Rachel woke up twenty minutes earlier so she could dart into the bathroom before Sarah. She finished in the bathroom relatively quickly so she wouldn’t have to deal with her sister.
Rachel remembered that today was the big tryout, and she didn’t know what to wear. She didn’t know if she was supposed to wear her tryout clothes to school or change into them after school. Since she desperately wanted to wear her new Penney’s boyfriend jeans, she opted to bring a change of clothes for her tryout.
She recalled the flyer said, “Dress to Impress.” She didn’t know exactly what that meant. She thought for a moment, and pulled out a red spaghetti strap tank and blue cotton skirt. Her school colors were red, white and blue so she thought this would show her school spirit. Rachel also figured that all cheerleaders wore skirts, and she assumed that this must be what they meant by “dress to impress.” Rachel also packed a pair of black bicycle shorts to wear under her skirt in case it rode up doing a high kick.
Rachel threw the clothes into a small gym duffle, and headed downstairs for breakfast.
Rachel looked at the cereal on the table.
“Do we have anything besides Cheerios?” Rachel asked.
“I’m going to the Shop Rite today. What would you like Darling?” her mom asked.
“Golden Grahams and Fruity Pebbles!” Rachel said.
Rachel’s mom jotted that down on the grocery list she had stuck to the refrigerator door.
“Thanks Mom!” Rachel said with a smile. Rachel decided she should be nicer to her mom, since she’d been giving her an attitude lately.
After breakfast, Rachel hurried to the car so she could sit in the front. She tuned the radio to 104.7 Classic Rock. Sarah put her headphones in her ears and started humming loudly. Mark was sitting in the back, scribbling something in his notebook. Rachel figured he was probably doing his homework: he always waited until the last minute to do everything.
“Wild Horses” came on the radio. Rachel loved the Rolling Stones. The song made her think about the time she and her friends had gone on their overnight school trip to Washington, D.C. They played The Rolling Stones greatest hits album the whole way, sharing iPod headphones.
Rachel wondered why Dana had been so short with her last night: what could she have been doing? She was looking forward to chatting with Dana on the phone and couldn’t wait until after school so she could tell Dana how much she missed her and about her new life in Bedford, New York.
As Rachel hopped out of the car, she saw the different sports teams cheering and rallying with excitement. It was almost as if she had entered a pep-rally: the teams were all in their uniforms and handing out flyers trying to recruit the underclassman for their teams.
Rachel passed the soccer team and suddenly felt a longing to be part of a sports team again. Rachel had always been an athlete, but had also always secretly wanted to try out for cheerleading. Rachel didn’t really considered cheerleading to be a “sport,” but she wanted something different. Cheerleading in Pennsylvania wasn’t a very cool team to be part of, but now, alone and with no friends, Rachel wanted to keep her word to herself and try out. She didn’t know if cheerleading was cool in Bedford or not, but either way, it was worth a shot. What did she have to lose at this point?
Rachel passed the track, volleyball and then the cheerleading team. The girls on the cheerleading team looked immaculate: perfect hair, perfect make-up, perfect nails and perfectly-pressed uniforms.
Rachel ran her fingers through her hair. She knew she would need to put a brush through it and touch up her makeup before tryouts if she wanted any shot at making the team. For a moment, she thought joining the cheerleading team might be the perfect way for her to reinvent herself. She would become the person she’d always wished she could be.
Rachel walked slowly up to one cheerleader, who was handing out flyers and cheering, “Yay Yay AHS!” She didn’t notice Rachel, so Rachel put her hand out close to the stack of flyers she was holding. The cheerleader looked Rachel up and down and gave her a shrug. She then handed Rachel a flyer with a look of disapproval.
“See you at tryouts!” Rachel said in her peppiest voice. The cheerleader nodded and smirked back.
Rachel felt a rush of excitement thinking about her new life on the cheerleading team. She glanced over and took another quick look at the cheerleaders. She knew they were in the popular crowd and she could already see her big transformation from being a “nobody,” to being one of the coolest girls in school. She knew that if she made the cheerleading team, Rob would definitely notice her and maybe, just maybe, even like her. Rachel walked into room 102 a few minutes before the bell. She didn’t dare be late for the second day in a row. Mr. Allen noticed her and smiled, “On time today, nice work!” he said.
Rachel looked around the room: she saw an open seat next to the girl who’d smiled at her the day before. She sat down.
The girl was writing in her notebook and looked up.
“You’re the new girl, right?”
“Yes, Rachel.”
“I’m Emily,” Emily smiled back. “It’s crazy out there this morning. I dread tryout days-- too much ra ra and spunk for me.”
“Yeah, it’s a scene,” Rachel said.
Rachel worried that if Emily found out she was trying out for cheerleading she would hate her before she even got to know her.
“You’re not trying out for anything, are you?” Emily asked.
“Well, I was thinking about it.”
“For what? Track?” Emily asked, as she looked Rachel up and down.
“No, actually I was thinking cheerleading. I’ve always done sports, so I figure I’ll give this a try,” Rachel answered.
“Oh no! You? Cheerleading?” Emily looked at Rachel. “I don’t think you want to do that.”
Rachel shrugged in confusion. What could she be talking about?
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Emily finished.
The bell rang as Rob flew through the door and took the open seat next to Rachel. Her heart skipped a beat. He put his bag down on the floor, took out his notebook and pulled his sweatshirt over his head. Rachel couldn’t stop peaking at his sexy muscles. The guys in Pennsylvania weren’t buff by any standards, so this was a whole new thing for Rachel, and she liked it.
Mr. Allen began the morning by discussing last night’s reading assignment. Rachel raised her hand to answer the first question. She didn’t wan to seem like a know-it-all, but nobody else volunteered.
“I liked the story about Rosa Parks, because it was inspiring and showed how one woman can make a difference for the future of all African Americans. What was really interesting was how Rosa Parks civil disobedience started the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which helped lead to the equality of whites and blacks,” Rachel answered.
Mr. Allen was impressed by her answer. Having spoken up in class Rachel felt a surge of confidence. She knew the day was going to be better, and despite what Emily said, she was still looking forward to tryouts.
The bell rang and everyone popped out of their seats. Rachel’s cheerleading flyer fell out of her notebook and onto the floor.
Rob bent down and picked it up.
“Good luck,” Rob said as he handed Rachel back her flyer.
“Thanks,” Rachel said.
“I’m on the football team,” Rob said, smiling.
Rachel smiled and felt excited and nervous. She knew trying out was the right decision, especially now.
“See ya later,” Rob said, as he ran out of the room to catch up with his friends.
Rachel couldn’t believe it. Rob talked to her. Her mind spun with excitement. It was only second period, and already Rachel was having the best day. She figured that yesterday had been a fluke.
As the day went on, Rachel felt excited. She knew it was only a matter of hours before tryouts, and before she’d have a whole new group of friends.
During lunch, Rachel had to meet with her science teacher to go over the science club requirements. Sh
e always loved science and hoped to win the Intel Science Award one day. When Rachel finished her meeting, she only had a few minutes to quickly eat her PB&J sandwich she packed from home. She wouldn’t be caught dead again in the hot lunch line--not to mention her parents were appalled when Rachel told them it cost eight dollars for lunch. They said she was only going to bring her lunch from now on, and that eight dollars was way too expensive for them.
Towards the end of the school day, Rachel’s excitement turned into nervousness. What if the cheerleaders don’t like me? What if I’m not dressed right? What if I’m the only one trying out? So many scenarios streamed through her mind.
RING. The final bell.
Rachel rushed to her locker to gather her things, and headed straight for the girls’ locker room. She had fifteen minutes to change and get ready before the 3pm tryout.
As Rachel entered the locker room, she saw many girls changing and getting ready. Some were putting on sneakers, some cleats, and some were even changing into skates. She was surprised: she hadn’t realized AHS had an ice skating team.
She opened her duffle and pulled out her red tank and blue skirt. They were balled up, and she was mortified to see some yogurt had spilled on them.
She took the clothes over to the sink and tried washing them off with water and hand soap. Most of the yogurt came off, but now her clothes had big wet spots on them. Rachel had no other option but to put them on anyway.
When she looked in the mirror, she was horrified. She thought she looked ridiculous. She looked around and spotted a hand dryer at the end of the locker room and ran to dry her clothes off. As she stood there drying , she looked at her watch: three more minutes.
Rachel rubbed her clothes even quicker: they were mostly dry. She felt much better. She gave her hair a comb and touched up her blush and lip-gloss, and ran out of the locker room.
As Rachel ran up the stairs towards the gymnasium she tripped on her untied shoelace and fell on her ankle.
“OUCH!” she screamed.
Heads turned and looked. She quickly pulled herself together and slowly hobbled up the remaining stairs.
Rachel limped into the gym, her ankle still hurting and getting swollen. She wouldn’t let this stop her from trying out. She knew she had to suck it up and deal with the pain.
She looked around at all the girls waiting for tryouts to begin. They were all chatting and going over cheers. She saw a crowd of girls standing near the bleachers and did a double take: She couldn’t believe her eyes. Rachel was stunned to see Sarah standing there, with a group of seniors, waiting for cheerleading tryouts, too. They were stretching and practicing their high kicks.
What am I doing? Rachel thought to herself. I have no chance.
Anger filled Rachel’s body. She so desperately wanted to be part of this group, and now her sister was there, too. This wasn’t how Rachel had imagined this going in her head. Sarah had never expressed any interest in cheerleading before: she hadn’t been on the team in Pennsylvania either.
All of a sudden the team appeared in their uniforms, dancing, jumping, kicking and cheering. When they got to the center of the gym, they broke out into a dance routine, while the crowd cheered and clapped.
Rachel smiled. She suddenly felt excited again, envisioning herself doing that dance alongside the team.
When the team finished the dance, the captain stepped forward to welcome everyone. Rachel looked around: there must have been at least forty-five girls standing, waiting for their shot on the team.
“I’m Arielle, the captain this year! We are so excited for this season!” Arielle said as she did a high kick.
“It’s going to be the best yet. We have twelve open spots on the team, so good luck to each of you!”
“We need everyone to get into rows!” shouted Coach Glass.
The girls who were already on the team took their seats on the bleachers as Rachel, Sarah and the rest of the girls lined up in rows, staggering themselves.
Coach Glass explained how the tryouts were going to go: “Arielle, the captain, is going to lead you all in a cheer. She will do it once alone, then she will break it down step by step, then you will do it as a whole group, and then we will break you up into small groups to do the cheer for your tryout.”
Arielle took the floor and did an awesome routine. Rachel knew she would be able to do the dance, although there were a few tricky parts to it. Rachel had taken dance lessons as a child and didn’t consider herself to have two left feet.
Arielle started teaching the girls the routine step-by-step. Rachel picked it up rather quickly -- except her ankle was killing her. After she learned all the steps and the group did the cheer together it was time to be break down into small groups.
“Sarah, Rebecca, Katie and Jen!” shouted Coach Glass.
Rachel watched, as Sarah was in the first group to tryout. Sarah stood confidently in front and hit every move perfectly, and even added an extra high kick and a jump for added flair at the end.
The girls clapped as Sarah and her group walked off the floor. Sarah brushed by Rachel and said, “Hey, what are you doing here!”
“I came for the tryouts, too!”
“Really? But you always do sports,” Sarah said.
“I wanted a change,” Rachel answered.
“Well, good luck! I hope you make it!” Sarah said with a smile as she walked to the sidelines of the gym.
Rachel knew she had to make the team now. If Sarah made it and she didn’t, she knew she would be so upset.
“Rachel, Amanda, Jessie and Brynn, your turn!” Coach Glass said.
The music started and Rachel began the cheer. She was nervous and the pain in her ankle was almost unbearable. Rachel fumbled on one of the steps but pulled it together quickly. She hoped nobody noticed.
Rachel was riding high. She felt good about her tryout, and couldn’t believe after all that build up, the tryouts were over in a flash. Coach Glass thanked everyone for coming out and wished everyone good luck.
When the tryout was over, Rachel walked out of the gymnasium. She saw Rob coming off the football field and over to the water fountain.
“Hey,” Rob said. “New Girl. How’d tryouts go?”
“Great, I think!” Rachel said trying to sound enthusiastic. “My name is Rachel by the way.”
“Rob,” he said. “Cool, so welcome to AHS, where you from anyway?” he asked.
“Pennsylvania.”
“Whaddaya think so far?”
“It’s nice, different, but nice so far,” Rachel said.
“We should hang out sometime. I’ll show you around,” Rob said.
All of a sudden Arielle came over and gave Rob a hug. “Hey there,” she said. Arielle looked at Rachel with a scowl.
“Hey Arielle, gotta run, still in practice,” Rob said, as he darted back out the door onto the field.
As Rob got out of sight, Arielle looked at Rachel and said, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Huh?” Rachel said.
“Rob’s way out of your league,” Arielle said coldly.
Arielle walked back into the gym and gathered all the girls around her in a huddle. Rachel noticed a few of them turn their heads to look at her. They looked mean. She wondered if they were talking about her.
Rachel limped back down the stairs and into the girls’ locker room to change. A few minutes later, girls from the team started trickling in, too. As some of them walked by Rachel she heard them say, “that’s her.”
The girls all gave her dirty looks. One girl said, “That wasn’t smart.”
Rachel was scared. She didn’t do anything. Rob was the one that started talking to HER.
As Rachel walked upstairs to leave school for the day, she saw Sarah on a bench with her new friends. Sarah noticed Rachel and waved her over.
“How do you think it went?” Sarah asked.
Rachel didn’t want to tell Sarah what had just happened in the locker room. Rachel knew tha
t the girls on the team hated her and worried that it might affect her getting on the team.
“Not sure… OK, I guess,” Rachel answered.
“I’m going to hang here for a while, tell Mom I’ll be home later,” Sarah said.
Rachel dialed her mom who was already on her way over to pick her up.
“How’d it go Rach?” her mom asked when she picked up the phone.
“Fine, I think. Did you know Sarah was trying out, too?”
“Yes, she mentioned it to me yesterday. I hope both of you girls make the team. It would be so much fun to see you both cheering at the football games this season,” her Mom added.
“Okay, see you when you get here,” Rachel said as she hung up.
Rachel stood on the curb and waited for her mom to arrive. She overheard one of the cheerleaders tell another that “The List” would be posted on the bulletin board outside the girls’ locker room in the morning.
When Rachel got home, she ran upstairs to her room. She couldn’t wait to tell Dana about her day. She picked up her cell and dialed Dana, but she didn’t answer.
The voicemail picked up, “Hey, you’ve reached Dana, I’m out leave a message at the beep.”
“Hi Stranger,” Rachel said. “I have BIG news. Call me ASAP. I miss you, bye.”
Rachel waited all night for Dana to call back but she didn’t. She fell into a fitful sleep, wondering if maybe they weren’t as good of friends as Rachel had thought.
Chapter Six