In the boys' locker room before cheer practice, all Jonatha could think about was Jade suddenly stomping out and leaving the table at lunch. He went up to go approach him, but before he could get far, he was approached by Maddie Carlyle. "Hey Maddie, what's up?"
"Oh, not much," Maddie sighed, putting an arm around Jonatha. "Though...there is something," he added.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, though..." Maddie looked around at the other cheerleaders with some trepidation. "This probably isn't the place to talk about it."
"Is it important?"
Maddie nodded.
"Well, we have a road game tomorrow. Maybe on the bus ride there we can talk?"
"Sure," Maddie suggested. "I'll sit next to you on the bus." Normally, Jonatha would have wanted to sit with Jade, especially given that his friend had left the table so abruptly at lunchtime, but Maddie looked like he was going to insist on this, and so he agreed. "And if that's still not enough, there's always the big regional meet this weekend where we'll have time."
