Inner Demons

18. School Pride

I excused myself early from lunch with the girls and ducked into the library for some research. I'd actually been meaning to go in there for a while. Ever since I'd found my mother's picture in that spare bedroom at Shadowford.

"Can I help you?" An elderly woman with short gray hair greeted me when I walked in.

"I hope so." I smiled my best student smile. "I am doing a paper for my social studies class and since I'm new to the Demons cheer squad, I thought I'd write about past squads and the girls who were on them. You know, show my school pride."

The woman's face lit up and she ushered me to a room full of newspaper clippings, yearbooks and other historical information about the school. "You can see pictures of all the different squads here in these yearbooks," she said. "You should be able to find the names of the girls under the picture and in some of the articles. If you need any help, just let me know."

"Thanks so much," I said.

"It's no problem, dear. My name is Mrs. Willow. I'll be out front if you need me."

I started with the yearbook from four years ago. That should have been the year Morgyn Baker was in eighth grade, and I hoped to find a picture of her on the cheerleading squad. I knew they took the annual photo just before practices started in the summer, so it was possible she would be pictured there.

I quickly flipped to the sports section and searched for pictures of the cheerleaders. There, just past the football team picture, was a picture of the entire squad. Morgyn Baker was not there. Disappointed, I closed the yearbook and put it back where I found it. She must have gotten off the team before they even took the team photo.

But what about the tattoo ritual?

It was the very first thing they did once a girl was chosen for the team. The tattoo came before the picture, before practice, even before the girls were ever introduced to the training room downstairs. Depending on when her grandmother got to Peachville, it was totally possible Morgyn Baker had a tattoo on her back. Come hell or high water, I was determined to find out for myself.

But, before I could leave the library, there was one more thing I needed to do.

I pulled out all of the yearbooks from the years when my mother must have been in school. I flipped through them until I found the cheer squad pictures, then quickly scanned the smiling faces, looking for the face I knew I'd recognize instantly. It took me four to find her. She was sitting in the center of the cheer group, her legs off to one side and her pom-pom filled hands on her hips. She had a big happy smile on her face and her long blonde hair was pulled into pigtails.

She looked younger than I'd ever seen her. A freshman maybe? I scanned the names hungrily until I found hers. Claire Brighton.

I stared at the name, smiling. It was like finding a piece of me there on the pages of a book. Brighton sounded familiar, too, but I couldn't quite place it. My heartbeat quickened and my mouth went dry. I glanced at the year on the spine. 1991. I put the others back and picked up years 1991-1994 and carried them to the copier. I made photocopies of the pictures of the sports sections. I really wanted to spend the rest of the day hidden in the library looking for more pictures of my mom, but I had a stupid calculus test next period and I couldn't be late.

Calculus was a small version of hell that day. I'd been able to avoid Drake all day, but there was nothing I could do when he was sitting there in class. He looked up expectantly as the bell rang and I ran into the class. Our teacher had this thing about locking the door on test days. If you were late, you got locked out and took a zero on the exam. I barely made it to class, stepping in just before he closed the door.

I heaved a sigh of relief and took my seat. I felt Drake's eyes on me, but I didn't dare meet his gaze. Let him stew about what was wrong. I didn't want to piss off his mother, but there was nothing wrong with letting him sweat about it for a little while.

I finished my test early and gathered my books together. I walked to the front to turn it in, then asked for a bathroom pass. I met Drake's eyes as I left the room. He opened his mouth as if to say something to me, but I turned and walked away before he got the chance.

Sooner or later, I knew I would have to face him. But there were other things I needed to take care of first.