Disclaimer: This show is not in my possession.
Competition
Megan stands in front of them, hands clasped tightly, looking at them eagerly. "How was it?"
It's the morning of her cheerleading competition, and she is beyond nervous. From what Cam has gathered, their last one had been bad, and this is the Hornets' final chance to prove themselves for the season. For the past week, she's practiced the routine every night after school; now, with the event an hour away, she's performing in front of an audience—him, Conner, and Zatanna. Unfortunately, she's done it seven times already, and they're running out of ways to convince her that it's perfect.
When no one responds immediately, her face falters. "I messed up something, didn't I? Oh, no, they'll be so mad if I screw this up. I should do it ag—"
"No, no, no," Cam interrupts, getting to his feet and approaching the Martian. "Megan, babe, you're fine. It was wonderful, you are a goddess of cheerleading, they should all worship the ground you walk on."
"You think so?"
"Would I lie to you? Seriously, take a few deep breaths and get yourself over to the school. You're all riding together, right?"
Her hand slaps against her forehead. "Hello Megan! I completely forgot!" Flying out of the room, she waves at them, saying, "I'll see you guys there!"
Once sure she's out of hearing range, Cam flops to the floor and mutters, "I think I can do their routine in my sleep." Turning his head to the clone and the magician, he continues, "Thanks for the confidence boosting, by the way."
Conner shrugs. "You had it covered."
"I stopped paying attention after the first two demonstrations," Zatanna admits, unashamed.
Pushing himself into a sitting position, he sarcastically returns, "How supportive of you guys."
"Hey, I've been to every one of these things," Conner protests. "Trust me, I have given plenty of pep talks. There's only so much I can say about the exact same thing."
"And I just don't care all that much for cheerleading," Zatanna offers. After a moment of thought, she adds, "Maybe one of them will fall."
Him and Conner both send her a look, so she clarifies, "Not from her squad. And not like she seriously gets hurt or anything, just, you know, a tumble."
Getting to his feet, Cam backs slowly from the room and waits, in safety, for the Team. By the time everyone arrives, with Raquel being forty minutes later than the rest, there's only five minutes until the competition starts.
"Way to actually show," Artemis tells Raquel.
"Well, excuse me for caring about my appearance."
"No one cares what you look like; they're all going to be focused on the cheerleaders."
"I know I will," Cam offers with a smirk.
Artemis rolls her eyes and elbows him in the ribs, but Wally waggles his eyebrows and mutters, approvingly, "Dog."
"Okay, so transportation spell," Zatanna throws in quickly, clearly hoping to avoid whatever path this conversation might take. "I'm combing it with an obscurity spell, so no one will notice us."
"You know, if you brought my car here, I could just—"
"No!" Artemis and Zatanna interrupt immediately.
Raquel scowls, and Kaldur places a soothing hand on her shoulder. "It is only because the distance is too great to travel in that amount of time."
"No, it's because we don't want to die," Artemis insists.
Before a debate can ignite, Zatanna says, "Ekat su ot rotag muidats dna tel on eno ees su."
They appear in a high-school football arena. The stands, surprisingly, are packed, fans wearing their school's colors or emblems.
"Wow. People actually go all out for these things," Robin muses, observing a pack of girls wearing shark hats.
"Let's not talk about it," Conner grumbles, leading them to the Hornet section. Everyone but them is wearing yellow shirts with black strips.
"Someone doesn't have school spirit," Robin sing-songs, ducking behind Kaldur when Conner sends him a particularly nasty glare.
Megan's school performs fifth, but, unlike the rest of the Team, Cam does watch the other squads. Okay, sure, he's only paying attention to how the girls look, but at least it seems like he cares. And, yeah, maybe it's wrong to judge solely on appearance, but he's seventeen and that's high on his list of qualities.
When the fourth squad steps up, the Hornets erupt into hisses and boos.
"What the heck is thought about?" he asks Conner.
Rolling his eyes, Conner explains, "The Sharks are the only other school in our district. They're our biggest rivals in everything. During Homecoming week, we keyed their cars." [1]
"That's…extreme," he mutters before turning his attention back on the girls. Throughout the routine, he can't take his eyes off one of the girls who keeps getting thrown in the air. It's not just that she's pretty—because she really, really is—but it almost feels like he's seen her before.
As they're leaving the field, cheering and waving, the girl spots him and stops dead, staring at him for a few seconds before moving with the others.
Now it clicks. She's the one from Wawa, with the jerk of a friend. Marissa.
His face heats up at the memory, so he just shakes it from his mind and focuses on Megan. As far as he can tell, the routine goes perfectly, and from the huge, genuine smile on her face, he knows she thinks so, too.
"Good job, M'gann," Conner murmurs when she runs over, pulling her into a hug.
"Good? You were amazing!" Raquel squeals while Artemis and Zatanna nod in agreement.
"Totally feeling the aster," Robin throws in.
"Thanks, guys." She's practically bouncing with excitement. "This is the best we've ever done! I think we have a chance of placing—"
Angry shouts and catcalls cut her off mid-sentence. Looking over the top of her head, Cam spots Marissa encroaching on rival territory. Initially, he thinks (hopes) that she's just passing by, but when she makes her way for the bleachers, he realizes she's coming for him.
Before the Hornets can offer her as some sort of sacrifice, he breaks away from his friends to meet her.
For a few awkward seconds, they just look at each other, the jeering white noise in the background. Finally, he manages, "Hi."
"Hi," she returns, nervously playing with her hair. "I…I didn't know you'd be here. You go to Happy Harbor High?"
Deciding not to open that can of worms, he just says, "Yeah. Uh, junior."
"We're supposed to hate each other, you know," she proposes, grinning at him.
"Yeah, I know. They're all probably expecting me to kill you or something."
She laughs, then blushes at how loud it is. "I, uh, didn't think you'd remember me."
"I didn't think you'd notice me in the stands."
"You're pretty hard to miss." As soon as the words are out of her mouth, she amends, "Not, not that there's anything wrong with that. I just mean—"
"I get it," she promises, smiling.
Staring at her bedazzled sneakers, she murmurs, "Look, I just want to apologize again for what Mike said. He can be such a dick sometimes."
"Don't worry about it; I've gotten worse."
"It's just, I mean, it was so un-cool of him, because it's not like he even knew you and you seem like such a sweet guy and it shouldn't even matter, you know, and God why do I always ramble?"
"I tend to have that affect on women," he offers, slipping into the macho-man personality he likes to use when he has no idea how to interact with the opposite sex.
She giggles, then glances over her shoulder. "Look, I better get back with my squad so they don't shun me for fraternizing with the enemy. I, I'll talk to you?"
"Yeah. Yeah, okay," he returns, smile growing.
She stands for just a moment longer before retreating. He returns to his friends, pretending they're not utterly confused about what just happened.
"Dude!" Wally exclaims. "Who was that?"
"A girl," he returns casually.
Artemis flicks the side of his head. "No duh."
"Saw her around once. No big deal."
Robin whistles. "You saw her once and she comes over to you?"
"What can I say? I'm a smooth criminal."
While Artemis pantomimes gagging, Zatanna asks, "Did you get her number?"
"Of cour—wait, what?"
"Her cell number?" she proposes, speaking slowly.
He groans with frustration, covering his eyes with his hand, and Artemis bursts out laughing. "Smooth criminal, all right!"
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[1]= My high school did this to our rivals during Homecoming week