Small Problem -18- by Melanie Brown

Small Problem

Part 18

Jason glanced over at his dad and Mom chatting. His dad didn’t look like he was ready to quit talking anytime soon.

He looked over at me. “You guys have anything fun to do over here? Movies? Games?”

I shrugged. We really don’t have much have much in the way of games or such. I said, “Do you like anime? I have a big collection. And a lot of J-Pop.”

Jason’s eyes brightened. “I love anime! What J-Pop do you listen to?”

Cathy rolled her eyes. “Of course, you have to hog him.”

“Last week, I just got the Blu-ray of Moxie’s first concert. Have you heard of them?”

Jason asked, “Can we watch that? I love Haruna!”

Grinning, I said, “I got her poster. She looks totally badass in it. Let’s go to my room.”

We all got up and moved to my room. Jason pulled a chair up next to my computer. Cathy ran to her room to get her chair and placed it right next to Jason. Grinning, Jason looked at my wall. “That is an awesome poster of Haru. Where did you get it?”

As I closed my bedroom door to keep the noise down in the living room, I said, “Give me your email address, and I’ll send you the link.”

Jason asked, “What’s your source? Dad deleted my copy of Akira. I’d like to have it back.”

Mom opened my door. “This door stays open, guys.”

I shrugged. “Next time you come over, bring a thumb drive, and I’ll give you a copy.”

Jason dug around in his pocket and placed a thumb drive on my desk. He grinned and said, “Never leave home without it.”

I picked up the drive and plugged it in. “This will just take a minute.”

Jason studied me for a moment. “How did you get to be so interested in anime and shit? Most of the girls I know in college think you’re a dork if you like this stuff.”

Cathy shook her head at me. “Dad was actually into all this Asian stuff. He liked looking at cute Japanese girls. Drove Mom crazy. She was going to throw it all away after he died. I guess not.”

I frowned at Cathy. “No. She did. I held up a thumb drive and said, “I got this from Chad, remember?”

Cathy stared blankly at the thumb drive. “Oh, yeah. Well, it drove Mom nuts.”

I put the disc in my drive to watch the Moxie concert when Mr. Carlton stuck his head in my door. “Jason. Time to go.”

“But Dad!” exclaimed Jason. “We were just about to watch a concert!”

Mr. Carlton rolled his eyes. “Oh, the humanity! The girls have to go to school in the morning. You can watch it some other time.”

Mom stood next to Mr. Carlton. “Is that some of that Japanese crap? I thought I tossed all that.”

I put the disc back into its blue plastic cover. In a low voice, I said, “Here.  Take it with you. Just please don’t lose it.”

He took the box and grinned. “Thanks! I won’t lose it.”

As Jason walked up to Mom and his dad, he looked at Mom and said, “Would it be okay if I asked Amanda out?”  Holy shit!

Mr. Carlton frowned. He said, “She’s a child. I’m sure there are plenty of girls at college.”

Mom chuckled. “Besides, I think she’s already dating someone.”

Mr. Carlton said, “Okay, Jason. Let’s go. Oh. I don’t know about Jason, but your mother and I will be at your game tomorrow.” He laughed. “I can’t imagine having two cheerleaders in your family.”

Jason looked over at me. “You’re a cheerleader?”

I nodded.

Jason grinned. “Cool.”

Cathy pouted. “I’m a cheerleader too.”

After Jason and his dad had exited our house, Cathy punched my arm. “Must you flirt with every boy?”

“I didn’t do anything!”

*  *  *

We were sitting on Cathy’s bed, doing each other’s nails.

Cathy smirked at me. “See? I told you that you were going to need that red lipstick.”

I sighed. “I just don’t think it looks good on me.”

Cathy finished painting my nails on one hand. “Doesn’t matter. That’s what we have to wear.”

There was a momentary lull in the conversation. “So. Are you going to tell me why you dumped Jonathan? I thought you two were tight.”

Cathy scowled at me. “I told you. I saw him with another girl. That’s kind of a deal breaker.”

I shrugged. “Maybe it was his sister or somebody?”

Grunting a laugh, Cathy said, “He doesn’t have a sister. Oh, I know this girl. She’s a boyfriend-stealing little slut. I have no idea why boys like her. She always wears too much make-up, micro miniskirts, heels too high. She looks like a ho, looking for a pimp.”

I shook my head. “You’re just making crap up.”

“I’ll point her out tomorrow at the game.”

There was another lull in the conversation.

“Have you noticed Darryl?” asked Cathy.

“Darryl?”

“He’s in the band,” she stated flatly. “Oh, come on. You’ve seen him! He plays sax in the band. Everyone has a crush on him.”

I looked thoughtful for a moment. “Oh. You mean that blond?”

Cathy grinned. “That’s the one! Don’t you think he’s hot?”

“He’s hot. Are you going to chase him? You’ll have a ton of competition.”

Cathy frowned. “I was going to go after Jason, but you had to mess that up.”

I laughed. “I don’t think his dad wants him to date a high schooler.”

Cat gave me a sly grin. “We’ll see.”

*  *  *

“I want to go home.”

Cathy laughed. “Oh, stop being a baby!” We were standing outside the school entrance.

I looked down. “Just look at me! I’m practically naked!”

“You knew the job was dangerous when you took it. Besides, it’s not like you haven’t worn your uniform before.”

Despite it still being August, I shivered. “I’ve never been in front of so many people before! I might as well be out in my underwear!”

Shaking her head, Cathy said, “That’s not really true. Just relax, girl. You’ll get used to it.”

All around us, boys grinned as we entered the school building. Cathy touched my shoulder. “See you in the field house!” She scampered off to her first class.

I took a deep breath and hurried to Mr. Lee’s algebra class. When I entered, Mr. Lee looked up from his desk. “Miss Moore, be sure to copy the assignment from the board before you leave.”

I get to leave the class after half an hour to get ready for the pep rally. One of the perks of being a cheerleader. And, of course, the side-effect of being a cheerleader is that you catch the eye of every boy with a pulse. I’m the same person as before, but the cheerleader uniform is somehow magical.

I admit I didn’t really pay much attention to what Mr. Lee was saying. Well, besides being able to teach his class in my sleep, I was too busy watching the clock. It was with a mix of relief and trepidation when he looked up and informed me I was dismissed. This was where the rubber hits the road… the shit hits the fan as well as gets real… and I was suddenly too numb to think of any more euphemisms. Being a cheerleader was all academic before. But now… now it’s show time.

As I hurried through the nearly empty halls, I passed a glass case containing trophies and saw my reflection. I paused a moment to reflect (hah) that only a couple of months ago, wearing this same outfit I would look totally ridiculous and possibly subject to arrest. But now I’m the object of desire for every pimple-faced pubescent punk in school. As I hurried through the halls, I of course, encountered that one teacher at every school whose only existence in life is to tell you to stop running in the hall.

As I got closer to the field house. I caught up with Cathy, Sandy and Marcia in the hall. Marcia gave us all a big grin and a thumbs up. Students hadn’t started flowing into the field house yet. Members of the school’s staff were setting up the rows of chairs along the back wall of the field house that the football players would be sitting in. Chairs for the band had already been brought in, but the band members themselves brought their music stands. It was pretty noisy with all the feet moving and the metal stands clanging as band members bumped into each other.

The cheerleaders didn’t have a lot to do. Staff had brought in megaphones and lined them up on the floor. They were more for decoration though we did use them. A couple electricians were running around hooking up the microphones on the floor. I wasn’t looking where I was going and bumped right into one of the band members, knocking several music stands as well as pages of music to the floor.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” I exclaimed as I bent over to help pick up sheets of music and a couple of music stands. It wasn’t until I stood up that I realized that while bending over, I’d flashed the boy I’d bump with my scantily clad ass. As I righted the stand, I looked at the boy and said again, “I’m so sorry.”

He just grinned at me. “It’s okay. Accidents happen.” It took a moment of looking on embarrassingly to realize the boy I’d bumped was Darryl, he of the saxophone section. I found myself staring at him stupidly for a moment. There was only one word to describe this boy. And that was ‘beautiful.’

I placed his spilled music on the stand,  noticing later that I had replaced it upside down. “I feel so stupid! Sorry for the mess.”

Darryl just smiled at me. “Don’t worry about it. My name’s Darryl.”

Feeling my face reddening, I said, “Nice to meet you, Darryl. My name is Amanda. Are you in the band?” He was holding his saxophone, and I’d knocked over his music, and I felt like a total moron for asking.

Laughing, he held up his sax and said, “Guilty as charged. Let me guess. You’re a cheerleader.”

My face must actually be glowing red by now. “I feel so stupid!”

He laughed again—such a wonderful laugh. “Hey, don’t be. Sometimes I forget I’m in the band.”

“Like now?” asked a somewhat annoyed voice. It was the band director. He snapped his fingers a couple of times. “Pay attention!”

Darryl stood straight. “Yes, sir!” He looked at me and silently said, “Later.”

As I turned away from Darryl, Cathy whacked my shoulder. I looked over at her. “Hey!”

Scowling at me, Cathy growled, “Just stop it!”

Giving her a confused look, I asked, “Stop what?”

Frowning at me, Cat said, “You know! Flirting!”

“I’m not flirting!”

Cathy held her hands by her face and said, in a mocking tone, “I’m so stupid! Tee hee.”

“That’s not flirting!” I asserted.

“Textbook!”

“There’s a book on flirting?” I asked.

Cathy narrowed her eyes at me and folded her arms. “Don’t make me kill you.”

End of Part 18 Small Problem.