Page 85 of Something in Between

“Yeah, I’m good,” she says, but she has a faraway look in her eye. I realize that we haven’t talked about what happened at Lo’s party. I think she was embarrassed that Mason hit on her in front of Dylan.

It’s warm here. Sticky. We get to the hotel, which is less than a mile from Disney World, where the competition is taking place. We have a team meeting, then we go to the beach to relax. I scoop up some sand to put in a bottle for my collection. At practice the next day, the girls are nervous, but I tell them to have confidence.

We went to Nationals last year, but only came in third place. This time we have to win it all. “We’ve done everything possible,” I say at our final meeting just before we compete for the Universal Cheerleaders Association National High School Cheerleading Championships. “We’ve put in the time at practice. We’ve trained our bodies and perfected our moves as much as we can. It’s all a mental game now. You girls got this. I believe in you.”

Coach Davis doesn’t even have to talk. She simply steps back and watches us prepare. We begin our stretching routine as the other teams compete at the center of the auditorium. The girls are so focused on the moment that no one’s talking anymore. I keep my mind off everything except for my stunts and my girls.

After a few minutes of stretching, Coach tells us we’re next up to perform our routine. We all get up and check each other’s ponytails and shoelaces as the emcee announces Chatsworth High over the speaker system.

I yell at the girls, trying to pump them up. I briefly worry about Kayla, who’s kept to herself a bit on the entire trip. But when I catch her eye, she nods, determined, and I know she won’t let us down.

“You’re all champions. So act like it!”

The girls follow me onto the performance mats. Hundreds of people are watching us standing under the spotlights. We bow, tuck our chins toward our chests, waiting for the music. When the beats blast through the speakers, I count out our start.

We start off strong with our tumbling, hitting all our backflips and full twists. Our stunt sequence begins, and the bases pop us flyers up into perfect scorpions. Each group sticks their marks right on the beat. We fly through the rest of the routine—tumbling, cheering, stunting—with barely any mistakes. After the music ends, I can’t believe how well the girls have done. The entire audience gives us a standing ovation.

I know, even before they announce it over the loudspeakers at the end of the event, that we’ve won.

27

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.

—ALICE WALKER

I’M SO HAPPYI can’t even describe the feeling. There’s something about winning at a high level that leaves you both mentally exhausted and in euphoria somewhere over the cloud banks hovering on the edge of a sunset’s pink glow.

When I finally get home, I fall into my parents’ arms as they welcome me at the door. “We’re so proud of you, Jas!” I realize how lucky I am to have them. They know how hard I’ve worked.

In the hallway is the biggest bouquet of flowers I’ve ever seen. It’s from Royce, of course. I’m beaming as I read his card.

This national championship couldn’t have come at a better time for everyone. Even Lola Cherry is sweet and cheerful the next time she visits. And I can tell that Danny and Isko are proud of their cheerleader big sister.

It feels like my old confidence is finally returning. It’s different this time though. Before all of these problems happened, I thought I was perfect. I think I secretly thought I deserved more than anyone else, because I worked so hard. Now the confidence comes from knowing that I can get through anything with a little persistence and a lot of love from family and friends.

When I arrive at school on Monday, I start to realize how big my support group has gotten. We’re celebrating our championship with a rally in the gym, where we’re going to perform the winning routine. The entire school is in attendance. Chatsworth High has never won a national cheerleading championship, so everyone is really proud. Even the kids who look down on cheerleaders and think we’re just bimbos in short skirts. The band plays our school fight song. Everyone cheers for us.

Our cheer squad should have its own cheerleaders. Ha. I lead the girls to the middle of the floor to get ready for our performance. It’s so loud I can barely hear what Coach Davis is saying to us. When I take my position, I look up and see all of the school administrators, sports teams, and directors looking down at us. As Coach cues up the routine music, I yell out to the team.

“Kayla leads,” I shout. “She’s captain on this one!”

Kayla nods at me. She’s got her game face on. She’s focused and ready. Kayla signals for us to begin. We put all our heads down, waiting for the music to start.

That’s when I see Royce standing at the corner of the gym. He’d texted me the night before saying he would try to be there and my heart does that tumble-over thing it does when he’s around. Even though it’s been only a couple of days since we’ve seen each other, it feels like forever. He’s wearing the tie that I gave him for Christmas. He sees me see him and gives a little wave. I can’t wave back so I wink at him. Our song suddenly blasts out of the speakers. The entire gym goes crazy.

We start our routine. Everyone hits each mark, just like at Nationals, but you can tell we’re having more fun with the moves. We’re smiling big and doing little extra shimmies and adjustments to make the crowd happy. We’re finally home.

When the performance ends, the leadership crew has us gather around our trophy to have pictures taken while the DJ plays music for the students as they’re waiting. I stay still long enough for the photographer to get one picture, then I run through the dancing and singing students, searching for Royce. I try to spot him by looking for the flag on his tie, but I don’t see him anywhere. He’s already gone. I know he said he had to get to a tutoring session, but I wish we’d been able to say hi to each other. I’m glad he was here, but I wish he’d stayed.

* * *

My family decides to hold a celebration at our house after school the next Friday.

At the door, I show our guests where to kick off their shoes. Even though she would never say anything to a guest, Mom would kill me if I let people walk on the carpet with their shoes on. Last night I had to spend the whole evening with her, making sure the house was completely clean for the party. We trimmed the indoor bamboo plants and scrubbed the outside of the pots, dusted all of Dad’s elephant statue collection that has spread all over the house, and steam-vacuumed the carpets.

Chatting and laughing, Deandra, Anabel, Lexie, and Kayla place their shoes in pairs along the entryway. Since I know how much food Mom can cook when she invites a few of her lady friends over, I’m not as awed as everyone else when my teammates show up to the literal mountains of pancit, barbecue pork, lumpia, rice, and roasted vegetables. Even though there are a ton of us, Mom has made enough that I’m certain I’ll be begging guests to take some food home.

“Where are your brothers?” Mom asks me as she pulls a pan out of the oven. The girls are all gathered around the kitchen table talking to each other. “They’re supposed to be helping me.”

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