Learning to Fly (TNT Force Cheer #1)

by Dana Burkey

  “How about some basketball?” My dad offered, thankfully changing the subject to help me get myself together.

  “I’m terrible at basketball,” Lexi said with a frown.

  “Don’t worry,” I grinned. “I can teach you everything you need to know. But first, I really need to shower and get the mud out of my hair!”

  Waking up on Sunday morning was easier said than done, thanks to the fun we all had Saturday night. After showering and grabbing a little to eat, I spent the entire evening running around and having fun with Lexi, Halley, Connor, Skyler, Anna, and a few of the other friends I had made during the weekend at cheer camp. We played every game at the carnival at least once, then ended up spending at least an hour playing basketball at my dad's booth. Over and over I played people who were determined to beat me at the simple shooting game. Each time I managed to win by at least one basket, even when both myself and my opponent shot at our hoops as quickly as possible, with a growing crowd cheering us on. In the end, only one person could take me down. And, as bummed as I was to not win all of the games, losing to my dad was a pretty fun way to go out. But, as I slowly sat up out of my sleeping bag and let out a big yawn, I was regretting staying up so late-even if it was for such a fun time.

  “How is it already morning?” Halley said in a low moan as she rubbed her eyes and rolled around next to me.

  “I don’t know,” I said with a sigh. “But I don’t like it.”

  “Rise and shine!” TJ called from across the room, then pushed a button on his phone that caused loud and upbeat music to begin pulsing through the room’s speakers.

  The music was almost too much to handle, but it at least got me up and moving to the restroom. I didn’t really want to wash my face and get dressed or anything else that would make me admit it was time to start the day. My real motivation for getting up at all was that I knew the music would be harder to hear in the bathroom. I was quickly joined by a few other girls that either figured out what I had, or just decided to stop fighting the inevitable. Either way, as the bathroom got more and more full of girls, I headed out to hunt down breakfast.

  “You’re already dressed?” Lexi asked as I sat down next to her in the grassy field.

  “Yeah,” I said after taking a bite of bagel. “It’s a miracle though. Why did we stay up so late last night?”

  “It was the last night of camp,” Lexi shrugged. “It was a lot of fun, even if I feel like I’m a walking zombie right now.”

  “How are we going to perform later?” I asked. The question had been wandering around my mind ever since realizing it was 1 am when we were putting on our pajamas the night before.

  “Magic,” Lexi replied. “Magic, and lots of glitter.”

  I groaned in response then laid back on the grass as I finished eating my bagel. From my position watching the clouds and enjoying breakfast, I could hear a few people join Lexi and I, but I chose to stay where I was laying instead of sitting up to join a conversation about what the day ahead of us would hold. As tired as I was, it was kind of a nice feeling to wake up and not only feel like the day before me would help me be a real part of my team and the gym as a whole, but also to feel so excited to perform. Finally, when I was done with my food I sat up and was shocked to see just how many people were sitting near me on the grass.

  “Tired?” Olivia asked me, looking way too awake for how early it was.

  “Just a lot,” I said with a yawn.

  “Tonya is making protein shakes in the office,” Olivia quickly explained. “They’re perfect to wake you up and give you energy to get moving. Without the two I already drank I think I would be sleepwalking all day.”

  With little more than a nod, I stood up and headed inside. I waved and smiled at a few people as I walked across the parking lot, but was too focused on the drink that would make being awake less painful, to start a conversation with anyone. Instead, I made a beeline for the office and quickly picked up a cup filled with bright orange liquid. Taking a sip, I could instantly taste the sweet mango and banana flavors, as well as a slightly gritty texture that I assumed was the massive amount of protein powder.

  “We put some shot blocks on the table near the water fountain if you need another little boost,” Tonya told me as she turned off a blender filled with green liquid and began pouring it into waiting cups.

  “Thanks,” I said earnestly, turning to find the shot blocks while sipping on my smoothie. It seemed that I was only being motivated by things that would help me wake up more. Not because I was happy I was awake, but rather because I knew without the added help it would be impossible to even think about performing later at the showcase.

  I had just chewed up two of the shot blocks and washed them down with the smoothie, when Nicole began announcing that everyone needed to wear the bows they got at registration. Putting my hair in a high ponytail to display the bow was still not the easiest thing for me, but I did my best after grabbing the solid white bow from my bag. The bag was almost empty, since before bed the coaches gathered up everyone's dirty practice uniforms so we would have a fresh outfit for the showcase. It made me worried about what we would be doing the rest of the morning that would make us need to change out of our other practice uniforms. But I was accepting the whole ‘in the dark’ aspect of the weekend more and more, so I didn’t think about it for long.

  With my bow in my hair, I took a seat on the mats and began stretching. I was hoping it would help all my muscles feel better, but in a way it made them feel worse. All the basketball from the night before was catching up to me. Thankfully I was able to stretch for a while before everyone was called to the mats and we began the day. After running through the choreography Tonya had shown us on Friday, we sat down to listen as Nicole gave us the plan for the morning.

  “As you all know, the showcase begins at 2 this afternoon,” Nicole began. “This morning we will be having some team practices and also a time to get ready for the show. We will be cleaning the entire gym, getting the programs ready, and setting up the chairs for the parents. After that, we will have a few smaller things going on before and after lunch, but the important thing today is getting ready for the showcase. This is your first chance to show your friends and family what we’ve been working on all summer. I want everyone to be confident and ready going into that, so let's get our level 2 and 3 teams on the mats first. Everyone else meet me outside to go over clean up and jobs.”

  “If we do too many full outs right now I think I might die,” Skyler said as I walked with her to the mat where the rest of the red team was gathering up. “Doing that obstacle bounce house so much last night was such a bad idea.”

  “Full outs?” I asked, confused since I knew we were only allowed to do back tucks as a level 3 team.

  “It’s when we run the whole routine top to bottom with all the stunts and tumbling,” she explained.

  “Got it,” I smiled, making a mental note to remember the phrase.

  Over the next hour as we ran through the routine over and over, working on little parts and perfecting all of our motions, I realized that I was learning a lot of new phrases thanks to my short time at the gym. And, as that thought came to mind, I realized I would learn even more the longer I stayed with the team. Although I had not said it to my dad yet, I was planning to stick with Blast and the TNT Force gym for at least the rest of the season. After that, once basketball and other things came up, I could make a new decision if I wanted.

  The only small downside of practice was when Nicole instructed all of the fliers that we were removing the scorpion for everyone but Lexi since it wasn’t hitting evenly. Since Lexi was in front and had the most experience, she was going to hold the scorpion while everyone else moved on to their arabesque a little earlier than before. I was annoyed when it was announced, but in a way glad since I still wasn’t quite hitting the movement, even with the extra stretching.

  “Great practice ladies,” Tonya called out to all of us as we were finally done with our last fu
ll out. “Go get some water and then meet Garry outside.”

  “Are you okay?” Lexi asked me as we grabbed our water and started walking towards the door.

  “Yeah, just bummed we took out the scorpions,” I explained honestly. “I’m still not hitting it right now, so in a way taking it out was good. But I still want to try.”

  “They just took it out for today,” Lexi explained. “As long as you can land it in a few months you’ll get to do the scorpion at competitions. And you’re totally going to get it in no time at all. Besides, my brother mentioned you had flying practice with people from Detonators one night last week. Did you really land a double up?”

  “That’s where I spin around twice before I’m all the way up, right?” I asked, hoping I had remembered the motion correctly. When she nodded, I continued. “I kind of got it, but not really. Trying it was hard, but it was also really fun.”

  Lexi had a big grin on her face when she finally spoke again. “You’re going to be doing double ups and double downs in no time.”

  “Double down?” I asked her, trying to guess what it was before she answered.

  “It’s when you spin twice before you're caught in your basket,” she said, confirming my thoughts.

  “Oh yeah, I tried that one the other day too,” I nodded. “And we were trying to do a kick double, but I can’t whip my body around fast enough yet. Garry was saying he wants me to come to extra conditioning some time so he can help me on that.”

  “They’re training you to move you up,” Halley said from the other side of me. I hadn't even realized she was walking with us until she spoke.

  “What do you mean?” I replied, not understanding her at all.

  “They’re teaching you skills now so next season you can be on a higher level team,” Halley explained. “I’m sure they already know the team they want you on, so right now they’re trying to make sure you have all the skills and can make the transition to the new team easily. They do it pretty often when they see potential in someone and want them to level up.”

  “I’m just starting to work on harder skills now too,” Lexi added with a nod. “I think next season I might move up to our junior 4 team, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you get moved to at least a junior level 4. Or maybe even a senior level 4!”

  “So, basically they’re trying to see if I can be on a higher level team with harder stunts and everything?” I asked, trying to make sure I understood what they were saying.

  “Basically,” Halley nodded. “I’m sure they want you to fly for one of the more advanced teams. You’re short and light enough that you would be awesome for flying on one of the senior squads.”

  “What about Lexi?” I asked, not wanting all of the spotlight on just me. “She’s even tinier than I am.”

  “They won’t move her up to a senior team until she's older,” Halley said simply.

  “Not until I’m at least 12 or 13, so I have a little while” Lexi agreed. “They try to only pick teens to be on the senior squads since they go up to 18. They make a few exceptions, but usually only in a real emergency. But since you turn 13 before next season starts, I bet they place you on a more advanced team after tryouts for sure!”

  I opened my mouth to ask even more questions, but Greg instructed us to take a seat and listen up. Trying my best to listen to him explain how we were going to be helping clean the offices and bathrooms, my mind continued to go over my conversation with Halley and Lexi. The idea of moving to a team and going through the steps of meeting everyone again sounded like a step back. I was finally enjoying my team and my teammates, and really felt like I was a part of something. If I moved to a new team, there was no guarantee that I would feel comfortable with those girls like I did with my friends on Blast.

  Thankfully, as we put on some music and began cleaning a few minutes later, I was able to focus on the work. I could get my mind off of what team I might be on a few months from now when the new season started. In fact, I realized at some point, maybe I would skip coming back for another season altogether if I couldn’t be on the team I was getting used to. It would be a conversation to have with my dad later. But I needed to not get too far ahead of myself and focus on our showcase performance.

  “Are you done yet?” I asked again, trying not to move my face while I spoke.

  “No,” Corral said with a sigh. “No more talking.”

  I did my best to just sit with my eyes closed and be patient, but it had already been at least 20 minutes and I was going a little stir crazy. Not only that, but I could feel Lexi playing with my hair as Corral applied layer after layer of makeup to my face, and was getting nervous that I was going to look like the Bride of Frankenstein when they were all finished.

  After cleaning the office and helping set up chairs, we did a fashion show of our shirts so all the squads could see our creations. It was fun to see all of the other designs, but everyone seemed to like the Nationals jacket design we came up with the best. In fact, we all were given cheer bows that had little silver crowns decorating the center of it as prizes for having the favorite shirt of camp. We were told as the winning team we could wear them for the showcase if we wanted, and we all of course agreed it would complete the outfit perfectly.

  Once the fashion show was over, we ate lunch and then were told to get ready for the showcase. I assumed this meant we were going to stretch and practice our tumbling, but when Tonya approached me with a makeup bag I learned I was completely wrong.

  “I talked to your dad and since you don’t have any makeup of your own, we got you everything you need for today and the whole season,” she explained as she handed me a glittery red bag filled with products. “The girls on your team should be able to help you get ready, but if you need more help come find me.”

  “Thanks,” I said evenly, not sure I wanted to know what some of the glittery and shimmery items in the bag were for. But, before I could even slip the makeup into my gym bag, the girls on my team dragged me off to the bathroom for my ‘cheer makeover’ as they were calling it.

  “What are you doing back there?” I asked Lexi as she tugged at my hair and sprayed what had to be an entire can of hairspray into the air.

  “I’m teasing the ponytail to match your poof,” she explained.

  “I don’t know what any of that means,” I frowned, imagining the worst.

  “You have a little front poof so your hair looks cute from the front, and then after I put it in the ponytail and curled it, I added some teasing and poof in the back so it all stands out more,” Lexi explained again. “Basically I’m giving you cheer hair. And it looks amazing. Your hair holds curls really great.”

  “Thanks?” I said, more as a question than anything else.

  “Okay,” Corral said, using her hand to lift my chin up a little. “Now open your eyes but look down.”

  I followed her instructions then tried my hardest to hold still as she put on at least five coats of mascara on my eyelashes. She would encourage me to blink while she wiggled the makeup brush back and forth, leaving a thick layer to stay on my lashes until I was certain they were going to block my eyesight for good. Once she was done with the last coat, she started dabbing gloss onto my lips before encouraging me to rub them together. I did as she said then waited as Lexi finished my hair.

  “All done!” Lexi finally announced, moving around to the front of me, then letting out a gasp. “Wow! Max, you look amazing!”

  “Can I look now?” I asked, nervous and a little frustrated at the same time thanks to all the fanfare caused by getting me ready.

  “Yeah, go ahead,” Corral smiled, looking like she was about to bubble over with excitement.

  Standing up, I turned to face the wall of mirrors that were just a few feet behind me. I looked at my reflection for what felt like a whole minute before realizing I was looking at myself. But it was me. Or at least a version of me that I had never seen before. Taking a step closer, I was in shock at how strange I looked. My hair was teased and cur
led and sprayed all around the cheer bow we had won earlier in the day. But the real shock was my face.

  My face looked super smooth and even, covered in layer upon layer of the products Corral had sponged and brushed onto me. I also had bright red lips that sparkled with gloss, and blush that made my cheeks a dark pink. There was something added to my eyebrows to make them match my hair color and also look much more defined. But none of that compared to how different my eyes looked. My eyelids had been covered in a mix of silver eyeshadow and bright red glitter. It was brushed out and away from my eyes in a way that I was certain I would never learn. The look was finished off with a thick sweep of eyeliner. Between the shimmer and glitter it was a lot to take in, but at the same time it made my eyes look even more blue somehow.

  As I turned to tell Corral and Lexi that there had to be way too much makeup on my face, I noticed the other girls in the bathroom. They were all wearing as much makeup as I was, and were putting their hair up in the same style that was currently weighing down my head. The only difference was that the glitter on their eyes matched the bows in their hair, both of which were representing the squad they were a member of. From where I was standing, I could see hot pink, lime green, and purple glitter from just scanning the room briefly.

  “Do you love it?” Lexi asked, gripping a comb tightly in her hands.

  “It’s a lot,” I managed, not sure what else to say.

  “Well you look great!” Lexi assured me, giving me a hug as if it would make me somehow more pleased with my new look. “Give us a few minutes and Corral and I will look just like you!”

  “Okay,” I said with a nod, still at a loss for words.