The Flyer

CHAPTER 19

Cc: Bucket List Accomplishment.

VALYRA.

The next day, the girls and I went on an early morning run. Well, Claire, Kelly, and I ran, but Maddie and Froida chose to bike instead. We went around our school then around Calvary repeatedly, in the shape of a number eight, twenty times. 

"I'm so exhausted!" Maddie huffed, but not without a smile of pride and contentment. It's been a while since we exercised early in the morning together, but Froida was leaving soon and we wanted to tick off some more hangouts before she finally leaves for New York. 

I mirrored her expression and gave her a high five. One of the only-- if not the only-- sports Maddie enjoys is biking. Froida prefers riding the bike because of the stronger impact of wind compared to running. Claire was the sportiest of us all, followed by me, and Kelly was very into fitness as well, especially stemming from her love for water polo and horseback riding.

"I just wanted to say thanks," Froida shyly said, when we sat down at our usual spot in this dainty salon-cafe place. "You guys didn't have to wake up so early just to do this with me."

"Of course we had to." It was Kelly who spoke. She looked as cold as ever, but her words were warm.

Claire and Froida were startled, but Maddie and I were only surprised when Froida's eyes welled up with tears. She apologized as she looked up and dabbed her eyes with a tissue, and she couldn't look at us like she felt as though she wasn't in the place to receive words like that from Kelly. For some reason, I could finally tell that she really didn't feel scared of us. She looked like she just felt detached, but the question is: why? 

"Hello!"

It was Lea. Remember her? From the first chapter? Yeah, well, Lea works as a waitress all day whenever she's free and she goes from one place to another per shift. Today, her morning shift is here, surprisingly. I didn't think she'd stray from the diner's area. 

We all ordered the regular cheesecake. The cheesecakes here are surprisingly cheap and I love it. I often buy the largest solo slice they have which is like three dollars and fifty cents.  The difference was that I ordered a soft drink with mine, Maddie got tea, Kelly got coffee, Froida got lemon water, and Claire got juice.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm too selfish to hope everything would stay the same between us. I couldn't imagine a life without seeing them at least a number of times a week. My life would feel a little lonely.

"Are you okay?" I asked Froida, not able to hide my amusement. Funnily, she burst out sobbing and hid her face on my shoulder as she did so. Oh, Froi... I don't usually let people soil my clothes, but it didn't matter right now. Instinctively, I leaned my head on hers to let her know I was here for her.

Froi is definitely the baby of the group. 

"Froi," Maddie comforted, patting her shoulder. "It's okay."

"I...I just can't," she choppily responded. "I've been so mean to you both..." 

"Mean?" 

Froida sniffled and leaned a little backwards to look at everyone else. Her eyes weren't really red, but were more swollen, and her face was scrunched in... shame?

Can it be...?

We didn't get to question her because she suddenly received a call from her father saying that she had to leave with them for a business trip. 

"I'll explain everything," she promised, with a determined look on her face, before she left us to wonder what exactly that was all about.

For some reason, I felt like my eyes were suddenly open to this whole change. Why didn't I notice before that it wasn't fear that made her act that way, but shame and negative feelings about us? I thought my first theory had totally made sense because I could be pretty assertive and Kelly was, well, as mentioned a number of times, quite icy. Perhaps it was more of... dare I say, contempt, rather than fear...

When Froida was gone, Claire suddenly smiled. "Y'all know her birthday is near, right?"

We grinned, catching on to Claire's insinuation.  Maddie spoke for us all. 

"What's the plan?"

Eventually, I had to leave to get to practice.

"Girls, I'll go ahead, okay?" I said, grabbing my bag and phone, and leaving a tip for Lea.

They watched as I left, as is accustomed to, and I quickly jogged towards the gym. The girls were all there, and so were the boys. They all looked friendly and ready to work. Right, we were gonna sort of work together starting today. The court was a big paces, and considering how few we were, it shouldn't be that much of a problem to share. However, I didn't actually count the possibility that some of the girls may not be able to catch balls as quickly as others, and that some boys can't be careful to save our lives.

The whole practice was a mess, ending up with Tayrowe and Jaymie getting into some squabble over who did what.

"It doesn't matter whether you intentionally threw the ball or not!" Jaymie fumed, "You should've been more careful! None of this would've happened."

Tayrowe sighed. "I told you it was an accident..." Amusingly enough, he still wasn't raising his voice.

Jaymie's face was already red from her anger and as I usually do, I let her let it all out. Kathilla was looking, not at Jaymie, but at me with disdain, as though to say "Why are you letting her go off like that?"

That's another one of my rules: never get in the way of my member's feelings, unless at the actual cheer site or unless they were become harmful in any aspect. My members aren't children to be kept in line, they're peers to acknowledge and help and support. If they were too much, I'd say so, but otherwise, if they don't let it out, they may not solve their problem. Every person has a different form of expression, and in normal circumstances I think that's something that has to be explored, not kept in because it wasn't dignified.

There's no need to be dignified during practice. 

With Tayrowe's calm expression and Jaymie's fuming one, it wasn't a surprise that Jaymie eventually chose to keep quiet, finally realizing that she was being too harsh and unreasonable on Tayrowe.

"Sorry," she muttered, obviously meaning it, but keeping her shameful gaze trained on the floor.

"It's okay."

Yes, Tayrowe, and I think, somehow, everything will be okay.