"You want to try out for cheerleading?"
Brittany Chang, the Ninjago High School cheerleading captain, looked Nya up and down, a frown twisting her heavily-glossed lips. "Like, what makes you think you'd be a good cheerleader?"
"I'm agile," Nya replied, trying not to grit her teeth. She was not going to let Kai win this thing. "My balance is pretty decent, and I'm a quick learner."
"We are one girl short this year since Katelyn Ming left," volunteered a pretty brunette, looking nervously at Brittany. "We could use Nya."
"Nobody asked you, Jessica," Brittany snapped. Jessica stepped back quickly. The captain turned back to Nya, flipping her long blond ponytail.
"Fine, Nya. We're holding tryouts tomorrow anyway, when the coach gets here. But don't come crying to me when you fail it miserably."
And with that, Brittany and her cheerleaders sashayed off. Nya clenched her fists. She was really looking forward to knocking Brittany's socks off during tryouts the tomorrow.
The next day, promptly after the final bell had rang, Nya changed into her P. E. outfit and made her way toward the gym. A few other girls were headed that way too. Nya smiled. She did so love a good competition.
"All right, girls," Brittany announced as soon as everyone was assembled. "The coach will be here any second, so I'm going to fill you in on what's going on. As you all know, we're one cheerleader short since Katelyn Ming left. So we've got one spot open. I count six of you here- let me tell you, girls. You're going to have to fight for that spot."
Oh, I intend to, Nya thought grimly just as the coach entered the room, puffing a little.
"Sorry, girls," she apologized. "I had an appointment to keep. But I'm here now, so let's start the tryouts."
She consulted a clipboard. "Hmm. We have six girls here, so I want all six of you to listen up. The regular cheerleaders are going to do a routine. I want you girls to follow along as best as you can. We'll leave out the pyramid, of course, but everything else you should be able to do. All right; cheerleaders, go!"
The five cheerleaders launched into their routine. They flipped, kicked, waved pom-poms, and shouted their cheers.
Nya winced.
"All right, girls," the coach said brightly. "Let's see how well you were paying attention. Cheerleaders, go again!"
The cheerleaders began their routine again, with the girls trying to follow along. Nya looked over at the other five girls. Two of them were doing their best, but stumbling around and bumping into each other more often than not. Three were doing okay, but not quite as well as the cheering squad. Nya copied the moves with no trouble at all, even throwing a couple of extra flips at the end.
Show-off, Brittany mouthed to Nya, glaring.
Deal with it, Nya mouthed back.
