We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do

[BetaKnight]

[[Evelyn Reed continued from Talk Shows on Mute]]

The rubber soles of her cheer shoes squeaked against the varnished wooden floor as Evelyn stalked into the gym. Nothing about today had gone right. It had been an absolute disaster from the get-go. Her alarm hadn't gone off, making her rush around to get to school on time. She'd forgotten her wallet AND her lunch in her haste, so she'd had nothing to eat since last night. There'd been a pop quiz in math AND in government. She'd broken not one but TWO nails. And to top it all off, she had the beginnings of a wicked headache pounding in her temples. Oh My GAWD, I would kill for a Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino right now. Or even better, some chocolate.

Dropping her gear bag onto one of the bleachers, she looked around for any signs of her squad-mates. Finding nothing, she peeled off her warm-up jacket, wadded it up in her hands, and threw it down next to her bag with a snort of disgust. I cannot BELIEVE those heifers. I am the only one here on time?! SERIOUSLY?! Evelyn stomped her foot and let out a little squeal of rage. You know what? Fuck it. Seriously, fuck it and fuck them! Just because none of those sloppy, lazy, cellulite-encrusted bitches takes this seriously anymore doesn't mean that I won't.

Rolling her eyes, Evelyn sat down the floor and began her warm-up stretches. "They better show up or I'm gonna cut a bitch, I swear," she muttered darkly.

[DetectiveArcher†]

((Riley Flynn continued from Of All The Gin Joints...))

The doors to the gym pushed open easily, as if parting for their true master. Riley Flynn strode into the gym, clad in her grey shorts and green tank top, looking every inch the cheerleader captain she was. Eyes scanning the gym, she caught site of her good right hand, one Evelyn Reed. A good member of the team, Evelyn. She always went the extra mile, trained that bit more. If Riley had a team full of girls like her, she would be set for the whole year.

"Morning, Evelyn. Early again, huh?" The redhead crossed the floor, to stand next to her contemporary. Patting the other girl on the back, she nodded in approval. "That shows some serious drive. You're not gunning for my spot are you?" Riley let out a friendly giggle before turning her eyes on Evelyn again. "Anyway, you wanna stretch until we get some of those other lazy girls get here?"

It would be good to get some stretching in. Riley felt stiff and out of practice. Were weekends really that long? She needed to cut down on the drinking. Although, the nights with Mike should have kept her limber enough. She smiled as she sat down next to Evelyn and offered her hands to begin back stretches. A quick exercise and she'd be ready for action, no problem.

((Riley Flynn continued in Decisions, Decisions))

[ZombiexCreame†]

((Fiona Sparki continued from English, wherefore art thou?))

Fiona Sparki slapped her forehead lightly as she quickly walked towards the gym. She felt absolutely stupid; she had totally forgotten that there was cheer practice today! Admittedly, this was probably the seventh or eighth time this year that practice had completely slipped her mind. It almost made her feel ashamed. She loved cheerleading, she loved practice and she loved the people on her team.. So why couldn't she do something as simple as show up on time? It was a mystery to Fiona and she decided that she would have to apologize to the others later. Would they care? Would they yell at her? She doubted the latter. They were nice girls, after all.

Luckily, Fiona's day had been a very normal, average one. All her classes went by smoothly, she turned in all her homework assignments, read her history report to the class... But why had she forgotten cheer practice today? Usually there had to be some reason... Ah yes! She was supposed to babysit Mrs. Gunn's son after school! Not wanting to miss out on cheer practice, Fiona whipped out her cellphone and quickly texted the women. After thumbing the send button, she shoved the phone back into her backpack. Before Fiona knew it, she had arrived at the large, wooden gym doors.

Clutching the door knob, Fiona jerked and pulled as hard as she could. The door just wouldn't open! She pulled and pulled but it didn't budge! Was she so late that the cheerleaders had locked her out? Was practice canceled? No.. even if it was, the door wouldn't be locked, would it? Feeling defeated, she was about to walk away until a small sign beside the door caught her attention. It was four letters in bold, white lettering. 'Push.' Blushing red, she pushed the door open and walked into the gym. "What an idiot! I've walked through this door a million times, how could I have forgotten?! Whoa, threshold!" Before she knew it, Fiona had stumbled ungracefully into the gym, nearly bumping into the bleachers.

After shrugging her backpack onto the floor, she meekly looked around the large gym. The sight was a little shocking and relieving. Only two girls were here so far! Maybe Fiona wasn't late after all... So far, only Evelyn and Riley were present. They were both very proficient cheerleaders; Riley also happened to be the captain. Giving both the girls an excited wave and a wide smile, she greeted them. "Hello! I'm sorry I'm late.. Well, am I late?" She peered up at the clock. "Hm. Guess not.." she trailed off and struggled for something else to say. She didn't want the conversation to lapse off into an awkward silence. Casual questions were always good, right?

"How has everyone's day gone?" Fiona asked with a blank smile plastered on her face. Her small hands were idly gathering up her thick blonde hair into a ponytail. Her dreadlocks were slightly more ragged than usual but she didn't seem to mind. The dye was fading as well... Oh well. Digging through her bag, she located a headband and pushed it onto the top of her head in an attempt to keep any stray hairs from invading her face. Should she stretch now? Probably, Evelyn and Riley were stretching. It would be awkward to sit around, doing nothing... Plopping down onto the floor, she spread her legs apart and then reached her hands towards the tips of her sneakers. As she did this, she lowered her head until it was almost touching the floor. "Ow, ow.. This hurts.. I'm not meant to stretch like this.. I need to lose a few more pounds, damn.." Rising up from her stretch, Fiona stood up and wandered over to the water fountain to get a sip of water. "Hopefully this will be a fun practice."

[Lexi†]

((Carla Conners continued from A Flock of Cuckoos))

"DARA you fucking bitch! If I hear that you have been speaking shit about me one more time, I swear to God I will do something that you will wish was murder!" Carla screamed down her phone, making the inhabitants of the nearby open-top car jump in shock. The dark-haired cheerleader was not in a good day, especially after finding out that her ex-boyfriend had spread a rumour that her "assets" were done from plastic surgery. Like hell she could even afford plastic surgery and now that she was in a bad mood, the fact that she was late for practice was not a good thing. Slipping the phone into her bag, she jogged the few meters left till the gymnasium and slipped inside, clutching her bag in one hand while pushing the door open with the other.

"Sorry I'm late, shit day with some shitty people" she muttered out, not caring that she was cursing in front of everyone. They had heard her say worse before, especially with her temper. Rummaging around her bag, she found a band and dropping the dark black bag onto the floor, she pulled her hair back and fixed it into a quick pony-tail, her dark hair having a few strands left out here and there. But seeing as it was practice, she wasn't going to rush to fix it straight away.

Raising her hands, she did a few brief stretches as she let her muscles warm up, feeling a light burn as she bent to the side and leaned forwards down to her ankles, holding them briefly with her hands as she focused briefly, letting the exercise push the angry thoughts of her ex and his big mouth out and let the strength in. She was a cheerleader and damn it, she was going to show that she meant buisness.

[Arscapi†]

((Thea Kairos continued from No Talent for Certainty ))

Thea walked into the gym and noticed the small group of cheerleaders already there. She glanced at her watch, her eyes widening as she realized she was late. Where had the time gone? Oh yeah, now she remembered. Shrugging she decided that she was simply fashionably late. Besides, it was the first time she'd been late and it was only ten minutes. As she made her way across the gym she watched the other girls stretch, except for Fiona, who seemed to have declared herself done with stretching. Cuz that's gonna work well for you. Hope that decision doesn't come back to bite us all in the ass. And seriously what is up with that hair. AS IF, like the dreads weren't bad enough you could at least keep up the dye job.

Thea pulled her hair into a bun, securing it firmly. Then, she eased next to the rest of the girls and started running through her own stretching routine. "Sorry, was making plans for prom, James asked, and I kind of lost track of time," she announced only slightly apologetic. "So anyone else have a date?"

[BetaKnight]

Evelyn's crap-tastic mood lifted somewhat as Riley strode into the gym and greeted her with a pat on the back.

"Early again, huh? That shows some serious drive. You're not gunning for my spot are you? Anyway, you wanna stretch until we get some of those other lazy girls get here?"

Evelyn beamed as she forced her nose to touch her kneecap, holding the position for an eight-count before slowly rising. "Oh Riley, I could never replace you!" she chirped as she grasped Riley's outstretched hands. With slow, controlled reaches, Evelyn acted as counterbalance for the cheer captain, gently stretching Riley's back with each elongating movement.

The two girls slowly rocked back and forth, gradually increasing the angle of their sway. After a few repetitions, Evelyn increased the tension and the angle of the bend they were working at. Just as she had had managed to coax Riley into a nearly-parallel-to-the-floor stretch, the doors to the gym jiggled and bounced. Her own back parallel to the floor, Evelyn rolled her eyes to the top of her head in an attempt to spot the next slacker who entered.

She bit back the sigh of irritation as she watched Fiona nearly plow into the bleachers. The tardy girl's next statement eroded the warm, fuzzy feeling Riley's praise had created.

"Hello! I'm sorry I'm late.. Well, am I late? Hm. Guess not.."

Cheerleading practice ALWAYS started at EXACTLY the same time. ALWAYS. Practice time had been practice time since they had switched over from the summer practice schedule at the start of school. There really was no excuse for not knowing if one was late. Let it go, Evelyn. Let it go, she chided herself as she let out a loud exhalation.

She watched Fiona out of the corner of her eye, and gritted her teeth as the other girl quit after a single, measly stretch. Please don't let her be my spotter today. I can't get hurt. Please don't let her be my spotter since she's not prepping properly.

Evelyn opened her mouth, preparing to ask Fiona if she wanted to stretch with her when Carla came flying in, swearing up a storm. I guess I'm not the only one having a less than stellar day, she thought as she raised an eyebrow.

Carla threw herself into her stretching warm-up without another word, looking about ready to bite off the head of anyone who crossed her. Evelyn looked at Riley and shrugged before returning to her warm-ups.

Finally, ten minute late, Thea unapologetically strolled into the gym. She didn't even bother with any explanation but simply set about putting up her hair and getting ready to begin. At least she didn't bother with an excuse. Because really, there was no excuse for being that late.

"Sorry, was making plans for prom, James asked, and I kind of lost track of time. So anyone else have a date?"

Looks like I spoke too soon, Evelyn griped before realizing that Thea had just mentioned securing a date for prom and was inquiring about everyone else's status. Evelyn nervously glanced around the room, searching for Autumn when she remembered that the other girl was still absent. Sagging a bit in relief, she realized that no one else knew about the debacle that occurred between herself, Autumn the whore, and Nik. Unless Thea does know and this is her way of trying to subtly hint about it. Or maybe she suspects and she's fishing for information? She looked at Thea with narrowed eyes, trying to assess the meaning of the question. Well, two can play this game.

Pasting on her most sincere smile, Evelyn looked at the latest arrival. "Oh, congrats on getting a date. And of course the rest of us have dates! We're cheerleaders! We were probably the first ones to get asked. Right, guys?" She looked over at her teammates.

[xylophonefairy†]

((Acacia Salinger continued from The Limits of Human Endurance

Also, as it's unlikely that Acacia would be late I'm just going for her having entered unassumingly somewhere between Carla and Thea.))

Acacia glanced up from her stretch as Thea walked in late. She wasn't really feeling in the mood to practice today, and had almost welcomed the ten minutes of stretching that she usually despised. Something was clouding her mind, in fact, many things were clouding her mind. Her brother, David, had gone back to Iraq the day before, having come home on a weeks leave to attend the funeral of one of his closest friends, who had been killed by an exploding mine. Acacia glanced at the clock on the wall of the gym, he would have landed by now, and she didn't want to think about what he was doing right now. Usually she could push these thoughts away, but things had become more and more difficult over the course of the past few weeks. Not even the thought of 'at least I get to use his car' could distract her. It usually did.

Grinning at Thea's reason for lateness, which she thought was a pretty good one, though unlikely to hold in math class or possibly anything other than Cheer practice. But it was still a good one, and Acacia felt like she wanted to share her news on the matter as well in response. She glanced over to the ropes which were neatly tied against the wall, her stomach twinging. She still hadn't caught up with Tom, to apologise, or something.

"Right," Acacia said with a nod at Evelyn, turning her attention back to the group. She stood up and shook out her left leg, having stretched it as far as she thought was possible. "It's the natural order of things." God, that sounded pretentious. "Though it was pretty horrible, getting asked by someone when you've already secured yourself a date." Again, her eyes flicked over to the other end of the gym. "I don't think Tom's ever going to speak to me again," she added, mournfully.

[ZombiexCreame†]

After taking a few sips of water from the water fountain, Fiona wandered back to the center of the gym and resumed her stretching. She stretched out her arms, legs, torso, calves.. After several repeated minutes of stretching, her limbs began to tire and she rose off the floor, running a hand absently down her ragged hair. "Geez, it seems like stretching is just getting harder and harder every day. I really need to practice more.. The last thing I need is to chided by the captain about my abilities. Hopefully I'm not dragging the team down.." Fiona frequently thought about her active participation in the cheerleading squad. Was she up to par with the other girls? Was she making them look bad? Was she the underdog or the ugly duckling? She realized that she probably wasn't up to par with the other girls and she probably was the ugly duckling. But what could she do about it? Absolutely nothing. "Better get back to stretching.."

Fiona was just about to ask one of her fellow cheerleaders what was on today's agenda when a crackling sound filled the room and a loud voice emanated from the speakers. "Fiona Sparki, please report to the main office. Fiona Sparki, please report to the main office."

With a confused look, the blonde girl peered around the gym and gave a single shrug. "Oh, uh.. I better see what that's about. Sorry, I'll be back later!" she called out to the girls. Walking over to the bleachers, Fiona collected her things and then exited the gym, the door shutting softly behind her.

((Fiona Sparki continued After School Confinement))

[Arscapi†]

Thea worked through a couple of routines as she waited for the other girls to finish warming up. She glanced around and noticed that Fiona had already declared practice over. She stepped away from the group and did a tumbling run, then walked over to her backpack to grab the bottle of water she'd brought.

As she rummaged through her bag she came upon her student council binder. Crap. I have a meeting today. Digging further she uncovered her watch and smiled as she discovered she still had five minutes to make it to the meeting.

Turning to the rest of the team she announced, "Sorry to run guys, but I've got a student council meeting to get to." Without further explanation she grabbed her stuff and headed out of the gym.

(Continued in A Few Administartion Issues )

[xylophonefairy†]

Acacia looked around in mild exasperation as people began to drift off from practice. She stood up from her stretch and glared unreasonably at the assembled group, despite the fact that it wasn't them that had left.

"Cheerleading should take priority," she muttered at Thea's retreating back, before going to where she had dumped her bag and rifling through it for reasons she had already forgotten. A textbook, a folder, water bottle, the black zipped bag that contained all her insulin and needles, her lucky one Euro coin someone had brought her back from their holidays a couple of summer previously, a watch. That was what she had been looking for. She strapped the watch onto her wrist, a sign to herself that practice was pretty much over.

"Well, we can't really do anything without everyone here. The pyramid might, like, fall over," she said, twiddling the adjuster on the side of her watch as she spoke. Acacia found that she was somewhat reluctant to leave, she didn't really know what she was going to do after this. Go practice a little tennis most likely. There was a match coming up that she was determined to win.

"So I guess I'll head off too," she said, motioning towards the door as she tentatively headed towards it. Fortunately she had dumped her bag near the door so her walk of shame was fairly short. Reaching the cool corridor, she felt a small amount of relief, for some reason there had been a lot of tension in that not-quite-practice which she hadn't enjoyed in the slightest.

((Acacia Salinger continued in Deuce))

[BetaKnight]

Evelyn snorted in disgust as the other girls slunk from practice, tails between their legs. What a waste of a practice session. Nobody had even managed to work up a decent sweat. She could feel the anger at the other's lack of dedication bubbling up inside her. Sure, for the others, their cheerleading careers were quickly coming to an end but not Evelyn's. She fully intended on being a squad star on some university's team so she couldn't afford to slack off like the others.

She glanced over at Riley. "If they're allowed to skip out for no reason, I'm gonna go too. I can probably hit my tumbling coach's gym and get some real work in today."

Without waiting for a response from the cheer captain, Evelyn stalked over to her bag and scooped it up. "This is just bullshit," she muttered as she headed out the gym doors.

((Evelyn Reed continued in She Shook Me Cold))