Cheerleading Tryouts

"Audrey, it's Friday night. What are you doing home again?" Grammie asked me as she entered our grand library. I sat around a table with Momma and Daddy, watching them play chess. Momma was secretly a whiz at the game.

"Let her alone," Mom," Momma laughed, taking Daddy's rook.

"A princess should be out and about, making things happen," Grammie protested, sitting at the table with us.

"Audrey can do that when she's grown, she's only fourteen."

I just moodily crossed my arms.

"What happened to your sleepovers with Lonnie and Jane?" Grammie kept going, ignoring Momma.

"Lonnie's at some sports camp and Jane's popularity's gone after the whole love poem incident. Not ever her mother's reputation could save her."

"A good lesson to every royal to be." Grammie eyed me over a cup of tea, making me sit up straighter.

"Mother," Momma huffed. "Audrey will always be loved, no matter what she does."

"Of course, dear, she'll be loved by us. But what of Ben? Why are you not with him?"

"He's practicing tourney at Chad's. Again."

"Ah. I understand now. You are losing your prince to his friends."

"Mother!"

"All he does is chase that dumb ball around like a dog, talking about kill zones and strategies!" I exclaimed, beyond frustrated. I mean, my father fought a dragon. And all my prince did was run around till he was all sweaty!

"The key is simple, my sweet. You must have adjacent interests while also demonstrating you are not bothered by his indifference."

"Huh?"

Grammie raised a penciled brow. "Find a way for him to notice you during this 'tourney.' Like Ariel did when she ventured to land."

Except I wasn't a mermaid who could suddenly gain legs. I was a fourteen-year-old girl, about to start my first year of high school without a prince running to me day and night.

"Oh! Audrey, hi!" Lonnie exclaimed, waving through the crowd surging into Auradon Prep on our first day of classes. My parents had moved me into my dorm yesterday and I'd spent the whole evening scheming how to make Ben notice me.

"I have so much to tell you about Power Princess camp," Lonnie rambled, hugging me. "We climbed a mountain and rowed across the Yellow River. And then we…"

I tuned her out, scanning the halls. There! I left Lonnie mid-sentence and headed for a set of lockers.

"Benny Bear, how are you?" I giggled, hugging him from behind.

"Hi Audrey," he said once we broke apart. "I'm good. How was your summer?"

"Oh, you know, spa trips and parades…the usual."

"Hey Ben," Chad greeted as he walked up to us, his eyes widening when he saw me. "Hi…hi Audrey."

"Chad." I gave him a nod, but my focus was on Ben. "So, I was wondering if you wanted to grab lunch together. I found a really pretty spot in the gardens and…"

But Ben had that look in his eye he had when his mom said I couldn't sleep over when we were seven.

"I'm sorry Audrey, but Chad, the boys, and I are going to take our to-go. Tourney tryouts are this Saturday and we really want to make the team."

"Oh."

"I'm really sorry."

"It's fine," I forced out, smiled, and spun away, flicking my hair so a cloud of perfume was left.

Stupid tourney, stupid Chad, stupid boys!

"Audrey, hey!" a chipper voice called. Ada, a ginger princess, daughter of Anna, was tacking a up a poster in a plum dress embroidered with green vines and yellow flowers. "I forgot you were a freshman this year."

"Hello Ada," I sighed, walking over.

Ada was two years older than me, and though we'd never really been friends, we were friendly with each other. Ada also never had to try to keep up a perfect princess image. Her mother had made everyone love her with her trademark clumsiness and, as a result, Ada didn't feel the need to practice waltzing with books on her head. Though, mostly thanks to her dad's genetics, she was only clumsy when tired.

"Great seeing you, Ada, but I should really get going. I need to-"

"Before you go, you should really sign up for tryouts!" Ada interrupted, handing me a royal blue pen on a cord tied to the poster.

"Tryouts?"

"For cheerleading. I'm a shoe-in for captain next year."

I took a moment to actually look at the poster. Every where you looked, there were girls in preppy skirts flipping and spinning. My hand traced a picture of them on a sports field.

"Do you cheer at tourney games?"

"Of course!" Ada laughed. "The crowds loved our Rapunzel Tower formation. Plus, we go to all the after parties with the team."

My smile was back as I signed my name. "Count me in!"

I practiced every night, mirroring the video that had been sent to all the hopefuls. It was surprisingly easy, similar to the hip-hop dances Lonnie and I used to learn during our sleepovers.

But on the day of the audition, I found this was not going to be as easy as I'd dreamed.

"We're only taking one underclassman and one upperclassman," Ada announced as we lined up on the field in the early morning sun. "We don't have room for second best here. You'll get ready in the locker room first; we have some spare uniforms. Good luck!"

I scanned the cluster of underclassmen as we got ready. How could I better my odds?

"Hey, Anxelin, is your skirt a bit tight?" I asked her, lunging.

"Not really." She was one of the twin daughters of Rapunzel. You could always tell her apart from Ruby by their hair. Her sister's long ginger locks left the room ten minutes after she did, while Anxelin had a reasonable length of white blonde hair.

"I think I'm going to try to stretch it out a bit."

I walked to the center of the room and smirked as I slid into a perfect split. A few freshmen gawked.

"No, still too tight." I stood and lifted my leg into the air, my foot level with my head. "Almost." One glance behind me, then I jumped into a triple back spring. My smile was huge as I snapped my head up. "Perfect!"

Ninety percent of the underclassmen fled. Perfect.

When we traipsed back onto the field, the squad stared at our shrunken group.

"Where are the others?" Ada askes while the upperclassmen headed to the other side for separate auditions. Only Anxelin and I were left the underclassmen auditions. Easy.

"Must've chickened out, I guess," I said with a shrug.

Ada regarded us a moment more before she started. "We'll begin with the dance routine we sent you earlier. Normally we'd eliminate people after…I guess if we can't decide, we'll move onto tricks."

Spell Me Maybe began playing form a cheerleader's phone and Anexlin and I began. My blood was pumping, people were smiling…I was finding I actually liked cheerleading.

"So spell me maybe," the song finished and Anexlin sucked in a breath. I'd been so focused on me, I hadn't noticed how she had done.

Ada exchanged looks with the squad. "So…I think we'll move onto tricks?"

Hmph. Not as easy as I thought.

Anexlin flipped down the track as if she were being carried by fairy wings. My face neutral but inside I was seething. How had I not known she was this good?

"Audrey, your turn," Ada prompted.

I held my head high as I walked to my starting point. Then I flipped and jumped and tumbled as much as I could. But no one applauded once I was done. Instead, they all looked uneasy.

"The only other is the cheers," Ada sighed. "You both wrote your own, right?" We nodded in unison. "Let's hear 'em, then."

I let Anexlin go first; I wanted to end with a bang!

"Auradon Prep let's represent! Full of heart and full of pep! Yep! Yep!"

I smirked. This I knew I could beat.

"Audrey, your turn."

Clap, clap "You see us coming, our swords drawn." Clap, clap. "You see us rising like the dawn." Clap. "Better run for cover, better run and hide." Clap, clap. "Before we wash you away just like the tide." Clap. "Auradon knights, we're shining bright, full of might, putting up the fight!"

The cheerleaders beamed at me. "Welcome to the squad."

As I left the locker room, cheer bag and pompoms in hand, I passed the boys headed to try out for tourney.

"Audrey?" Ben said. "What are you doing here?"

"I made the cheer squad," I replied, showing off my pompoms. "I'll be cheering you on during your games."

"Congrats. But I have to make the team first," he laughed.

"You'll be great. But just in case." I kissed him quick on the cheek. "Good luck."

Then I pranced away, pretending not to notice him staring after me.