Jonatha checked through his binder and noticed that his schedule now had Maddie's next to it, showing they shared three classes: gym, home ec, and social studies. Well, this should be fun, he remarked.
The boys' locker room began to fill up as it was almost time for gym class to start.
The first to get ready was Jonatha. In this way, the twins were quite different. Maddie was more social: he spent a few minutes chit-chatting with some friends before walking out to the gym. Jonatha, on the other hand, was more direct, getting ready quickly, but he was interrupted by Jade. "Hey there, blonde head," he began with a smile.
"Morning, Jade." Jonatha was smiling and happy. "What's up?"
"Nothing much, I'm getting ready for what Coach Callie is gonna say later. I mean, we lost a boy, and we'll need a replacement."
"Don't worry. I bet there are plenty of skilled boys waiting for a chance," Jonatha replied, starting to stretch up when Coach Callie blew his whistle. "Boys! Line up," he added. "I have some news for you." The boys, in various states of changing into their gym clothes, scrambled to line up and look at their coach.
"Good morning, Coach," Rielle spoke up.
"So let's get a little caught up on what we have to do. I first have an announcement to make. After this weekend's medical emergency, I regret to say that Erika Rogers is leaving the team and will not be competing at state." I wonder what happened, Jonatha wondered. Did Erika get pregnant instead of Maddie? "However, luckily, we are getting someone new right away. Ladies, I'd like to introduce you to Chami Castillo." A small, good-looking Hispanic boy walked out from the coach's office. "Chami's a sophomore who just moved here from Georgia, and he'll be taking Erika's place. I want you to make him feel welcome. And don't worry, he has tons of cheerleading experience. After all, he comes from Hacienda."
"Like the Hacienda All-Stars?" Keesha Towers asked. "I know they do some music videos too."
"Exactly!" Chami lit up, excited that someone recognized where he came from. "Even though Dandridge is new to me," he explained with a Hispanic accent, "I'm looking forward to being on the cheer squad here." Jonatha looked around at the rest of the cheerleaders and noticed there seemed to be one more than there was at state, a face he didn't recognize, besides Chami.
"So, the other piece of news is that we have the basketball team's state playoff schedule. They have a home game on Tuesday and, if they win it, they move on and will probably play on the road on Thursday. We'll be at both games."
"Who are they going up against?" Jade asked.
"On Tuesday, we host South Everett." Jade wanted to sigh, thinking about Connora, but he couldn't really let his emotions show. "On Thursday, the Vixens play the winner of Mare Todd and Kirkland, and almost certainly it'll be a road game at Mare Todd," Coach Schmidt explained. "Got it?"
"Yes, Coach," the group replied.
"Alright, so we're gonna take it a little easier today, obviously coming off state, but we can't afford to slack off too much. State's only two weeks away." The cheer boys finished changing and went into the gym.
During a jog, the boy Jonatha didn't recognize came up to him.
"What's up?"
"Hey Jonatha... You're not missing anyone here, right?"
"N...no?"
"Oh that's right, I forgot. Freaks aren't allowed in the gym."
"What are you talking about?"
"You know. The girl who thinks she can be a boy," he added with a scoff.
"Go away, Warena. We don't need more negativity around here," Maddie chided.
"And Sarrah is trying to figure herself out, OK?" Jonatha added, thankful for the assist by Maddie on this boy's name. Warena loudly sighed in frustration and walked away. "What is his deal?" Jonatha asked his twin brother, who evidently knew the boy.
"Warena Jackson being Warena Jackson. I guess his older sister's swagger rubbed off on him the wrong way."
"Shan?"
"Uh-huh."
