A/N: People are reading! Yay! If you are reading, a review would be awesome, just to let me know you're there. Thanx all. Now, did you ever think Parker might be a cheerleader? ;)
(for disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 6
Parker skipped her way to school with a smile on her face a mile wide. She wasn't in the least bothered by the strange looks she got from various passers-by, she was thrilled to wake up in this world this morning, after so many worries that she might not. The jangle of the alarm clock brought her out of her slumber, the smell of bacon hitting her nose as she sat up and looked around at her very own room, just like the day before.
Archie had commented on her strange enthusiasm for life and for school when she came pelting down the stairs, hugging him tight from behind as he served up breakfast. She kissed him squarely on the cheek and explained that she was just happy, something her father figure seemed pleased enough to hear. Even Frankie accepted a hug from his sister without complaint, only laughter as he said she must be on happy pills or something.
That had stopped Parker in her tracks for a moment. The remark reminded her of Eliot, when he blamed her extra wacky behaviour one time on the drugs she had been fed at a rehab facility. Eliot was in her dream last night, a very vivid dream that she had forgotten at first but then hit her full force in a moment as she recalled it.
Both Archie and Frankie had worried about her when she turned quite pale and sank down onto a stool by the kitchen counter.
"Hey, easy there, kiddo," her father figure had told her. "All this running around before you had your breakfast is doing you no good," he said, pushing her bacon and eggs towards her and encouraging her to eat.
Conversation had moved on, Parker's brain unscrambled for the most part, and she was back to being happier than most teens were at the prospect of a school day. She had waved goodbye as she set off a while later, looking back at Frankie as he navigated the roads on his skateboard, headed off to Junior High. She couldn't help the niggling worry about him going alone like that, a normal sort of reaction, she guessed, given what happened to him before.
Reaching the High School, she hurried up the steps, almost running smack bang into Sophie who was hovering there, talking animatedly on her cell.
"Don't forget I need a copy of that for my reel, okay?" she was saying to whoever was on the other end of the line. "Okay then, sweetie. Bye-bye!"
She closed up the phone with an audible snap and a smile on her face as she turned to face Parker and the two greeted each other.
"Who was that?" asked the blonde curiously, gesturing to the cell in Sophie's hand still.
"My agent," she answered proudly. "Well, kind of… He's helping me with my career," she said awkwardly. "I'm an actress," she smiled then, serious and confident as ever in that particular regard.
"Cool," Parker replied with a nod of her head.
She vaguely wondered how good Sophie's acting was in this world. Perhaps as good as she was on the grift, or scarily bad as her actual acting in plays was. Parker's expression must have shifted to fear and disgust without her noticing because when she met Sophie's gaze then she realised the brunette was looking at her as if she had three heads. She immediately put on a smile.
"So, um, we should probably go inside, right?" she said, heading into the building, not sure whether Sophie would follow or not.
She did walk with her, and they strode down the corridor together, getting a few strange looks from passers-by. Parker was used to that already and it seemed Sophie was too, though perhaps for different reasons. Several of the pretty girls and cute guys said 'hello' to Sophie as they wandered by, but her companion really didn't take much notice.
"Do you have any extracurricular activities, Parker?" she asked her and the blonde opened her mouth to answer then shut it again fast.
The obvious answer was thievery, safe cracking, and rappelling, but none of that would make any sense here in this world, she supposed. A search of her room had turned up a set of picks and a harness, but Parker still wasn't so sure she should talk about it outside of her house. Up to now, nobody had mentioned that kind of thing at all.
"Um, I'm… I like gymnastics," she said eventually, recalling her moves being called that on more than one occasion, as well as knowing it was something girls did for fun sometimes.
As if on cue she spotted a poster pinned to the nearest cork-board that fit the bill then and Parker grinned.
"Maybe I could be a cheerleader," she shrugged, not really thinking much about the reaction she would get from Sophie as she pointed to the brightly painted sign.
The look on the young actresses face was a picture when Parker glanced her way and she immediately wished she hadn't spoken. She really didn't want to ruin this dream-like world she had dropped into and upsetting Sophie seemed like a sure fire way for things to get screwed up. What if she left this place, just like she left the team before?
"Well, can't say as I like them much," she said haughtily as she peered down her nose at the poster, "but perhaps you could be the first non-bitchy cheerleader here at Leverage High," she shrugged, pulling the piece of paper from the wall and placing it into Parker's hands.
"Hmm, maybe," said Parker thoughtfully as she re-read the poster.
She could be a cheerleader, it might even be fun. She liked to dance, she liked gymnastics. Bending and jumping and all, it was easy enough. Plus she'd get a cute uniform and she liked uniforms. The cheerleaders in High School movies seemed to be the happiest of all the people, she reckoned.
Parker barely noticed Sophie wandering away, just heard her muttering about getting to class as the bell rung overhead. She only glanced up when she realised she was gone and people were moving around a lot, headed to their classes before they got in trouble for loitering and such. Folding up the poster to push into her bag, Parker's eyes caught sight of Eliot across the hall, sharing fist bumps and back slaps with his fellow jocks as they all parted ways.
The sight of Eliot brought back memories of the dream she had last night, in which he featured more than anybody else. He was talking to her in a very serious way, so intense she could almost feel the words. He kept apologising to her, over and over, but for the life of her Parker couldn't have said what it was he was so sorry for. Eliot never hurt her, not ever. Sure, he said some things that other people might think were mean, but less so these days, and she never took it to heart anyway. He didn't mean any harm, he always took care of her, looked out for her. She couldn't think of a single thing he would need to be sorry about in the world she used to live in, and certainly not in this new world where he had been nothing but a new and good friend.
Shaking off her thoughts to the sound of the second bell, Parker bolted off to her own first class before she found herself in detention. Today was only her second day at Leverage High School, and she didn't want to screw it up. Besides, if she had to stay after school because she was in trouble, she couldn't go to cheerleader try-outs, and that was surely going to be too much fun to miss!
Parker wasn't sure what she expected when she showed up to cheerleading practise after school. The gym looked huge with just a couple of dozen people at one end of it. She knew the girls in uniform were the head cheerleader and her friends, some of which looked like girls she recalled being friendly and others that she didn't like at all. The downside to this whole plan was that one of the cheerleaders appeared to be the very same bitchy girl that had made fun of Parker and tripped her in the hall on her first day. The same one Eliot had pretty much told to go to hell. Well, at least that particular thought was enough to bring a smile to the blonde's lips.
"We here for you, girl, no panic," said Hardison as he patted her on the shoulder in a friendly way then walked away up into the stands to take a seat.
"Absolutely," said Sophie solidly as she held her head high. "Though why anyone wants to be one of them is beyond me," she muttered, going to sit down herself.
"You'll do great," threw in Nate as he followed behind the brunette, promising her she was so much better than all those other girls, despite the fact she felt she knew that already.
"Okay then," said Parker to herself, taking a deep breath. "Here goes nothing".
With her head held high, she walked over to join the small group of other girls who were also trying out to be Leverage High's newest cheerleader. Most were blonde and pretty, but in that respect Parker figured she measured up. What mattered was whether or not she had the moves and she was pretty sure she did. She had seen those movies, all the jumping and arm-waving that went on, it seemed pretty simple. She had no fear of being lifted up in the air, so long as she didn't have to be touched too much. She was sure it would be fine...
"Okay, girls," said the head cheerleader, thankfully not one of the bitches that had been so mean to Parker yesterday but a sweet looking red-head that she couldn't quite place. "Line up and we'll see what we have here".
With all the wannabe cheerleaders lined up, they were soon being shown various flips and high kicks that they were called upon to copy. Parker almost laughed at how easy the task was, and ended up putting her own tricks and flair into it when her turn came. Many of the other girls seemed impressed, some vaguely jealous, but she just ignored them. She had her focus and she was sticking to it, at least at first.
Soon the group of girls wishing to join the squad was whittled down to less than half and Parker remained in the group of possible candidates. Before long, music began pounding through the stereo and one of the current cheerleaders showed off a routine, all arm movements, foot stomps, and such. Focused on what she was doing, Parker ought to be fine with it, but co-ordination was really only her thing when she was working. This was different, it was close to dancing, and that wasn't so much her strong point, especially if she thought about it too much and stressed on it. She really wasn't doing so well right now and feared the tap on her shoulder that would mean she had to go.
"Woohoo! Shake it, ladies!" a call suddenly came from the corner of the room, disrupting the whole audition process.
Parker turned to peer over her shoulder and got a hard look in her eyes. She recognised the guy in the letter jacket, though he hadn't looked so good last she saw him. His name was Kelly and she knew him on the streets when she was even younger than they both appeared now. In this world, he was a jock and a possible friend of Eliot, at least it seemed that way until the younger version of the hitter suddenly slugged Kelly in the shoulder.
"Have some respect, man!" he yelled at him for being so coarse, making some of the girls giggle and others sigh.
Kelly walked out after that, a couple of the other guys following him, whilst various others headed for the bleachers to watch the try-outs quietly apparently. Parker didn't even think about what she was doing as she waved to the guy she called a friend, feeling strangely girly when Eliot raised a hand in response. She could see him smiling from here and it gave her the same warm feeling she got in the real world when he looked genuinely pleased about something she had done. It didn't happen very often, but she liked it when it did.
A moment later and her attention was called back to the front as auditions resumed. Parker's friends on the bleachers yelled encouragement until one of the cheerleaders insisted they were quiet, and between their support and Eliot's presence, Parker found more confidence in herself to do this thing. The music began again and the wannabe cheerleaders showed what they could do. Within ten minutes everyone had been tapped on the shoulder to leave or just simply dropped out, all except one girl.
"Okay then," said the head cheerleader with a smile as she shut off the stereo. "Congratulations, sweetie, you just made cheer squad," she told Parker.
Bouncing up and down like Tigger on speed, Parker was stupidly elated that she passed this little test. Her friends seemed no less pleased for her as they ran down from their seats to offer hugs and congratulations. This felt so good, Parker couldn't imagine wanting to be anywhere but here, amongst her team, being told she was awesome.
"We should go celebrate," suggested Hardison. "You don't gotta be home yet, right, mama?" he checked with Parker who shook her head.
"So long as I text Arc... my Dad, it'll be fine," she told him, almost screwing up, though no-one seemed to notice.
"I know a place we can go," piped up Nate with a smile. "Half price soda and ice-cream sundaes?" he offered as an apparent incentive.
No-one seemed willing to argue with such an offer and so the group picked up their bags and headed out.
"How do you know about this place?" asked Sophie as they neared the door.
"It belongs to my uncle," Nate told her proudly. "That's why we'll get a discount there. Nobody else gets a discount at McRorys," he smiled wide.
"Man, I am all about the sugar high, and the cheaper it comes the better it works for me," enthused Hardison, looking to Parker for agreement, but she didn't seem to be paying attention anymore.
"Hey," she called to Eliot, getting his attention away from his other friends. "Aren't you coming? We're going to McRorys for soda and ice-cream," she told him easily.
"What are you, like seven years old?" he checked though the would-be insult was in fact good-natured and said with a smile.
"Are you coming or not?" she asked, swinging in and out of the doorway by one arm as her friends waited in the hallway beyond.
"Sure, why not?" Eliot shrugged after a moments pause, following her out.
Yup, this was one of the best days ever for Parker.
To Be Continued...