DAY ONE

She somersaulted over to us, landing right smack dab in front of our faces. I'm surprised I kept my jaw from dropping as Riley lightly clapped in her red and yellow spirited outfit.

"Great job, Samantha," Riley smiled giddily.

"Thanks!" the curly-haired cheerleader replied.

"You're the best," the cheerleader and wanna-be cheerleader high-fived before Samantha bounced off to her friends, and Riley turned to Maya and me, her smile dropping and an unimpressed look washing over her face, "She's the worst one here," she said in a sour tone.

"She's the worst?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Samantha's the one I gotta beat to make the team. I'm better than her, right?" she asked us, fishing for compliments.

"Explain to me what's the matter with you," Maya said glaring at the perky brunette.

"I'm for your entertainment pleasure."

"How many years you're gonna do this to me?" Maya said before wrapping her arm around my shoulder, "And now you've roped Cowgirl into this too?" I wore a look of fake innocence.

"I believe that anything is possible," I replied simply.

"What am I doing to you?" Riley scrunched her nose.

"Every year I have to tell you that you're good. You know what? You're not good. You're not as good as Samantha. You're not as good as Heather. You're not as good as any girl with any name, or doesn't have a name, or doesn't exist, or is a rock," Maya took her arm off my shoulder, looking straight at the hopeful girl, "Every year, you try out. Every year, Coach Kelly tells you not to come back because she hates you."

"Coach Kelly does not hate me," and as if on cue...

"Matthews! I hate you. Why would you come here? Why are you wearing that? Why would you come here?" the 'lovely' cheerleading coach by the name of Kelly passed by Riley.

"This is the year I'm going to make the team."

"It's really not. You've been trying to make this team since third-grade pee wees, and they don't let me reject anybody in third-grade pee wees. It hurts their self-esteem."

"Then why did you get to reject me?"

"Because that's the year we passed the Riley rule."

"I have my own rule," Riley gasped with oblivious excitement.

"How much rejection can you take?"

"Hey, LeBron James was cut from his high school basketball team," I finally chimed in.

"LeBron went straight to the NBA from high school," I pointed out, as Maya raised an eyebrow at me and I shrugged, "Hey it's the one sport I follow."

"I knew it was something," Riley sighed, "Coach Kelly, I'm gonna win you over."

"Stay out of sports," Coach Kelly cautioned, before going over to her team.

"Oh, you," Riley flicked her wrist in a caring manner. I walked over to the bulletin board, as Maya read off what would transpire over the next three days to Riley I glanced at a pink-tinted sheet of paper.

"Romeo and Juliet: The Musical," I read the words to myself. Little lined boxes were underneath the title of the paper.

"What Idina?" Riley asked turning to me. I pointed.

"Seems like someone's throwing a little musical," I said, grabbing the pen attached to the board, and writing down to simple words: Idina Jennings, before turning back to the girls, "And I'm going to try out."

"Really?" Riley squeaked, "You think you can do that?" I shrugged before looking straight at her and placing my hand on her shoulder with a small smile.

"If you can be a cheerleader, then I can be an actress," I replied before a sharp blast ended our conversation. The cheerleaders and Riley all ran to round up around Coach Kelly as Maya and I sat down by the bulletin where the side-bench was.

"All right, ladies, I've got 13 trying out. I need 12," Coach Kelly looked straight at the hopeful brunette, "Matthews, why don't you make it easy on all of us and quit right now, so we don't have to go through three days of torture?"

"No, thank you."

"Riley. Know why nobody else is even trying out?" Riley shook her head as I sighed.

"She already has her team," I regretfully acknowledged. Maya nodded in agreement.

"These girls are the same girls since pee wees. These girls are the reason you don't make the team."

"May we get started, please?" Riley practically shouted. The coach sighed.

"You heard her," Coach Kelly blew her whistle once more, "Launch, fly, catch. Team launch. Jenkins, fly. Matthews, catch," she dragged Riley to the exact coordinates she desired, "Catch!" she commanded. A dark-skinned girl started running towards Riley's outstretched arms before falling front side first.

"Hi," Riley waved gleefully as I facepalmed  before the wanna-be realized what her job was supposed to be, "Oh, catch!"

"You alive, Jenkins?"

"I'm fine, coach," Jenkins, the flying cheerleader, wearily replied as Riley smiled.

"I'm fine, coach!" Riley shouted as well.

"All right, let's try that again. Matthews, you fly. Jenkins, you catch."

"Can I trust you?" Riley turned to the girl she'd just let fall.

"Oh, yeah. I know exactly what I'm gonna do," Jenkins smirked as Riley got in her flyer position.

"I'm gonna die!" she shouted as I covered my eyes and waited to hear the thud.

HISTORY CLASS

Matthews tapped on the lightbulb he'd drawn on the board, "Who invented this?"

"Thomas Edison-" I started.

"-The Wizard of Menlo Park," Farkle finished. Zay nodded his head at us.

"Well aren't you two little Smarties," he smirked rubbing the back of his neck.

"After how many tries?" our teacher inquired once more, ignoring the fact that his daughter was unaccounted for.

"Six!" Lucas pointed at Matthews with a grin.

"No!" Matthews pointed back blankly, "Does anybody here think that he invented it after his first try?"

"I do!" Lucas kept trying to be involved in the classroom discussion.

"No!"

"All right," Lucas sighed, "I was trying something, and now I'm going back to the way things were."

"Why didn't he invent the light bulb on his first try?" Farkle asked.

"'Cause it was dark," Zay said, patting Lucas's back from his desk, "Got your back. Got your back."

"That's not why," Maya rolled her eyes, "Even I know that," she emphasized. Our attention was turned to the front entrance of the classroom as a tired cheerleading hopeful enter the doorway slowly with a bag of ice in hand.

"I'm fine," Riley said blandly as she walked to her seat, "Nothing to see, here. Go on with your business," she put the bag of ice down on her desk chair slowly, before sitting down with a huff of pain. Lucas glanced between Maya and me.

"You were supposed to talk her out of this."

"If at first you don't succeed then try, try again," I quoted as my reply, "William Hickson," Matthews looked at me as impressment washed over his face before Farkle explained the situation.

"Every year, Riley tries out for cheerleaders."

"Oh, Riley, you are no cheerleader," Riley turned on her desk, leaning her elbow back against the seat.

"That is a terrible thing to say to me, Zay."

"I meant it as a compliment," he shrugged as Lucas smirked.

"Back in Texas, Zay had a 'little incident' with a cheerleader," Lucas said with raised eyebrows.

"It wasn't just a little incident. It was true love, but I'm over it now," Zay sighed before screaming, "VANESSA!" I looked back at our teacher and the brunette's father.

"Matthews, you're her father, so I would guess that it's your job to talk her out of this," I ventured, before looking over at Riley, "But I think anything's worth trying at least once," I shrugged.

"Oh like how you're trying out for the musical?" Riley replied. Farkle looked at me, doing a double-take.

"You're trying out for the musical?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yup, Romeo, and Juliet," I replied. He tapped Lucas's shoulder.

"You are her best friend, you're supposed to talk her out of it."

"And you're her-" Lucas paused.

"He's my boyfriend who's supposed to be there for me," I sighed, "But that doesn't mean there won't be things we don't agree on," the blonde beauty chimed in now.

"I don't think you should try out for the musical," Maya shrugged. I took glances at all of them.

"There are going to be some things we don't agree on," I rephrased my previous statement, before turning back to Matthews.

"Thomas Edison saw the need for a new kind of light source for the home. See, people relied on kerosene lanterns, and he tried a lot more than six ways to come up with an electric light without success. You know what he said?"

"I have failed?" Lucas shouted, attempting one last time to be a star pupil.

"No," Matthews shook his head, "'I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that will not work.'"

"But Edison finally succeeded. That's why we have light in here," Farkle acknowledged.

"Because he never gave up," the history teacher nodded.

"And neither should I," Riley smiled.

"And neither should I," I echoed. Maya nervously grinned.

"Mmm, way to put them back on track, Matthews. Why'd you have to pick today to teach us about Edison?"

"Yeah, that's something, isn't it?"

"Okay, when we were at home, you didn't want her to do this. Nobody did."

"Yeah, because as her father, I've gone through this with her half a dozen times. And it kills me every year."

"Then what are you doing?"

"In this room, I'm your teacher," he looked at us. I glanced over at Riley.

"I have not failed," I stated as the brunette smiled.

"I have just found half a dozen ways that will not work," she tweaked the quote to our liking.

DAY TWO

"You've made it to Day two?" Coach Kelly asked Riley who stood in the line of cheerleaders as Maya, Lucas, Zay, Farkle, and I all clapped from the side-bench, watching our brunette optimist try, "And you brought your own cheering section?"

"I'm just here to pick up the pieces," Maya said.

"I'm here because I wanna see this," Lucas nodded.

"I'm here because I believe in Riley," Farkle said.

"I'm here because if she can be this hopeful it's gotta spread to me someday," I sighed. Farkle rubbed my hand gently as I glanced at him before back at the cheerleaders.

"I'm here because I need to show my cheerleader enemies they have no hold on me," Zay ended our session of reasons. Coach Kelly revealed a silver bell with a crisp wooden handle, holding it up to display to everyone.

"I hold in my hand, a bell. This is the Riley bell."

"I have my own bell!" Maya gave her a thumbs up as I chuckled.

"A rule, a bell, I wonder what comes next in Rileytown."

"When you quit," Coach Kelly moved across to a small table set up, placing the bell on the table like a trophy, "and you will, you will ring this bell, and this travesty will be over."

"I will never ring that bell."

"Uh-huh. Day two, tumbling. This is the day we learn what kind of control you have over your bodies," as the coach spoke Maya slowly walked over to the bell, ringing it with one sharp chime.

"Maya!" Riley scolded.

"I want you to live," she said before sitting down.

"All right, ladies. Round off, back handspring, Yamashita. Stick the landing," the bell goes off again.

"Lucas!"

"Yamashita, man."

"All right, ladies. Show her how it's done," a blonde cheerleader does something that seems to be impossible, "Fair," Jenkins is up, and does it with what seems to be ease as Coach Kelly wears a sour look, "What was that? Hi, there. Did I see a little something?"

"No."

"You sure, Jenkins? You sure I didn't see a little-"

"No, no, no, no, no, no."

"Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh. Give me your foot."

"I don't want to give you my foot," to which Coach Kelly muttered in Russian, "I'm sorry," the girl replied on the brink of tears as she blended back into the line of cheerleaders.

"Matthews," she demanded with the click of her tongue, as another one of Riley's believers becomes a doubter, ringing the bell supposedly on her behalf.

"Farkle!" Riley and I said in unison as I stared at the chestnut boy.

"Nyet!" Farkle pointed at her, furrowing his eyebrows, before sitting down next to me. I looked at him.

"Lo," I said simply. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"What?"

"It's the Hebrew word for no," I explained, looking at the silver bell on a platter, then back at him, "I will not ring that bell, not once. Lo," Riley skipped over to the other side of the gym, preparing to tumble, but doing what seems to be stalling.

"Tumble!" Coach Kelly shouted; Riley made her first attempt at a tumble, seeming more like a sagging potato, "Okay. You ready for me now, champ?"

"Yeah," the brunette breathlessly replied.

"You get two attempts."

"That wasn't twice?"

"Do you wanna show us what you can do, or you wanna ring that bell?" Riley turned around with her eyes squeezed shut, walking towards us and the bell. She paused, before letting her lids fly open. She took a deep breath and smiled at us all.

"Goodbye," she said sadly.

"Goodbye," all of us replied, though I was still a tad confused. Riley turned away from us, preparing her tumbling stance. She took a running start and screamed as she ran on the matt. Lucas cringed and covered Maya's eyes, Farkle did the same with me, his mouth hung open as I peeked gently pulling his hand an inch off my eyes.

"Oh..." I grimaced, "Shouldn't have peeked," I noted, putting his hand back over my eyes and shaking my head.

AUDITORIUM

My legs swung over the side of the stage. I looked out at the lines of chairs, seeing all my friends except Riley, who was in the nurse's office, looking at me. I looked at all of them, before standing and putting my hand in my pocket.

"I'm gonna die," I said simply, then shrugged and slightly smiled thinking of our brunette friend, "But at least I'll know I tried half a dozen times."

The boys had decided to audition. They'd had enough faith in themselves, but not enough for me. Maya walked up to me, resting her head in her hands as she looked at me.

"Sweetie, why do you wanna do this?"

"Because I want to try, because I want to grow," I listed off, "Because growth and friendship go hand-in-hand."

"So now when you fail I gotta pick up the pieces too?" Maya groaned, "Too much work!" she pouted.

"Who says I'm going to fail," I scrunched my nose.

"But what about your stage fright?" Farkle asked hesitantly, making my question go unanswered as I turned to him and shook my head.

"I got over that," I pointed at each one of them, "Y'all helped me get over that. And, if I can perform in front of most of our grade at a Halloween dance, I think I can play, or at least audition, for a part in a musical," I paused, "Knowing I'll have my friends by my side, and out there in the audience, to cheer me on."

Riley walked in with another ice bag pressed to her shoulder, "Hi," she said weakly, coming to the seats where the rest of our friends sat as I smiled at her.

"We were just talking about you," I said, "Be the cheerleader I know you are."

The double doors open to reveal the theater teacher, Ms. Williams. She's not super tall, about average height, not necessarily skinny, a tad plump, the perfect size for a brass voice like her's.

"Alright the break's over!" she sang-said walking towards the table near the front of the stage. She pressed her legs under the table as she sat down.

"You got this," Riley mouthed as she sat down, Maya rubbed her back, looking at me, as the others did too. Ms. William's put on the glasses that were tied to a string around her neck and read something off a clipboard.

"Idina Jennings!" she called. I stood up on the stage, adjusting my black fedora that complimented my half-black half-red leggings.

"Present ma'am," I replied smiling at her from the brightly-lit stage. The teacher raised an eyebrow before crossing her arms.

"Now, Ms. Jennings," she started, "Please explain how you chose your audition song, and why you think it relates to the musical," she said, emphasizing the word musical, so the ending sounded more like the word call. I pressed my hands together.

"Well, the song I will be singing is an acoustic version of 'How You Get The Girl', by Taylor Swift," I began, slowly pacing on the stage in place as I gestured, which I do when I normally talk, "Now this song describes the struggle between wanting someone and yet wanting to do what's yourself or other's consider 'right'," I air-quoted. The bleached-blonde teacher nodded, biting the end of her pen as she listened.

"Alright you may begin," she moved her glasses to the edge of her nose, looking me up and down, "But you've got once chance, Girly. Wow me," she commanded. I turned away from her, facing the red curtains and taking a deep breath.

"Oh, I'm gonna try," I muttered to myself, before turning around and beginning.

https://youtu.be/v8iI97Julhk

Stand there like a ghost
Shaking from the rain, rain
She'll open up the door
And say, 'Are you insane-ane?'

Say it's been a long six months
And you were too afraid to tell her what you want, want

And that's how it works
It's how you get the girl

And then you say,
'I want you for worse or for better
I would wait for ever and ever
Broke your heart, I'll put it back together
I would wait for ever and ever'

And that's how it works
It's how you get the girl, girl
And that's how it works
It's how you get the girl, girl

Remind her how it used to be, be
Yeah, with pictures in frames, of kisses on cheeks
Tell her how you must've lost your mind
When you left her all alone and never told her why, why

And that's how it works
That's how you lost the girl

And now you say,
'I want you for worse or for better
I would wait for ever and ever
Broke your heart, I'll put it back together
I would wait for ever and ever'

And that's how it works
It's how you get the girl, girl, oh
And that's how it works
It's how you get the girl, girl, yeah

And you know, oh
That I don't want you to go

Remind me how it used to be
Pictures in frames of kisses on cheeks
And say you want me, yeah, yeah

'I want you for worse or for better
I would wait for ever and ever
Broke your heart, I'll put it back together
I would wait for ever and ever'

And that's how it works
It's how you get the girl, girl, oh
And that's how it works
It's how you get the girl, girl

And that's how it works
It's how you get the girl, girl

That's how it works

Ms. Williams nodded, "Alright," she sighed standing and clutching her clipboard tightly, "The cast will be posted the day after tomorrow after the final bell." she walked out without another word, her bright, almost white, locks bouncing behind her. My friends looked at me. I simply shrugged.

"And that's how it works."

DAY THREE

I crawled through the bay window after Maya, sitting down as Riley's head was covered by her purple blanket in her bed, "All you had to do, was ring the bell. Did you ring the bell? No. We rang the bell for you. Was that good enough? No."

"Well, I have never been more proud of you," I smiled at the sheets that cover our brunette friend, "You made it through day two without ringing the bell."

"No one expects you in school today, okay?" Maya sighed, "So we'll see you when you're back in one piece." Farkle came through the same way we had.

"What's the matter with you?" Farkle huffed planting his feet on the bedroom floor, "Ring the bell. Ring any bell. Ring the doorbell. I'll go tell Coach Kelly you rang the bell, and we can all wake up from this horrible nightmare." Cowboy entered in a teal-green shirt.

"Is she alive? Did she make it through the night? Riley, we are so proud of you. Is she alive?" Lucas quickly said.

"Yeah, she's alive Cowboy," I rolled my eyes with a small smile. He nodded.

"Please, stop now. We all want you to stop. Is...Is she alive? Tell her, Zay. Zay?" the dark-skinned boy sat just outside the window.

"So, what? You guys just break into her apartment, and that's appropriate?" right as the sleeping girl's family entered.

"Riley, are you alive?" Topanga hesitantly asked.

"No one can get seem to get an answer." I sighed. Our teacher followed his wife into the bedroom.

"All of you? All of you just come in here?"

"That's what I'm saying," Zay said from outside the bay window.

"Hey, I live next door so..." I simply shrugged.

"She can't even move. This is on you, Matthews," Maya pointed at our teacher.

"Why is that, Maya?"

"Because you're talking out of both sides of your head. At home, you tell her to quit, at school, you teach her to never give up."

"What?" the brunette's mother raised an eyebrow, "Her teacher and her father disagree?"

"Well, maybe it's that they both want what's best for her."

"Well, which one of you do you hope she listens to?" I asked softly.

"Here? I want her to listen to her father. Her father wants to protect her. Her father wants her in this bed all day where nothing bad can happen to her. Quit, Riley. Your father doesn't want you to get hurt."

"What does her teacher want?" Farkle asked, taking the words right out of my mouth.

"Her teacher wants the same thing every day. He wants her to have an education. To learn about the world. To find out who she is."

"And her dad doesn't want her to find out who she is?" Lucas furrowed his eyebrow.

"No, no, no!"

"Zay, I don't blame you for not wanting to be a part of this insanity," Topanga shook her head.

"Thank you. It's much worse than you think, actually."

"Why?"

"Well, I wouldn't do this without an invitation, but, uh," he fully climbed into the bedroom, and stood up, pointing at us, "I was raised better than you, and apparently smarter than you, but this could go on all day," he pulled off the covers to reveal only pillows where we thought the sleeping girl had laid, "Looks like she listened to her teacher."

GYMNASIUM

"Incredibly, welcome to Day three," Coach Kelly said to the yellow and red lined up cheerleaders and Riley.

"I can't believe this, but how much are you rooting for her right now?" Lucas said in a hushed tone as he and the rest of Riley's cheerleading section, including myself, watched.

"As much as always," Farkle replied.

"I've been rooting for her since day one," I noted.

"Guys, you know how this ends. How could we let it get this far?" Maya huffed.

"Don't you even know your best friend?" Zay raised an eyebrow at Maya, "There's no stopping her."

"Yes, I know my best friend, and I don't want my best friend to get hurt," Maya said crossing her arms.

"Is that why you didn't want me to audition for the musical?" I asked Maya looked at the blonde. She didn't respond, but simply uncrossed her arms.

"Well, Maya, she's always there for us," Farkle said, "It's our turn now."

"Yeah, we shouldn't stop her from doing what she wants," Lucas shrugged.

"Exactly," I nodded looking at the blonde boy, then the blonde girl, "We just need to be here when she needs us."

"You're right. I know you're right. I just... I don't want her to fail."

"And if she does, you'll be the first person she wants to put an arm around her," I replied.

"No," Maya pursed her lips together, "We will be the first people she wants to put an arm around her," I smiled, "Okay, I'm not going anywhere." and the two of us looked back at the hopefuls on the mat.

"This is our choreographed routine that we have perfected over all our years together. Newcomer. Have you learned the steps?"

"Yes, Coach!" Riley shouted, very loudly as a matter of fact.

"Wow. I was about to say, 'I can't hear you', but you got me. Okay, places, everybody." The routine started, I thought Riley did alright. I mean, she didn't do the steps exactly like the other girls, and sure she didn't know all the more advanced moves, but boy, did she have spirit. Farkle glanced at me.

"How do you think she did?" he asked.

"I think she did perfectly for a perfectly normal Riley," I replied. The coach wrote something down on a piece of paper.

"Okay," before tacking it to the board behind our heads, and walking away. Our brunette friend's name was the only thing on the page.

"'Riley Matthews?'", Riley walked slowly over to us and the paper, "I'm the only one who made the team?" Maya and I shared a look before we both stood and slowly walked over to our weary girl.

"No, Honey," Maya smiled sadly.

"I'm afraid... that's not what that means," I put a hand in my pocket. Riley sighed, realizing the true meaning of the page.

"Oh," but she still smiled at us, "I'm really tired."

"I know you are, Riles," I said quietly looking at her. Maya clasped her hands together

"You did great," the blonde nodded, "Wanna go home?"

"Yeah," Riley replied with a small nod. Maya wrapped her arm around Riley's right shoulder, as I did the same to her left. The boys stood from the bench, coming towards us. Zay put his arm under my free one, as Farkle entangled his with Maya's. Lucas put his arm around Farkle as we walked across the mat to the gym exit.

THE NEXT DAY

My fingernail traced the crevices of my desk. I stared out the window, looking into the hall. Today was the day. After school, that's when it would be posted. It would be tacked on the same bulletin that had broken my brunette best friend's heart yesterday. The only question left now, was would it break mine?

"Mr. Matthews?" Riley asked, calling her father by his professional name. He looked up at his daughter, seeming partially surprised she'd used his proper title.

"Yes, Ms. Matthews?"

"You got something for me? Because I'm asking my teacher. Because I've had a rough few days."

"'I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that will not work'," Mr. Matthews requoted the inventor of the lightbulb as he went to the light switch, moving it to it's opposing position so the classroom darkened, "Thomas Edison couldn't hold a job when he was young, and no one thought he would amount much to anything. Thomas Edison never made it as an inventor until he did," he looked straight at Riley, "Only you get to decide when you quit," he looked to the blonde next to her, "No, well-intended friend," he then to I, who sat next to the blonde, "Or boyfriend," he said, knowing I knew he meant the chestnut boy a few desks away, before he grinned seemingly to himself, "no parent who's only trying to protect you, and no teacher, who's supposed to bring out the best in you, can make you turn your back on something you're passionate about. Because a teacher who brings you to failure, who wants you to quit, who hasn't taught you anything, is... no teacher at all."

"But my name was on the paper," Riley gestured with her pencil.

"Did you quit?" Matthews goes towards her desk.

"I didn't ring the bell. I couldn't. It was gone."

"I stole it," Maya said simply. Riley chuckled, looking at the blonde girl.

"Maya, you stole the bell?" I leaned to my side, pulling the bell out of my backpack, and smiling at the brunette, as I held up the silver bell by its dark-wood handle.

"Did you think any of us were gonna let you ring this bell?" I asked Riley, but I never expected to receive an answer as I simply smiled at her.

"Riley, if you let somebody make you quit, no matter what position of power that person is in if you only try 9,000 times, you just end up sitting in the dark," Mr. Matthews said, "Do you want to sit in the dark, Riley?" she looked at Maya, then at the boys. She then glanced at me, I still hold the bell in my hand, placing it on my desk, before looking at her.

"The dark is no fun anyways," I said, "We need light... we need our sunshine," I pursed my lips. She stood slowly, walking over to the light switch, and flipping it upwards, kindling the room.

"Thank you, Mr. Matthews," she grinned in the doorway.

"Anytime," she walked out of the classroom, our teacher turned back to us and took a deep breath, "Oh, my poor, little girl."

Zay raised an eyebrow, "Wait, wait, wait... so she's allowed to just walk out of class at any time?" to which Matthews replied with a simple shrug.

AFTER SCHOOL

We entered quietly right as Riley smiled one of her classic goofy smiles, "Just because you say I didn't make the team, doesn't mean I didn't make the team."

"Yeah, it does. It actually determines who's on the team, and you. Because I say, 'You're not good enough'."

"I want to be on the cheerleading team."

"As what?"

"You need 12. What if one of your girls gets hurt? I could be an alternate."

"My girls don't get hurt. They're machines," Jenkins lifted her left leg behind her.

"Ow," she pouted simply.

"Excuse me?"

"Ow."

"Put that one hop little leg back on the ground, Jenkins," Samantha grinned and lifted her right leg in the same fashion as Jenkins had.

"Ow."

"What? Cut it out, Samantha. Jenkins, she didn't even know how to catch you."

"She hasn't been coached like we have," Jenkins shrugged.

"Yeah, maybe if you coached her," Samantha chimed in.

"Why are you doing this? Why would you encourage her like this?"

"We're cheerleaders," the dark-skinned girl replied.

"We know spirit when we see it," the tan girl smiled. Maya stood and I pulled the bell out of her backpack. We walked over to the confused coach and I held out the silver bell to her.

"I think you're gonna need this," Maya said pointing at the thing in my hand. I looked over at Riley, who's full of enthusiasm and hope.

"Yeah, you're really gonna need this," I placed it in the coach's hand.

"Matthews... You finally broke me," and with one simple motion, Riley Matthews becomes a cheerleader.

I glanced across the gym, seeing the familiar almost-white hair of Ms. Williams flutter off, and a new slip of paper plastered on the bulletin on the opposing side of me. I slowly walked across the matted, gym floor towards it. I bit my lip as my paced slowed.

"It's just a musical. It's just a part. No matter what, whatever happens, you will be absolutely positively satisfied," I took a deep breath, my eyes squinting as my finger barely touched the crisp white paper.

"ROMEO AND JULIET" CAST LIST:

JULIET CAPULET: Idina Jennings 

ROMEO MONTAGUE: Lucas Friar

COUNT PARIS: Brandon Knight

THE NARRATOR: Riley Matthews

FRIAR LAURENCE: Farkle Minkus

SPEAR CARRIER #1: Isaiah Babineaux

SPEAR CARRIER #2: Charlie Gardner

BALTHASAR: Yogi Jabonero

I grinned a happy grin, "Yay," I said simply as excitement bubbled within my veins. Lucas walked up next to me, glancing at the cast list before looking at me and slinging his arm around my shoulder.

"Alrighty then," he smiled, "At least I get to lead along with my best friend."

"You got it, Cowboy," I replied, tipping an invisible cowboy hat towards him as our friends walked over to congratulate us, now including a no longer wannabe cheerleader.