Chapter 10: Smells Like Teen Spirit
Morgan was sweating from head to toe, but it was worth it. She had already gone through the individual tryouts, and she was in a group of twenty some odd freshman girls that had been selected to do the group tryouts. The session was suppose to reveal if some girls stood out more than the rest. Morgan figured she was going to make it since she already knew she could dance, her level of physicality, and her uncanny ability to perform gymnastics. But, she pushed herself anyway, making everything perfect. On the toe touches in the routine, she could already jump pretty high, but whenever she was getting tired, Morgan would cheat a little bit. She used her telekinesis slightly to make sure she did everything to a T.
What had her trying a lot harder as well was the fact that Lainey was just three spots away from her doing pretty well herself. Morgan was so tempted to make Lainey mess up so she couldn't make the team, but she figured that would be unfair and a little too cruel. As if hitting her in the face with the football wasn't cruel enough. It wasn't until the twenty girls became ten that the psychic realized that the cheer captains were walking around and tapping girls on the shoulder and sending them out. By the time they had finished the routine, there were only six girls left. Alexis, a girl with wildly curly red hair; Sophie, a petite girl with a honey brown lob hair cut; Madison, a dark haired girl that scared Morgan with how perfect her makeup was; Callie, a girl who was the absolute pinnacle the california dreamin' aesthetic with her golden blonde hair and deep tan; Lainey, the one who thought she was going to be a captain in training when in reality she was a psycho; and Morgan, the secret psychic who just wanted to do something with her gymnastics for once in her life.
"Okay, ladies," the head captain stopped them. She was this mixed girl named Chloe, her topaz colored skin and making the purple, black and white uniform stand out a bit more. "I think that's all we need to see," She said as she gave them a big, bleached, perfect, smile.
"So who made it?" Alexis asked. She was nervously twirling a copper curl between her fingers. Morgan could almost feel this girl's nerves. But that was the thing, for some reason, she could feel the nervous energy that was coming off the redhead in waves. It made the psychic shift uncomfortably as each wave swayed her own emotions, forcing her to feel doubt about herself when she knew she shouldn't feel that.
"Well, all six of you. We've already eliminated who needed to be," one of the other captains said. Her name was Emma, Emma Davies. She made that very clear. She must've had a problem with how many other girls at the school were named Emma. There were about six of them that Morgan knew about, and this made seven. But she was by far the most beautiful person at this school with a porcelain complexion, cobalt blue eyes, perfect soft ringlets in her naturally light blonde hair that was somewhere between a light gold and platinum.
"Morgan, Callie, Madison, Sophie, Alexis, and Lainey. Welcome to the team!" Chloe celebrated. Morgan looked at Lainey, and the blonde seemed to be fuming that her name was said last. She didn't know what the reason was for the order of the names when they put them on the team, but Lainey was not happy.
"Alright Spartans," Emma started, referring to the mascot, "Go over to Mallory over there and she'll measure you for your uniforms. Those will be here this time next week. Until then, get your deposits in for the uniforms, because you will be receiving two uniforms, one to keep at home for emergencies. You'll also be receiving your cheer shoes, which must be kept clean since they are white and worn with no show socks at all times. You'll get two cheer bows, keep the second with your backup uniform. You'll get two black under armours for the cold part of the season and two black spanks. What do you do with the spares ladies?" Emma asked with her hand behind her ear.
"Keep them at home with the backup uniform," they all said in unison.
"Good, and you will all be receiving a letterman jacket and matching sweatpants to wear over your uniform when it's cold. You only get one of each, so don't lose it." Emma told them with a stern look on her young face.
"And one last thing," Chloe caught everyone's attention. "Friday's are game days. We wear our uniforms on game days. That means a tight high ponytail with your cheer bow, a clean uniform, and your cheer shoes. We will notify you when you girls have to start wearing your under armour long sleeves, but until then, you can wear the letterman jacket at school if you get too cold during school hours. Got it?"
A few hours later…
Morgan was rummaging through her box of her mother's things. They had cleared her mother's savings for Morgan in case of emergencies, and she grabbed the cast she needed. She pulled out $200 for the uniform deposit and put it into the wallet in her purse. Her phone buzzed in her back pocket. The teenager pulled it out and saw that she had a text from jonah.
JONAH: How'd tryouts go?
Morgan smirked, going to her bathroom to pull out her hairbrush. She had just showered and needed to work through the long, wet locks.
MORGAN: Made the team :)
JONAH: Cheering for me I see?
MORGAN: You wish
JONAH: Im kidding
MORGAN: K
JONAH: Did you just K me?
MORGAN: Yup
JONAH: I see how it is
MORGAN: K
JONAH: Again?
MORGAN: Yup
"Hey, kiddo. Make the team?" Her father asked from the doorway, Zoey happily trotting in and hopping on the bed as Morgan stood up.
"You're looking at the newest member of the Spartans Cheerleaders," Morgan smiled. Dean gave her a smirk.
"Still think it's funny that you want to be a cheerleader. Of all the badass sports you could've chosen… hair bows and pom poms…" Dean teased.
"Oh, shush," Morgan snapped at him, trying to hide her smile.
"Hey, cheerleading is badass. Cheerleading is number one in female sports and number two in overall sports in counts of catastrophic injuries. It's even been reported that 65.2% of all catastrophic injuries that occur in youth sports are from cheerlea-" Dean stopped her.
"I'm just teasing you. Congratulations on making the team, and dinner's ready," he told her with a smile before walking out of the room.
"What's for dinner?" she yelled after her father.
"Tacos!" He yelled back. Morgan shared a look with her dog before running to catch up with her dad as the greyhound-pitt followed closely at her heals. She was starving, and the dog just loved following her whenever she went running off somewhere. Morgan's mother always thought that the dog was just hyper protective and couldn't bear have Morgan out of sight.
"Sammy!" her father yelled from the hallway as they made their way to the main room. "We finally have a cheerleader in the family," he announced.
"I've always been you're cheerleader, big brother," Sam joked in a childish voice. Morgan laughed as Dean froze and gave his brother an over exaggerated. The two older men recomposed themselves as began assembling their tacos. Morgan sat down and checked her phone, realizing that she missed a text from Jonah.
JONAH: So do you wanna have lunch with me and my friends tomorrow?
Morgan paused, thinking for a moment about all the things that could go wrong if she said yes.
MORGAN: Will Lainey be there?
JONAH: No. She sits with her squad on the bleachers
MORGAN: Boyfriend and girlfriend and you guys don't have lunch together?
JONAH: No. She likes to have "girl time"
MORGAN: OMG BUT WAIT
MORGAN: WHAT ARE YOUR FRIENDS LIKE?
JONAH: haha they're just some football guys, a couple of their girlfriends
MORGAN: And they're fine with me joining them for lunch?
JONAH: Is that a yes?
MORGAN: It's a "are they fine with me joining them for lunch"
JONAH: Yeah they're fine :)
MORGAN: Lol okay then
JONAH: Hey have you done the science homework?
"Earth to Morgan," Sam caught her attention. She put her phone away. "Chicken or beef taco?" He asked her quickly, his hand hovering above the assortment of tacos sitting before them.
"Beef," she stated as she grabbed her coke that was sitting in the middle of the table.
"That's my girl," Dean mumbled with a half smirk as he grabbed his own. Morgan smiled and snuck a piece of meat under the table. Zoey took it all in one bite, just barely nipping Morgan's fingers. She shook off her hand and wiped the dog slobber off her fingers with a napkin. When she had finished her tacos, Sam started talking.
"So, there's a vampire nest just two hours north of here. Maybe we could take Morgan and-"
"No. Nope. Absolutely not," Dean barked. He was completely opposed to his child working on a case. Especially one with a vampire nest, but Morgan did want to go on a case.
"Wait! Hold up. I want to go," She pressed.
"Yeah, Morgan could help us from a distance with her telekinesis. She could be trapping them in her psychic hold and we could decapitate them. It would be so much faster that we would be home in time for dinner," Sam argued. "She wouldn't be in any danger."
"Absolutely not. You don't know that she wouldn't be in any danger. There are so many things out there that we've pissed off that could come for her while the two of us are fighting. We've already have enough to worry about with her leaving the bunker every day to go to school. I will not be putting her in any more danger," Dean stated flatly. He wasn't in the mood for anything even remotely resembling Morgan participating in a hunt.
"I can-" Morgan tried to butt in but Dean wouldn't let her.
"I said no."
"I can protect myself!"
"I said no!" Dean yelled. Morgan got quiet. He had never yelled at her before. She understood why he was yelling now but it still felt raw.
"Fine," she sighed. The teenager got up from the table and snapped her fingers so the dog would follow at her heel. "I'm gonna take Zoey out and go to bed," Morgan said solemnly as she walked over to the front area and went up the stairs, the dog following at her heels. Morgan did exactly that. She walked Zoey around outside, the dog did her business, Morgan threw a tennis ball a couple times, and then she went back inside. She silently passed her father and uncle and went straight to her room, locking the door behind her. She had already done her cheer tryout, she did her homework, did her daily hunter training, took a shower, even ate dinner. Morgan had nothing left to do aside from go to bed to wake up for school in the morning.
She put her phone on the charger, laid down on her bed and turned off the lamp on the bedside table. She felt the dog hop up on the bed and curl up by her feet. Morgan closed her eyes to the dark room and felt herself slip away into sleep. That was her superpower. Her mom had always said that about Morgan's innate ability to fall asleep wherever she was, no matter what was happening around her or what had just happened. That's why they always knew when she was sick, she wouldn't be able to sleep at all. So she slept, but what bothered her about this sleep was the dream.
She was a spectator in her own dream. Morgan looked upon the dark, run down room as the night poured through the windows like a mixture of black ink and moonlight. There were old fissures running across the walls and the ceiling like an old house. The wood floors were warped but still holding. It was an empty room, until it wasn't. There was a girl in the middle of the room with long chestnut hair, perfectly straightened. Her face was hidden under the brim of a witch's hat. It was one of the classic hats that come with a costume for halloween. Her skin was lightly tanned with freckles everywhere. She seemed so familiar, her 5'1 stature, slightly slouched as her head looked at the ground. There was a gust of wind, coming through the open windows, making the hat sway slightly in the breeze as her hair blew about. The girl looked up and Morgan realized she was looking at herself. She was spectating herself. Morgan saw the look of fear on her own face as she realized that among the freckles on her body, there was blood, spattered all over her. It was in her hair, her black witch's dress that's fabric matched the hat, it was all over her skin, and it was all under her fingernails. At her feet, Morgan saw her familiar black combat boots, which were covered in a mix of blood and mud. It was in that moment, that Morgan was no longer the spectator. Out of nowhere, something crept out of the shadows and dragged her through the door as she screamed and clawed at the wood. Her hands bled as they repeatedly scraped against the wood.
"Help me!" Morgan screamed as she watched herself grow smaller and smaller as she was dragged into the darkness. The feeling of the large hands dragging her by her ankles changed as the grip traveled up her body. They grabbed her ankles, then her knees, her hips, her hands, her elbows as her chest was lifted from the ground, then she was being pulled backward by her hair.
Morgan woke up screaming.