17
Santana's POV
Once I got home after Brittany's party, I packed for cheer camp. I knew what to expect since I'd been there before, but I was looking forward to it more this time because I would be a part of a very talented team. Our team had won Nationals; everyone at cheer camp would look up to us.
My cousin, Braydon, came to pick me up and drove me to Quinn's house where Quinn, Brittany, and I were meeting up. Quinn's mom would be driving us to cheer camp.
During the drive, we listened to music that Quinn's mom deemed "appropriate" and played typical road trip games. Brittany would randomly start singing along to any songs she knew. I only knew a few; it really wasn't my style of music.
We got to the camp just before lunch, and we were brought to our cabin. It had three bunk-beds and Brittany, Quinn, Amanda, Julia, and Mindy were in the cabin with me. I called a bottom bunk, and Brittany called the one on top of mine. After we were set up, we ate lunch.
The rest of the day was filled with team-building exercises such as trust falls, and we didn't do any real cheerleading. We got to know the other girls, even though most of us had seen each other before, there were a few younger girls who were new.
The next day was a typical day at cheer camp. We woke up super early and went running before breakfast. We worked hard on routines until lunch, had some free time in the afternoon, then ate supper. After supper, we practiced some skills both independently and with others, and then we were offered a snack before quiet time.
My least favorite part of cheer camp was when the mornings were hot. Hot sun mixed with difficult cheer routines was not fun.
Most afternoons, the girls at cheer camp either hung out in their cabins, swam at the lake, or continued practicing (if they were struggling).
A few days into cheer camp, there was a cloudy day. It was refreshing because the first days had been super hot and practicing our routines under the clouds made it a lot more bearable.
In the afternoon, Brittany and I worked on some math. Sure, it was summer, but Brittany was given some extra math to help prepare her for the tenth grade. She asked for my help, so I reluctantly agreed to do schoolwork during the summer vacation.
By the time the evening rolled around, it looked as though it was going to rain. Still, we went to the field where practice was often held. There was practicing that was done in the indoor gym, but it was usually out on the field.
"I want you girls to work on your back handsprings this evening," one of the many instructors said. "If you need help, we're here, but you really shouldn't need help at this point."
I sighed. The back handspring was my weakness. I could get it right about 80% of the time, but after I'd sprained my wrist doing it when I was younger, I'd been too nervous to give it my all again.
"I can help you with yours," Brittany suggested. She knew about my weakness.
I shook my head. I knew I could do this.
By the time we were all dismissed to our cabins, I was still not getting the back handspring every time. I knew that many girls were worse at it than me, but I needed to be perfect; Sue expected it from me.
"Could we stay behind for a bit?" I asked Brittany.
"Sure," she said. "I can help."
We worked for at least another half an hour.
"It looks like it's going to rain," Brittany pointed out.
"Just a few more minutes," I panted, clearly exhausted and out-of-breath.
Half-way through my next back handspring, I felt a drop of rain hit my leg. Slowly, it started to rain faster.
"Maybe we should go back now," I said as the rain continued to fall faster.
"I agree."
We walked fast back to the cabins, although we should have ran instead. The walk was about 10 minutes, and I could tell that it would start pouring rain soon.
"Maybe we should find some shelter!"
"But I love the rain!" Brittany exclaimed.
"My shoes are soaking," I complained.
Still, Brittany and I continued speed-walking in the direction of the cabins.
Suddenly a flash of lightning and heard a bang of thunder. I jumped. I may have appeared to be fearless, but thunderstorms were never something I handled well.
"Do thunderstorms scare you?" Brittany asked. It sounded almost as though she was mocking me, but she wasn't.
"Just a bit," I admitted. I was lying; they were freaking terrifying!
"We should run!" Brittany squealed as we jumped over a puddle.
She grabbed my hand in hers, and we started running.
Cold needles of rain prickled my face and stung my eyes, so I closed them, letting Brittany's hand pull me in the right direction. It worked fine, until I heard a snap and felt a stinging pain in my ankle. I screamed as I fell into a puddle, my ankle throbbing.
Brittany let go of my hand before she could fall too.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
I opened my eyes. "My ankle really hurts."
"Do you think you can still walk back?" she asked. "We're almost there."
I shrugged my shoulders, and Brittany grabbed my arms, trying to help me stand up. I made it onto my feet, but I couldn't put any weight on my ankle.
"Is it broken?" Brittany asked.
"How am I supposed to know?" I shouted through another boom of thunder.
Brittany tried to pick me up to carry me back, but since she couldn't see her feet, she slipped in the mud and had to put me down.
"Go get help!" I yelled.
Brittany nodded, and then she ran as fast as she could towards the cabin.
I started shaking from the cold. My workout gear was not near warm enough for the storm, and it was soaked through.
A few minutes later, Brittany and Amanda came to help me limp back to the cabin. It was painful and my body was sore, but we made it back.
"Do you want some help with the shower?" Brittany asked.
"I don't need a shower," I replied. "I can barely stand."
"Yeah, but you're cold and wet and muddy."
I sighed and accepted Brittany's help.
The shower felt good, even though I could only stand on one foot. I felt myself slowly warm up.
Out of the shower, I put on some comfortable clothes, and Brittany helped me limp to my bed. I was so glad that I hadn't been stuck with a top bunk.
"Someone should look at your ankle," Amanda pointed out.
I looked down and saw that my ankle was red and swollen, much worse than it had appeared after my fall.
"I'll go," Brittany said. I noticed that she was still wearing her muddy, rain-soaked clothes. So, she left to find an adult to help.
She came back with the nurse on staff. The nurse said that I had sprained my ankle. Luckily, I hadn't broken it. She wrapped it in a tensor band and told me to keep off it as much as I could. Then, she left our cabin.
"Thanks for everything, Brittany," I whispered in her ear so that no one else would think any less of me.
"No problem," she replied.
It took me a very short time to fall asleep. I was exhausted; the evening had been eventful, after all.