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He did get up, very slowly I glanced down the sideline and felt terrible for Harper with her camera around her neck and her hands slapped to her mouth in horror
I had my own scare a few minutes later I’d never paid much attention to the local cops who patrolled the sidelines, keeping spectators off the field, but Sawyer had noticed they were Sterns and Sorrow He followed them around for a few minutes He imitated Sorroalk He tapped Sterns’s shoulder and jumped to the other side when Sterns turned around I was afraid the whole stadium was about to find out how the police frisked a pelican
He was saved by halftime He loped over to ithcourt for our cue Finally the announcer called our names one by one, the crowd cheered, and alked slowly onto the field while the band endlessly played the alma mater
Sawyer never missed an opportunity to incorporate a staid institution into his act I’d thought the weirdest thing that would happen duringqueen would be that I was escorted onto the field by a six-foot-tall bird I rong Sawyer stole littery sash that said KAYE GORDON HOMECOMING QUEEN and put it on over his own head, upside down He stole my roses and stored the out He tried to steal my tiara I slapped him The tiara fell off anyhen he dipped me and pretended to kiss me
The crowd roared louder than it had when Brody threw a touchdown This town loved Sawyer
And, I was realizing, so did I
Along with the other cheerleaders, I showered in the girls’ locker roo lot to the dance The night was clear and perfect, with real stars behind the i in the palm trees The air was nippy for the first tiotten around school that irls in the locker room had told me what a sha and queen together but couldn’t be each other’s date for hoht it was romantic I supposed it was, in a Rohts to suck
Strangely, I wasn’t a tre, teary basket case as I walked with the other cheerleaders toward the oasis of light andlot nearest the stadiu the dance to adults, but as Aidan was fond of re it successful rested with me It was a burden I wouldn’t shake until the event was over And two hours of cheering and dancing al on air
That’s when I spied Sawyer in his regular clothes, standing at the entrance to the cordoned-off area of asphalt that served as the dance floor, waiting for me Any blood that had been left in my brain seemed to leave it, and I actually felt dizzy as he closed the space between us
"We can’t talk long with li to coax h theto have a slow dance together at ho," Sawyer promised me "Keep your eyes peeled for an opportunity"
The dance was already going full blast--and a at the dance There were a few outliers like Aidan, who stubbornly stood at the periphery, looking on,her there in his etting down Probably this had to do with the fact that Will and Chelsea were in the middle of a dance-off rematch, and they were a positive influence
Sawyer passed very close to me while I was in the middle of the Wobble with the rest of the cheerleaders In fact, he sht into me, just like he always did on the football field, except this ti your pardon!" he shouted, catchingover, which wasn’t really necessary While I was still in his ar for our chance?"
"I haven’t seen an opening yet" My parents had been watching ers, aren’t they?" Sawyer coers," I called as he let o and disappeared back into the crowd At least we could laugh about them while they made our livesto teach hilance at the edge of the crowd, I saw thatto Ms Chen They would see us if they turned, but surely they didn’t expect me to pretend Saasn’t here at all I said, "You do it in the pelican suit all the time"
"It’s completely different in the suit," Sawyer said "For you to do this without the suit"--he held his hands up slightly--"you’d have to do this in the suit" He held both hands straight up in the air "Everything has to be exaggerated"
"That sounds a lot harder than I thought," Will said
"It’s exhausting" Sawyer looked exhausted, s his last wave of adrenaline, like ?"
"Yes Maybe later" I ot suspicious