the players. I couldn’t see them anywhere. I’m sure they were getting their pre-game butt-chewing. I tried to dismiss the wave of disappointment at not being able to see Jeff.

Still chewing, Sissy said to me, “You ready, girl? This is where we test your mettle.”

Smirking, I said, “If I fail, can I go home?”

Sissy laughed. “You’re a goofball.  Trust me. Once you get out there, doing your cheers and getting the audience reacting, you’re going to just love it!”

“The roar of the greasepaint and the smell of the crowd.”

Sissy nodded. “Exactly.”

Sam pointed. “There’s the team.”

I tried to spot Jeff. “They’re out early.”

Trudy swallowed her last piece of chicken. “They’re just warming up.”

We had this inflatable football helmet thingy that the team runs through when they enter the field. Looks silly to me. Oddly, this will be my first football game ever. I never watched on TV, nor did I ever attend a game in school or college. But this time I have a vested interest in watching. He’s just a boy. Why do I care?

I finally spotted his number. Though he is a bit taller than others on the team, it’s hard to tell them apart with their bulky padding.

Coach said, “Game time in about half an hour, If you need to use the restroom, I suggest you go now.” All five of us hurried down to the nearest restroom. There was already a short line started to enter a stall. Add that to the downside of being a girl. You can’t just whip it out and go.

Before leaving the restroom, I had another ritual to perform: checking my make-up. It was very crowded by the mirror. While still not close, I managed to get a good look to verify that my face was still intact. What bullshit. Who came up with this nonsense anyway?

Coach was waiting outside the restroom. As we exited the restroom, Coach said, “Okay, girls. Let’s get out on the field.”

Coach glanced at me. “Hold a second, Nell. Your bow is crooked.” She reached up and straightened my cheer bow. I sighed. So many things to worry about.

Running out onto the field, I have to admit that even I felt the excitement. From looking up into the stands of the people who actually bought tickets to watch to the parents at the end of the field setting up tables of refreshments for us cheerleaders, band members and dance team. All this pomp and pageantry was for us, the kids.

Sure, deep down, it’s a business, but still. I saw the excitement of my squad and the nervousness of many on the dance team to the regimentation of the band. For a moment, I was also caught up in all that pageantry. Or maybe it was indigestion from the chicken nuggets.

My reverie was broken by Katrina shouting, “Okay, guys. Line up!” We had to form a line from the mouth of the inflatable football helmet, followed by the majorettes, and lastly, the dance team formed a gauntlet of girls for the team to run through. Did that symbolize something? I dunno.

I was actually caught off-guard when the team started running out. Everyone in the gauntlet started clapping. One of the players touched my arm as they ran past. From the number on his back, I saw that it was Jeff. Sissy, Sam and Trudy were similarly touched by their boyfriends on the team. I didn’t see any players reach out to touch Katrina. I remembered her boyfriend was on the golf team.

After the second team came onto the field and the band played the national anthem, they did the coin toss, and the Chihuahuas got the kickoff. At that point I just kind of turned my brain off and started jumping and cheering to the cues played by the band or barked by Katrina.

While I really wasn’t paying any attention to the game, I did watch whenever Jeff had the ball. At one point, he was hit pretty hard and went down. I jumped up to get a better view. I don’t know what they thought I was going to do, but both Katrina and Sissy grabbed my arms, and Katrina told me to sit down. Like I said, I don’t know what they thought I was going to do.

Eventually, Jeff got back up and they quit watching me. I went back to jumping and yelling. When the game reached half-time, we were losing. I’d really hate to be in the room where the coach is giving them a pep talk. Trudy and a few of the dance team were actually crying.

We fared better in the second half with Jeff actually scoring twice. We won by a last-second field goal. Everybody went nuts. I got several hugs. You’d think our team had never won a game before.

After most of the stadium had cleared and before the band director started yelling at the band for their half-time mistakes, the cheerleaders and majorettes lined up in front of the team while the band played the school song. Jeff had his arms around my waist and nibbled my ear while we all swayed back and forth.

There was a shout for all of us to get back on the buses. Jeff let go of me and whispered in my ear, “See you at Rosa’s.” He turned and ran off with the rest of the team. Our squad just slowly walked back to our bus. The game’s after party was going to be at a student favorite, Rosa’s Mexican Canteen.

Sissy grabbed my arm. “You did it girl. You survived your first game. Come on. Admit you enjoyed it.”

Giggling, I nodded. “Yes, I admit it. I enjoyed it!” And I did. I fully admit I loved it. The energy I felt from all the jumping and cheering. My new youth was just intoxicating.

On the bus ride back to school, everyone started singing. We were on the same bus as the dance team and it was loud inside that bus. The yelling and singing was such that you couldn’t hear yourself think. No one seemed to care that we just barely squeaked through a win. I guess winning is everything.

As we piled out of the bus, Sissy looked around for fellow cheerleaders and shouted, “I’m going to Rosa’s. Who needs a ride?”

I was standing next to her. I said, “Me!”

Trudy and Sam shouted, “Me!”

Sissy shouted to Katrina, who had started to walk away. “Katrina! You coming? I have room for one more.”

Katrina half smiled. “You guys go ahead.”

Sam frowned as we watched Katrina walk away. “She never comes with us. Not once last year.”

As we approached Sissy’s car, Trudy yelled, “Shotgun!”

In less than ten minutes, we arrived at Rosa’s Mexican Canteen. The staff was already bracing for the invasion of students. We were able to park fairly close to the entrance.

As we jumped out of Sissy’s car, Trudy asked, “Where’s the team? Where’s the band?  We’re at the right place, right?”

Sam pointed, “Well, there are some of the dance team.”

Sissy closed her car door. “I’m sure ‘Max’ held the band for an ass chewing. They screwed up really bad on the half-time show.” The band director’s name was Mr. Edison, but was nicknamed “Maxwell” for some reason.

Looking annoyed, Sam asked, “Should we go on inside and get a seat or wait out here for our guys?”

Sissy grunted a laugh. “It’s nice out. Let’s just wait out here. You know the guys are all going to want to sit as a group.”

We only had to wait about five minutes before several cars roared up into the parking lot and expelled a raucous crowd of noisy boys. Connor and JD ran up to us together, laughing. Connor grabbed Trudy and gave her a kiss.  JD hugged Sam. A boy I hadn’t met before pulled Sissy into a big bear hug.

JD turned to me. “Jeff will be along in a minute. Coach wanted to talk to him.”

I shrugged and asked, “Is everything okay?”

Nodding, JD said, “Oh yeah.”

Connor said, “Let’s go ahead and sit down.” To me he said, “Don’t worry. The guys will save you and Jeff a seat.” He gave a tug on Trudy’s hair. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Smiling, Trudy said, “See you in a few.”

And just like that, I was alone in the parking lot. I didn’t care for that idea at all. Two minutes later, a brand-new Ford F-250 rolled into the parking lot. It found an empty spot and parked, shutting the engine off. The driver’s door opened, and Jeff jumped out.

He sees me and spreads his arms wide. “Hey, babe! Sorry, I’m late.” He put his arm around my waist and led me into the restaurant. As soon as we entered, a huge cheer erupted. All eyes were on us. Jeff grinned and waved. I had a sudden desire to run away.

Connor stood up and pointed at two chairs at his table. “Right here, Jeff!”

The manager stepped into the room. “Guys, you need to hold it down, or we’ll have to ask you to leave.”

One of the players said a little loudly, “What? Are they allergic to money?” There was a ripple of laughter. But the noise level started to lower.

I took the indicated seat next to Jeff as he continued to wave. Still standing, Jeff bent over towards me and asked, “What do you want to eat?”

There were no menus available. I said, “Two tacos?”

He nodded and asked, “What kind of coke?”

I shrugged and said, “Dr. Pepper.” I mean, come on. What other soft drink is there?

Before Jeff could move, JD poked him in the chest. “Just sit down with your lady. I’ll get your order.” They bumped knuckles, and Jeff sat down and put his arm around my shoulders.

“Are you always treated like royalty?” I asked.

Jeff chuckled. “Not when we lose.”

I had to admit I felt really weird. I was sitting in a fast food restaurant, surrounded by raucous teenagers, dressed in a cheerleader uniform, a cheer bow in my hair, wearing make-up and nail polish and boys staring at me. Not to mention a boy who everyone insists is my boyfriend has his arm around my shoulder. If someone had told me a few weeks ago that this would be my life now, I’d called them insane.

And that’s when I surrendered. I’m a girl. I not only like boys, but I have one of my own. And I’m eating a taco. Life is good.

Jeff pulled me closer to him. “You seemed more relaxed.”

I rested my head on his shoulder. “I am.”

We were there for another hour and a half, laughing and joking and talking, until management tossed us out so they could close. I don’t know when I had such a good time. Definitely better than any board meeting. Well, there was Las Vegas that one time…

Jeff held my hand as he led me to his truck. “It’s late. I don’t want your mom to kill me.”

I laughed. “Mom will kill me.  Dad will kill you.”

He chuckled. “Been nice knowing you.”

I looked at my phone and saw the time as well as the three text messages saying, “Where are you?”

“Yeah, I need to get home.”

Jeff nodded. “You’ll have to give me directions.”

As he started his truck, he asked, “What kind of music do you like?”

What did I like? I didn’t want to say smooth jazz. I looked over at him and said, “The Beatles?”

Jeff grinned. “Who’s that?”

I punched his shoulder. “You know who the Beatles are!”

Jeff laughed as he selected the Beatles channel on his satellite radio. “You’re definitely an old soul, Nellie.” I need to change that.

We rode in silence. Well, except for Paul McCartney belting out the romantic classic, Why don’t we do it in the road?

Jeff pulled his truck up along the curb in front of my house. I was silently praying everyone was already asleep.

Jeff said, “Well, here we are.”

I smiled nervously, “Yes. Here we are.” I was deathly afraid of what might happen next. It’s dark, and a boy and a girl alone in a car.

Jeff grinned slightly. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow night. If your mom doesn’t kill you, that is.”

I tried to smile.  “Yeah.”

“Well, good night, Nellie.”

“Good night.”

We stared intently at each other for several long moments. I have to get out of this car. Now. Before it’s too late…

Jeff leaned towards me. No! I can’t. Nooo.

                    *

End of Part 12