Page 12 of Why We Break

We make small talk for a few more minutes before I ask, “You ready to try your hand at this thing?”

“Heck yeah. Let’s swap,” he agrees, rising from the buddy seat and waiting for me to slide over.

I look at the small space and stand, having to press my front to his as I try to maneuver myself into the small space. I’m pretty tall, and I’ve grown used to towering over all my friends, but Will is well over six feet, so he still towers over me. I imagine how it would feel to curl up in his lap as he drives, before shaking my head at the ridiculous turn my thoughts just took.

I settle into the seat and feel myself blush as he grazes against me, taking his place in the main cab seat. “Okay, let’s see if I’ve got this… We’re gonna push the clutch, shift gears, and let off—shit that wasn’t right,” he says as the tractor groans and shuts off. “What the hell did I do wrong?”

“Remember what I said about letting off the clutch slowly? That was still a little quick. Just try again,” I tell him.

After a few moments, he gets it going and re-engages the PTO to start cutting again. “So, this hay we’re cutting. What do we do next?” he asks, looking between me and the field.

“Well, we let it dry out for the next day or two, then we’ll come back through with the tetter and fluff it, then we’ll get the baler after it,” I explain, relieved we’re talking about something other than me.

“Damn, I don’t think I realized how many steps were involved in this whole process. I guess we have our work cut out for us this summer, huh?”

“Yeah, there’s a ton of shit we need to cross off the list before I leave Gramps alone again,” I say, already dreading how much work lies ahead of us over the next eight weeks.

“Good thing I don’t mind the company,” Will says, looking over at me with a wink.

Damn, I guess the next few weeks might be more eventful than I planned.

CHAPTER 11

HANNAH

“One, three, five, seven. One, three, five, seven. One!” I count as the squad hits the final stunt formation the next day at practice. The girls cheer as they dismount from their stunts, and Caroline and I smile at each other as we watch their excitement.

“Great job, girls! That’s what we need to see!” Caroline calls out.

“Yes! That was great! But since we all know there will be tons of alumni on campus this Friday for the Homecoming game, we want to be sure we show them our best. Let’s run it a few more times to make sure everyone’s ready to go,” I say, feeling a rush of pride at the girls in front of me. Coaching isn’t something I ever thought I’d do, but this rush of pride never seems to go away as I watch the squad work toward a new routine or stunt.

The girls start to line up to run it again, and I step over to grab my phone and cue up the music again. After making sure they’re set, I hit play and grin as “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons starts to blare through the speakers. Caroline and I continue counting as the squad flips, dances, and moves to the final stunt formation. I fight the urge to jump up and down as Maggie, our captain and center flyer, executes a perfect full down and reloads back to a lib to end the routine.

“Gosh, that’s gonna look so good when we add it to our competition routine,” Caroline says as we clap for the girls again.

“Right? Especially when we add in the pyramid sequence too,” I say, my excitement evident as the squad gets set to run it again.

“Okay, girls! One more run! Make sure we’re hitting those motions hard,” Caroline yells out.

“And big smiles too!” I add before hitting play on Caroline’s phone one more time.

The girls execute everything perfectly again, and I smile as I watch their confidence grow each time they run the routine.

As soon as they dismount, the girls move to sit at our feet, and Caroline starts going through our announcements for the day. “Great practice today, girls. We’ll run this and the rest of the pep rally line up again at practice on Thursday, but as long as you all bring it again, we won’t be here too long. Don’t forget that we also have the parade Friday morning, so we need to put the finishing touches on our float by then too. I’ve talked to Coach Will, and he’s agreed to let us park the trailer at the field for the next few days so we can work on it there after school. Hannah, do you want to go over the items we’re still missing?”

I check my phone for the list of items I made during my planning before saying, “Well, we have the majority of it done, but we have a few holes in the background we pomped last week at practice, and we need to make a few signs for us to hold. Maggie, you signed up to bring blue and white tissue paper, and Suzie, you said you have some posters, right?”

Both girls nod in agreement, and Caroline smiles. “Great. Plan to meet me at the field tomorrow then. Make sure you check the group text this week too, because I’ll be posting all the info on uniforms and everything else. Mrs. Smith from the Homecoming committee also mentioned they may need our help with some other duties over the next few days.”

She’s met with a chorus of “yes ma’am’s” and “sounds good” before we nod to Maggie to signal the end of practice. The squad gathers around her and she calls out “One, two, three, Saints on me! One, two, three…”

The girls and I yell back “Saints” before everyone moves to grab their things and leave.

As the rest of the girls make their way to the door, Maggie hangs back before asking, “Hey, do the two of you have a second to talk to me?”

Both Caroline and I smile at her encouragingly before responding, “Of course, what’s going on?”

“Well, you know it’s my senior year, and I’m really hoping to cheer in college. I’d originally planned on Crestview University, but my dad and I toured a few schools last month, and I’m just not sure. But some programs are like really competitive. So I was wondering if you’re still willing to help me train? We talked about it earlier in the season, but I’m just making sure you both still have time. I just want to make sure I’m ready for tryouts in the spring. I know y’all both have like a ton on your plate, but my dad doesn’t really know anything about the sport, and I can’t drive to a gym in Crestview and make practices too,” she explains in a rush.

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