The next morning, Karyn woke up in the middle of a pile of bodies on a massive sofa before a massive TV in the McMillan living room. The girls had fallen asleep some time during their third viewing of 2000's "Bring it On."
She stretched her arms, suddenly remembering that they'd all changed into their cheer uniforms after several impromptu fashion shows, a round of makeovers, and a ton of gossip, before they had come downstairs. Sleeping in a cheer uniform wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but Karyn nonetheless felt comforted by wearing it. But she still understood that it was time to change back into street clothes, and for all of the guests to go home.
So all six girls woke up, had some breakfast, put their things away into their overnight bags, and piled into the BMW X7 that sat between the Porsche 911 and the fully-restored 1970 Chevelle in the McMillan garage.
First to be dropped off was Andi, who cringed as she pressed her own doorbell and remembered that it was keyed to the Super Mario 1-up sound. "Not everything has to be about video games, dad," she muttered to herself as she waited for the door to open.
Next was Michelle, who had her own apartment in a nondescript area of town, for some reason. She didn't give it too much thought, and nobody questioned where her parents were. But as she opened the door, she realized she'd need to spend the entire day re-decorating if she was going to host five boys that evening. How could she have been living in a place that looked so drab?
Gladys greeted her mother with a great bear hug, although she didn't come close to getting her arms fully around he mother's large frame. It occurred to Gladys how odd it should be that she was in such good shape, while both of her parents were... not. But that was just a fleeting thought. She, of course, loved her parents even more than she loved cheerleading.
Emma had had her phone in selfie mode the whole ride, recording video of herself and her friends as she narrated and recounted everyone's evening. She did not turn off the camera as she stepped out of the car, only stopping for a moment to wave goodbye to the remaining passengers before going around the house to her back yard, where she could sit down at her lawn chair set and switch to one of her more professional cameras.
And as the car wheeled away to its last destination before returning to its place in the McMillan garage, only Sarah and Karyn were left. Somewhere deep inside of her, Karyn felt that something wasn't right. But outwardly she and Sarah chatted like old friends the whole way. The car finally rolled to a stop in front of the Black residence, and Sarah put a hand on Karyn's shoulder before they parted ways.
"I really had fun last night," she said. "I'm sure we all did. Thank you for continuing to be the best host ever."
Karyn tilted her head affectionately, lightly sandwiching Sarah's hand between cheek and shoulder. Then Sarah pulled her hand away, and exited out the passenger side of the car, bounding up the walkway with an overnight bag slung across her shoulder. And Karyn shifted the car into drive and returned to the McMillan mansion.
