Cheerleading was nothing like ballet.
For her first official practice, Angela wore clothes that made her feel more comfortable. Her shirt was looser than the uniform’s tank top, and the sleeves came down almost to her elbows. Her skort reached her knees, and overall, she felt more at ease.
However, the other girls on the team all wore clothes that were nearly as revealing as the official uniforms. They seemed to all want to show as much skin as possible. Angela had casually asked Melissa if the uniform or the clothes that she wore to practice made her feel uncomfortable.
“Well, I guess they did when I first started dressing like the team,” Melissa replied with a shrug, “but, you get used to it. You can trust these girls to know what is popular.”
The clothes were just one thing that put Angela on edge. Although the basic cheerleading moves were innocent, the dance routines made her extremely perturbed.
The easy moves of cheerleading consisted of clapping, stomping and raising a fist into the air. These actions were accompanied by simple cheers that would be used in between plays at a football game. But, the dance routines were the ones that they would perform during halftime at home games or at competitive cheerleading tournaments against other schools.
Even the very first song that the team taught Angela to dance to made her feel dirty. The song that was played sounded like a mix between R&B and Pop, and the female singer’s lyrics spoke of drinking and casual dating of random guys. For this song, the moves seemed to act out the reckless night at the club. The cheerleaders acted like they were out at the dance club trying to win over guys with the way they moved their bodies.
Although Angela caught on to the moves quickly, performing them was not natural. Later that night after practice, Jessica took Angela to an empty classroom. She then pulled out her smartphone, searched the internet, and then played the music video to the song that they had danced to. Angela was shocked by the way the singer represented herself with tight clothes, heavy makeup and seductive dance moves. She seemed to sell herself with her appearance and body with no regard for her integrity or self-worth. As the video ended, Jessica led Angela through all the dance steps until they were smoother.
“Wow,” Jessica teased, “the singer better watch out, you’ll out dance her soon.”
Angela admitted that she had never seen the video or heard the song before then, and was not very knowledgeable about pop culture. Jessica simply laughed at that thought and told Angela that she was doing well, clearly a fast learner.
The practices that followed each school day were a combination of easy cheers and complex routines. When dancing with the team, Angela tried to ignore the provocative lyrics and focused primarily on the moves. During some routines, half of the team would be dancing, while the other half would be doing flips around them.
As the weeks went by, their private practices on the basketball court were sometimes noticed by some of the students that lingered in the gymnasium. During one dance number, with the music blasting and the cheerleaders really moving on the court, Angela saw several teenage boys coming through the doors. They watched in awe as the performance kept their attention, and when the music stopped, the boys were smiling and clapping.
Julia and Kayla waved to the guys, and a few winked and waved back. The coach stood at the boom box and motioned for the girls to prepare for a repeat performance. Jessica took notice that Angela seemed a little shy with the boys still watching.
“Stage fright?” Jessica teased as she playfully swatted at Angela’s shoulder. “I can introduce them to you if that would help.”
“No,” Angela insisted quickly, horrified at the thought. “That’s not necessary.”
The crooked smile on Jessica’s face made Angela fear that she would invite the boys over anyways. A moment later, Jessica turned to the guys and said, “Wait for the big game on Friday night, boys. That will be one halftime show you are sure to remember.”
The teens laughed, waved, and disappeared down the hallway.
As the music began, they did the routine once more. And then again.
“That’s a wrap,” Coach Swanson said. She led the practices and gave plenty of critique, but Jessica was considered the true leader of the team.
On the car ride home, Angela thought about the football game coming up. It would be the cheerleader’s first performance of the year, and the routine was nearly perfected. The coach had been complimenting Angela’s ability to learn the dance moves, which made her feel proud. The girls on the team had been very supportive as well.
Jessica turned off the radio as she entered Bottom Grove and neared Angela’s street. “About the boys in the gym—”
“What?” Angela replied with trepidation. She had hoped Jessica would have forgotten about that.
“It’s normal to be a little nervous dancing in public,” Jessica said kindly.
Angela was quick to respond, “I’ve been performing ballet for years. When I am on stage, I dance to the music, and I am the happiest I’ve ever been.”
“Well said,” Jessica began with a knowing smile, “but, I understand that cheerleading is not ballet. The passion you have for ballet is what we have for cheerleading. We give our bodies to the music. We entertain the crowd. We keep them happy and get their hearts racing. You are a very natural dancer, Angela. The whole team is excited that you are with us.”
“Thank you,” Angela said with sincerity. “It’s good to be dancing again.”
As Jessica pulled up along the curb, she said, “We’ll have a busy week of practices with the football game coming up. Bring your A-game every time, and our performance Friday night will be phenomenal.”
Angela waved as Jessica drove off.
As she entered the house, she saw Uncle Billy sitting on a leather sofa shouting at the noisy television, which seemed even more deafening than usual.
Shrugging it off, Angela headed upstairs and heard some music blaring through her brother’s bedroom door. She almost knocked on it to tell him she was home, but quickly dismissed the thought. They had not spoken much in weeks. Angela almost always came home well after Andrew, except on nights he would stay late at his friends’ houses doing who knows what.
Angela went in her room, but left the door open behind her. She worked on homework for some time, and eventually Andrew left his room. The music had been turned off and her brother glanced at her with heavy eyes. He almost looked as if he had something to ask her. Something that troubled him.
Then, Andrew just turned away and walked downstairs. Angela wondered what was on his mind, but figured that it must not be too important or he would have said something to her.
The next morning, they both continued their usual routines. On the bus, each sat with their own friend and never spoke a word to one another.
“So,” Melissa asked eagerly, “are you excited about our first halftime show on Friday?”
Angela thought about all the practices they had, all the time they spent on the moves, and hanging out with the team. For the first time in a while, she finally felt accepted, needed, and appreciated. Angela grinned and said, “Yes, I’m super excited. And after our performance on Friday night, the whole school will be too.”
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Finding Faith Page 10