A/N : Now we hit the Regional Cheerleading competition part of 'Bring It On', with a couple of twists of course...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 9
"Woah" Faith gasped as she stepped into the building with the rest of the squad and looked around at the sight before her. Groups of girls in varying coloured cheerleading outfits, some practising their moves, some checking their hair and make-up, some even praying for success in this competition that seemed so important to them. Despite the fact she'd originally joined the squad out of a combination of temporary insanity and for a bet with her step-brother, Faith found she too was surprisingly eager to win this thing. Everybody had worked so hard, and she meant absolutely everybody, even Harmony and Glory who did their fair share of bitching and bickering. They still put in the hours and tried their best, they were so determined to win this thing.
"Nervous?" Buffy asked her friend as they looked around.
"Nah, you know me, B" Faith shrugged, "I'm five by five" she assured the blonde, though she would admit to herself at least she was a little nervous about screwing up. When she was competing in gymnastics the only person she could hurt or let down was herself. This was a team event, a totally new gig for Faith, and she was starting to feel the pressure just a little bit.
Over in the arena, the audience all took their seats and waited for the competition to really start. Spike had never felt so out of place in his life as he did in the centre row, crammed in between over-excited mothers and kids with ugly home made banners to cheer on their brothers and sisters in this apparent sport that was such a big deal to them. Spike wasn't much into any kind of sport, except proper football of course. Whether you could even call cheerleading a sport was another thing altogether but such debates as these were far from Spike's mind right now. Instead he was trying to decide if he was a bigger idiot for making this bet with Faith that they had going on, or if his real stupidity lie in his feelings for Buffy Summers.
What had started out as a game had changed so much and in such a short time. He'd been living in Sunnydale just a month and his soul purpose in getting to know Buffy was to win a bet he'd made with his step-sister. What had really happened was the little blonde had charmed him far more easily than he had her. He found he was actually falling in love with Buffy and what was worse, he didn't know what the hell to do about it, especially since it seemed she was not averse to his attraction to her. She had let him kiss her after all, just two days ago.
He hadn't seen her since, since the squad had got special dispensation from the Principal to skip any classes they felt necessary in order to help them win the Regional competition this Saturday. Spike wondered if it was absolutely necessary for Buffy to skip Bio yesterday, or if she was just afraid to face him, after all she had a boyfriend whom she had effectively cheated on by kissing him, no matter how much of a scumbag Angel had been this past month or more.
Of course, Spike had no idea that aforementioned scumbag was in fact sitting two rows in front of him. Angel had shown up, as promised, to the Regional Cheerleading competitions, knowing he had to keep Buffy happy if they were going to have any fun when she came up to college next year. UC Sunnydale was turning out to be a great place, just like High School but with the added bonuses of dorm rooms and easy drunken young women.
An announcers voice caught the attention of both Angel and Spike and the first squad came out in front of the audience, readying themselves to perform.
"Buffy, hey" said a voice behind her and the Captain of the Sunnydale Razorback Squad spun around to see Cordelia standing behind her.
"Cordy, hi" she smiled, "It totally never entered my head that you'd be here"
"It's kind of embarrassing really" Miss Chase grinned, "When the girls at Hyperion High heard I used to Captain the Razorbacks they just insisted I be their Captain too"
"So you're the old leader, huh?" Faith asked, looking distastefully at the obvious rich bitch before her.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Cordy checked, looking equally as unimpressed by the other brunette.
"Oh right" Buffy suddenly seemed to remember the two had never met, "Cordelia Chase this is Faith Lehane, our newest addition. Faith this is Cordy, the former Captain of the Sunnydale Razorbacks"
Neither brunette said anything and to be honest, from the way they were giving each other the evil eye, Buffy was heartily glad. Before either could think of something nasty to say or do, the announcer spoke again, telling the Hyperion Hornets to prepare themselves as they were up next. Cordy flounced away to confer with her team mates and give them a last minute pep talk as Buffy turned to Faith.
"Well, that was kinda hate at first sight" she smiled.
"I don't like girls like her is all" Faith shrugged, "She's so far up her own rich bitch ass, a damn contortionist would be proud"
Buffy laughed at that as she and her friend joined the other girls who were gathering to watch their old leader perform with her new team. They were up next and though they were all nervous they were confident too.
Standing by the edge of the performance space, Buffy peeked up at the audience and spotted Spike, sitting just behind her boyfriend. They both turned at the same time and saw her too and she smiled back at the pair of them, glad that neither of them knew who the other was, because that would only make things all the more awkward. When Angel blew a kiss towards her, Buffy knew she'd have to return the favour, although with Spike still looking her way she knew he'd probably get the wrong idea and think it was meant for him. In a moment of madness she did it anyway, unable to keep her eyes on the audience, afraid of the reactions she may have caused.
The announcer introduced the Hyperion Hornets just then and Cordy's new squad got into their starting formation. As the music began, Buffy's heart sank and she only felt more awful as she watched the routine her squad had learnt so carefully be performed by a rival team.
"What the hell...!" Faith exclaimed at her side as all eyes were trained on the grinning girls from Hyperion High. Every step, every throw, every flip was exactly the same as the routine the Sunnydale Razorbacks had used last year and planned to use again this year.
For three long, painful minutes the girls in burgundy and gold watched in horror as their routine was performed before their eyes by the other team in blue and white, Cordy right there in front, leading her squad with a huge grin on her face - she knew the trouble she was causing.
As the music came to an end and the girls held their finishing position, the crowd erupted in applause and cheers. The announcer thanked the squad and the girls ran off the opposite side of the 'stage', only Cordy sparing a glance and self-satisfied smirk at her former team-mates from Sunnydale High. Oh yeah, she knew what she had done.
"That bitch!" Glory snapped behind her Captain, "She so cannot do that!"
"We're going to look so stupid if we go out there and do the same routine" Harmony complained, hands on her hips.
"You are so stupid" Faith snapped back at her, knowing that Buffy was in enough of a state without the two blonde bimbos doing their Staedler and Waldorf routine.
"What can we do?" Buffy thought aloud, turning to look at Faith, "We only have one routine that we know well enough, there's no going back"
"Then I guess we go with it" Faith shrugged, "See if we can't give it a little somethin' those whores can't" she said encouragingly as Willow and Xander nodded their agreement.
The announcer called for the Sunnydale Razorbacks to take their positions and they did just that, though many of them looked far from happy. As the music started up, and the squad began to dance, there wasn't a person in the building who's mouth didn't drop open wide in shock.
"Haven't we just seen this routine?" one of the judges asked another, recognising both the music and the moves as being identical to the previous squad.
Spike and Angel were both frowning, wondering what the hell was going on, as Cordelia stood on the sidelines with her giggling team, smiling with delight at how ridiculous she'd made her old team look. She knew they would probably win Regionals, maybe even Nationals, and without her. Making use of Daddy's cash and connections she'd ensured her new squad got to perform before Sunnydale High's own girls and boys, making the Razorbacks look like the cheaters!
As the music reached a crescendo and the performance was over, not a person in the audience applauded or cheered. Buffy felt sick as she ran from the performance space with Faith hot on her heels. Cordelia was such a bitch, she needed taking down a notch or two, but right now all the Captain of the Sunnydale Razorbacks wanted to do was cry. She'd worked so hard to get the squad ready for this competition and now it seemed as though it were all a waste of time.
Cordy had the good sense to get out of the way of Miss Summers as her temper went into overdrive. Buffy stalked through the building, hell-bent on finding her former friend and tearing her limb from limb, but Faith caught up to her before she had a chance.
"Yo, B, slow down" she yelled as she grabbed her arm.
"No way! No frickin' way!" Buffy yelled back, "Cordelia made us look like idiots out there, and she knew it too!" she seethed.
"Yeah" Faith agreed, "but, and I can't actually believe I'm sayin' this, but slammin' her face into the ground ain't the way to fix this" she told her friend, who should have known that already, it was just her temper taking over that made her forget herself.
Buffy sighed, knowing what Faith said made sense, but also knowing she'd really love to do that face-slamming thing to Cordelia. Before she had a chance to say anything else, the head judge of the competition appeared and drew Buffy's attention away.
"Miss Summers, I think we need to have a conversation..." he began, shooting Faith a look that told her she should go away. Rolling her eyes she walked a few steps, almost running right into her step-brother.
"What the bloody hell's goin' on here then?" Spike asked as he glance at his step-sister then over at where Buffy was pleading her case with the head judge.
"Seems the Captain of the Hyperion squad used to head up Sunnyhell's team" Faith explained, "She totally screwed B over, took the routine with her to her new LA school, knowin' damn well we'd still use it"
"Nasty bitch" Spike spat. He didn't care much about cheerleading but he did care about Buffy, and she wasn't looking at all happy right now.
Across the room the head judge told Buffy that although there was nothing in the rules to say two squads couldn't present the same routine, it certainly wasn't something they condoned. However, the Sunnydale Razorbacks were guaranteed a place in Nationals, due to the fact they were the current champions. Buffy was warned though that her team must not show up with the same routine - if they did, there would be trouble.
Although the blonde was pleased to know the team hadn't lost their chance to win Nationals, the fact she had to come up with a new routine for the squad certainly didn't thrill her.
"Buffy" she heard her name behind her and turned to see Spike coming towards her. The sight of him brought a smile to her face, but her expression quickly changed when some girls happened to block Spike's path and Buffy was spun into the arms of her boyfriend who had approached from behind.
"Angel" she forced the smile back on her face, though in all honesty she had been kind of more excited to see Spike. She pushed away that silly thought and concentrated on the man whose arms she was in.
"Hey, what the hell happened out there?" he asked her.
"I don't know" Buffy sighed, "Cordelia decided to screw us over I guess, and now I have to come up with a whole new routine and get the squad ready for Nationals... Kind of a pressure thing" she said, glad of the hug Angel gave her as she hugged him back, resting her head on his chest.
"It's okay, baby" he assured her, kissing the top of her head, "You did your best, nobody can do better than that" he told her, "I was talking to the other girls, Glory and Harmony can take over for you, ease the pressure some..."
"What!" Buffy's head came up so fast she almost smacked Angel in the jaw.
"Buffy, you said yourself it's a lot of pressure" he reminded her, "You're a great cheerleader, maybe the best cheerleader" he told her, moving his hands to her face, "But, I dunno, maybe you're just not cut out for being Captain"
Tears welled up in Buffy's eyes and she pulled free of Angel's grasp.
"How dare you?" she asked him incredulously, "How can you stand there and... You know how much I wanted to be Captain, how much I love that I got the job, and now you're telling me maybe I'm not good enough to do it?"
"Buffy, you're taking this all the wrong way" Angel said with a shake of his head, but the blonde wouldn't hear it.
"No, no, I really don't think that I am" she said angrily, blinking back tears as she stormed away from him, pushing through crowds of other young girls and boys, desperate to get away.
She rushed through the open doors and out into the fresh air which hit her like a smack in the face. Breathing deeply and trying to be calm she was glad to hear Faith's voice coming from around the corner and almost made it into her friend's sight before she realised what she was saying and stopped to listen instead.
"I'm saying, B's my friend now, man" the brunette said loudly, "She's the decent kind, she doesn't treat me like dirt or a freak of whatever. Spike, I ain't gonna let her get hurt, okay?"
"I hear you, pet" Spike answered her, and Buffy frowned as she listened to the continuing conversation, wondering what on earth the step-siblings were talking about.
"So the bet is off?" Faith checked, "I mean, I'm gonna stick with the cheering, can't leave B high and dry, but you, you leave her alone right? No more putting the moves on her, the bet is officially over"
"It's over" Spike confirmed, opening his mouth to continue but never getting the chance as the sound of a stifled sob caught his attention. Both he and Faith peered around the corner and were shocked to see Buffy hurrying away, clearly very upset.
"Oh, bugger"
To Be Continued...
