Jon was beside himself as he sat on the grass of the football field, unexpectedly enthralled by the activities before him.
It was true. Somehow, it had become true: cheerleading was his favorite thing in the world. He was obsessed with cheerleading. Every movement, every facial expression, each beat of the music, it all spoke directly to something deep within Jon that he had never known existed before.
“Hey, we’ve done this routine a couple times now,” Amber called to him. “Do you think you want to try and join us?”
There was nothing Jon wanted more in the world.
Just because something is your favorite thing doesn’t mean you’re naturally good at it, and Jon did stumble and make mistakes and get himself a little embarrassed. But the girls were encouraging, and soon enough the awkwardness melted away, and Jon could just revel in being a part of this team. Even if he wasn’t officially a part of the team.
He hadn’t realized how much he wanted to be an official part of the team until he’d consciously had that thought. It was like finding a hole inside of himself that he just hadn’t known existed before.
When practice ended, the entire squad shuffled their way back to the school building chatting like, well, like a bunch of teenage girls. Jon couldn’t help but get swept up in the flow, and just followed along until he saw something that made him stop short.
“I can’t go in there,” Jon pointed at the door to the girls locker room.
“Why not?” Tiffany asked, before glancing between Jon and the little picture icon of a woman in a dress that was painted onto the door. “Oh.”
“Well, we’re all Big Sisters here, right?” Amber joined in. “I think it’s fine if nobody else has a problem.”
Vague sounds of encouragement came from everyone in the locker room, and Jon was quickly pulled inside.
“Hey, nobody’s using this locker, and there’s a uniform inside of it,” Amber gestured towards the open locker. “Why don’t you put that one on.”
“What do you mean, nobody’s using it?” Jon asked. “That’s Sarah’s locker.”
“Sarah, the third-grader? I don’t think she needs a locker in the high school gym.”
Part of Jon wanted to protest, but another part of Jon... really wanted to see what he looked like in that uniform.
