Okay, new day, new plans. First, a new hairdo. No more long and loose locks to get snagged in lockers for me. No, I'm switching over to a ponytail. It would help for my second task on the to-do list anyway—to make it into the cheerleading squad.

I have been trying to get in the squad since eighth grade and ever since then, I could never get in. Why you might ask? It's not because I wasn't good enough. Every year when it was time for the coach to pick a new captain, she always picked Karen, which meant that she could pick the team members which meant that I had no chance as long as she was captain. But this year I was keeping my hopes up. The coach had to pick a new captain. She couldn't pick Karen for the fourth year in a row. But before I had to deal with that drama, I had to deal with the golden boys again.

I headed straight for my new locker to drop off my books before the first period. Jules had gone to sign us up for the cheer squad and I was alone. You'd think I'd have noticed if a golden boy walked right up to me but I was so engrossed in thinking about the cheer squad that I didn't.

"Thea." I jumped and looked up. Matteo had just called my name and was standing in front of me. I blinked wondering if he was real. I mean, why would he talk to me again? I had nothing more to do with him after yesterday.

"Me?" I asked, somewhat stupidly. He gave a faint smile and spoke.

"Yeah, you. That's your name, isn't it?"

"Er yeah..." Okay, that was stupid, asking if he was talking to me when he said my name.

"Why did you change your locker?" he asked. Wow, that was short and to the point.

"I—my—" I wasn't sure how to answer. I couldn't tell him the truth but how could I evade him? The guy was staring me down with big brown confused eyes!

And then I realized, it was none of his business.

"Why do you care?" I asked. He fell back a little, as though I'd slapped him or something.

"It's just that—you've had that locker since freshman year. Don't tell me you changed it because of that little accident yesterday?" he raised his eyebrows at me. I felt the words get caught in my throat again. Why was he putting me in these situations?

"Even if I did, I don't think it concerns you," I said, turning my gaze away from him.

"Actually, it does. Because you traded with Karen Kensington and I'm not comfortable with the fact," he said. I frowned. Why wouldn't he be comfortable? He had the girl who worshiped the ground he walked on right next to him. Shouldn't he be enjoying that?

"I thought you'd like having your number one fan close to you," I said, turning around and facing him again.

"I—argh." He gave a little groan and punched the wall nearby in frustration. "Look, would you mind switching back? I don't want to have a locker next to Karen. Please." He sounded so desperate when he said 'please' that I almost wavered. But I couldn't. Because I couldn't bear to have a locker next to him.

"I'm sorry but I don't want to go back to that locker," I said and began to walk away. He persisted after me.

"Thea, please." Whoa, where did that come from? I felt sort of tingly at his voice.

"I'm sorry, but I can't," I said and turned away. I heard him sigh and I felt funny inside. Like a giant rock fell in my chest. Was I—guilty?

~

For the rest of the day, I put the matter out of my mind. In English, I glanced at Matteo curiously to see if he'd gotten over it. To my surprise, he was sitting with folded arms in his chair, earphones in his ears and his eyes closed. He might have been on a bus and not in class for all he knew, which was a ridiculous thought because the golden boys all drive expensive sports cars and have never even been on a bus.

Pierce, seated behind him, saw me staring and mouthed 'eyes front' to me. I rolled my eyes and looked away. I guessed that's all there was to it. From now on, I was going to maintain zero contact with the golden boys. Unfortunately, Shane Baxendale didn't seem to want that.

After rejecting Shane yesterday, I thought he wouldn't think twice about me again. But when gym class came, he played the hero rescuing a damsel in distress—me.

"He may be cocky, but he sure knows how to flex those muscles," Jules told me as we were stretching in the corner. I followed her gaze wondering who she was talking about. Shane was swinging on the ropes through the gym like Tarzan, wearing a sleeveless shirt and shorts, his lightly tanned arm muscles rippling as he moved.

"Ripped and rugged." I heard Jules mutter in awe.

"Yeah well, it might impress some girls, but not me," I said curtly. Honestly, that sort of stuff didn't have any effect on me. It just showed that the guy was superficially trying to impress girls—and most of the girls were impressed by it, simpering and fawning over him when he came down.

"Ugh, show off," I mumbled. I turned to the rope I was supposed to climb.

"Let's get this over with and go change after this. I don't want to be late for tryouts," I told Jules who was still on the ground.

"What are we going to do if Karen cuts us out again?" she asked.

"I'm gonna—ungh—force my way—ungh—into that squad—ungh—no matter what today!" I grunted as I climbed up.

"I'll make a banner saying 'don't be biased' and I'll wave it around if Karen brings out her drama," Jules said determinedly.

"Good—ungh—idea. If we get the coach's attention—EW!" I gasped as my hand touched something slimy and sticky at the top of the rope. Whatever it was, it greased my hand and I no longer had traction to hold onto the rope. I frantically tried to grip it but in vain—I slipped!

"Oh no... Ahh!" I slid down the rope screaming, free-falling from a height of twelve feet.

"Thea!" I heard Jules cry. I braced myself expecting to hit the safety mat with a painful bump at Jules' feet, but I felt myself firmly caught in someone's arms instead. The next moment I found myself cradled in Shane's arms, pressed against his chest.

"Hello, gorgeous," he said, smiling at me. I gave a strangled sort of sound in shock. What the heck was he doing, carrying me?!

"Whoa, easy there, sugar," he said as I hurried to scramble to my feet, "you had quite a fall there. You alright?" I glanced at him, torn between irritation at getting his attention and gratitude for catching me—landing on the mat would have been more painful and left me in no condition to try out for cheerleading later.

"I'm fine, thank you," I said, curtly. Boy, what was wrong with me? I sounded so obnoxious! But I couldn't help it. I had just been the victim of a silly prank and—I forgot to check my hand. Examining it closely now, I realized the slimy stuff was maple syrup.

"Thea, what happened?" Jules asked, clutching my shoulder.

"Slipped... someone painted the top of the rope with maple syrup," I said angrily. I heard animated whispers from the watching girls nearby and groaned inwardly. Oh great, another incident where I got tangled up with a golden boy. More gossip for the grapevine.

"Let's get out of here," I mumbled, dragging Jules with me out of the gym. To my annoyance, Shane followed.

"Hey, are you sure you're okay?" he asked me, sounding unnecessarily concerned.

"I'm fine, just leave me alone, okay?" I said, more rudely than I intended. He stopped and simply stared after us.

"If you're sure..." I heard him say slowly. No, I was not fine. My pride was hurt, I was embarrassed at falling and irritated with myself for not being more grateful to Shane—why was it so hard for me to be nice to the golden boys? I was also super mad at whoever put maple syrup on the rope.

"I wonder who did it..." Jules voiced out my thoughts. "You don't think—it could have been Karen attempting to sabotage your chances at tryouts, do you?" she asked me, her eyes going wide. I scowled at the thought.

"Even if it was her, nothing she does is gonna stop me from trying out."

~

I managed to persuade Jules to sit on the third-floor staircase while we ate lunch so that I could avoid people—after that gym accident, I didn't want to be a showpiece and object of gossip in the cafeteria.

We headed out to the field for tryouts later after classes all dressed up in the cheerleading uniform—a sexy two-piece full-sleeve fitting blouse and skirt in a light mauve color with black and white stripes, speckled with glittery stars. Jules thought we were 'rockin' it'. Coach always liked girls who took initiative and showed up in uniform like they meant business so we went for it and bought ourselves the threads. We had our flash drive with the songs we were going to dance to and were all ready.

We stepped out on the field, our ponytails swinging with swagger—yeah, I thought we were pretty cool. We were confident and we were gonna nail this.

The field was pretty well-occupied with jocks practicing football and a bunch of track racers jogging along the track. Near the stands was where the cheer tryouts were taking place.

"Ugh, didn't think there were gonna be losers at this tryout." Karen's snide comment rang out loud through the air as we approached. Jules glared at her, But before she could say anything, Coach called us to place.

"Okay girls, tryouts begin now. Give me your hundred and twenty percent and nothing less!" She blew her whistle and Karen stepped forward—of course she had to go first.

She did do a good routine though, I had to admit. She was flexible and had just the right amount of suggestiveness in her hip pops and leg splits. No wonder the coach always picked her.

"Alright, Ashley, you're up next—" Coach stopped when her phone rang. She picked it up and turned away to talk.

"You know, we might just have a chance this year," Jules said hopefully. I nodded, idly watching the group of track runners pass by, Pierce among them. He caught me looking and winked jauntily at me. I blinked and looked away. What a flirt, who does he think he is?

"Wow, that was an awesome catch," Jules said with awe. I turned and saw her attention fixated at the end of the football field on a figure lying on the ground clutching the football—it was Matteo. I shook my head and turned to Coach. I couldn't afford to get distracted by the golden boys now.

"Alright, looks like you girls are on your own," Coach said, backing away. "Sophomores are having a softball emergency and I need to be there. Karen, you're still the captain, right? I'll leave you in charge."

"Nooo!" I actually howled out loud in dismay as Coach walked away. Karen smirked at us.

"Looks like you'll have to go through me, beotches," she said cuttingly. Jules made an angry noise and tightened her fist to hit her.

"Why you little—"

"Whoa, don't do it, Jules, she's trying to get us riled up so she'll have a reason to cut us out!" I said, holding her back. Jules's face went red with rage, but she clamped her lips shut. Karen clapped her hands.

"Okay, bravo! Keep that up and you might be trained enough to enter the zoo!" Karen was deliberately trying to irk us, no doubt. "Now who should we have—"

"Will you cut the speeches, Karen? We've wasted enough time and I think Thea and Jules should get a chance to show their routines," Ashley said. I smiled gratefully at her.

"Yeah, the rest of us have already made the team. Give them a chance. Coach isn't going to drop any of us old hands," Jenny said. Karen rolled her eyes but yielded—with bad grace.

"Fine, You have five minutes. Dazzle me, if you're capable of it," Karen said to us in a scornful voice. I let Jules go first. She danced to Kelly Clarkson's 'Stronger' and I cheered her on.

"Whooo! Go, Julie!" I cheered her on. Some of the track runners stopped and watched and soon everyone on the field drew near in interest. A few boys whistled at her flips and somersaults, and the crowd broke out in applause at the end. I clapped hard—she really did an awesome job.

"That was—passable, at best," Karen said, sounding bored. "Next!" I took a deep breath, trying not to let my nervousness overtake me. A lump formed in my throat when I saw Matteo, Shane, and Pierce stop right near the front of the group to watch. I swallowed.

Focus, I told myself. I can't get distracted by them. I have nothing to do with them.

"Er, we're waiting," Karen said impatiently. I changed the song and got into position grabbing the pom-poms. The beat from Carly Rae Jepsen's 'I didn't just come here to dance' blared from the speaker. And then, I was free. The music took over and I forgot everything. My body knew what to do. The movements came easy to me just as I'd practiced—the heel stretch, then spin, then the scorpion, spin again, arabesque, high V before a jump and a toe touch, a lot of arm-shooting, hip-pops, and finally the run and tuck jump, landing in a perfect split, pom-poms in the air and a smile on my face. That felt so liberating. I was surprised when the crowd started hooting and whistling—and clapping! Jules was shrieking madly in excitement, jumping beside me.

"That was amazeballs! There's no way she won't let you join the team now," she squealed over the applause.

"Please, you call that a cheer routine? That was so pathetic!" Karen's cutting voice hushed the crowd. I turned to her blankly.

"What?" I asked, stunned.

"I said, that was PATHETIC! It was so lame! You barely showed any energy, the jumps were weak, and it looked like a sloth was waking up from hibernation. You're a terrible cheerleader," Karen's voice rang in my ears, rattling me. She had said that in front of everyone. Murmurs arose from the crowd. Hot tears of humiliation burned in my eyes. That's it! I had to stand up for myself, I had to say something. Karen's been doing this to me for years! And suddenly, all my rage spilled out.

"You know what Karen? Screw off! I am sick of your petty remarks and the fact that you always cut me off! I know you're the one behind the rope incident in the gym today. And you know what? I know why you did it. It's because you feel so threatened by me! Well, you can keep your cheer squad! I'm not joining! If you can't acknowledge that other people with school spirit want to support our school's athletes, fine! But I wouldn't be caught dead in a squad with you!" I ranted out in front of everyone and threw my pom-poms at her. She squealed as they hit her and she gaped at me speechless. She clearly didn't expect me to fight back. Well, I said what I had to, mostly without thinking. I turned and stomped back to school before anyone could see me crying. I needed to be alone.

🌹

You enjoying so far? Don't be shy, drop your thoughts! Even if you hate Karen, share it 😂. Shh, don't tell anyone but she was actually inspired by a real bully back when I was a kid. Yep, I've been bullied. Now they serve as characters in my stories.😌

Things are about to get more exciting, you ready?