iCan Cope

Chapter 2
iCheerleader, You Outcast

"Hey, Carly." A random person says to me as I walk by. Everyone loves me. It feels so great to constantly be around people who adore you. Girls want to be my friends, and guys want to date me. It's a wonderful feeling. I never thought I would make it to where I am today.

I'm a junior in high school, captain of the varsity cheerleading squad, and I'm in the top 10 for my class. I turned sixteen not long ago and I have my new prized possession; my driver's license. Even though I'm happy as any sixteen year-old girl could possibly be, it still feels like there is something missing in my life. I often think this void would be my old best friend, Sam. I still remember the day she left. It still hurts to think about it, but it was eight years ago, I can't really change it now. I still wish she was here though.

We lost contact about six years ago. I don't know what happened. She quit answering her phone, so I stopped calling. I wonder to this day if she's actually alright. Now that I think about it, I still don't know why they ever moved in the first place. I guess I was just too young to ask. Even though I haven't seen her in eight years, there hasn't been a single day that I haven't thought about her.

I'm at school right now. It's almost time for the last class of the day. Then right after that, I have cheerleading practice.

--

Today's class was boring as ever. Then again, I've never really found History to be that entertaining. I'm just glad it's over. School has let out now, it's almost 3:00 and I'm on my way to cheerleading practice. I pushed open the double doors that lead into the gym and go to the locker room with the other girls to change.

When the entire squad was ready we started practice.

"Okay, guys. Is everyone all stretched and ready to cheer?" I asked. I always smiled, whether I wanted to or not. My smile seemed to keep my squad members motivated and smiling too. We had a small squad this year. Normally we have about 16 girls on the squad, but this year there were only 10 including myself and my co-captain. It seemed to be easier with fewer girls. My co-captain was Jayla. She was a tall girl, about my height and somewhat resembled Sandra Bullock. Like me, she always smiled to keep everyone motivated.

There were eight other girls on the squad; Lisa: long, curly, blond hair, blue eyes, loved art, dance, and singing. Alyssa: short black hair, hazel eyes, loved dancing, cooking, and dating. Ashley: long, platinum blond hair, bright green eyes, loved science, tennis, and swimming. Marina: Long, wavy, dark brown hair, deep brown eyes, loved cooking, eating, and working out. Lexi: long, dirty blond hair, crystal blue eyes, loved partying, dancing, and photography. Miranda: long black hair, green eyes, loves math, architecture, and design. Autumn: short, dirty blond hair, blue eyes, loves dance dance revolution, shopping, and coffee dates. Darcy: long, light brown hair, blue eyes, loves babysitting, writing, and art.

We did a few warm-ups before we actually started the new routine. With a smaller squad, trying to learn a new routine seemed like the easiest thing in the world. The routine wasn't too difficult either, both Jayla and I worked on it this weekend to teach the girls. Most of it was just improv though. Practice last about two hours before I dismissed the girls.

Every day was the same. Sometimes I wish there was something different.

--

The next day in my first class, we had a new student arrive. I wasn't paying much attention when the teacher introduced her. I saw her from the corner of my eye as I was trying to finish my homework in class. From what I saw, she was a girl just slightly shorter than myself. She wore baggy cargo pants and a dark blue, long-sleeved undershirt, and a light blue, short-sleeved over shirt with skulls on it. I didn't actually look up and acknowledge her until she sat down beside me.

"Hey, Carly. Recognize me?" I heard her say. It took me a second to register that voice, then after a moment I looked at her and realized who it was.

"Sam!" I said very excitedly. I jumped up out of my desk to hug her. I threw my arms around her and hugged her tighter than the day she had left. I looked to the front of my class to see that everyone in the room, including the teacher, was staring at us. I didn't really care though. I was getting another chance to hug my Sam. We both sat back down and I grabbed a sheet of paper from my notebook and started to scribble her a note.

C - Omg, I've missed you so much!
S – I've missed you, too. How have you been?
C – Pretty great, how about you? How come you stopped answering my calls six years ago?
S – I'm okay. It wasn't intentional. We moved and I lost your number. Some was stalking my mom, so we had to move and change our number. It sucked. Since then though, I've gotten into a lot of trouble.
C – What kind of trouble? I'm sorry, Sam : ( I wish I could have been there for you…
S – It's cool, Carls. And, well… I can't keep myself from doing bad things… so it gets me into trouble.

Just as soon as I read the note, our stupid teacher confiscated it. As soon as class was over, I got my chance to talk to her.

"It's so great to finally see you again." I said to her.

"My thoughts exactly. I've missed you so much over the last 8 years." Sam said.

"Hey, well… I have to get to my next class. Do you want to come over today? So we can catch up and all." I was hoping she would say yes.

"I'd love to. Are you still living in the same place?" She repositioned her book bag on her back.

"Yeah. Still with Spencer in our apartment. Is 5:00 okay? That's what time I get out of practice." I said to her, getting anxious to see her later.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll be there at 5:00." She hugged me and we went our separate ways.

--

It was almost 4:30 and we were ending practice early because I said I had plans. While we were in the girl's locker room, I heard the girls gossiping about some girl.

"Have you seen the new girl? She looks like a dike!" Miranda said.

"She's a freak! I heard she burned down her last school." Autumn replied.

"That's nothing. I heard that's she's been arrested for hijacking cars." Lexi piped in.

"Well, I don't know what that girl is guilty of, but she better stay clear of my direction." Darcy said.

"The girl just got here and she's already gotten into a fight, too. She beat up Chad Cougar." Marina said.

"He's a loser anyway." Miranda added.

"Who are you guys talking about?" I asked, walking towards the group.

"The new girl, Samantha." Ashley answered.

"Yeah, I'd stay away from her. She's scary and a freak." Alyssa warned.

"Samantha, who?" I asked. They better not be talking about my best friend.

"Puckett." Lisa spoke.

"Sam Puckett? You guys better chill your gossip about her. None of that stuff is true and I'd appreciate if you didn't talk about my best friend that way!" I said, getting a little agitated that they would talk about her that way.

"How can you be friends with that?" Darcy asked.

"We have been friends since we were born. So unless you want to be off the squad, no more talking crap about Sam, okay? That goes for all of you." I made myself very clear. By now Jayla had joined in the conversation and was on my side. She seemed to be the only one, but she was still on my side.

I left a aggravated at my squad, but the feeling quickly left me when I remembered who would be at my apartment when I got home. Sam.

AN – So, hope you guys liked this. I'll have another update soon. Please review : )