Page 42 of Agent of the Heart (Hearts in Hawthorne #3)
Chapter
Twenty-Six
D arby was glad the day was cool and crisp, exactly what an outdoor pep rally just before Halloween should be.
No rain was in the forecast, so the game would not be affected by weather tonight.
Her cheerleaders were setting up their megaphones and pompoms as the band and drill team took their places in the stands on the home side.
She glanced across the field and saw the visitor side was almost full.
Knowing she had time before Blanche began dismissing students over the PA by class, she wandered across the field and went into the stands, finding Aunt Meg and Uncle Joe in the center of things at the fifty-yard line. Autumn and Eli sat next to them.
Aunt Meg hugged her, and Darby said, “I see you’re all decked out in your Hawks paraphernalia.”
“This is my lucky shirt,” her aunt said. Fingering the button she wore, she added, “And I’ve worn West’s button since he played quarterback here. But only on homecoming since he graduated.”
Uncle Joe laughed. “Meg is so superstitious. Me? I just put on whatever.”
“I hope you’ll lose the suit and tie tonight and wear something more casual to the game,” she told him, looking to her cousin and Eli. “You two are playing hooky from Triple H.”
Eli laughed easily. “Autumn said we simply had to come to the pep rally. That everyone would be here.” He glanced around. “I see other doctors. My banker. Atticus’ vet. The guy who owns the hardware store. Homecoming really is a big deal in Hawthorne.”
They chatted a few minutes, and then she saw the senior class arriving.
“I better get back to the other side so I can supervise the cheer squads.”
On her way down to the field, Dizzy waved to her, and she asked, “Is the diner closed?”
“For two hours,” he said, beaming at her. “I always shut it down so the staff can come to the pep rally. Your girls look good this year, Darby.”
“I’m very proud of them,” she said, happiness swelling within her. Though her personal life was in freefall, she was thriving professionally, knowing the change in careers had been the right move.
It still didn’t make her miss Jace any less, though.
As she walked across the turf, she held in the urge to turn a few cartwheels.
She still worked out with her squad daily, stretching and teaching them new moves for cheers, even turning a few backflips every now and then.
It was hard to walk across this football field, though, without remembering her own days as a cheerleader.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she saw she had a text from Kelby.
Surly client. Won’t be able to make the pep rally. See you tonight at the tailgate!
Darby knew Kelby was disappointed not to be here, but her friend was dedicated to her business. Kelby had a way of keeping others calm around her, so Darby hoped she could iron out the problems with the grumpy client.
She had the varsity squad set up where the junior and senior sections met in the stands, with the JV squad on the border of the sophomores and freshmen classes.
West stopped by. “Just checking in, Cuz.”
“Got your pep rally speech prepared?” she teased, knowing he loved to speak off the cuff.
West was so charming that Hawks fans gobbled up whatever he said.
“I remember how when we were given a project to complete and a choice to do something written or oral, you always went for the oral presentation.”
He grinned. “It’s easy for me to get up and talk. That gift of gab Mom passed along to Summer and me.”
“Well, you’re doing an amazing job with the team, West,” Darby praised. “You were born to coach.”
Nodding, he said, “I really feel I’m in my element. Especially being able to come back and coach in Hawthorne.”
Darby went to the cheer squads, having them gather around in a large circle.
“Homecoming is a special time of year, especially for you seniors. The parade. This pep rally. The game and tomorrow night’s dance.
These will be events you will look back on in the years to come and cherish these memories.
I’m so proud of all of you, but especially my seniors.
You’ve been true leaders, both to the other cheerleaders and the entire school.
Let’s go out and give our best today. Hawks on three. One, two, three.”
“Hawks!” shouted the girls, joy on their faces.
By now, all the students had arrived, and the band was playing a catchy pop tune.
The drill team was doing a hand routine in the stands, while her cheerleaders were doing a dance they’d learned in camp to the music.
When it ended, the student council president stepped to the microphone to lead the school in the Pledge of Allegiance.
From there, the pep rally resembled ones from Darby’s own days as a student.
The band played. The drill team performed.
Both cheer squads did a new dance they’d been working.
Classes chanted competing for the spirit stick, which always seemed to go to the seniors during the homecoming pep rally, though the freshman displayed a lot of vocal energy.
Then West took the microphone, addressing the crowd.
He displayed the perfect balance of humor blended with a more serious tone.
Those present in the stadium ate up his anecdotes, and everyone, including his players, were inspired by his words.
By the time West finished speaking, the crowd was even more enthusiastic than before.
The two football captains, one from offense and the other from the defense, spoke after their coach, and the students were on a natural high, ready to trounce the Eagles at tonight’s game.
By then, it was time for the school song.
Darby stood a little taller, pride swelling within her, at being an alum of HHS and now a part of its faculty.
Then the band began playing the school fight song, as the football team was the first to exit the stadium.
Blanche took over the microphone, directing the freshmen to return to second period, followed by the other classes and groups.
“Let’s take everything inside,” she told the cheerleaders, who gathered their equipment and headed to the gym and locker room.
Darby spent the next fifteen minutes helping girls put on their mums. She recalled seeing pictures of her mom and Aunt Meg back in the day, their mums the size of a corsage, pinned to their shoulders, with ribbons streaming past their waists.
By the time Darby reached high school, though, mums had taken on a life of their own, taking up the entire front of her cheer uniform, the braided ribbons falling to her ankles.
That tradition lived on, and her cheerleaders were smart enough to have create a harness, which lifted over their heads and fastened on the side and in back. It helped hold the mum to its wearer without using dozens of large hatpins to keep it in place.
After all mums were attached to their owners, Darby said, “Remember, you can bring your mum to the game tonight and rest it against your megaphone. No wearing of mums during the game, though. It would be impossible to do your cheers and flips and build a pyramid.”
The girls left for class, and Darby went to her own classroom, finding her newspaper staff hard at work. The homecoming edition of the Hawthorne Herald would be available in the cafeteria today during lunchtime, and students were busy gathering up hard copies to take to the lunchroom.
“Don’t forget to drop some off in the faculty lounge and at the front office,” she reminded them. “The rest can be taken over to the stadium. Fans tonight will want copies to read, as well.”
While those deliveries were being made, Darby met with the editor-in-chief and photography editor, along with two photographers who had covered this morning’s pep rally. The pictures taken this morning would appear in the next newspaper.
After they decided which photographs the Herald would use, she said, “Be sure to send copies of these to Horizon . You both got some great shots. I’ll see what the yearbook photographers got once I meet with them, but they may want to use some of your pictures, as well.”
She found herself too busy to go to the lounge for lunch, which usually happened once or twice a week.
Thankfully, Kay had left a small fridge for Darby, saying it would be too much trouble to move the fridge to Chicago.
Darby always kept it stocked with bottled waters, yogurts, and fruit.
She pulled out a carton of yogurt and an apple now and ate while she input grades and then checked her emails.
A student she recognized as one of West’s offensive lineman entered her room. He wore a lanyard with an office aide ID card and carried one of the old-fashioned mums with the single mum and mostly short ribbons a foot long hanging from it.
“Ms. Montgomery, this is for you.” He handed it to her, along with a small box.
Darby looked at it. “Do you know where it came from?”
He shrugged. “Nope. I just deliver whatever they tell me to.”
“Thank you.”
Darby studied it. It had one long ribbon spelling out Homecoming and an even longer braid woven together with the school’s colors.
It also had a ribbon with Hawthorne High School and the year.
Trinkets attached to the center of the mum itself included a tiny, plastic football and a small, stuffed Hawk.
She was touched by the gesture and supposed one or more of the cheerleaders had made it for her.
Opening the box, she found several hatpins and used them to attach the mum to her left shoulder. She retrieved her cell phone and took a selfie, sending it to Kelby.
Look what I got! Must be from my cheerleaders. Maybe you should’ve talked West into getting you a mum! Hope you worked your magic and the irritable client is happy now. See you soon.
She didn’t get an immediate reply from Kelby and knew her friend must still be putting out fires.