Chapter 9
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"Miss James, why is it that you want to drop PE? From the looks of your transcripts, you don't have enough physical education credits to graduate in this district." Mrs. Anson, her new counselor, said with an annoyed tone, she had no problem with this new student, except for the new student brought the captain of the cheerleading squad with her.
"She's going to be a cheerleader." Brooke explained extra cheerily, as she knew it would annoy the woman more. "And all cheerleaders have to have 8th hour off so we have time to practice and warm up before games."
"I thought the squad was full." Mrs. Anson said as she pulled some papers out of a file that was marked 'Cheerleading.' "There are already twelve girls on the varsity squad, that's your limit Miss. Davis." She said in an overly cheery tone, which mocked Brooke's.
"Well, last week Principal Turner told Rachel that she couldn't cheer anymore since she was failing Calculus." Brooke said with a considerably nastier tone than she had used before.
"That may very well be," Mrs. Anson said, conceding that fight, "but Miss. James here still needs another physical education credit to graduate."
"You know that cheerleading can be used as a Phys Ed credit." Peyton said, using the same tone as Brooke had.
Haley just looked back and forth as the conversation took place; she had no idea why this counselor was so reluctant to let her be a cheerleader.
"Alright fine," the older woman gave up. She no longer felt like arguing with three teenage girls as it was almost the end of the day and she was incredibly tired. She pulled another piece of paper out of a different folder and handed it to Haley. "This is the form to get a credit waved. Fill out the top part, the cheerleading sponsor, your parents, and you need to sign it."
"Thank you." Haley said politely and smiled at the woman. The girls stood up and left the office. Some of the other members of the counseling staff glared at them as they walked out, but Haley just brushed to off, she figured that the looks were mostly intended for Brooke anyway.
"So what do we do now?" Haley asked as they were walking down the hall, she really had no idea where they were going.
"We have practice now!" Brooke said while jumping up and down excitedly.
"Oh yeah, who's the sponsor?" Haley asked again.
"Isn't it Whitey now?" Peyton asked Brooke.
"Yup, the teacher who volunteered for it at the beginning of the year couldn't handle the bitchiness of the girls on the squad so she quit."
"Wait a second; the basketball coach is responsible for cheerleading too?" Haley asked, she was defiantly confused about this; usually the coach wouldn't want anything to do with cheerleaders.
"Yup, I convinced him" Brooke smiled proudly, "Every sport has to have a staff sponsor or coach and if you don't have one you can't meet, and since we practice at the same time at the basketball team, it made the most sense to ask him. Plus he's mainly figurative."
Haley just laughed, Brooke logic was definitely the best. The kept walking, towards what Haley assumed was the gym. They met up with other cheerleaders along the way and soon formed a loud heard that was headed towards the locker room.
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"Wait, what am I supposed to practice in? I don't have any other clothes with me." Haley said once they were in the large room filled with hundreds of lockers.
"Okay, well…" Brooke opened her locker and looked through the blue Ravens duffle bag that had been shoved inside. "It looks like I have an extra pair of shorts." She offered, "What size shoes do you wear, all cheerleaders are told to keep two pairs of sport shoes with them at all times."
"Eight, but that still doesn't solve the shirt problem." Haley said as she grabbed the pair of black shorts that Brooke was handing off to her.
"Here's a shirt for you." Bevin said throwing a light blue spandex top at her, which she caught.
"Alright who wears a size eight shoe?" Brooke yelled over all the girls chatter.
"I do." A couple of girls called from a different locker bay. When Brooke heard them she grabbed Haley's hand and quickly pulled her in the direction that the girl's voices had come from.
After getting the shoes, the girls changed. Haley stuck her street clothes into an empty locker and went to look at herself in the mirror along with a few other girls. The blue tank top that she was wearing ended just above her navel, which she wasn't entirely comfortable with, but she figured the cheer uniforms weren't going to be much different so she got used to it. The shorts that Brooke had loaned her were also spandex and were about five inches long. "Don't worry, you look good. Nathan will never know what hit him." Peyton said as she stood next to Haley and put an arm around her shoulders.
Haley laughed at her comment, "You know, there might be too much spandex involved with the sport." She said as she noticed that Peyton and the other girls were wearing clothes that weren't that different from her own.
"Tell me about it." Peyton laughed.
"New Girl, grab the paper that Anson gave you, we'll get Whitey to sign it now while the boys are still running." Brooke yelled from the bathrooms where she was fixing her hair so she could practice.
"Alright," Haley said, she and Peyton shared a look, "Is she always so bossy?"
"Oh yeah! You better get used to that." The curly blonde said as a few other girls nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Oh, good." She commented under her breath as she went to her book bag to grab the form for Whitey to sign.
The squad walked out of the locker room at the same time but only Peyton, Brooke, and Bevin walked up to Whitey with Haley.
"What can I do for you girls?" The aging coach asked when he noticed a small pack of cheerleaders headed his way. He was used to seeing the girls in the gym, but mostly they stayed off to the side and worked on their cheers, he didn't talk to them that much.
"Coach Durham, this is Haley." Brooke introduced, "She is going to be replacing Rachel on the squad." Brooke explained.
Whitey had been forced to kick Rachel off the squad when he had checked her grades at quarter and found out that she wasn't keeping a 2.5 GPA, which was required for any student to be on an athletic team. "It's nice to meet you Haley." Whitey said and stuck out his hand, which she accepted with a smile.
Brooke snatched the piece of paper out of Haley's other hand and held if up to Whitey, "We need you to sign this so she wave a Phys. Ed. Credit and be apart of the squad."
Whitey looked as the brunette who was bubbling over with energy, then looked behind her to make sure his team was still running suicides. He took the paper and redirected his focus on Haley. "Are you new here?" He asked.
"Yes, this is my first day here."
"What was your GPA at your last school?" He asked, he didn't want anyone to join the squad only to have him kick them off a couple of weeks later for poor grades.
"4.13" Haley responded a little nervously, this felt way to much like an interview for her liking. When Whitey heard that his eyebrows shot up in a questioning manner, as did the other three girls who were standing around her. "What?" she asked innocently after seeing their faces, "I took AP classes." She said while shrugging her shoulders.
The girls rolled their eyes and Whitey laughed. "Well in that case, welcome to the squad." Whitey signed the paper and handed it back to Tree Hill High's newest cheerleader.
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::AN:: Hey guys, sorry about the wait on this chapter, but I hope it was worth it. I was super busy with work and other things this weekend, I'm not going to have that much time to update for the next week or so, at least until after graduation on saturday. Thanks for being so patient, and don't forget to review