Lindsay, Courtney, and Claire were already almost at the door to the girls’ locker room. Like me, their gym bags and backpacks hung on their shoulders, and their ponytails sat high on their heads. Their crimson bows stood out, matching their uniforms perfectly.
I hadn’t said anything else to Claire after confronting her the other day, but the picture of Krista had come down from the @WorstofWestwood account the next morning. I knew it wasn’t a coincidence, but unfortunately, the damage to Krista had already been done.
A few minutes later, we stretched in the gym. Coach Davis always made a big deal about stretching as a group.
I joined the rest of the girls and sat down. My eyes closed on their own as I reviewed the routine in my mind one more time. I reached for my toes, and the tendons behind my knees and on my hamstrings pulled taut.
This pep rally was essentially practice, but ever since I had become a cheerleader at Westwood, it had been a good predictor of success.
We knew this routine. We had nailed it last night at practice and then again this morning. We would nail it again in a few minutes, and the entire school would go crazy. And then it would be over. In just three days, this state competition would be over too.
My mind went to what would come next. We would most likely place like we did last year. And then would come nationals. Nationals was another game entirely, and we had never placed there, but I couldn’t think about that now.
One day at a time.
When students started filing into the gym, their echoing murmurs quickly turning into loud conversation, the squad headed toward the locker room.
Once the door swung closed, Coach Davis stood tall in front of us, eying us one by one. Cheer was Coach Davis’s life. She cheered, her daughter cheered, and it was her mission to have a team place at nationals by the time she retired.
Now, she sized us up, her eyes narrowed, and I wondered if she thought we were ready for this pep rally, much less state.
We each held our pom-poms at our sides. Our shoes were spotless, our uniforms were crisp from first use, and every girl smiled like it was the most important job in the world. But that wasn’t all we needed to be successful.
Coach Davis’s mouth curled up the tiniest bit from her usual frown.
Her slight change in facial expression and the way she raised her chin gave away how she really felt inside.
The entire squad exhaled.
We were ready.
“Crush it out there, ladies,” she said quietly but firmly.
The rest of us followed Mia out of the locker room. We stopped near the door and waited for the gym teacher, who usually led the pep rallies at our school, to announce us.
Only a minute later, the sound of his voice reached us. “They’ve placed at the state cheer competition for the past nine years, but will they finally come home with a trophy from nationals this year? I think they will. Give it up for the Westwood High cheerleaders!”
That was our queue. We ran onto the pristine gym floor until we reached the blue safety mat already out for us. Together, all eighteen of our voices practically drowned out the crowds on each side of the gym. I waved my pom-poms and did a kick for good measure.
After a few seconds of waving and getting the crowd pumped for what was next, we moved to the center of the mat. I stepped to my spot, making sure I was aligned front and center, with Mia and everyone else behind me.
This was it.
If we could nail our routine today, we’d be more than ready for state this weekend.
Most of the nerves I felt earlier evaporated.
Everyone quieted down in anticipation, except for a random scream here or there. Probably a football player, someone’s boyfriend.
I glanced to the side of the gym, where Coach Davis hovered over the computer. She nodded.
I knew these cheers by heart, and together, our chants filled the gym. I could see everyone moving beside me in my peripheral vision, but I focused on keeping my gaze forward, my mouth wide in a smile as I screamed the words of our chant.
The music started, which signaled my first stunt. I got this, I told myself as I jogged into place, passing Charlotte and Madi who were busy lifting Abi into the air.
I hardly had to think about it anymore.
Front walkover, round off, back handspring tuck, front walkover, round off, double back handspring.
I stuck it, hands up. I barely registered the screams and shouts we got. We never stopped moving, never stopped tossing, never stopped lifting or throwing our bodies into the air to the beat of the music.
We were all riding the high created by the cheers, the screams, and the clapping coming from the crowd. This was when we were at our best.
Julie and Leah lifted me into the air. Arms up, smile on. Base leg straight. Right leg up. Scorpion.
Almost there. Almost done. Just a few more minutes.
Then a different kind of scream filled the gym. Too close to be coming from the crowd.
Without thinking, I let go of my leg in the air, coming out of my scorpion position, and froze in fear.
Those were screams of panic, screams from us.
One of the girls below me screamed too, and I fell. I braced myself for impact on the mat, but Julie and Leah caught me before I hit the ground. Unlike their usual perfect catches, though, they let my right hip hit the ground.
“Are you okay?” Julie asked, but I was already looking around for the source of the commotion.
It came from the opposite side of the floor.
Not it. Many its.
They were everywhere.
Mice scurried in every direction, reaching us and covering the mat. A few feet away, Zoey ran and fell, screaming even harder when a mouse crawled onto her leg.
Lindsay jumped back in terror, and Courtney grabbed her arm, pulling her off of the mat and onto the gym floor.
I took several steps back myself until I saw Hanna with a mouse on her shoe. She shrieked and tried to get away but fell. I ran over and helped her up. Hanna shook her foot, and the tiny brown mouse ran off.
The crowd stood in disbelief. A couple teachers came closer, but what could they do? The mice were everywhere.
I put my hands around my mouth. “Get to the locker room!”
On the other side of the mat, Claire and Mia caught my eye.
Claire was down, and tears streamed down her face. On my way there, I passed the gym teacher with a broom and dustpan in his hand. Most of the cheerleaders were already running off toward the locker room.
The music finally stopped, only to be replaced by a sound that infuriated me.
Laughter.
I looked up as I kneeled by Claire.
Mia glared at the people in the stands. “They’re laughing? Really? Can’t they see that Claire’s hurt?”
She looked like she wanted to march right over to the band of boys who were cracking up and punch them in the face.
I kneeled down by Claire. She cradled her arm. “Are you okay? What happened?”
Mia answered without breaking her stare on the boys and the rest of the giggling students who were now being shepherded out of the gym and back to class. “Someone threw that bag of mice, and it landed right by us, mid-stunt. Alice lost her balance and Claire fell and got hurt before we could catch her.”
I spotted the burlap sack she was talking about near the corner of the mat.
Mia pointed. “I’m pretty sure it came from that direction. The boys’ locker room.”
Of course, nobody was there now.
Coach Davis appeared out of nowhere, along with the new tenth grade history teacher. “Where does it hurt?”
“My arm,” Claire said. “I landed on it.”
“Let’s hope it’s not fractured,” Coach Davis said, her voice even, but her eyes revealed the panic we all felt. “Can you stand up?”
What if Claire was seriously hurt and she couldn’t perform at state? From the worried look on Mia’s face, she seemed to be thinking the sam
e thing.
But we couldn’t linger on that now. They helped her up and led her away.
A couple students and the gym teacher grabbed the empty burlap sack and tried to round up the mice, but it was safe to say most had gotten away and escaped underneath the bleachers.
I looked around. Lindsay and Courtney came over too. Those two were as tough as they came, so I wasn’t surprised they hadn’t escaped to the locker room, but they looked pretty shaken up.
“Who would do something like this?” Courtney asked, arms crossed against her chest. “How are we supposed to win state now?
Lindsay shook her head. “We could have broken our necks. Luckily, Reagan and Ivy didn’t panic when I was in the air.”
“I’m going to find out who did this,” Mia said, her voice low like a growl. “Don’t you worry.”
They waited for me to say something, but my attention was elsewhere, at the person standing by the gym’s double doors.
Krista. As soon as our eyes met, she left. And a couple of boys went with her.
She’d had a cold expression on her face, but could it have really been her? Then again, who else hated the cheerleaders enough to do something like this?
Six
I didn’t usually sit with Ella and the girls at lunch, but today, I needed a break from the cheer drama happening online and in real life.
As soon as I heard the conversation, though, I almost got back up.
“I think he’s super cute,” Harper said.
“The new guy?” Lena asked. She turned to look around Harper, and I spotted why.
Noah sat only a few feet away, his expression super serious as he worked on his laptop.
“Not my type, but sure,” Lena said, digging into her chicken sandwich and fries.
I shook my head. “Seriously, you guys? We’re rating the new boy?”
Harper offered a guilty smile. “Ten out of ten, for the record.”
A gleam shone in Lena’s eyes, but Ella was the one who spoke up with a knowing smile. “We heard about the lit discussion slash battle that took place the other day.”
“I wish I had been there,” Rey said. “I always miss the best stuff.”
Ella tried to keep a straight face, but it hardly worked.
I turned to Harper, who immediately hid behind Rey. “Seriously, Harper? Why not just go live on Insta so everyone could see?”
“That’s actually a great idea,” Lena said, lighting up. “Do that next time.”
I finally cracked and smiled. “You guys are impossible.”
Ella gave me a playful nudge. “I’m just surprised you’re sitting with us today. Twice in one week.”
I nudged her back. “And I’m surprised you’re not hanging off of Jesse’s arm.”
She blushed and looked down but grinned. “He’s having lunch with some of his friends. He knows this is our girl time.”
“As opposed to after school in the student parking lot?” Lena said. She chugged down some milk.
Ella threw a French fry at her, and it hit her square on the forehead. Lena almost choked on her milk but managed to laugh with us.
Why didn’t I sit here every day?
Oh yeah, because it was practically considered heresy for a cheerleader not to sit with the squad at lunch. But lately, I didn’t care. The squad didn’t talk like this.
It was all cheer talk, gossip, and if the football players were there, having fun at someone else’s expense.
But here? I could tell them everything. Well, almost everything.
Lena picked up the fry and popped it in her mouth. “Seriously, though, are you into him?” She gave me a playful smile while her eyebrows danced up and down.
I rolled my eyes. “Please, he’s not my type.”
“Oh, I think he’s totally your type,” Lena retorted.
I shook my head, not meeting her eyes. “I don’t think so. Anyway, I barely know the guy.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “Says the girl who literally crashed into his face, walked him to class, and then had this super hot literature debate with him.”
I crossed my arms and stared at Harper and Rey. “You told her everything? You two are the worst.”
They gave me innocent smiles. “She had already heard about it,” Rey said. “We just…elaborated.”
“Like I said,” I went on, hardly waiting for them to finish. “He’s not my type. I’ve always gone out with football players.”
Lena scoffed. “Probably because that’s who the cheerleaders always hang out with.” Her mouth curled into a smile. “But you two would totally make a cute couple.”
Harper wasn’t helping. “I think he’s super cute too, in a geeky kind of way.” Harper shrugged. “Besides, you never know.”
Everyone glanced at Noah again. He was nothing like Gary except maybe in self-confidence. But Gary was confident and self-assured because he had always been great at football and handsome, and as a result, pretty popular.
Noah, though, seemed confident despite what everyone thought about him. Ever since he’d gotten to this school, he’d mostly hung out by himself, sometimes with someone here or there. Most people already seemed to think he was a little weird, a loner maybe, but he didn’t seem to care what anyone thought of him. He just did his own thing.
I moved my salad around, making sure I had dressing everywhere. “He just moved here, okay? And it wasn’t too long ago that I broke up with Gary.”
“Only like four months ago now,” Lena said.
Ella smiled. “Maybe we just think you should keep an open mind.”
Lena winked at me, but I pretended not to see.
“Maybe I would if he wasn’t hanging out with Krista.” Their expressions changed, and I went back to my salad. “Anyway, I should focus on state, which is in two days,” I said quickly, wishing we had stayed away from the topic of Noah. “With Claire hurt, we’ve had to change the routine. Coach just about had an aneurysm yesterday at practice because we still haven’t gotten the hang of the tweaks she made. We keep messing up at this one spot in the routine.”
“That stinks,” Harper said. “But I bet you’ll get it. You guys are like the best cheer squad around. The cheerleaders at my old school never even did real stunts.”
I gave her a smile. Harper always had a way of making things better. “Thanks. It’s just a lot of pressure, I guess.”
Ella turned to me. “I can’t believe someone pulled that horrible prank on you guys. It was the worst.”
“And just before your competition,” Lena added.
Harper shook her head. “I can’t believe people were actually laughing. I really thought Claire was seriously hurt.”
I found Claire across the cafeteria, her arm wrapped in a cast. She sat with the rest of the cheerleaders. “I know. She really could have been. Coach Davis is determined to get to the bottom of it, but no one saw anything. Coach didn’t notice anything suspicious on the recording of the performance either. I’m sure Krista was behind it, though.”
Claire hadn’t said anything about Krista to Coach, but maybe it was because she was afraid the whole Instagram thing would blow up in her face and make things worse. I still wasn’t sure what I would do about it.
Lena offered a smile. “Well, I think you guys are going to kill state either way. You’ll see.”
“Thanks,” I said. “But let’s talk about something else.”
Ella looked around our small circle. “Well, prom is coming up soon. That should be fun. We should totally go together. And shop for dresses and get our nails done.”
Harper pouted. “You’re lucky. You have a date. The rest of us are single. Dances are way more fun when you have a guy on your arm.”
“Someone’s bound to ask all of you,” Ella said. “You guys are the cutest gals around.”
“Says the girl with a boyfriend,” Rey interjected, putting her pen down. She looked at me. “I’m totally voting for you for junior prom queen, by the way, although I’m sure you hardly
need my vote.”
“Same,” Harper said as she dug into her nachos.
Everyone else nodded.
I smiled. “Thanks, guys. But I’m pretty sure Gary is gonna win junior prom king, and I am not looking forward to having to dance with him.”
“Well, you never know,” Ella said. “Maybe someone else will win this time.”
Lena chimed in. “I hear Jesse has a good chance of winning too.”
They nodded.
“If he wins, you can totally have the dance with him,” I said. “It would be the cutest thing ever. Like Homecoming.”
Ella seemed to shrink in her seat. “No way. You were born to be prom queen. I had enough attention at Homecoming as Cinderella. I just want to be a regular girl this time. No extra attention.”
Everyone’s faces changed, and I knew they agreed with her. What Ella said made sense. Even the part about me being born to be prom queen. I had never asked to be popular—it was a byproduct of being one of the head cheerleaders—but this was one of the things that came with it. No one ever questioned whether it was something I wanted. Or if it made me happy. Maybe I wanted to be a regular girl at prom too.
“So it’s settled then,” Lena said. “We’ll all vote for Tori.”
Ella chuckled. “Along with the rest of the school.”
I smiled along with them, but once again, the mask was back on. It hadn’t ever come off.
The cheer squad spent the entire evening after school practicing the new version of our routine.
Three hours later, after Coach Davis was satisfied, she gathered us on the freshly disinfected blue mat and gave us the pep talk she always did before big competitions.
I hugged my knees and looked up at her. Some of the girls did the same. Others spread out on the mat, but all eyes and ears were on Coach.
“Girls, we’ve been training for ten weeks, and state is almost here. Even when one of our own suffered an injury, we got right back up and came back stronger than ever.”
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