Chapter 26

The weekend had come and gone, and Monday morning had once again cast it's presence on Peach Creek. It was 7:15 a.m., and the campus of Peach Creek high school seemed completely devoid of life. It would be another hour until the bell signaling the start of the school day sounded, and most of the student were still at home enjoying breakfast or attempting to finish a school assignment they had procrastinated on.

In contrast to the desolate atmosphere of the school corridors and classrooms, the gymnasium was was teeming with energy. The Peach Creek High School Cheer Squad currently occupied the large room; while Wednesday mornings were the typical day for cheer practice to take place, Lindsay Statorowski, the cheer captain, had ordered mandatory daily practice for the duration of the week. Due to the gym being reserved for other parties on every other morning starting at 7:15, Lindsay had decided to start cheer practice at 6:15 a.m on the off-days in an effort to de-conflict with other activities. This, of course, did not sit well with many of the members of the squad; however some persuasion, in the form of new top-of-the-line purses, was enough to change most of the girls minds.

While most of the girls were swayed by Lindsay's promises of material possessions, and her almost hypnotic manipulation and persuasion skills, Nazz was completely immune. While Nazz disapproved of Lindsay's "hostile takeover" of the cheer squad, she continued to participate out of her lifelong love for the activity, and the aerobic exercise it provided.

The team was currently arranged in a six by six grid of individuals, with Lindsay standing by her lonesome center stage in front of the group. The girls were performing various "pop and lock" dance maneuvers, in synch with a famous pop song by a certain blonde haired female singer popular in the 90's. As Lindsay performed the moves, her face donned various amorous and flirty expressions, such as winks and sultry smiles. While Lindsay took her role as cheer captain very seriously, she was far from the best dancer on the squad; her moves were very forced and non-fluid, a product of her inability to "loosen" up.

After a few seconds, the team shifted to an alternate formation at Lindsay's direction, which included a group of eight girls forming into two groups. Each of the four girls assumed a "prep" formation, in which three of the girls attempted to lift the fourth girl into the air, with her feet resting at chin length of the girls on the ground.

Nazz happened to be assigned as one of the girls performing the lift. Due to this being a new part of the routine, Nazz and a few of the other girls had trouble with the timing due to a lack of practice. This caused significant synchronization issues with the music, a fact that did not appeal to Lindsay in the slightest. The blonde haired diva glanced towards the girl operating the stereo system, and made a cross with her right forearm and left hand, a common signal for "time out". The girl promptly stopped the music, at which point Lindsay turned towards the group of girls.

"C'mon people we've got to get this air tight!" yelled Lindsay as she slapped her hands together, "Smith, Miller, van Bartonschmeer, front and center right now. We're going to try it again, and we're going to get it right!"

Upon completion of Lindsay's previous sentence, the two girls referred to as "Smith" and "Miller" ran to the center of the gymnasium, as if they were military recruits responding to a drill sergeant, and assumed the position to carry out their stunt. In contrast, Nazz walked at her standard pace, her face displaying an expression of annoyance, eventually reaching the girls a few seconds later.

"Alright let's go," said Lindsay, as she positioned her hands for clapping, "And one and two and..."

Lindsay continued clapping in a steady rhythm, as the girls began positioning themselves for the lift, attempting to synchronize to the beat. While the other two girls were trying their best to accomplish the lift successfully, out of fear of Lindsay, Nazz, who had become quite fed up with Lindsay's derogatory remarks, decided to intentionally sabotage the routine just to spite the girl. Just as she and Miller began to lift Smith, Nazz suddenly ceased elevating her hands, causing a force imbalance. The result was Smith plummeting onto the gym mat, ruining the routine.

"That was pathetic!" yelled Lindsay, "You girls call yourselves cheer leaders!? You can't even get through a simple prep."

Lindsay glanced up towards the large, wall-mounted clock, currently indicating 7:15 a.m.

"You're lucky the gymnastics team has to use the gym," said Lindsay, "We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow 6:15 sharp. Don't be late or you're off the team."

With that, Lindsay dismissed the girls to the locker room to exchange their cheer uniforms for their ordinary school clothes. One by one, each of the girls shuttled through the single door, and made their way to their lockers to retrieve their belongings.

Nazz, quite annoyed with the new atmosphere of the cheer squad, was one of the first to reach her locker. She unlocked the single combination lock, and flung the door open with force, causing Kevin's football portrait to detach from it's taped on position on the inside of the door.

Nazz had barely completed the process of removing her shirt, when she felt a presence standing next to her. She turned her head to the left, and gazed up slightly, locking eyes with the person she had no desire to see unless it was within the bounds of cheer practice.

"Van Bartonshmeer," said Lindsay, "I saw what you did out there, and I didn't like it. Do you think I'm some kind of an idiot?"

Nazz sat down on the locker room bench to begin untying her sneakers.

"Oh I'm sorry Lindsay," said Nazz sarcastically, "I must have just slipped up, better luck next time I guess."

"For your sake, luck better be on your side next time," said Lindsay, "Just cause you got looks somewhat comparable to me, and the fact that you're dating the captain of the junior varsity football team doesn't make you queen of the castle."

"Right," said Nazz, "I'll keep that in mind."

Nazz paused, after which she decided to pose a question to Lindsay.

"By the way," said Nazz, "Since you're queen of the castle, what's up with this new routine? I mean it doesn't even fit with any of the other stuff we do for the basketball team. And what's with the sudden need to practice everyday so early in the morning? It' s taking a huge toll on all the girls and it's seriously uncool."

"Hey," said Lindsay rather aggressively, "If the girls feel that way, they can tell me themselves. It seems like you're the only one who has a problem with it."

"No," said Nazz, "I'm just the only one you can't play puppet master with."

"Oh Hun don't be jealous that everyone loves me," said Lindsay as she flipped her hair, and opened her makeup mirror "I know it's quite a hard pill to swallow for someone of your social status."

"Yeah," said Nazz, "It's easy to buy love isn't it? I mean, like haven't you ever tried to just be nice to someone and actually make a true friend?"

Lindsay's face suddenly transformed into one of anger as she slammed her makeup mirror shut.

"Listen you little pixie-haired bimbo," said Lindsay in an aggressive tone as she pointed her finger into Nazz's face, "You really need to learn to stay in your place, and mind your own business."

Lindsay paused for a few moments, her calm resolve returning, after which she decided to continue her lecture.

"Here's the deal Van Bartonschmeer," said Lindsay, "The only thing you need to do if you want to keep your place on this cheer squad is to deliver perfection for me on Wednesday night."

Nazz pondered Lindsay's words for a few seconds, after which she finally realized what Lindsay meant by the words Wednesday night.

"Now it all makes sense," said Nazz, "These new routines, and practice everyday. You're using the cheer squad as your act in the talent show, aren't you?"

"Bingo," said Lindsay with a smirk, "The audience gets to vote for the winner, and this routine, along with the fact that everyone who really matters loves me, will be my ticket to the trophy. This will teach that red-haired, four-eyed, nerdy freak not to mess with Lindsay Statorowski."

At that point, Nazz had finally completed the process of changing back into her ordinary clothes. She placed her cheer outfit into her gym bag and closed the door to her locker.

"Lindsay," said Nazz as she turned towards the tall, slim teenager, "You do realize that Lee is my best friends sister, don't you?"

"Yeah," said Lindsay, "So?"

"So if you had any kind of moral compass whatsoever, you'd realize that there's no way I'm going to help compete against her." said Nazz.

"If you value the privilege of being on the squad, and your somewhat unworthy social status within the freshman class, you'd be wise to rethink that." said Lindsay.

"Well consider this my resignation," said Nazz as she turned away from Lindsay and began walking towards the locker room door.

"Fine go!" said Lindsay, "Anyone who wants anything to do with that geek girl Annalee Kankersore isn't worth my time anyway."

Nazz calmly exited the gym locker room, as Lindsay angrily stormed toward the solitary toilet stall placed in the corner of the gym locker room where, as per usual, she would change in and out of her uniform in private.