The Cheerleading Fiasco
~*-O-*~ Try-Outs Part 1 ~*-O-*~
Sammy's POV
A week after Marissa had signed me up for try-outs, we were outside the gym. Try-outs were officially today. We were going through a whole week of try-outs. Yup, it takes a week to decide who has skills and who doesn't.
Anyway, I guess every day they're going to cut some people off of the try-out roster. Apparently, alot of people signed up cause there was about sixty girls and about twenty guys waiting outside the gym waiting for Coach Hanley.
Trust me when I say that there was alot of noise. Everyone was talking. Coach Hanley was late and I just didn't want to be here. I didn't want to see Heather and I definitely did not want to see Casey. I'm not even going to tell you guys about Casey. You guys will learn later.
"Marissa," I groaned. "Why are we here? I don't want to stay at school for any longer than I have to."
"Sammy, this is really important to me." Marissa said pleadingly.
"Yeah, yeah. I know." I muttered. I started looking around to see if I could spot Coach Hanley but again there was no teacher within a fifteen foot radius. But thats just because it'd be too hard to get through this large crowd.
Five minutes later, Coach Hanley came up to the doors and unlocked them. But the cheerleaders were right behind her so no one went in until they did. Pft, jerks.
We sat down on the bleachers, and waited respectably for the cheerleaders and the Coach to start talking. They were huddled for a few minutes and then the Coach put her hand in the middle and they did that cheer thing where they chant something and then they throw their hands into the air. I thought that was only Basketball..?
The cheerleaders dispersed (Spellcheck?) to the storage room while the Coach started talking to us. Something about stars. I don't know, I spaced out.
"Miss Keyes!" The Coach's voice said snapping me out of my dream like daze.
"Yes Coach?" I said innocently.
"If you want to become a cheerleader, you have to learn to pay attention. What was I just talking about?" She said, hands on her hips.
"S.T.A.R." I said remembering her voice in my head.
Her disapproving stare softened and she smiled a little. "Well, I see that your a multi-tasker." I laughed nervously.
"Well, I'll just go over it one more time." She smiled as if loving her speech. "STAR. That's a word I want you to remember." Then I noticed that the cheerleaders had come back and they had gotten a table out with some chairs. I noticed that Heather, Casey and Alison weren't here. Huh, the captain not here for try-outs? That's totally unresponsible.
The Coach seemed to overlook that little mishap and smiled at Courtney. A Senior cheerleader who was really good. She had black, shiny hair and wore way too much lip gloss which made it seem like she was always pouting.
"Courtney," The Coach said. "Can you please explain what STAR means?" Courtney nodded and stood up.
"Studies. Teamwork. Athleticism. And Responsibility." She said it primly, as if she were smarter than all of us.
"Thank you, Courtney. That's right. Studies. Teamwork. Athleticism. And Responsibility." She counted them off one by one on her fingers. "These are the things that you have to focus on to be the best cheerleaders you can be."
I nudged Marissa and glared at her. I sensed a lecture coming on and I'm pretty sure she did too.
"First of all, Studies," Her voice noticiably (Spellcheck?) increased in loudness. "You all must maintain a C average. We do grade checks once a week. If anyone falls below a C in any class, we have a conference with your teacher. If you don't pull your grade up within a month, you're off the team. Got it?"
I nodded, and I'm guessing everyone else did too.
"Teamwork," Coach Hanley paced back and forth. "Cheerleading is not about one person being the center of attention. When you're all in a pyramid, the person at the bottom is just as important as the person at the top."
Blah, blah, blah. Like whatever.
"Athleticism," The coach went on. "You girls are athletes, and I want you to think of yourselves that way. It's fine to wave pom-poms, but your kicks better be up by your ears or no one cares."
It was true that the girls were mostly picked out by their athletic ability, not by their popularity. I got that tip from Casey. We were Juniors and he's been on the team since Freshman year. He doesn't have to try-out each year, he's really good so they decided to keep him for all four years until he decides that he doesn't want to cheer anymore.
"Responsibility," She said loudly. "You're expected to show up at practice on time and ready to cheer. If you have to miss a practice, I want to know beforehand. Don't come to me with excuses later. I don't want to hear them." She gave everyone a stern look.
"You are the STARs of Santa Martina High. But you are all part of the same constellation. One STAR shouldn't outshine the others." She finished.
Finally! I thought to myself but then her mouth opened again and I slumped my shoulders. But then the gym doors opened and Heather, Casey and Alison finally decided to show up.
"Finally!" Heather smiled at the Coach. "Sorry I took so long. Traffic was unbearable, but I just had to do this task." Casey was holding a box of something while Alison had a string backpack on her back. It had the team logo on it and it was neon green. No, like light green.
"Thank you, Heather." The Coach smiled. "Everyone, on your way to the locker rooms to change, please grab a t-shirt from Casey. Tell him your size and he'll hand you a t-shirt. After you are done changing, meet back out here. You have ten minutes, then we'll start practice."
Finally, practice starts soon. But I have to deal with Casey. Oh boy.
A/N: This is just part 1. Part 2 will be written maybe Friday or Saturday the latest. Review please. I updated Silent Screams and only one person reviewed for that chapter. I mean, really? I would've accepted a review that just said update soon or something. At least its better than nothing..
SO PLEASE... REVIEW! :D
