As the days passed, Jamie ate with us at lunch from time to time switching from our table to Millie and Thomas Vincent’s table. He left when we got up to walk around knowing where we would end up.

Marco wasn’t speaking to me, but I would catch him staring at me once in a while.

Sometimes I would see Andreas walking home, but he was either too far ahead or too far behind me for us to walk home together. He never took me up on the offer to show him the other running trails.

Paige flirted with Andreas whenever she could and although he would answer her questions, he never flirted back with her. No one ever resisted Paige and I wondered why he wasn’t interested in her.

One day before class started, I walked in and saw her sitting sideways in Pete’s desk in front of Andreas. She wore a short black skirt and a frilly, low-cut, white cotton blouse. Her long, tan legs stretched out in the aisle. Pete was in Paige’s seat talking to Daisy.

“So, Andreas,” said Paige, “do you have a girlfriend back in New York?”

I could smell her perfume as I sat down and took out my sketchbook.

“Yeah.”

“Really?” She looked as disappointed as I felt.

He has a girlfriend? I continued to focus on their conversation while fixing my drawing from yesterday.

“What’s her name?” continued Paige. “Tell me about her.”

He folded his arms across his chest and averted her gaze. “Her name is Lena. She’s half Swedish, like me. She was in a commercial a year ago and got discovered as a model from that. She’s been getting a lot of jobs since then.” He spoke quietly, but I could still hear him.

“Oh, really? What kind of modeling does she do?”

“Fashion stuff. For magazines. Those teen magazines. I don’t know what they’re called. Vogue Girl or Teen Cosmo something.”

“You mean Teen Vogue and Cosmo Girl?” squealed Paige.

“Yeah, I think that’s it,” he said.

I felt nauseous. It’s not easy to get jobs at those magazines. She must be some über babe. How can I compete with that?

The bell rang forcing Pete and Paige back to their seats.

Cheerleading tryouts were being held on Friday. Daisy decided to go for it. She practiced all week with a group of other girls after school. Paige and Trisha led the practices.

On Friday, I waited outside the gym for her while she tried out. The football players were on the field practicing. Sitting on a bench, I got out my sketchbook to do my drawing assignment. I started drawing the football players. From around the corner, I could hear footsteps. I looked up and was surprised to see Marco rounding the corner. He was wearing red shorts and a black tank top. His skin glistened with sweat.

He stopped when he saw me.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi.” I didn’t turn away from him this time and didn’t want him to leave. I felt I owed him an apology.

He turned and took a step to walk away.

“How are you?” I said.

He stopped and gazed at me with a cautious expression on his face. He wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Good. What are you doing here?”

“I’m waiting for Daisy. She’s trying out for Cheer.”

“Did you try out, too?”

“No. It’s not my thing.” I looked down at my sketchbook. He doesn’t smell bad for someone who’s sweating.

“Whatcha got there?” He sat down next to me and cocked his head to look at my drawing. “Can I see?”

“Oh, it’s just my sketchbook for Art.” I turned it so he could see. “I was just working on an assignment.”

“That looks good.” I watched his eyes move over the page. “Do you have others? Can I look through the book?”

No one had ever asked to see my drawings before. “Sure.” I handed him the book and he opened it to the beginning.

“These are nice.” He flipped through each page. “You’re good.”

I studied his face to see if he was sincere. I couldn’t tell. “Thanks.”

The door to the gym opened and Daisy walked out looking for me. I jumped up from the bench and moved away from Marco. She turned and saw me. She walked toward me, but stopped when she saw Marco sitting on the bench behind me. Her mouth dropped open in surprise.

I walked toward her. “How did you do?”

“Oh, uh. Great. I think.” She whispered, “What’s Marco doing here?”

“Hey, Daisy. I heard you were trying out for Cheer,” said Marco.

I turned around to see Marco walking up behind me.

She gave him a big smile. “Yeah. What are you doing here?”

“I was playing basketball with the guys and went to get a drink of water.” His eyes moved to the drinking fountain nearby. “I saw Lilah sitting on the bench. She showed me her drawings. They’re good.” He handed me my sketchbook.

Daisy looked at me. I looked away feeling guilty even though I didn’t do anything wrong.

“I’d better get some water and get back to the guys,” he said. He walked toward the drinking fountain and looked back at me over his shoulder. “Thanks for letting me look at your drawings.”

We stood there and watched him at the fountain. When he passed by us again, he said to Daisy, “Good luck with the tryouts. I hope you get it.”

She beamed. “Thanks!”

We watched as he disappeared around the corner.

“I had no idea he was going to be here,” I said, sounding apologetic. Why am I feeling guilty? I don’t even like Marco.

Not seeming to be bothered by Marco being there with me, she smiled and hugged me. “Thanks for being here to support me!”

“I’m sure you’ll get in. You’ll make a great cheerleader!” But deep down, a part of me didn’t want her to get in because then she would have to choose between me and the popular kids. I wasn’t sure she’d choose me.

On Monday morning, the list of people that got into Cheer was posted and Daisy’s name was on the list. She jumped for joy and hugged me. When we got to Art class, Paige congratulated her. They immediately started chatting about it. I pictured Daisy and Paige coming to class together in their cheerleader outfits. The thought made my stomach turn.

Unable to hide my pout, I turned my face away from them and felt someone watching me. I locked eyes with Andreas and he gave me a tentative smile.