Athena felt immediately comfortable once they got to the gym and she saw her fellow cheerleaders. She still didn't know them that well, but she felt safe with them, they were her tribe now. It was also a relief to have someone else to talk to, Zoe had been very concerned about what Athena used to be, her old Goth life and kept trying to steer the conversation in that direction. Athena wasn't as comfortable with that, She still hadn't had a chance to get to know her new self yet, and focusing on her old self felt like going over the previous years school work. She didn't want to talk about something she already knew, she wanted to explore her new self, seeing the other girls gave her that chance.
"Hey girls." Athena said rather being both coy and playful.
"Hey Athena. Glad you could make it. Sarah can't she had some hair appointment or something, but Gladys is here." Gladys was stretching in the Corner, it seemed that every time she moved her body she lost a little weight. (that day alone she had lost nearly 50 pounds, not that anyone could notice.)
"Great! This will be good for her! I brought someone too. This is Zoe, she's an old friend." Zoe stepped out from behind Athena, trying to keep her backside to the wall so that people wouldn't stare (she had caught one guy on the way over and Athena had said she was Jealous. Both things weirded her out)
"Hi" Zoe said, feeling sort of intimidated.
"Your that Goth girl right?" Jessica said, trying to be diplomatic, but doing a poor enough job of it that it made Zoe feel small.
"Yeah, I guess." Zoe said. She was outnumbered and she wasn't sure that Athena had her back, she wasn't going to start a fight.
"She's cool guys" Athena defended. "lets get started!"
What followed surprised many people in the room. Athena was amazed at how flexible she already was, the whole experience was an exploration of what her new body could do, and it was amazingly capable and bendy. She couldn't stop smiling.
Gladys had a similar experience, except that she at first found it hard to do the things, but was amazed at how quickly she picked it up. By the end of the session she had lost another 24 pounds and was doing the downward dog like a pro.
Zoe on the other hand had a different experience. The whole time she felt incredibly self conscious. She didn't want to make any mistakes because she feared what the others would say. It was like eating raw meat in a wolfs den, do it wrong and they would be on top of you in a second. This was only made more complicated by her super tight pants. She did her best to keep up, but she was no cheerleader. Athena clearly was now, she bent and moved with such grace and joy, she began to wonder how much her friend had changed.
The session ended and they hit the showers. Zoe had never felt more drained and Athena had never felt more energized. As they left the showers Zoe was stopped by Jessica, "You should give up that whole Goth thing and try out next year. If you practiced you could be as good as Athena. Oh and also, you've got a great ass." Zoe couldn't tell if she was being serious or making fun of her, but she turned bright red at the statement.
Athena offered her a ride home but she declined, they both needed some time to themselves.
