After school, Zoey returned to the locker room and noticed that the freshgirls had joined them for practice today. That’s different, she thought. Additionally, a girl Zoey recognized as the freshgirl cheer coach, Andrea Durant, was standing next to Ms. Purcell.
“Alright girls,” Ms. Purcell began. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, the freshgirls are with us as well since we’ll be going over our routines for the game tonight.” Zoey finally saw Mikayla in the room.
“The freshgirls will be primarily in the background of the routine, but you’ll be surrounding several of the core members. You’ll also be under the basket for free throws,” the other coach explained.
“Varsity squad, you will be doing the bulk of the halftime show and timeout performances. Bryanna, Zoey and Karina, you’ll be lining up at the front of the squad during these performances,” Coach Purcell continued.
The three girls nodded, although Zoey was a little nervous. Sure, she had the memories to help her, but in reality, this would be her first live experience and she would be expected to be on her game.
Once the coaches had finished their announcements, the cheerleaders pulled off to their respective groups and started going through some warmups. Bryanna, Zoey and Karina—the three leaders—grouped up together.
“So we’re going to be in the spotlight, huh?” Bryanna asked as she started stretching.
“I know, it’s gonna be amazing,” Karina responded. “We’ve got this, girls,” she added.
Zoey was a little distracted, as she was looking over to the freshgirl group and could see her little sister and another cheerleader standing off. The other girl pushed Mikayla.
“Hey,” Mikayla whined as she rubbed where Rachel May had pushed her. “What’s that for?”
Rachel smirked. “You know exactly what that was for,” she retorted, and when Mikayla still looked puzzled, she continued. “I saw you with Nathaniel yesterday after school.”
“So? Nathaniel and I are just friends. We’re allowed to hang out together.”
Rachel shook her head.
“Nuh-uh, I’ve seen the way that you look at him. You know that I like him as well.”
“Cut it out, Rachel. You’re not the queen of Lake Point.”
“Hmmph, I might as well be, considering,” she declared as she gestured to herself.
“Please,” Roxy McMillan commented as she stepped in. “You can’t be that vain, can you?”
