Learning to Fly (TNT Force Cheer #1)

by Dana Burkey

  “I’m so glad you came!” she grinned, giving me a side hug as soon as I sat down. I didn’t know if I should hug her back since it was only the second time I was meeting her. Thankfully the moment was over before I could worry too much.

  “So what’s going on?” I asked, gesturing to the sea of people all sitting down around us.

  “People are still arriving but then we’ll be getting started,” Lexi explained as Halley scooted over to sit with us as well. “The coaches always start the open gym days by telling people about the gym and welcoming everyone. It helps new people, like you, to know what all is going on and who TNT is and everything.”

  “And then during the gym time the coaches will talk to the new parents,” Halley added. “Is your mom here?”

  “My dad,” I said simply.

  “Perfect,” Halley went on. “The coaches will give him all the important info in case you want to stay on at the gym or if he has questions or something.”

  I had a mass of questions of my own building up in my head, but thankfully before I could open my mouth to start asking them, a guy in the now-familiar TNT shirt stood up and clapped his hands. It was a weird rhythm, and when he was done, everyone around me did the same series of claps back and then got quiet.

  “Awesome job everyone, and welcome to TNT Force!” Everyone cheered in reply, making him pause a moment before continuing. “My name is TJ and I am one of the owners and head coaches here at TNT Force. If you haven’t been to the gym before, I want to welcome you and thank you for coming. We are always looking for new faces here, and welcome athletes of all skill levels. Although we have some spots on a few of our All Star teams, today is all about fun. We want to encourage everyone to try a new skill. Maybe it’s just a cartwheel, or maybe you're working on a full. Either way, don’t hesitate to ask for help. Everyone on our coaching team have staff shirts on, and will be wandering around to see all your cool tricks. The tumbling mats are open, as well as the trampolines and foam pits, and then Tonya will be teaching a dance routine over on mat 4 if anyone in interested in trying some new skills in that area. We have water and snacks in the viewing room, and if you have any questions please let us know. But for now, you guys have some fun and see what new skills we can work on today!”

  With that, all of the kids sitting on the mat stood up and began moving around the room. They took off to run and bounce and flip, all while talking and laughing and generally seeming like they were at home in the gym. I, on the other hand, stood up slowly, not really sure how to proceed. I wasn’t sure if I should go run and flip around like I had at the trampoline park where I first met Halley and Lexi, or if I needed to do something else first. Apparently, sensing my worry, Halley came to my rescue.

  “If you want to we can go try some stuff, or we can take you to meet Nicole,” Halley suggested. “Nicole is the head coach of our team and she can probably help you work on some of the stuff we were trying the other day.”

  I shrugged and nodded, not sure what to say. I didn’t know if I was agreeing to going to see Nicole, or if I was agreeing to try new things. Either way, Halley and Lexi took the lead and headed towards a woman who was standing near the bulk of parents chatting. Her curly red hair was pulled up into a ponytail, complete with a solid black glittery bow. She was tall and thin, but still very muscular. As she turned and flashed the three of us a big smile that lit up her green eyes, instantly I got the feeling she was once a cheerleader herself, possibly not all that long ago.

  “You must be Maxine,” she smiled at me.

  “Max,” I corrected her automatically.

  “I’m Nicole,” she said holding out her hand to me, clearly missing my correction. “Halley and Lexi told me about meeting you the other day. They said you have a lot of potential.”

  “She learned how to do a kick full into the foam pit in like 10 minutes,” Lexi said with a big grin.

  “I don’t think I could have done it without the foam,” I explained, suddenly feeling like I was on the spot.

  “A kick full is pretty impressive any way you slice it,” Nicole assured me. “Your dad called to get some information about the gym yesterday, but said he wasn’t sure if you would be coming by. I’m glad you made it in the end.”

  I was a little shocked to hear that my dad had called the gym, but it made sense at the same time. Part of me was a little annoyed that my dad was going around trying to plan my visit to the gym without checking with me first, but after our heart to heart the night before, I knew he was just trying to help me try something new that my mom would have wanted me to try. The thought made me wonder if Nicole knew my mom was dead. I quickly pushed that aside and instead listened as Nicole started telling me more about the gym.

  “I don’t know if Lexi and Halley told you,” she began, “but they are on a junior level 3 cheer team here at the gym. They do some of the running, tumbling and basic flips, and also some stunting where they lift and toss people in the air. I think it would be great to have you work on some of the skills they do so you can see what they work on here at the gym. Greg can help you ladies out so Maxine is learning good technique on everything. He’s over on mat 1 right now.”

  Looking where she pointed, I saw a guy wearing the matching black gym shirt. He had cut the sleeves cut off and even from across the room I could see his muscles. It struck me as odd, a cheerleader having big muscles. Then again I was quickly learning that my ideas of cheerleading were a bit off from reality. After I thanked Nicole, I walked with Lexi and Halley towards Greg. As we got closer, I could tell that Greg had to be at least six feet tall, and had a layer of black stubble on his face that matched his short black hair. Why someone who looked like him would be in a cheer gym was quite confusing to me.

  “She’s the one we told you about,” I heard Lexi telling Greg once I finally took my focus off of his appearance. “I bet she could land a full in no time.”

  “Well why don’t we start with something a little easier,” he said before turning to me. “I’m Greg. I’m the tumbling coach here at TNT.”

  “I’m Max,” I explained while shaking his hand. “I’ve never tried tumbling until the other day at the trampoline park.”

  “From what I heard you’ll be great in no time,” he smiled. “But we can start nice and easy and go from there. We’ll see what you can do and build up the difficulty little by little.”

  Greg wasn’t kidding when he said we were going to start easy. He had me do some cartwheels and roundoffs, without really running before them. I expected Halley and Lexi to leave while I worked on the basics, but they did the moves along with me or would encourage me about pointing my toes or moving my arm a certain way. It helped me be more balanced in my motions, and before long Greg had me take a running start into the moves. The extra momentum made me land then pop up a little off the ground. I was afraid I was doing it wrong, but Greg explained I was doing just what he wanted me to.

  “When you bounce up from the roundoff this time, tuck your legs up and give them a little hug before you bring them down to land,” he said. I wasn’t sure if I understood what he was saying, but Lexi showed me once before I tried.

  The move felt silly, giving my legs a hug before landing back on the ground. But, once I had tried it a few times and got good air, as Greg called it, he started having me go into a handstand after I tried a cartwheel. I would land and then turn my body and plant both of my hands on the group and flip my body over to land flat on a thicker mat that Greg had dragged over for the new move. After I tried the move a few times, he also had me push off with my arms before falling over, and it made it so I could almost stand up after the move. Seeing that after one final attempt, Greg took me over to what he called an air mat and had me try everything again. And it was crazy. I was able to actually flip my body around and bounce high enough to not only land after a cartwheel, but I was able to get a lot of air under me when I hugged my legs after the roundoff. Enough air, in fact, that Greg said it was time to try something a
little harder. Up until that point, I wasn’t sure how all the moves would work together for me to do something more exciting, but even in the short time working with Greg, I trusted him.

  As Greg started talking me through doing a back handspring and also a backflip, or a back tuck as he called it, I noticed my dad was talking to TJ and Nicole. He was holding a few pages of paper and looked really pleased about something. I was feeling excited as well, but not for the same reason it seemed. The idea of being able to do cool tricks without the need for a trampoline was the exciting part for me. My dad, on the other hand, was excited for a reason I could only guess at that moment. Trying not to think or worry about it, I started following all the instructions Greg was giving me. He would hold an arm on my back as I was bending this way and that, supporting my weight easily. He also had me try to lean really far back over a mat that looked like a big wheel of cheese with a little part missing. It was weird, but helped me to go backwards and land on my hands without feeling like I was just falling the whole time.

  Lexi and Halley gave me a lot of help with the cheese wedge thing. I didn’t like how it felt under my body, but they showed me how to work with it, instead of against it. After Halley showed me how she uses it, I tried it myself and found it really easy to do the motion. Greg had me start trying it without the wedge, but only kicking one foot over at a time. It helped me to push off, but I couldn’t always quite flick my feet over and around to land on the ground again. Finally, Greg took away the cheese wedge and had me try it with a little support from him. I made it around easily on the first time, my feet almost staying together for the whole move.

  “That was awesome!” Halley announced, jumping up and down while clapping her hands together.

  “Let’s try it again,” Greg said with a smile. Much like me, he clearly wanted to make sure me landing the move wasn’t a fluke.

  I took a deep breath to calm down my excitement and then once again flung my body backwards as Greg had been showing me. As my hands found the mat, I pushed as I threw my legs behind me. Before I knew it, I was standing up on my feet having completed the move. As I landed it, I noticed that Greg wasn’t even standing next to me anymore. Instead, he was a good three steps away. It meant that I was on my own for that one, so if I had fallen or messed up at all, he wouldn’t have been able to help me. But that didn’t matter much. I landed it perfectly with my legs together for the whole motion. Once I stood up, not only did Halley and Lexi yell and shout in excitement for me, they also ran closer and gave me a big hug. Much like when I was hugged earlier, I didn’t know what to do and more or less froze. I was worried it would offend the girls, but they didn’t seem to notice.

  “Not bad there Max,” Greg interrupted, giving me a high five. “Want to try something a little harder?”

  After landing the back handspring and then eventually a back tuck, Greg decided to take things up a few notches. He had me combine the running into a roundoff with a back handspring and then also try to take a roundoff into a back tuck. It only took me a dozen or so tries to get each of the moves down, and by the time I finished both of them, I noticed I was attracting a little bit of a crowd. Lexi and Halley explained that most of the girls sitting to watch were on their cheer squad, but none of their names stuck in my brain. I wasn’t trying to be rude and not learn their names or anything, I was just much more focused on the tricks Greg was teaching me.

  “So you landed a full into a foam pit the other day?” Greg asked me after I had landed a roundoff back handspring back tuck. I nodded in reply. “Why don’t we try the roundoff into a full this time?”

  “Okay,” I shrugged, moving to start right away.

  “Hold on,” Greg laughed. “I need to spot you on this one.”

  “But it’s not that hard,” I commented. “I tried it into my pool a few times the other day so I think I should be able to land it.”

  “I’ll only spot the first time,” Greg compromised. “How about that?”

  With a smile I nodded and waited for him to get into place. Once he was standing where I would end up throwing the full, I took off and did the roundoff. When my feet hit the ground I pushed off as hard as I could and flipped by body backwards while also twisting it around as I had when I was at the trampoline park. Once I was in the air my body tried to do the motions I had been practicing at home but it was like things weren’t quite connecting. I starting to tip a lot farther to the side than I meant to and knew I was going to hit the ground on my side. That was when Greg caught me and helped me stand up. I felt embarrassed and like a total idiot until someone speaking grabbed my attention.

  “Was that your first try today?” I turned and was surprised to see TJ standing and watching with the group of girls that had gathered next to the blue mat. When I nodded a grin spread across his face. “Your dad said you’re 12, is that right?”

  “I turn 13 in January,” I said, suddenly feeling nervous talking in front of the crowd that was still watching me.

  “Why don’t you ladies get back to work,” TJ quickly said to the girls all sitting at the edge of the mat, obviously picking up on my nerves. “And Maxine, I would really love to see you try that full again.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief as the girls all scattered, heading to try different tricks they were working on before they started to spread word of me doing a full. Halley and Lexi stayed when I asked them to, and walked with me to get a drink of water before I decided to try the move again. I noticed TJ and Greg watching me while chatting with each other, but tried not to let it stress me out too much. When I headed back to the mat, I tried the full three more times before I was landing it almost every time. I still needed the help from Greg, but after that, I also showed TJ the other moves I had been working on like the back handspring and back tuck.

  “So you’ve really never done any cheerleading or gymnastics before today?” he asked me after inviting me to sit down. He was doing some stretches and I quickly caught on that he wanted me to do them as well. I was surprised to see he was really flexible, and much like Nicole, I assumed he must have been a cheerleader once too. He was almost as tall as Greg, although not as muscular. But, he still looked strong, especially thanks to his angular face. His strong face was only accented by dirty blond hair that was sticking up in a very organized chaos.

  “I had a trampoline at my house in Florida,” I explained. “I would try different tricks on it, but I’d never even seen a full or any of the running and tumbling stuff until I met Lexi and Halley.”

  “You’re very flexible,” he commented, seeing that I was able to reach just as far on the various stretches we were trying as Lexi. Halley was also doing them with us, but I noticed that she didn't seem to be able to reach her arms as far forward as we could or move the way we were moving on certain stretches. He started to make the stretches harder and harder, or at least I assumed they were supposed to be harder. Halley eventually gave up, but Lexi and I were able to both do the moves almost identically. The moves looked a little more effortless when she tried them, but then again, I got the feeling it wasn’t the first time she was trying them.

  TJ stood up then and continued taking us through a few stretches. Halley once again wasn’t able to do the stretches quite as far as Lexi and I were managing. I wasn’t sure if it meant that I was really flexible, or just more flexible than her. Or at least I wasn’t sure until Lexi started doing some much harder stretches at TJ’s instruction. She started by grabbing her foot and then holding it out in front of her. Her right leg was up in the air like she had kicked it, but she held onto it so it was in place as she balanced on her left leg. The move looked really hard to me, but when I brought my leg up and tried to hold it, I realized it was pretty easy. Balancing was harder than I thought it might be, but after a little wiggling around on my standing foot, I was able to hold the pose. When Lexi moved her leg out to the side then, I did the same, barely having to strain my muscles at all.

  This continued for a while. Lexi would pull h
er body around in all kinds of different moves, holding her foot up by her head for most of them. I would try them as well, often not getting them right on the first try due to my balance being off. But then, once I was able to stand a little more firmly, I would hold the same move as Lexi. Trying my hardest to copy her body positioning, I was surprised to see that I was able to stay in each of the poses without feeling any pain or strain. At first I didn’t know to pay attention to these things, but TJ asked me about any muscle pull or pressure and I realized then that although the moves were odd for me, they weren’t difficult at all.

  “Thanks Lexi,” TJ finally said after a really weird move where I used one hand to hold my foot up by my head while I made the other cross the leg that was in the air. “Why don’t you and Halley get some water.”

  They walked away then, and I allowed my eyes to sweep around the room. There were only a few people still working around the room, most of the people having cleared out. It seemed odd, but then I saw a clock near the door. Over 3 hours had passed since I arrived at the gym with my dad. In the quick look around, I noticed that the people that were still there didn’t seem at all interested in me. They were working intently on their own moves, clearly members of other teams in the gym. That realization made me aware of the fact that I was likely the only person who showed up at the gym for the first time and still hadn’t left. The open gym, after all, was only supposed to be from noon until 2pm.

  “Maxine, I have to say you impressed me today,” TJ said, drawing my attention.

  “Max,” I replied instantly.

  “Yes, Max, sorry,” he said with a smile. “Max, what you did today was remarkable. I have met girls and even guys that can’t do that kind of tumbling after months of practice, and you figured out how to do them all in just a few hours. And you’re more flexible than a lot of girls here at the gym. Are you sore from anything you worked on today?”

  “Not really,” I said with a shrug. “That last move was weird though.”