Chapter 3: new plans
The afternoon bell went off, signaling the end of the day. Some people went home, others stayed for after-school activities. Kim and Ron entered the gym for cheer practice, but instead found a ring of cheerleaders giggling and staring at something.
Perplexed, Kim walked over to them and yelled, "Okay ladies, enough of whatever-it-is you're doing, we need to practice!"
Turning their heads, the girls slowly filtered back to their cheer spots to prepare for practice. Finally, Kim and Ron got a good look at what they were all staring at. Setting up on the nearby stage, raised 4 feet off the floor, was Jason, and several other guys whom Kim guessed were the band.
Ron and Kim walked over towards the stage, gaping at them.
"How…when…" Ron was at a loss for words. Spotting them, Jason waved and ran towards them. Out of nowhere, one of the band members wheeled a large circuitry board straight between them. Kim cried out in alarm, thinking Jason wouldn't have time to slow down and would knock it over.
To Kim and Ron and the entire cheer squad's amazement, Jason vaulted straight over the circuitry board, which stood over 6 feet tall, and flipped a few times through the air, before landing silent as a cat in front of them.
"Kyle! Watch where you're pushing that thing, man!" he called, annoyed, to the guy who was pushing the board. He nodded sheepishly and wheeled it to its proper position. "Hey guys," Jason said, turning to the astonished duo. "Sorry about the interruption of your practice, we were just helping prep the stage and check where everything's gonna go. We got the gig!" he raised his hands for double high-fives, which were delivered.
"Awesome, dude!" Ron said. "But doesn't that mean you can't…you know…dance?"
"No, that's what fallback cds are for," he said easily. "I wouldn't ever go to a prom just expecting to play music and not dance!"
Kim just nodded on, still amazed that the board directing the dance had given in so quickly. "wow, you got this awfully fast," she said. "How'd you convince them?"
"Well, we just auditioned a small portion of the stuff we do, and they were like "BAM! These guys are better than a DJ!" and we got it." Jason explained. "They've put us in charge of everything as far as it goes to sound. We control what plays, when it plays, and the radius of houses that are going to have windows break as a result."
"KIM!" Bonnie yelled, "I thought you said we were going to practice!"
"Oh right," Kim said, embarrassed, "Sorry, but we gotta practice."
"No problem," Jason said, "We won't make too much noise, and I promise we'll take a break to watch you guys in action. What do you do on the team, Ron?"
"I'm the mascot, baby!" Ron said, showing off his Mad Dog mask.
"Well, I'll have to see you too. Good luck, Kim," Jason called back as she and Ron walked away. He dashed back towards the stage, leapt up, and began walking around and chatting with the tech guys and band members working on the stage.
The rest of the day went less than perfect. All through rehearsal, Kim couldn't help looking over at Jason. Normally, she described boys as "hot", "nice", "sweet", or "just not right". For him, the only word that came to mind was "perfect".
Unfortunately, this frequently caused her to lose concentration, and more than once, she messed up their routine…badly.
"KP, that's the fifth time today! Get with it!" Ron yelled at the fresh pile of cheerleader bodies, the remains of the spirit pyramid which had crumbled yet again. Kim could just make out from between Tera's legs Jason laughing. Kim blushed and pushed herself up out of the tangle of chaos.
"Okay, I think that's enough practice for today, girls," Kim said, and turned and grabbed her bookbag and ran into the locker room.
"UGH! How could I do something so stupid?" Kim was banging her head against the locker room wall, bookbag in hand. She couldn't believe she had blown practice so badly, just because Jason was watching. After several minutes of frustration, she got dressed back into her pink khakis and white and pink heart shirt, and walked out. Ron was waiting for her by the front entrance, as always. With him was Jason.
"Hey, KP!" Ron called, waving. She waved back, and walked over to them, blushing a little in Jason's presence.
"Well, Kim, I hope you can do better than that," Jason said in mock disapproval. "If you keep messing up like that, the cheer squad is going to be doomed!"
She blushed even deeper, but relaxed a little after he said "I'm just messin' with you."
Ron put his arm around Jason's shoulder. "Me and the J-man were just discussin' the new Z-boy game comin out in 2 weeks!" Ron grinned. "So, Jason, you, me, Kim, bueno nacho tonight at 8?"
Frowning, Jason said, "ooh, sorry guys, I can't do tonight How about next Friday? I have a part-time job to work at. Just got it, can't afford to skip out on it. Sorry." This last comment he directed at Kim. "I really want to come, but I can't skip out on this, or my new boss'll kill me." He waved and walked out the door, turning east down the street. He disappeared from sight moments later.