As the door opened, it revealed who was on the other side: Zacharielle Maynard. Of all the people he expected to see tonight, he sure wasn't expecting this 5'2", ombre-haired green-eyed cheerleader, standing there with his clothes and a grocery bag. Inside were a 2-liter Dr. Pepper bottle and a bag of marshmallows.
"I came for the sleepover?" Zacharielle asked, trying as best he can to hide something."
"How did you know about the sleepover?" he asked, confused.
"I simply knew about it because we are best friends, right?" He grinned, almost maliciously. "And best friends don't betray each other or try to backstab each other at the middle of the night, do they?"
"Uh..no. Anyway, come in..." Jade said, still perplexed at the sight of the second-best cheerleader from the squad at his door.
"Thank you," Zacharielle said, coming inside and dropping the supermarket bag on the table. "I hope you didn't have a ton of fun without me, because I am ready for a very interesting game of Truth or Dare."
"The plans for this sleepover were way different than playing silly games," Jade warned in disgust. "We are helping a friend in need and..."
"Not making empty pinky swears, I guess," Zacharielle shouted, bolting to the stairs.
Jade cut off his path. "Can you stop it with this passive-aggressive drama? Spit it out. What do you want?"
"I heard you wanted to replace me with Jonatha, and for that you're going all out to make him the best cheerleader ever just days before regionals," he sneered.
"I was trying to cheer up a friend? Do you think I'd shake up the squad right before regionals? That's a recipe for failure." Jade threw up his hands, not understanding how that thought crossed Rielle's mind. "We actually have a chance to win regionals. We have the right talent to shine this weekend." Jade stared Zacharielle down. "If I were to replace you at flyer with Jonatha, a frontspot, our execution would be sloppy, and if something goes wrong, you'd be hurt and we'd lose essential points. Please, stop being a drama king."
"I see... Aand how do you pretend to make us winners?" I know our competition is pretty good this year."
"I know, but maybe a friend just introduced me to a new and amazing secret weapon," said Jade following Zacharielle upstairs.
"Oh, tell me," Zacharielle replied dismissively.
"Better yet, I'll show you. I had an idea, but we would have just a couple of days to practice it. Maybe It would be a new routine if we win regionals and we qualify for state."
When Zacharielle walked into Jade's room, he saw Jonatha sitting on Jade's bed, painting his nails with the bright blue polish he'd bought earlier. "Rielle!" Jonatha exclaimed, smiling to the second-best cheerleader. "So how am I looking?"
"You... you are amazing. You don't look like the same boy who was being held by the leash you were before," Zacharielle answered sincerely.
"Thanks. This hairdo was a surprise, done by my personal stylist and one of my best friends, Buffie Meadows-Ikechukwu." Buffie smiled, and he waved to Zacharielle.
"You can probably thank Buffie for more than the new 'do. He was cutting Jonatha's hair, we were watching romantic comedies on TV and were about to watch another movie. I wasn't sure whether to put Bring It On again or maybe go for another romantic comedy."
"Stop! What is playing?" Zacharielle's tone changed.
"'Lollipop' by Black Damsels, why?" Buffie turned and looked at the unexpected visitor.
Zacharielle began to nod his head to the beat. "Pom-poms, please!" he commanded with enthusiasm.
"Oh my, here comes the cheer demon again," Jonatha sighed. "Of course you've got to dance to every song you hear, don't you?"
"Don't you? Jeez, boy, you are lacking some spirit in your body," Zacharielle replied. Every word out of his mouth was accompanied with a sharp bitterness.
"I have a life, you know," Jonatha rebutted
"Everybody has a life, but you have the exceptional talent of trashing yours and start a domino effect. Wherever you go, you cause ripples making everyone's life around you worse." Zacharielle went and stood in front of Jonatha, who was still sitting on his bed waiting for his nails to dry.
"Are you talking about me and Nicole?"
"Of course. You probably were a terrible boyfriend. Everyone noticed Nicole was doing worse out there on the court and Ash and Karyn Black and Dani Lamoureux had their chance to shine. And Dani's a sophomore! You didn't do your boyfriend's duty", Rielle continued, excoriating Jonatha.
"You clearly don't know my life," Jonatha shouted back, about to lose his calm.
"I bet I don't, because you're probably a closeted geek or a boy with identity problems. But who am I to judge?" Rielle said, his words ever more venomous.
"What do you mean?" Jonatha stood up, bracing to defend himself. "Are you calling me a lesbian or a—"
"Nerd," Rielle sneered, completing Jonatha's sentence. "I heard all this old world bullshit. Boys without breasts? Are you kidding me? And then you got Jade to join your pity party!"
"ENOUGH!" Jade yelled, stepping between Zacharielle and Jonatha. "Enough of this petty drama! Every moment of this is like a deduction at regionals, and you should know that!"
"Uh... Are you talking about..." Buffie spoke up abruptly.
"What do you know about this?" Rielle chuckled. "How does a little boy who wasn't in the locker room know?"
"Jonatha and Jade are not lying. I've seen it with my own eyes," Buffie began, closing the lid of his laptop.
"What?"
"I went to the mall with Jonatha, Jade and Nessa. And they started remarking about the mall looking different." Jonatha and Jade nodded. "I held Nessa's hand and for a moment, I saw things as they did! Everything was different in that world. Could you imagine if people grew hair on their cheeks and chin?"
"Eww," Zacharielle replied in disbelief.
"Well, that was their reality. Apparently men—basically, like women here—grew hair on their face. They looked like bad werewolves!"
"That sounds gross."
"It was," Jonatha replied. "I don't miss shaving, not like with all the prep I do in the morning I'd have time for it anyway."
"I saw people change before my eyes," Buffie told Rielle. "I kinda wish I could show you." Good thing the wishing stone isn't around, Jonatha remarked in his head.
Just then, the doorbell rang—again.
"Are you popular or what?" Jonatha asked. Jade shrugged and then walked down to answer the door.
