Hi so sorry that I have been AWOL and it seemed like I completely abandoned this story. Enjoy this chapter, and if you liked it, leave a comment below with your thoughts, opinions, etc!
"Rose?" Haley was standing in front of me, her blue eyes wide with concern. "Are you okay?"
Panic was clawing at my throat again, and words wouldn't form. Haley led me upstairs to her room and wrapped a blanket around my shivering form before directing me to sit on the bed.
"I'll go make you some hot chocolate, and when I come back, if you still want to talk, I'm here for you." She smiled briefly before leaving the room, the door cracked slightly.
I took deep breaths, trying to stabilize myself. I stood up, too restless to sit. Hanging above Haley's desk was a picture of her and a vaguely familiar girl wearing a Vladimir High School cheerleading uniform. It took me a moment to place the girl as Thea, a girl that had made the cheerleading squad the same year that Lissa and I both made the squad before sophomore year.
I blinked, trying to remember what I knew about her. I think she had left the squad halfway through our junior year, after a year and a half of being a cheerleader. I couldn't remember why she had left the squad though. As I struggled to remember, I found another memory surfacing, and when I blinked, it was like I was right back there on the field, trying out for the first time.
Two Years Ago
"Rose! Come on; we're going to be late."
"I'm coming! Hold your horses!" I ran down the stairs and ducked into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.
Lissa's mother, Rhea, laughed. "Somebody's excited, huh?"
"And she's dragged me into doing it with her." I rolled my eyes, but I knew my smile gave away how excited I also was.
"I just know you're going to love it, especially when we both make the final cut today!" Lissa's excitement was palpable. "You loved doing dance remember?"
"I haven't danced in years, Liss. Not since my par—" I couldn't finish my sentence and instead faked a smile. "Let's just go."
Lissa smiled reassuringly and led the way out to the car, with Mrs. Dragomir following.
On the drive to the high school, I couldn't get my sentence to leave my thoughts.
Not since my parents died.
The screech of metal on metal.
Not since my parents died.
The smell of gasoline and the stench of blood.
Not since my parents died.
My mom dying on impact and my father screaming for help. For someone to help his baby.
Not since my parents died.
The teenager who was texting and driving and swerved into our lane surviving while they perished.
"Rose?" I blinked, and suddenly I was looking into Lissa's green eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, of course."
She wasn't convinced. "Are you sure? I've called your name a couple of times."
"I'm fine." I looked out the window as Mrs. Dragomir pulled into the high school parking lot and faked another smile. "Let's go."
Lissa followed me out of the car and over to the field where the last day of tryouts was taking place. The returning cheerleaders were in their uniforms from last year while the remaining girls that were trying out were lying on the grass and stretching. Lissa and I sat on the side, near the front, and helped each other do stretches as the girls already on the squad walked around, adjusting positions.
I zoned out during the coach's speech about how important tryouts were and how even if you get cut, there's always next year. She wasn't wrong. Lissa and I were both going to be sophomores in the fall, so there was always next year if we didn't make it this year. But we had also heard this speech during the last two days of tryouts. Today was the final day, and out of the remaining thirty girls, ten of us would be chosen to join the squad.
When the coach finished talking, she and the returning cheerleaders split us up into three groups of ten with two cheerleaders teaching each group practice routines. Lissa and I ended up in different groups, and I tried to not let that scare me. We had been placed in the same groups for the last two days.
As Lissa had predicted when she signed us up to try out, it was easy to fall into doing the routines, years of memorizing dances helping me out. It was easy to blank my mind of everything else and let my body take over following the short routines.
I wasn't sure how much time had passed before they spilt us up again, this time in groups of five. Lissa was in my group this time, and we worked well together, bouncing off each other's energy and movements. Time flew by again, and we were brought back together as a large group.
"As you know, we're filling ten spots on the squad this year, and there's thirty of you left vying for a spot. We've seen a lot of talent on the field over the past few days," Coach Tegan said. "Unfortunately, we're going to be making one more cut before our final cut later this afternoon. If I call your name, please know that we appreciate you coming out, but unfortunately, this isn't the year for you.
Surprisingly, I found myself anxious, not realizing how easily I had fallen into enjoying cheerleading, much more than I ever did with dance. I'd always been flexible, and now it was paying off as I bent into the new positions that the cheers demanded. Lissa held my hand tightly. Neither of us had anything to worry about as neither of our names were called.
Going into the next round, we were split back up into two groups of twelve. Lissa and I were together again but before we could start doing any cheers with the group, we both got pulled aside by returning squad members. Lissa ended up with one of the seniors on the team, while I was pulled aside by a girl with a red armband wrapped around her bicep and flaming red hair to match. She led me over to where three other girls stood.
"I'm Amelie, and you four have been specially picked to work with me for a certain reason," the returner said.
"Why?" a girl with black hair said. She stood to my left.
"It's a secret," Amelie said with a wink and a smirk. "Right now, we're going to work on tumbling."
"What if you're not that good with tumbling?" another girl spoke. She had ashy blonde hair and looked nervous.
"That's okay. Some girls on the squad can't do anything more than summersaults and a lot of hyping up the crowd. With a team as large as ours, it's better not to have all twenty of us to be doing flips and such during halftime. After all, we need someone to be our bases and spotters," Amelie said, smiling reassuringly. "Does anybody have tumbling experience?"
The girl with the black hair and the brunette girl standing next to her both nodded.
"I have a little," I said.
The girl with blonde hair nodded to that, still looking nervous.
"Show me what y'all got. Do the tumbling you know all at once so that nobody is watching anybody else and only focus on doing the best you can."
I quickly did a roundoff with a rebound into a back tuck and landing solidly on my feet. I noticed the girl with blonde hair had launched herself forward into a handstand and was touching her feet back down to the ground as I landed. The girl with the black hair and her friend were standing there, watching both of us, and her friend nudged the girl with black hair, a smirk on her face. They laughed before launching into a synchronized front handspring and front tuck.
Amelie narrowed her eyes and beckoned them both forward. "You two can turn in your nametags to Coach Tegan. You're done."
The black-haired girl's mouth opened and closed like a fish. "E-excuse me?"
"You heard me." Amelie didn't lower her gaze or uncross her arms. "We are a team here, and there is no room for mockery. Go on."
The girl with black hair huffed and shoved her way past the girl with blonde hair while her friend followed, glaring at the three of us.
"Now, where were we?" Amelie motioned for us to do some other tumbling routines and gently corrected or fixed our postures slightly when they needed it. As the coach called us back together again, the blonde girl pulled me aside.
"I'm McKenna."
"Rose," I said with a smile. "Are you a sophomore?"
She shook her head. "A junior. I just moved here from Freeport, Ohio. This high school has more people than my entire town."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah." She laughed. "We had about four hundred people, and everybody knew everybody. It's quite a bit different here, where there are four hundred people in the high school alone."
"I'd imagine so. God, I don't think I could ever live in a small town where everybody knows everybody. Nothing would stay a secret!"
McKenna laughed again, taking a seat beside me on the grass. "You get used to it."
Lissa plopped down next to me. "How'd you do?"
I shrugged. "Good, I guess. Not really sure."
Lissa looked around. "There are only twenty girls here. There were twenty-four earlier."
"Two girls in our group got cut," McKenna said. "I'm not sure who else, though."
"Oh. I'm Lissa, by the way," she said.
McKenna introduced herself with a smile, but before she could say anything more, the coach called attention to her.
"Okay, girls, I hope you all had a good time working with our returners today, but now it's time for the hard part. Final cuts. We're filling ten spots on the squad which means that half of you have to be cut with better luck next year. I want to say before I start reading names that I was impressed with all of you girls today and that this is a hard cut to make, but in consulting with the captain, Amelie," Amelie waved her arm in the air, "and the co-captain, Mira," a girl with curly black hair also waved her hand, "we were able to come to a decision."
"If I say your name, please come see Amelie to get measurements for your uniform and the practice schedule." She looked down at her clipboard and started reading names.
"Isabelle Roberts." A squeal came from our right, and a girl with jet black hair stood up.
"Audrey Dale." The girl sitting in front of Lissa stood, brushing her auburn hair behind her shoulder.
"McKenna Andalle." She sat in shock until I nudged her, and she lept to her feet. Amelie caught my eye and grinned, shaking her head.
"Alexandria Michelle." A tall girl wearing an orange t-shirt stood.
"Rosemarie Hathaway." I almost didn't hear my name get called, and Amelie beckoned to me.
"Thea Harris." A girl who was sitting behind Lissa stood.
"Jillian Mastrano." Her dark brown curls bounced as she walked towards Amelie.
"Vasilisa Dragomir."
My breath whooshed out all at once, and Lissa was grinning broadly. She embraced me in a tight hug before Amelie started jotting down her sizes for uniform ordering.
"Mia Rinaldi." A short girl with blonde ringlets walked to the front.
"Carly Sage." A girl with blonde hair stood up from near where Lissa and I had been to join us.
Coach Tegan dismissed the rest of the girls trying out before turning to us. "Congratulations. We have practice every day for the rest of August starting at 9 AM sharp and then every day after the last bell until about four-thirty during the school year. We will be ordering uniforms this weekend, as we have changed the design a bit, and when you pick them up next Friday, thirty-five dollars will be due. Along with choosing your names for our new team, we have chosen where we would like you to practice when it comes to halftime and other cheers.
"Amelie, Rose, and Mia will be our flyers this year, with Genevieve, Jillian, and Thea training in backup positions in case of injury or absence at a game. For spotters, we will have Audrey, Zoey, and Isabelle, and our bases will be in pairs of Charlotte and Carly, Lainey and Yasmine, Ava and Lily.
"Lissa, Alexandria, Mira, and McKenna will be mostly doing tumbling work, and Mira will be leading you in those cheers and tumbling moves. Does anybody have any questions?"
None of us had any questions, but Amelie pulled McKenna and me aside. "Congratulations, girls. I liked what I saw during my one-on-one time with you, and I think you both have great potential, even if you're not the very best there is. Rose, I noted on your forms that you used to take dance classes. It's part of the reason that we chose you to develop your flying skills. Being flexible is a huge advantage in flying.
"McKenna, I won't lie, being a stunter is not an easy job since it draws a lot of attention from the crowd, but I definitely saw improvement today while working with you and I think, without a doubt, that with some practice, you'll be able to master the moves in no time. I've been a flyer for the past two years and did ground stunting the year before that, so I'll be working closely and one-on-one with you both to help perfect the routines you need to know," Amelie said. "Mira will also be working with you and the other stunters one-on-one too, McKenna."
"Thank you. I hope I won't let you down." McKenna's voice was so soft I almost didn't hear her.
"You won't. Coach Tegan and I both noticed how you two stood out, and we both have faith that you'll succeed anything you think you can do." Coach Tegan beckoned to her, and she grinned. "See y'all on Monday!"
McKenna and I exchanged numbers, and I jogged over to where Lissa was waiting for her mom.
"Hey!"
"I'm happy for you," she said. "Being flyer would be cool, but I liked doing tumbling."
"Yeah, I was honestly surprised I was picked for flyer. I thought I was going to be a base or something."
She laughed. "Nah, I saw the flyer position calling your name as soon as Amelie pulled you aside."
When Mrs. Dragomir picked us up fifteen minutes later, Lissa and I gushed all the way home about how excited we were to get our uniforms and to start practicing.
"Rose?"
A hand on my shoulder startled me, pulling me out of the memory. Haley was standing behind me, a steaming mug in her hands. I took it from her and followed her back to her bed. I took a sip of the hot chocolate, relishing the way it burned my mouth and distracted me. I took one more sip before setting the mug down on Haley's nightstand.
I pulled one leg up underneath me as I sat on the bed, the other stretching out. I felt my foot bump against something, and I looked down to see if I had hit Haley's leg. I hadn't.
Instead, I had nudged a shoebox loose from its place under the bed, and the lid quickly popped off the box since it was bulging full of small papers. Haley's eyes widened as I bent down, picking up the box to put the lid back on the box. Before I could get the lid back on, I noticed what was in the box. It was full of pictures, both polaroid photos and digitally printed photos. The top picture was of me leaning against my locker, laughing with Lissa. The picture right next to it was one of me running, my ponytail in mid-swing. I could see my eyes peeking up from another picture underneath those two and dropped the box in surprise.
The panic that never really settled came surging back up, and I couldn't even look at Haley as I launched myself off her bed. I barely managed to stagger down the stairs, ignoring Haley calling after me. I ran out of the front door, not even caring as the door slammed.
"Rose!" Haley came running out after me. "Wait! Please let me explain."
I let my squealing tires answer for me as I peeled out of her cul-de-sac and started to drive, no destination in mind.