“How was school?” My mom rushed around trying to get dinner on the table while finding out what our days were like.
“Great, I won a coke for getting an answer right in my study hall.” My sister smiled, proud of herself.
“That’s great, honey. I’m proud of you. What about you, Kate? How was your day?”
“Okay.” I took the plate she handed me and set it in front of me. The last thing I wanted to do was eat.
“What about practice? I feel terrible when I can’t make it. How did it go?” she asked.
“Kate said Joy made Tabitha cry,” my sister blurted.
“Kayla! Shut-up.” I glared at my sister. I wasn’t going to tell my mom that.
“Don’t tell your sister to shut-up. What happened? Spill?” My mom quit scurrying around and pulled out a chair and sat across from me. I hated when she gave me her undivided attention. I so did not want to talk about this but I knew she wouldn’t stop until I shared the details with her. My mom was a details person. She always wanted the scoop, because she believed knowledge was power and it helped you be prepared.
“I don’t know how to explain it, Mom.” I started to put food in my mouth, hoping she would stop asking questions. It didn’t work.
“Well try. I need to know what happened. I don’t want to walk into practice tomorrow to a big uproar and be blindsided.”
“Joy, Savannah and Brooke were all talking and ignoring Tabitha. When Tabitha asked them to pay attention, Joy told her she had it. Tabitha called and break and left, but I know she was going to cry.”
My mom stared at me for a few minutes as though she couldn’t believe what I’d just said. After several long minutes, she said, “I guess it was a misunderstanding.”
“Really? Was it a misunderstanding when she came back and tried to start the dance and Joy totally disrespected her in front of the whole squad?”
“How did Joy disrespect her?” My mom still didn’t look convinced.
“She interrupted Tabitha and said we needed to do a wave at the beginning. Tabitha said no that we didn’t have time to learn that and we didn’t have the dance yet, but maybe we would add it later. So, Joy called a vote and made all the girls vote her way. She stared them all down until they did.” I took a breath, talking so fast now that I could feel my heart racing. “Except for me. I didn’t vote yes. So, she said, ‘Fine. Everyone yes, one no. We’re doing the wave.’ I was humiliated, Mom. And so was Tabitha.”
“That’s horrible.”
Finally, my mom got it. I nodded my head in agreement.
“Joy is a–” my sister started to say.
“Don’t! Don’t say it,” my mom said. “Joy is my friend. I don’t know what is going on here. I’m going to call her tomorrow and find out though.”
I thought about warning my mom not to do that. Deep down inside I knew it was not a good idea. But I remained silent, still hoping Joy would be reasonable. That hope was about as useful as hoping there would be peace in the Middle East or that it would snow in Mexico.
