Chapter 59
Startled by her blunt comment, Koi quickly denied it.
“W-what? A jalapeno? It’s not that bad!”
That was the strongest rebuttal he could muster, but of course, it didn’t land with Ariel. She snorted, flipping her ponytail back over her shoulder with a flick.
“You should be grateful it’s even that much. Our squad doesn’t even let in pepperoncinis, for god’s sake.”
That meant this situation was truly an exception. Everyone had laughed about it, but for them, it had been serious. Ariel continued.
“There was a lot of internal pushback before we agreed to let a guy join. A ton of debate. But what could we do? Five people quit in a row. In that context, it made sense.”
“Five? Not just two?”
Koi looked shocked, and Ariel let out a short gasp, covering her mouth with one hand. For a moment, there was a strange, tense silence—then she sighed and gave up.
“Yeah. Five. That was supposed to be a secret.”
She gave him a look: You’re part of the team now, so keep your mouth shut. Then she went on.
“No one wants to join cheer anymore. If our numbers keep dropping like this and we disband, what are we supposed to do? We can’t let that happen.”
Her expression was more serious than ever as she added forcefully,