Always Upbeat / All That by Stephanie Perry Moore Page B

definitely doing something because somebody’s got the big head.”

CHAPTER 4
Reality Check
    S o Eva, do you have anything you want to say to me? Saying that I have a big head? I mean … really?” I said aloud to someone who I thought was my girl.
    â€œRead whatever into it you want, Charli,” Eva said while her neck rolled back at me.
    There’s lots of oohs and ahhs going on all around me. I didn’t want to have a big blowup with Eva. Honestly, I was tired of her mouth. If she had something to say, we needed to discuss it. So when Brenda came back over to have the team do it one more time, I asked Eva if I could see her offline. I was shocked when she said no. As we did the number, the pep in my step that I’d had over the last two days waned. It was not that I did not know what to do, but in my mind I was so frustrated, so off guard, and so caught off track that my body could not keep up.
    Brenda came over to me and said, “Okay, uh … Maybe I bragged on you too soon, Charli Black. I just love your name, though. I think it’s so cool. But bring it for me now.”
    â€œYou definitely bragged on her too soon,” Whitney said. She had a coy grin, obviously happy I was not perfect.
    I dashed to the locker room. My plan of being hard on the team may have backfired on me. The tough skin I thought I had was thinner than I wanted. It was difficult to endure their hard glares and mean stares. All of this was getting to me. Now I understood the phrase, “no man is an island,” because I did not want to be alone. When the team came in to collect their things, that’s exactly what I was.
    Not even Hallie and Ella were talking to me. What had I done? It actually hurt my heart when I was sitting alone on the bench, feeling a little down, and I knew my crew saw me. But they kept to themselves, laughed a little bit, and headed out without saying anything. With my head bowed, I did not see mean-girl Whitney approaching.
    Whitney leaned in my ear and taunted me. “Guess someone is realizing they’re not all that after all. You can’t treat people like dogs and expect them to worship you.”
    â€œYou’d know,” I snapped, knowing that there was no love lost between us. I did not want to let her think that she was getting to me, and though her words did not feel good, I was determined not to break. So I gathered my stuff, headed to my car, and immediately called Blake.
    â€œWhere are you, baby? I need to see you,” I said to him, but it was loud in the background.
    Blake kept saying, “Hello, hello.”
    Usually he knew it was me calling because he could see my name on the caller ID, but he was probably so preoccupied and distracted that he pressed the answer button without looking at the screen. Whatever it was, he did not know it was me. I needed him though, so he had to listen.
    I yelled into the receiver. “It’s Charli. I wanna come give you a ride. Let’s see each other. Where are you?”
    â€œThat’s not gonna work for me right now. I’m out. I can’t hear you. Okay, hit me back a little later. Bye, Charli.” Blake hung up.
    When I got home, I dialed Hallie, and she didn’t answer. I called Ella, and she didn’t respond either. I knew I wasn’t calling Eva, so I tried Randal.
    â€œHey,” I said in a tone that was real sweet. I used it because I didn’t want to offend her.
    Randal said, “Hey, Charli … um … I can’t really talk because I’m about to head out.”
    â€œCool, y’all going somewhere? I wanna come.”
    Randal was timid, but she still was direct. “I’m not driving.”
    â€œI can drive. I know Hallie’s car has been having some issues, so I can scoop you guys up.”
    â€œYou’re on speaker!” Hallie yelled out in the background. “My car’s just fine. My dad’s a mechanic, remember? He wouldn’t