Chapter 15: The Locker Room Whispers
The door swung open, letting in a gust of near-freezing air that cut through the artificial warmth of the locker room like a blade. Mia stepped through, her cheeks flushed pink from the wind, a thick knit scarf wrapped up to her chin and a puffy winter coat the color of a snow pea making her look twice her actual size. She carried her cheer bag over one shoulder, the strap digging into the puffy sleeve of her coat, and she kicked the door shut behind her with the heel of her snow boot.
"God, it's like Siberia out there," she announced to the room, her breath still fogging in little puffs. "I think I saw a penguin on the quad. Or maybe a polar bear. One of those."
The locker room was already buzzing with the muffled chatter of the other cheerleaders. The squad practiced indoors during the winter months, and the Athletic Center's women's locker room had become their unofficial staging ground. It was a sterile sort of space, all polished metal and white tile and the quiet hum of fluorescent lights, but the girls had long since made it their own. Gym bags hung from hooks. Water bottles clinked against benches. Somewhere a phone played a pop playlist at a volume just low enough to be ignored.
A handful of the squad was already in various states of dress and undress. A few were in their workout uniforms, stretching on the long wooden bench that ran along the lockers. Others were still in street clothes, peeling off layers the way Mia was beginning to do now.
The air smelled like floor wax and the faint, clean bite of perfume, and beneath it all, the unavoidable gym musk that clung to the space no matter how hard the janitor scrubbed.
"Thank God you're finally here," Cassie said, pausing mid-stretch to look up at Mia. Cassie was a sophomore, a base on the stunt team, with short dark hair and a perpetually amused expression. "We were starting to think you'd been abducted by yetis."
"I was almost abducted by the wind," Mia said, shrugging one arm out of her coat with an exaggerated groan. "I swear to God, it took me like ten minutes to walk from the parking lot. My legs are numb. I can't feel my face."
"Come sit by me, I'll warm you up," offered Joanna from the bench, patting the space beside her. She was a flyer, all long limbs and easy grace, and she was in the middle of retying her ponytail. "Tell me you brought your uniform. Coach is going to flip if you're not ready for this workout. We've missed so many for the storm."
Mia waved a hand dismissively as she wrestled off her coat. "I've got it. I've got everything. Calm down. I'm here, aren't I?"
"Barely," Cassie teased. "You look like a yeti yourself. Where's your face in there?"
The small talk continued as Mia made her way to her locker, the one at the end of the row that she'd staked claim to freshman year. She dropped her bag on the floor and began the slow, ritualistic process of peeling away the layers. The scarf came first, revealing her pink, wind-chapped cheeks and a flash of blonde hair that had escaped its ponytail. Then the puffy coat, which she hung on the hook inside her locker with a sigh of relief. A thick wool sweater came next, and she had to wiggle her way out of it, the fabric clinging to her arms.
"Okay, so," Cassie said, clearly not ready to let the conversation die. "What did everyone do during the storm? We're going around. Share and share alike."
There was a collective groan from the room, half amused, half embarrassed.
"I watched the entire Gilmore Girls reboot," Joanna admitted. "Like, the entire thing. I don't even know how that happened. My roommate and I started at like noon and by the time we looked up it was dark outside."
"My boyfriend came over," said Alyssa, a junior with a pixie cut who was doing her hair in the mirror across the room. "We made chili and literally did not leave the couch for three days. It was amazing." She sighed dreamily. "I missed him so much. The snow was a blessing."
"I slept," said Rachel matter-of-factly. She was a senior, quiet and perpetually unimpressed, and she was sitting on the bench with her legs crossed, scrolling through her phone. "I did absolutely nothing. It was glorious."
Cassie snorted. "You're so boring, Rachel."
"At least I'm rested."
Mia smiled to herself as she worked the zipper down on her hoodie. She didn't have much to add to the conversation, but that was fine. She was still buzzing, a little warm thrum that had lived under her skin for the past three days, a secret she hadn't been able to wipe the smile off her face about. Every time she thought about it, about Jake's arms, about his voice in her ear, about the way he'd looked at her like she was the only thing in the world, she felt like she might burst.
She caught Lucy's eye across the room. Lucy was leaning against one of the lockers on the opposite side, dressed in her practice clothes already, a water bottle in her hand. She raised an eyebrow, a small, knowing smirk curling the corner of her mouth.
Mia felt her cheeks heat despite the cold she'd just escaped. She looked away quickly, focusing on her locker.
"Well, I think the storm was the best thing that ever happened to me," Cassie said, stretching her arms overhead. "I got caught at my boyfriend's place and we ordered food and, you know... the heating bill was not the only thing that went up." She winked, and the other girls laughed.
"Okay, too much information," Joanna said, but she was grinning.
"Please, we've all heard you at a party, Joanna. You don't get to judge."