Yesterday was great.

That was all I thought as I lay on my bed. It was 4:50 am and I was up because I was filled with excitement for the day. I couldn't believe everything that was happening to me.

Once it was 5 am, I got up and started on my morning routine.
When I was done, I had my bath and got dressed for school.

When I got downstairs, my dad was already eating at the table. I greeted him before going to microwave the plate of rice and chicken I had prepared earlier. Meal prepping is such a normal part of every fitness person's life.

When I was done eating, I said goodbye to my family and rode to school.

School was pretty much the same as yesterday. People stared at me, talked about me and acted nicer towards me.

The thing was that the more they acted nice towards me, the more angry I felt. People's fakeness never ceases to awe me.

.

When it was time for lunch, I went to the cafeteria as usual.

I got a cup of smoothie and sat down to eat. I brought my own meal again because of the daily protein requirements I had to meet.

As expected, Linda and Sophia came to my seat, followed by the boys in their group.

"Hey Lauretta", Linda said.

"Heyy Linda. Hey guys.", I responded.

"Heyy", they chorused.

"So did you hear about the fact that the school brought in a trainer of some sort to help improve the squad?", Linda asked.

I assumed she was talking about the cheerleading squad and I wondered why she would bring up something like that knowing what she did to me. I didn't even think she was sorry for what she did.

I felt she was just talking to me for her social status. It didn't change anything in the past for her. For her, I got what I deserved as that Lauretta but this Lauretta could be treated as a human.

That just made me angrier than I already was. However, I had no choice but to swallow all of that.

I raised one of my eyebrows (yes, I'm one of those rare humans) and asked, "Wait, what squad?"

"The cheer squad duh.", Sophia said.

"Oh. Is that a bad thing though?", I asked trying to seem like I knew nothing about it.

But I knew it was a bad thing, at least for Sophia and Linda. There would be proper tryouts. There would be proper dance routines (even though to be honest, they did try with the ones they did). Worst of all for them, it would probably be the end of their reign in the squad.

"Yes, it's a horrible thing", Linda said curtly seeming irritated at the fact that I didn't know that.

"We meet her yeah and she told us there'd be tryouts next week Monday for all of us.", Sophia said.

"She said and I quote,' I'd like to create my own team and know what everyone's capable of'", Linda said with a disgusted look.

"I already know I'll hate her.", Sophia said.

I already knew I'd love her. This was a miracle for me.

I wanted to tell them I would be trying out but I knew that would only aggravate them and the little progress I'd made with them could be destroyed. However,  I WAS going to try out and the moment I got home tonight, I would begin practising the routine that would wow this trainer.

.

The days passed by slowly. Maybe that was because of my wish that Monday should come quicker.

Every day was a blur for me. The only thing I looked forward to was dance classes, gym and practising my routine for Monday.

Every day, I went to class. I was still doing exceptionally well, still topping my class. I ensured I never got lazy about that. At the cafeteria,  Sophia and Linda sat with me and talked about all sorts. They'd tried to invite me to parties but I always declined because my routine was more important but id never tell them that so I always told them my parents were against parties. 

Tyler snuck glances at me every so often, at the cafeteria and ap chemistry. He hadn't tried to say anything to me yet tho, which I was very grateful for. I wasn't sure how I'd react and I definitely didn't have half a mind for romance anymore.

Home was great. There was the peace I absolutely loved about my home. My sister seemed to stick with her new friend this time.

Before I knew it, the week was over, the weekend passed and it was Monday.

.

By 4 pm, I made my way to the gymnasium for the audition.  I was slightly nervous but only because of what happened the last time I tried. Though,  I knew it won't happen again, my subconscious still screamed.

When I entered the gymnasium, I saw a very pretty woman in her late twenties or early thirties sitting in the stands. She had wavy blond hair and was bobbing her head to the music in her hair. No one was around yet so I walked up to her to introduce myself.

"Hello, ma'am. I'm Lauretta. ", I said.

"Hey, Lauretta. Call me Rachel. ", she replied smiling.

I immediately liked her. Just then, students started coming in. Most of them were members of the squad already. I noticed about five that were from the last tryout.

The last people to come in were Sophia and Linda and immediately they spotted me, they walked over to me.

"We didn't know you'd be here.", Sophia said with an eyebrow raised.

"I wanted to try again after last time. You know I didn't really get a fair chance.", I said as innocently as possible. I knew it was risky to say that but I just hated how they pretended like nothing happened before this and we could all be bffs.

"Yeah.", Linda said with an awkward smile.

Just then, Miss Rachel stood up to address us.

"Hello everyone. I'm Rachel. I'm the new cheer instructor. Don't feel tense or awkward or shy. Just show me what you've got. That's all I need.", she said and ended with a warm smile.

One by one, everyone started performing.  Just like last time, they connected their phones to the speaker, played the songs of their choice and danced to them. This time, however, they were given the chance to complete their dance.

I danced third to last. Then Sophia, then Linda.

When we were all done, Miss Rachel applauded us and told us to give her a few minutes.

Nobody said a word. We all waited anxiously because, throughout the trials, she didn't show any emotion on her face. She only asked you for your name and wrote a few things down.

After about 2 minutes, she stood up and walked towards us.

"So, here, I have the names of those who would be part of the team. If I call your name, you're in."

My heart started beating fast as she called names.

About half of the former squad were in. 4 out of the people that can be tryout last time got in. Sophia and Linda got in.

Then, I heard my name. I was so happy. I tried so hard not to smile but I failed.

"I've also decided who the cheer captain is and that's Lauretta Bauer.", she said smiling warmly at me, "you were really great."

Whispers immediately filled the air. I was as shocked as everyone too. I didn't know what this meant. Either Linda and Sophia would hate me or respect me. And I had a feeling it was the latter.

Thank.you all so much for reading this chapter. Love you guys.

Tag for the chapter: HoomanTree