by Dana Burkey
If the silence before I mentioned my dad was awkward, then the silence that followed the comment about my mom was practically unbearable. No one in the room even blinked or breathed for a solid minute, clearly not sure what to say. I felt a little bad, since I knew dropping the ‘mom bomb’ on people, as Peter called it, was pretty ruthless. But it wasn’t like I did it on purpose. If anything it was a great way for people to get to know me. The fact that I didn’t have a mom might make a bunch of the people standing in that cheer gym understand why I didn’t look or act like they did. By letting them know I didn’t have a mom to influence me, it would help explain why I didn’t understand all their girly stuff like cheer bows and glittery shirts. At least that’s what I tried to tell myself as the silent minutes stretched on.
“So Maxine here,” Nicole began loudly enough for everyone to hear, “is going to be joining us for a few weeks to give cheer a try. This is her first gym but she is picking up on skills fast and we are excited to see how she likes being a member of Blast and getting to know you ladies. Maxine, why don’t you go stand next to Anna. Anna, raise your hand.”
A taller girl with bright blond hair raised her hand and I walked over to where she stood. There was a spot open next to her and I stepped into it, thankful that I wasn’t in front of anyone anymore. Once I was in place, Nicole called out a few quick commands and everyone around me began doing very sharp and angular jumping jacks. I assumed I was supposed to do the same, so I began to copy their body motions and count along as we went.
The jumping jacks were followed by a series of kicks and other moves that seemed to be special cheer exercises. I say that because although they were similar to other movements I had seen before, they were not quite the same. The motions were usually sharp and intense, and also involved a lot of jumping around so the hair of the girls around me was flying and flipping. I focused on the curly black hair in front of me and imagined it was a dog breakdancing or trying to leap around to catch bugs like the dog down the street from me when I still lived in Oregon. It gave me something to do since the motions felt weird without some sort of distraction.
“Tumbling warm up time ladies,” TJ called out as soon as the last of the sharp motions was over. “I want everyone to work up to a roundoff back handspring back handspring into a back tuck. If you need to do it in stages that’s fine, but I need two from everyone before we move on to stunts.”
I followed the rest of the girls who all moved to stand in three different lines along the blue mat. I found myself at the back of the line, and watched all of the girls intently as they began their tumbling. One at a time they went and managed the roundoff into a back handspring or sometimes into just a big leap in the air. Lexi managed one back handspring after her roundoff before barely landing on her feet after the second one. It got a few cheers from the other girls though, since she was the first one to do that much of the move in one try.
“You’re up Maxine,” someone said to me, helping me realize no one was standing in front of me on the mat anymore.
“Max,” I sighed, then took off down the mat to try the tumbling.
Thanks to the time in the tumbling class, as well as the time at the open gym, my body seemed to know what to do at just the right moments. After taking a few steps to gain speed I did a roundoff before flipping my body over to do both of the back handsprings. I bounced up off the mat a little after landing, but thankfully didn’t take any steps back or to the side the way some of the other girls had done. I could feel a little smile growing on my face and began to walk back around the mat as I had seen other girls do after their tumbling pass. Only as I did so, did I realize that all of the action on the mat had stopped. No one was tumbling and no one was talking.
“Let’s hear it for Maxine, first one of the night!” someone yelled, causing all of the girls to break out in clapping and cheering.
“Max,” I frowned, my face turning red at the way the girls were reacting.
I quickly moved to the back of the line I had been standing in and waited for my turn again. As I got to the mat for my second try, I realized that no one else had made the tumbling pass the whole way through yet. Part of me wanted to just do a cartwheel and move on, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Lexi’s face. She was grinning ear to ear and watching me with eyes wide open in both anticipation and excitement. In that moment I knew I should try my best, even if it made the girls freak out once again. Determined to show the progress I made in class, I did the tumbling pass we were assigned, but then instead of stopping after the second back handspring, I used the momentum to add a full at the end of the series of moves. I landed and had to take a step back, but no one seemed to mind. The reaction was similar to what followed my first tumbling pass, only much louder.
“Max, come here a second,” TJ called, a grin on his face.
“Sorry,” I said when I got to him. I’m not certain why I felt the need to apologize, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Showing off or doing what you were told not to do was usually not allowed in serious places like a gym or team practice. I had been told as much by more than one basketball coach before.
“Don’t be sorry,” he laughed. “That was a great full. But when you’re with these girls stick to the back hand-springs for now. We’ll add back tucks more as competition season gets closer, but save the full for now. I want you to work on it still, but only in tumbling class for now.”
“Okay,” I nodded, glad I wasn’t in too much trouble for what amounted to basically showing off.
“And here,” he grinned. “You’ll want to wear these during practice.”
TJ reached down and picked up something that he handed over to me. I opened the box he had handed me and saw a pair of shoes that matched the other girls’ on the mat. They were white shoes with a much thinner sole than normal shoes. I also noticed they didn’t weigh as much as I thought they would after first seeing them. I sat down and slipped them on, lacing them up before standing and moving around in them to see how they felt.
“I want you to wear these shoes only when you're in the gym, okay?” TJ explained, setting the empty box down and picking up a glittery red gym bag from a few feet behind him instead. “We also wanted to give you a few practice outfits so you can match the team next week. But for today just get used to the shoes.”
“Thanks,” I smiled, my feet feeling so different in the shoes already. I took the bag from TJ and peeked inside to see a lot of glitter and also a lot of black and red fabric. I set the bag down in an open cubby next to the mat we were practicing on and then headed back to get in the tumbling line. After I tried the tumbling pass two more times, Nicole called out another instruction and the girls all moved around to different spots on the mat. I quickly saw they were grouped into little clusters. Halley, I quickly noticed, was calling me over to where she was standing with two other girls.
“I don’t think they want you to fly today, but if you're really replacing Heather then you’ll be with us,” Halley explained to me quickly before introducing the three other girls that stood with her. “This is Anna and Skylar and Olivia.”
“Hi,” I said, remembering Anna from our warmup time. “I’m Max.”
“You’re really good at tumbling,” one of the girls said. I thought it was Skylar, but it also could have been Olivia.
“Thanks,” I said quickly before turning back to Halley. “What are we doing?”
“You’re going to fly tonight Maxine,” Nicole said before Halley could reply.
“Max,” I said, wanting to roll my eyes. It was clear that Nicole wasn’t trying to get my name right even in the slightest.
“The other girls are working on a few different moves, but for tonight I want to see you and your group just do some basic lifts and maybe a toss,” Nicole explained, ignoring my comment about my name. “Lexi and her group are going to help so you can get used to the movements Maxine.”
I fought the urge to correct her on my name, deciding to fight that battle lat
er. Instead, I looked over and followed along as Nicole explained the motions I would try and the numbered count everything would need to happen on. She also had me lift up my foot and had the girls in the group hold it in different ways so I could understand how they were going to hold me up and support me when I was not on the ground. Basically they would keep me from falling thanks to how they held onto my feet in different ways. After she went over everything twice, she counted along as Lexi and the girls around her used the various motions to get Lexi off the ground. She was standing up in their arms, her feet just at their waist level so her head was a little bit above them. It looked easy enough, but when Nicole said she wanted us to try it, I instantly got nervous.
“I won’t let you fall,” Halley assured me, likely seeing the worried expression on my face. “I’m your backspot so if you start to fall or slip I’ll have my hands right here to catch you.
Halley rested her hands on my back, putting just enough pressure so I could feel she was there. I may have only known her for a few days, but something about the way she informed me about what she was doing and also the way she held her hands on my back, I knew I would be able to at least give it a try. I rested my hands on the shoulders of Anna and Skylar and took a deep breath as Nicole began calling out the counts.
I started the move with my right foot in Anna’s hands. Behind me I could still feel Halley’s hands on my back. As Nicole got to “5-6” I hopped up and Skylar grabbed my left foot and held it firmly while Olivia held each of my ankles with one of her hands. We paused then, and went back to try it again. We did the move a few times before Nicole had us try the motions with the girls holding me up higher. Lexi modeled the move first, and I saw that I was going to be held up so my feet were at the same level as everyone else's shoulders. After doing the first move enough, I was more confident in the addition of height, but it turned out to take a little more balance than I had at that point. The first time the girls lifted me up higher, it was like a rug was pulled out from under me. I started to tip back and forth despite the strong hands holding me in place as best they could. Then, just as easy as I stood up, I was falling backwards.
“I got you,” a voice said in my ear murmured as two arms wrapped around me.
Glancing back, I was shocked to see it was Connor that had caught me. As he slowly brought my feet back to the ground I noticed that most of the girls were still standing around me trying to support me, but Halley was on the ground. She quickly got up, but based on the way she was holding her head, I had a feeling Connor had to step in after I managed to make contact with her as I fell. Realizing this also made me aware of a rather sharp pain I was feeling in my elbow, and I quickly connected the dots.
“I’m really sorry Halley!” I said earnestly, feeling terrible for hurting her.
“I’m okay,” she shrugged glancing at her hand as she pulled it away from her forehead. “No blood!”
My mouth dropped open a little, but I didn’t know what to say. That was okay though, since Nicole made us try it again right away. I was hesitant at first, but Halley once again put her hands on my back as I was getting ready to start. I glanced back and could see that Connor was still standing close by. It was likely he was only there to watch, but also possible he was keeping a closer eye on me for some reason. I thought it was a little odd, but as Nicole started counting again, I focused my energy on trying to balance as the girls lifted me.
“How are you doing up there, Maxine?” Nicole asked once I made it up and had been standing for a few seconds.
“Okay,” I nodded, too excited at not falling to correct her. “But how do I get down?”
“Just follow the counts and when they dip and pop you up I want you to put your legs out like you are going to sit in a chair,” she explained simply. It was not the first time she had gone over it, so I nodded, causing her to start counting right away.
Following the instructions, I was extremely happy that when I began falling down as the move required, my legs and body were caught by the girls easily. Halley’s arms were tight around my waist, and both Skylar and Anna were supporting my body under my legs and hips. Even Olivia had her hands on my legs to make sure I wasn’t going to move until Nicole instructed the girls to set me down in the graceful way I had seen Lexi’s group set her down. And speaking of Lexi, as soon as my feet hit the ground, she was jumping up and down and giving me a hug that I instantly returned. There was something about being picked up and tossed in the air without any major incident that was reason to celebrate!
“So how did it go?” my dad asked as I walked into the living room after a long shower.
“Okay,” I said again, the same answer I had given him after I walked into the house a few minutes earlier. “Is dinner here yet?”
“Any minute now,” he assured me after glancing at his watch. “So tell me everything.”
“I don’t know what there is to tell,” I replied sitting on the couch and pulling my legs up to my chest. “I did a lot of tumbling and they threw me in the air a few times. No big deal.”
“No big deal?” My dad laughed then, clearly entertained by my lack of enthusiasm. “Why don’t you tell me more about you getting thrown in the air?”
“Well, I guess it’s called flying,” I said after thinking for a second. “Halley, Olivia, Skylar, and Anna are in my stunt group and it’s their job to lift me up and hold me while I’m up there. Then when I come back down, they catch me. When we do it right it’s really easy and kind of fun. But the first time I kind of elbowed Halley in the head.”
“Elbowed her in the head?” he echoed, clearly a little shocked.
“Yeah,” I nodded slowly. “I got kind of scared the first time they picked me up and I started to fall and I just elbowed her in the forehead on the way down. Thankfully Connor was there to catch me so I didn’t hit the ground at all.”
“Connor? Is he one of the coaches?”
“No, just a guy in my tumbling class,” I explained. “He stayed to watch the team practice.”
“Your team,” my dad corrected.
“What?”
“You said the team,” my dad explained. “But it’s not just the team. It’s your team now.”
“For two weeks,” I added.
“Do you really think you’re going to want to quit two weeks from now?” he asked me, a very serious look on his face.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “The tumbling and flips and stuff are fun, but I don’t know about all the bows and glitter. They gave me clothes to wear to the next practice and none of it is stuff I would ever wear in a million years.”
I immediately regretted mentioning the clothing to my dad. He of course demanded I get the glittery red bag. I had already hid it in the closet near the front door, but grabbed it and sat on the floor to show him. One at a time I pulled out each item and had to hold it up so he could see it. In all there were three tank tops and two short sleeve shirts, all with the similar red glittery TNT Force logos on black fabric. There were also four pairs of the tight and tiny red shorts the other girls on Blast wore, and then two pairs of the same shorts in black. Finally, there were two red cheer bows with the same glittery red TNT Force logo in the center. The bows were coated in glitter and rhinestones, making the red ombre design of the bows’ ribbon look even more flashy and over the top.
“And new shoes?” my dad asked seeing the one item left in the bag.
“Yeah,” I said pulling them out for him to see. “They’re special cheer shoes. They’re really light and they help during stunts since people can get a better grip on your feet.”
My dad reached out to take one and get a closer look when the doorbell interrupted him. He got up to get the door, pulling out his wallet to pay for the Chinese takeout. With all of the glittery and shiny clothing lying around me on the carpet, it almost hurt my eyes to look at everything. It was more glitter than I had in my entire closet, including the shoes and dress I wore for my Aunt Susan’s wedding.
�
��What’s all of that?”
Letting out a gasp, I turned to see Peter standing behind the couch, looking down at all the cheer gear that was covering the floor. I quickly grabbed the items and stuffed them into the glittery red duffle bag and zipped it up. The bag had the letters TNT Force in bold silver and black glitter, but I was still happy to have the bows and short shorts hidden from his view.
“Seriously, what was all of that?” Peter asked again, moving to sit on the couch across from me.
“Just stuff,” I said, turning to look at the still open front door. “Where’s my dad?”
“He was taking the trash can to the curb,” Peter explained. “So where did you get all the new stuff? Or did you always have all of that glitter hiding in your room somewhere?”
“It’s new,” I said with a sigh. “I got it at the gym today.”
“You mean the cheer gym?” There was a laugh in his words as Peter said them.
“Why did you come over?” I asked in reply, refusing to answer.
“My mom wanted me to let you know we're having a bonfire in the backyard tonight if you want to come over,” he said casually. “Why don’t you want to talk about the cheer stuff?”
“Why do you want to so much?” I countered quickly.
“I can’t ask my best friend about her fancy new stuff?”
“No,” I said simply, then stood up and walked to the kitchen. I filled up a glass of water and drank down most of it instantly. As I set the glass down, I realized Peter was standing in the doorway.
“Why won’t you tell me anything about it?” he asked, sounding less rude than when he had first entered my house.
“I just don’t,” I replied. “It’s not important, so I don’t see why I need to talk about it. And we’re about to eat dinner so I can just walk over later if I decide to come to the bonfire.”
“Is this your way of telling me to go home?” I finally looked at him and saw that Peter looked a little hurt at being dismissed so simply.
