It was the last day of school, the girls were all excited for the year to be over, for the freedom from the looming chance of an encounter with Ms Holloway, or the pressures of having to be a girl in such a social context as school. The year was ending and it seemed the worst of what was promised had not come and it seemed might never come now. Was it difficult to find yourself changed in such a drastic way? Yes, every girl would say yes, but it was not unmanageable, and some of them were even starting to feel hope.
As they stepped out of their classrooms on that final day, they didn't walk into hallways of happy kids, but into another class, which they found Ms. Holloway at the head of. All of them entering from different doors, to the same place.
"Welcome girls! Please take your seats."
the door would not reopen. They were all stuck. Still none of them sat in the desks.
" Or stand if you like. I have to say, I'm mostly proud of you for how you've handled this month. Real troopers you are for how you've held yourselves together, some of you have even flourished" she said as she looked towards Nadine and Karyn, who had both become increasingly popular in the past month.
"But the time for adjustment is over, now we have to get to work. Refine some of those edges." she turned her gaze towards Trinity, Delia, and Jen.
"What are you going to do? You can't force us to be Cheerleaders!" Was Trinity's angry reply to the look she was given.
"Actually I can, but its less fun, for both of us." she said with a threat in her voice. Which quickly turned into a sweetness.
"So, its summer! How exciting. and how better to spend your summer than in camp!"
"Cheerleading camp?" Karyn asked cautiously.
"Well I am offering one of those if you'd like, but I don't want to force anything on you. It would be for the best if you picked that one, but I was kind and sought out some other options."
Behind her was a table full of sheets of various colors advertising various summer adventures, camps, seminars, and in a big poster behind her a cheerleading camp prominently advertising Hawaii.
"Come up, look around, pick one or a couple." It was the unsettling mix of a command and an invitation.
Trinity wasn't having any of it, what if we don't want to do any of these things. What if we want to hang out by the park all summer long and not give a fuck.
Some of the girls were already looking at various papers on the sheet.
"Trinity, my little fireball, if you want to do that, you can."
Good. Replied Trinity who made a move for the door.
"But, you do know what happens to people who do nothing too much. They get fat. Horribly fat, and usually alone. It's all so boring when you think about it, I'm not sure why people do it. Just so you know. So may as well pick something, I hear Hawaii is fantastic and it would you so much good."
After that exchange each girl ended up making sure to pick something from the table. And so Summer commenced, none of them would come out of it the same.
