Wow, thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! They mean the world to me, they really do.
A/N: Okay, it has been pointed out to me (and rightly so) that I am writing the kids as being too old for their ages, LOL. Thank you, XxSharpay EvansxX for pointing that out to me. So, if the kids suddenly start acting 'younger' than they have been in the previous two chapters, it's because they're acting how a typical 9 year old, 7 year old, and 5 year old would act. :)
Disclaimer: I own the plot and the made up characters; everything else is Disney's.
Just Like Us, Ch. 3
After School…
Ana hurried out of her classroom as the final bell rang and opened up her backpack to get her change of clothes out for soccer tryouts ((yes, I know, soccer is in the fall, lol)). After finding all of her clothes, she went into the bathroom and changed as fast as she could…it only took 10 minutes this time; she had forgotten to untie her shoes and then forgot how to retie them; she was rather nervous. She finally finished getting dressed and walked into the gym where everyone who wanted to tryout was meeting. As she looked around her, she saw that she was the youngest one there; everyone else was in 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade…Ana was in 2nd grade. Her anxiety started to kick in once again; that is until she saw her dad and brother walk into the gym. She smiled and walked over to her dad.
"I'm the youngest one," she said, frowning.
He patted her back, "Hey, you'll do just fine, okay? Just remember what I showed you at home, all right? And your brother is here to support you." Troy looked over at Zach who was playing with the zipper on his jacket. "Well, he's here, let's put it that way," he said, trying to reassure her.
She nodded, "Okay daddy." She gave him a hug before going back to where she was supposed to be in the gym. The tryouts would have been outside, had it not been raining all afternoon.
Kayleigh walked out of her class and saw her mom waiting for her. "Mommy!" She ran into her arms and hugged her. "Mommy I want to tryout," she said as she broke the hug.
Sharpay smiled, "I'm very proud of you, honey," she said as she picked her up and walked down the hall to the auditorium with her.
She smiled, "What about Larissa," she asked as they passed her classroom.
"She's already there," Sharpay said. "I told her that I would meet her there after getting you." They walked into the auditorium where Sharpay set her youngest daughter down, expecting her to fly to the front of the room. Instead, Kayleigh stayed back by her mom, burying her head into her shirt.
"I don't want to do it," she said, seeing all of the other children, many of whom were older than she was.
"Honey, you'll do great; just sing the song that you said that you were going to sing," Sharpay said, hoping she made sense.
Larissa saw her mom and walked over to her, "I'm going to sing 'Beauty and the Beast' from the movie," she said with a small smile.
Sharpay smiled, "That's a great song for you, sweetie; but why do you look like you're not too happy about it?"
"I'm…scared," she said, looking over at the other kids. "What if I don't do as good this time?"
"It's 'as well,' and I'm sure you'll do great, honey. Remember, just have faith." Sharpay gave her a reassuring smile.
Kayleigh tugged at her mom's shirt, "Mommy I can't do it," she said, her face starting to turn a shade of green.
"Uh oh," Sharpay muttered to herself. "Larissa, you stay here, I'll be right back," she said, picking Kayleigh up and rushing her to the bathroom.
Larissa rolled her eyes, "Now she's going to miss me audition," she said to herself, crossing her arms. "They always get the attention." She sat down and pouted.
As soon as Kayleigh was finished, she started to cry, "I got a nervous tummy," she said through her tears.
"Shh, it's okay," Sharpay said, comforting her daughter. "Does it feel a little better now?"
She nodded, "Uh huh, but I'm still scared." She wrapped her arms around her mom.
"Why don't we go back into the auditorium so we can hear your sister sing; then you can see if you want to sing too, okay?" She looked at Kayleigh and smiled.
"Okay," she said, placing her head on Sharpay's shoulder.
"That's my girl." Sharpay carried her out of the bathroom (after washing both sets of hands) and came back to the auditorium where she saw Larissa getting ready to get up on the stage. "Phew," she said to herself; the last thing she needed was for Larissa to get angry…again. She had missed her audition for "The Sound of Music" because Ana was running a fever; she missed one of the rehearsals because Zachary had a pee wee basketball game. She wasn't about to miss this too.
"Anastasia Bolton," the coach called out, looking for Ana, who was standing in the back of the gym.
"Here," she said, coming forward.
The coach nodded, "Okay here's what you need to do; I want you to try and kick the ball past the goalie and into the net, okay?"
Ana wasn't paying attention; she was looking over at Troy who was motioning for her to listen. "Huh?" She said, mainly to Troy.
"Anastasia!" The coach nearly yelled.
Ana snapped back to reality, "Oh…okay," she said as she watched the coach place the ball in front of her. She then proceeded to kick the ball…which missed the goal by about 10 feet. She could feel tears start to well up in her eyes. No, she couldn't cry. Not now, anyway. She still had a couple more chances. Yet both times, the ball missed the goal. She saw some of the other kids laugh and tried to ignore them, but being only 7 years old and having 8 and 9 year old kids laughing at her didn't make things easy. "Stop it," she yelled, tears starting to come down her face. She ran to her dad, "They laughed at me," she cried into his lap.
Troy picked her up and placed her beside him, "Well you got nervous," he said gently. "I think you should go out there and try again." He turned to Zach, "Don't you think so?"
Zachary looked up and shrugged, "I don't know," he said, going back to his toy that he brought along.
Troy shook his head and turned back to Ana, "Well I think you should go back out there and try again," he said with a smile.
"What if I don't make it," she asked as she wiped her eyes.
He shrugged, "There are so many other sports out there that I know you'd be good at…basketball for one; remember last weekend?"
She nodded, "Yeah."
"Anastasia, your turn again," the coach called.
She sighed, "I'll try again, daddy," she said as she gave him a hug. She walked back out to the center of the gym and kicked another ball, making it to the net, but not into it. She stomped her foot and frowned. "I stink at this."
Larissa looked up as she got up on stage and saw her mom and sister sitting back down. She smiled to herself, glad that her mom actually seemed to care about this…or was she only there for Kayleigh? She looked down at her feet and back up at her mom who waved at her and mouthed, 'Good luck!' Larissa smiled and nodded; she wasn't just there for Kayleigh.
"What are you going to sing, dear," Mrs. Grange, the music teacher asked.
"'Beauty and the Beast,'" she said, taking a deep breath. She then started to sing the song.
Tale as old as time Just a little change
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly
Small to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the Beast
She smiled as she heard people applaud her. She looked up and saw Sharpay grinning from ear to ear. She stepped down and ran to her mom, "Did you hear me!" She was literally bouncing up and down.
"I did; and you sounded great," Sharpay said, giving her a hug. "I am very proud of you, sweetie."
Larissa smiled and looked at Kayleigh, "It's your turn soon," she said, "Are you going to try?"
Kayleigh shook her head, "I'm scared," she said, hiding her face again.
"I have an idea," Sharpay said as she picked her up and walked up to the first row. "Why don't you sing just to me when you get up there? Pretend there's no one else in the room. Remember this morning?"
She nodded, "But Ana laughed at me!"
"Ana's not here and no one will laugh at you," Sharpay said, rubbing her back. She looked at Larissa, "Right?"
She nodded, "Yeah, you'll be fine," Larissa said, not really paying attention to what her mom was saying.
"Kayleigh Bolton," Mrs. Grange called.
Kayleigh looked at her mom one more time, "I can't…"
"Just look at me," she said, kissing her forehead.
Kayleigh slowly walked up on the stage and turned to face her mom.
"What song will you be singing, dear," Mrs. Grange asked.
"Uh…um…" She couldn't remember the name of the song. "It's from 'Sleeping Beauty,'" she said quickly, wanting to rush back into her mom's arms.
Mrs. Grange nodded, "Is it 'Once Upon a Dream,'" she asked.
Kayleigh nodded, "Yes."
"Very good," she said, taking out the piano piece to that song. (She had nearly every Disney song known to mankind with her) She began to play the piano and pointed to Kayleigh when it was time to sing.
Kayleigh watched her and looked at her mom as she sang.
I know you
I walked with you once upon a dream.
I know you
The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam
Yes, I know it's true
that visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you, I know what you'll do
You'll love me at once
the way you did once upon a dream
When she finished, Sharpay, along with several other people, applauded. Kayleigh rushed down and into her mom's arms. "I did it, mommy!"
"Yes, you certainly did," she said, hugging her back. "That was wonderful sweetie. Didn't she do a great job," she asked Larissa.
"Yeah, sure, great job," she said, not looking up from her Gameboy. (I'm not sure if this is two words or one...)
"I thought I told you not to bring that to school," Sharpay said, taking it and closing it.
"Mom! I was playing that," Larissa protested.
Sharpay looked at her, "I warned you about this, young lady. In fact, I warned you several times. No computer tonight." She stood up, "We have to go home now," she said. They didn't have to wait for Troy, Ana, and Zach since Troy had driven his car to the school.
"That's not fair," Larissa whined all the way out to the car. She frowned at her sister, "This is your fault!"
"Is not," Kayleigh said, placing her hands on her hips.
"That's enough, Larissa," Sharpay said. "This is not your sister's fault. She is not the one who brought the game to school," she said, disappointment eminent in her voice.
Larissa got into the car and looked out the window. Her sister had once again (in her eyes anyway) ruined her day.
"Okay, that was a great tryout," the coach said to everyone. "I will be posting the list of who made the team tomorrow."
Ana looked up at Troy, "I didn't make, daddy. I didn't make a single goal!"
"That's because you're no good," Zachary said in a sing-song voice.
Ana walked over to him and stomped on his foot, "Shut up!" She raced out of the gym.
"Anastasia, get back here right now," Troy said, collecting her things, along with Zach, who was now crying from having his foot stepped on.
She continued to walk away from her dad, even though he was telling her to stop.
He finally caught up with her, "You do not ever tell your brother to shut up, nor do you use those words and you don't step on his foot like that," he nearly yelled. He then looked at Zach, who was calming down. "And you don't say things like that to your sister," he said just as crossly.
Zachary frowned, "But she's bad at it!"
"That doesn't mean you can say things like that," Troy said, putting the little boy down.
"At least I can tryout without falling down and hitting my head on the floor," she shot back at her brother, remembering when he originally tried out for pee wee basketball. Even though every child made the team, he had slipped and fallen onto the floor and bumped his head.
"That's enough from both of you!" He gave Ana her things and walked out to the car, both kids in tow, sticking their tongues out at each other. "And stop that," he said, turning around.
This was going to be a long ride home. Troy only hoped that things had gone better with his wife and other children.
Hmm, things didn't go so well at the end for Sharpay and company…should be an interesting evening! So yes, miniature cliffhanger there; I hope that you liked this! I was imagining the 5 year olds (they are in kindergarten) that come to the preschool in the afternoons and trying to place them with Kayleigh and Zachary…I think it worked. Anyway, please review and suggestions are welcome! Thanks for reading!