Turn It Up

by Melanie Spring

  From somewhere in the bleachers, she heard a distant “Go, Kate!” Who was that?

  But there was no time to figure it out. Coach Steele had plugged her iPod into the sound system, and music blasted over the speakers: a superfast pop remix of Carly Rae Jepsen, Lady Gaga, and some other club hits, with special sound effects mixed in to cue the transitions.

  “I’ve got this,” Kate whispered to herself. It was the mantra she’d been using to psych herself up before big routines. Unlike Chloe and Emily, Kate didn’t find that cheering came naturally, and she wasn’t a mad-genius tumbler like Devin, either. The mantra helped shift her brain into super-cheerleader mode.

  “I’ve got this,” she repeated.

  Chloe looked over her shoulder and nodded twice. It was the signal.

  The squad started with toe touch handsprings, and then the front six girls performed tucks. Their sync was a little off, with both Jenn and Arianna putting their hands down during their tucks.

  The music switched, and the squad split off into groups for their stunt sequences, with the extra girls spotting and tumbling. Kate was one of the bases in her group, along with Chloe, Jenn, and Marcy; Emily was their top girl. In general, bases had to be strong and able to support the top girls. Top girls had to be good at high-flying acrobatics. No matter what, though, all the squad members had to have total and complete trust in one another so they could hit their stunts.

  All the cheerleaders held their arms against their sides and silently counted to the music. Then they hit their full-up extensions while, in the middle, Emily shot up into a liberty, her leg locked tight and her arms straight up in the air. She then reached out her arms to connect with Kalyn and Lexi, and switched from one leg to the other, nailing her tic-tock to complete the pyramid. The two side groups transitioned and tossed their top girls into basket tosses.

  Unfortunately, the stunt groups were off-rhythm, and the right side finished its basket toss well before the left side. Kate winced inwardly as everyone struggled to get back in sync. She managed to keep a huge smile plastered to her face, though. One of the most important things she’d learned from Coach Steele was to “keep smiling and keep going” no matter what.

  The music stopped. The top girls dismounted into cradles and walked briskly to their spots for the cheer section.

  “ALL RIGHT!” Devin and Chloe yelled in unison.

  Behind them, signs were raised, leading the fans through the cheer.

  “NORTHSIDE FANS… IN THE STANDS… YELL BLUE… AND GOLD!” all the girls cheered. They clapped their hands twice.

  “YELL BLUE AND GOLD!” Two more claps.

  “Blue and gold!” the crowd yelled.

  “COME ON, FANS, GET ON YOUR FEET! LISTEN TO… THE NORTHSIDE BEAT!”

  Carley and Lexi were in extensions, leading the crowd with their shiny signs that read BLUE on one side and GOLD on the other. Kate was in the center prep with her poms. She felt nervous; she didn’t like being the focus of attention.

  I’ve got this, she repeated in her head. She took a deep breath.

  “WE SAY BLUE, YOU SAY GOLD!” Carley and Lexi yelled.

  “BLUE!” the girls shouted.

  “Blue!” the crowd responded.

  “GOLD!” Carley and Lexi flipped their signs over to the GOLD side.

  “Gold!”

  “WE SAY WOLF PACK, YOU SAY FIGHT.” Kate dropped her blue pom when she hit her motion. That was stupid, she thought. She should be able to hold on to her poms! Still, she made herself keep smiling.

  “WOLF PACK!”

  “Fight!” the crowd responded.

  “WOLF PACK! FIGHT!” The girls re-formed their lines for the big finish.

  The music transitioned and the team sprang into action for the dance sequence. They raised their arms high up in the air and then lowered them to their hips, sliding back and forth. Kate and eight other girls rolled to the mat while the other half of the team remained standing.

  As the Timberwolves danced to the pulsing beat, they directed all their attention to the crowd. Cheerleading was first and foremost about revving up the fans.

  Then Devin, Arianna, Jenn, and Leila spread out to the four corners of the mat while the other girls completed their dance sequence. A second later, Devin shot across the mat, completing a round-off, back handspring, full.

  That girl is so good, Kate thought, gazing in wonder at Devin.

  The other tumblers followed suit. Unfortunately, Leila messed up her full. Still, the people in the stands clapped and roared. There was just one more element to go. Following the music switch, the bases lifted the top girls in a heel stretch pyramid. They held the position for eight beats. This time, they were all together. And the crowd went wild!

  As the applause continued, Kate and the other girls jogged over to the bench, poms raised high in the air. Just then, Kate noticed Adam Findlay way up in the bleachers. Her heart raced. He must have been the one who’d shouted her name.

  Kate and Adam, who was a junior, had met back in September in Mrs. Lawrence’s Advanced English class. They had been friends ever since, and a little more than friends since the homecoming dance. Kate blushed, thinking about their first kiss, and all the kisses after that. The two of them were taking it slow, though, even if they didn’t always agree on the definition of slow. For now, their relationship consisted mostly of talking on the phone, texting, and stealing kisses between classes.

  Kate had never liked a boy before she met Adam. She had always been afraid of getting hurt. For one thing, her parents’ marriage and divorce had left a bad taste in her mouth. After their split-up, Kate’s mom, Vanessa, had moved to New York City to live with her boyfriend, Laurent. All Kate knew of her mother these days came from birthday and Christmas cards and an occasional e-mail.

  Kate continued scanning the crowd. Her dad, Andrew, was sitting with Emily’s parents and Chloe’s parents. There was no sign of Kate’s stepmom, Barbara; her stepbrothers, Garrett and Jack; or her little sister, Sasha. Barbara was probably home, putting them to bed.

  Kate joined Emily and Chloe on the bench and reached for a Gatorade. Devin plopped down on the other side of Chloe and wiped her brow with a towel.

  Before any of them could say a word, Leila strolled over, narrowing her kohl-lined eyes at Chloe and Devin. Her friend Marcy was at her heels. “Way to lead, captains,” Leila said sarcastically. “That. Sucked.”

  “Excuse me?” Chloe snapped. Devin crossed her arms defensively.

  “Thanks for the constructive criticism, Leila. It’s really helpful, coming from someone who tanked her full,” Emily sniped.

  “What are you talking about? Leila’s full was increds!” Marcy spoke up. Marcy’s nickname was Savett’s Shadow because she followed Leila around like a loyal puppy.

  Coach Steele strode over to the bench, interrupting their squabble. Her face was a stony mask. “Listen up, ladies. I know this is the first time we’ve done our routine full out since Regionals,” she began. “It was a good try, but needless to say, we’ve still got a lot of work to do between now and February eighth.”

  “I totally blame our leadership,” Leila stage-whispered to Marcy. “If we’d elected better captains last September, we wouldn’t have these problems.”

  “Totally,” Marcy said, her head bobbing.

  “Excuse me, Savett and Martinez? Unless the gym is on fire, please keep your mouths zipped shut and listen up,” Coach Steele said sternly. “Anyway… fortunately for us, I just cleared our weekend practice schedule with Principal Cilento. We start this Sunday. Two PM. Attendance is mandatory. And nonnegotiable.” She glanced at her watch. “Okay, let’s get back on the floor. Halftime’s almost over.”

  Kate noticed that Emily’s face had gone white. “What’s the matter?” Kate whispered.

  “Nothing. Nothing’s the matter. Everything’s fine,” her friend replied quickly.

  Kate saw Emily shoot a panicked look at Devin. Devin smiled sympathetically. What does Devin know about Em
ily that Chloe and I don’t? Kate wondered.

  After the game, Adam came up to Kate in the hallway outside the gym. With his scruffy black hair and horn-rimmed glasses, he looked both geeky and adorable. She waved, happy to see him.

  “Hey, Cheer Girl!” Adam said, stepping forward to hug her.

  “Uniform!” Kate cried out. One of Coach Steele’s hard-and-fast rules was no physical contact with boys while in uniform, including hand-holding, hugging, and kissing.

  Adam crossed his arms over his chest and stepped back quickly. “Forgot. Sorry,” he apologized.

  “It’s okay. Thanks for coming to the game,” Kate told him shyly.

  “Of course. You were awesome,” Adam complimented her.

  “I made a couple of mistakes, actually,” Kate admitted.

  “No way. You were perfect. Better than perfect. I’m going to write a Shakespearean sonnet about that killer move you made—you know, the, uh, twirly, jumpy one,” Adam told her.

  Adam pretended not to know anything about cheering, even though he could execute a perfect standing back tuck. In fact, when he and Kate first met, he had made some pretty disparaging comments about cheerleading. But he’d come around quickly, especially after Kate had called him out on his unfair stereotypes, like how cheerleaders were dumb and shallow. Among other things, she loved to tease him about the fact that she’d already taken her PSATs, as a freshman, and that she’d scored higher than he had.

  Kate noticed three guys hovering behind Adam.

  “Dude, aren’t you going to introduce us?” one of them said.

  Adam turned. “Oh! Yeah, sorry. This is my… um… this is Kate. Kate, these are my friends Jason, Tucker, and Chen.”

  Kate reached up to smooth her hair. Did she look okay? Was she a sweaty mess? She was a bundle of nerves all of a sudden. She’d never met Adam’s friends before.

  “Hey,” Tucker said with a wave.

  “So you’re the new girlfriend,” Chen stated bluntly.

  Kate startled. “I’m not—”

  “She’s not—” Adam said at the same time.

  “Don’t forget about me, you jerk.” A girl stepped forward and slid her hand through Adam’s arm.

  Adam grinned at her. “Sorry. Kate, this is Willow. Willow’s my annoying neighbor,” he joked.

  “Not as annoying as you, nerd,” Willow teased back.

  “Hi, Willow.” Kate tried not to stare at Willow’s hand tucked cozily in Adam’s elbow—or to notice how pretty Willow was. With her waist-length auburn hair, big blue eyes, and chunky black glasses, she was the perfect storm of sexy and smart.

  “Soooo… Kate, right? You’re only in ninth grade, huh? Finland here usually goes for older girls,” Willow said with a wink.

  “Ha-ha,” Adam said drily.

  “Finland?” Kate managed feebly.

  “Nickname. It’s a play on Findlay, in case it wasn’t obvious,” Adam explained to Kate.

  Chen jangled his car keys. “We’re heading out. You still need a ride?” he asked Adam.

  “Oh, yeah.” Adam extracted himself from Willow. He leaned forward to kiss Kate on the cheek, then pulled back when she shot him a warning look. “Sorry. I keep forgetting about the uniform thing. Wouldn’t want your coach to lock you up in her dungeon, right? I’ll text you later.”

  “Sure.” Kate forced herself to smile.

  Adam gave her a salute, then turned and walked down the hall with his friends. Including Willow. Kate stood there staring after them, her stomach in knots.

  It was so unfair. Coach Steele’s no-physical-contact rule meant that Kate couldn’t let Adam hug her or even peck her on the cheek, while Willow could put her hands all over him.

  Kate took the coach’s rules very seriously. Maybe too seriously. In fact, she lived in constant, paranoid fear of accruing demerits and getting kicked off the team.

  “Hey, Kate!” Chloe bounded up to her, sipping from a water bottle. “You were awesome tonight. Your tumbling pass was amazing!”

  “Thanks,” Kate said distractedly.

  “I know we have a lot of work to do still, as a team. But I’m certain we’ll get there before Nationals,” Chloe added, with her usual optimism.

  “Uh-huh.” Kate watched as Willow reached over and ruffled Adam’s hair. Seriously?

  Chloe followed Kate’s gaze. “That’s Adam, right? And his friends? I guess you’re like one of the juniors now. Are you going to forget about us little people?” she teased.

  “Yes. I mean, no. I mean… who is she, anyway?”

  “Who’s who?” Chloe asked, puzzled.

  “That girl, Willow. She acts like she owns Adam or something.”

  “Why, what did she do?”

  Kate shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s constantly touching him in this flirty, obnoxious way.”

  Chloe wrapped her arm around her friend’s shoulder. “You know what? I’m sure it’s not personal. Maybe she’s one of those boy-crazy girls. Like an evil version of Emily.”

  Kate grinned.

  “I wouldn’t worry about her. Adam likes you,” Chloe told her.

  “You’re right,” Kate said. But inside, she wasn’t so sure.

  She had a mantra to boost her confidence as a cheerleader. Now she just needed a mantra to boost her confidence with boys.

  CHAPTER 5

  The next day, Chloe slid out of the front seat of her mother’s Mercedes and stepped onto the sidewalk. She hoisted her backpack over her shoulders and looked around, trying to get her bearings. She’d never been in this part of Sunny Valley before.

  “Everything okay?” her mother, Joanie Davis, called out from inside the car.

  “Yes. Can you come back for me in a couple of hours? Like, two, two fifteen?” Chloe asked.

  “I have my massage appointment at one thirty, so your father will pick you up. He’s playing golf with some of the other lawyers from his office, but he should be done by then. Have fun!” Mrs. Davis fluttered her hand, with her perfectly French-manicured fingernails, at Chloe.

  While her mother waited in the car, Chloe walked up to the gray one-story building before her. A simple sign above the doorway said:

  HEARTS HEAL

  EVERYONE WELCOME

  Hearts Heal was one of the many charities in town that the Northside cheer squad had raised money for in the past. The nonprofit organization helped low-income and other economically challenged families. Among other things, Hearts Heal ran a food pantry, mentored kids, and helped people find jobs.

  Over break, Chloe had thought about volunteering for the organization. Sure, she already performed community service as part of her team commitment. But it was important to go above and beyond. She came from a wealthy family who took ski trips to Aspen and drove fancy cars. But not everyone was so fortunate, and she wanted to do something to make a difference. It was a value that cheerleading had instilled in her.

  So she’d e-mailed Hearts Heal just after Christmas, and someone at the office had e-mailed back and asked if she wanted to help out on Saturday afternoons. Of course, she didn’t exactly have a lot of spare time on her hands these days, especially with Nationals coming up, and now with extra practices on Sundays. But she could spare a couple of hours a week for a good cause—couldn’t she?

  Humming “Your Heart Is a Muscle” and swaying her shoulders to the beat, Chloe strode up to the glass door and opened it…

  … and stopped in her tracks.

  The inside of Hearts Heal was a total zoo. Dozens of people sifted through crowded racks of clothes and discarded items on the floor. Nearby, at the front of a long line, a man complained to a young woman about paperwork. Babies cried. Phones rang. Parents chased after their children.

  “Hello. Welcome. How can we help you today?”

  Chloe turned. A petite silver-haired woman smiled kindly at her.

  “Oh! I’m not… that is, I’m here to be a volunteer. They told me to arrive at twelve,” Chloe explained.

  “You must be C
hloe Davis, then. I’m Mrs. Hillman. I’m in charge of the volunteers.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Hillman.”

  “Come this way, and I’ll get you set up. As you can see, we’re very busy. With the economy the way it is, there are a number of families who need our services. I’m very glad you’re here,” Mrs. Hillman told her.

  “Me too,” Chloe said, meaning it.

  Chloe followed Mrs. Hillman to an adjoining room piled high with boxes and plastic bags. A tall, lanky guy sat cross-legged on the floor, plugged into an iPod as he organized piles of clothes. He had wavy, dark red hair and looked kind of familiar.

  When he saw Chloe and Mrs. Hillman, he removed his earbuds and smiled. “Hey. Mrs. Hillman, do you need me for something?”

  “Yes, Daniel. I wanted to introduce you to our new volunteer, Chloe Davis,” Mrs. Hillman said. “Chloe, this is Daniel Moore. Daniel’s been one of our most dependable volunteers since I can remember.” She added, “Daniel, can I leave Chloe with you? I thought you could get her up to speed on our sorting procedures.”

  “No problem,” Daniel said.

  Mrs. Hillman left to answer a call. Daniel turned to Chloe. “Okay. Basically, this is how it works. People in the community donate used clothing and shoes. Drop-off is Saturday morning. You and I are going to go through the donations and sort them into a bunch of categories.”

  Chloe nodded. “Got it. What are the categories?”

  “Well, first we sort into tops, bottoms, suits, dresses, pj’s, coats, shoes, and miscellaneous,” Daniel rattled off. “Miscellaneous can be scarves, mittens, things like that. Then we sort into men’s, women’s, children’s, and babies’. After that, we sort into sizes. Sizes can be kinda tricky, so ask me if you get confused. And, by the way, all this stuff’s supposed to be clean, ironed, and ready to go. But if it’s not, put it in that container over there.” Daniel pointed to a blue plastic bin with a handwritten sign on it that said LAUNDRY.

  “Okay.”

  The two of them got to work. Chloe quickly fell into the rhythm of the task. As she folded a pair of size five acid-washed jeans, she thought about all the outfits she had in her closet, most of which she never wore anymore. She made a mental note to gather them up and bring them in soon.