“Uh huh,” Sherry said, waiting to hear what else I was making the girls do.
“That’s it,” I finally said.
“Huh?”
“What’s your favorite song?” I asked.
“On the radio, or song that you play?” Sherry answered, very leery.
“Either.”
“I like the way you play Honky Cat,” Sherry said.
I led Sherry into the practice room and sat her down on one of the chairs that Maria helped me move into the room. I took my place at the bench and started to play.
Like Maria, Sherry interrupted me while I was playing the bridge.
“This is all you’re doing with all the cheerleaders?” Sherry asked.
“Of course.”
“You didn’t ask any of them to get undressed?”
“Of course I didn’t!”
“Not even June?”
“Not even June,” I assured Sherry.
“But you and she… I mean…” Sherry was at a loss for words.
I sighed. “Sherry, I told you before, I’m in love with Kristen. She’s my future. June has Tiny Jonas, you know that.”
Sherry shook her head. “People say—even June said—that you took her virginity in front of Tiny!”
“Do you think that Tiny would stand by and let that happen?” I asked.
“Well, no. That’s what makes everything so confusing! I tried to kiss you last year… and you turned me down. Then I hear that Camille was living with you, and then Lynette and June…”
“Sherry,” I said softly.
“What?”
I could see the start of tears in Sherry’s eyes. She was definitely confused.
“Do you really think that I’d take June’s virginity?”
“It was so unlike you.”
“Well, I haven’t. Not once, not ever.”
“You mean…”
“June was just telling a story,” I said. “I told her how I hate people telling stories about how great I am and how wonderful I am. June decided to start a story that made me sound as if I was a scoundrel.”
“It’s all an act?” Sherry asked.
“Of course,” I said. “I mean, we play around, but it’s all with Kristen’s consent. If she ever decides that she doesn’t like it, I’d never touch June again. Kristen hasn’t done that. She lets me have fun and play around, but we really love one another.”
“How about Lynette?”
“Lynette is a different story,” I admitted.
“She’s your slave, just like June?”
I shook my head. “No. Neither one of them are slaves. That was a game we played at one time, but we stopped doing that a while ago.”
“I heard that Lynette and Kristen…”
“I won’t confirm anything about the two of them. If you want to know the truth about them, you will need to ask them yourself.”
“So, the cheerleaders were whispering about you… OH FUCK!”
“What?” I asked, confused.
“They have a new Oogie Story!”
I sighed. I hated those two words with a passion.
Sherry saw my frown. “What’s the matter?”
“I told June last year… well, it was just a few months ago, but it was last school year… I hate hearing about those so-called Oogie Stories. Hearing them makes me go nuts!”
Sherry looked a me for a long moment, and finally sighed. “I used to be jealous of Kristen, you know.”
“I know.”
“I tried to trap you last year,” Sherry said. “Do you know that?”
I just nodded.
“Instead of being mad at me, you went out of your way to become my friend,” Sherry continued. “You got me on the squad…”
“You got yourself on the squad, Sherry,” I insisted. “Lynette wouldn’t lower her standards even to do Camille a favor.”
“I know that now,” Sherry said, “but you and Camille made me consider the squad, and then, it was as if everywhere I went, you and Kristen were there. You went to my first game, and you even took me to that ice cream place after the game.”
“Sherry, it wasn’t just me,” I said. “You helped Kristen and me heal a big rift that came up between us. If you hadn’t given her that note, we might not be together right now. Maybe I helped you get onto the squad, but you helped us in return.”
“I was just trying to say that I’m no longer jealous of Kristen,” Sherry said. “I mean, there’s a part of me that would like to be with you, but I’ve seen Kristen’s puppy dog look when you’re around. I don’t think I’ve ever been that way about you. It’s as if she needs to be around you all the time.”
Sherry’s observation was getting a little too close for comfort. “Well…”
“Patty once told me that Kristen and you have a magical bond together. She said that she was actually sort of dating you before you and Kristen were going together, and when she saw how Kristen felt, she introduced the two of you.”
“Well, I was seeing Patty…”
“Patty told me that you helped her get over a big crisis in her life, and she decided to thank you however she could. When she saw how Kristen felt about you, she willingly gave you up. It took me some time, but I finally figured out how she felt. I did the same thing: I saw the note you wrote Kristen, and I knew that if I gave it to her, I’d never have another chance at you again. I remember that as if it was yesterday. Nobody could talk to either of you, and even Patty was getting frustrated. Finally, I handed Kris the note, and she read it and started crying. Then she turned to me and kissed me on the lips!”
“She did?” I hadn’t heard that part of the story.
“She did! I knew right then and there that I made the right decision. Just like Patty, I could have had you, but when I realized how much Kristen loved you, I knew that what she felt was more than I ever felt about anybody. I was jealous, but no longer about you. I want to feel that way about somebody one day.”
“Some day, Sherry, you’ll find the right guy for you.”
“Can I tell you something?”
“What?”
“Last February, you and Kristen took Camille to Boston.”
“Valentine’s day.”
“Yeah. Anyway, it was snowing that day, and I got a ride with Lynette to the school where the two of us practiced our flips on the mats in the gym. We were working as each other’s spotters. Afterward, Lynette told me how lonely she was with Camille gone. She felt that Camille was starting to get very close with Kristen…”
“Will,” I corrected Sherry.
“Huh?”
“Camille has it bad for Kristen’s brother,” I said. “Didn’t you see them at Kristen’s birthday party?”
“Oh, yeah. He lives in Boston, doesn’t he?”
“Cambridge,” I said. “Pretty close, actually.”
“Lynette used to sleep with Camille, you know.”
“I know.”
“They were more than friends. Lynette told me that they were sort of lovers. Both of them would sleep with any of the guys on the teams, although Lynette was never as wild as Camille. With Camille not around, Lynette was kind of lonely, and told me that she had a crush on Kristen.”
“Lynette told you that?” I asked, surprised.
Sherry nodded. “Camille told her that she didn’t think that Kristen was into girls. I told Lynette that I understood, and how I felt about you. We became very good friends after that. I think she appreciates the amount of work I put into the cheerleaders, and she tried for the longest time to get me to become the captain this year.”
“Lynette told me that,” I said.
“I’m not the same as Lynette or Camille,” Sherry said. “I mean, maybe I have a lot in common with Lynette, but Camille really frustrated Lynette.”