Ready, Set, and Cheer!

Chapter 18 (:

“This is the 17th time we've been practicing the same song. No more, please.” Synthia said, panting.

“Do you want this perfect or not?” Andrea said, her hands on her hip.

Andrea, Synthia, and Julie were at Synthia's house that day for ballet practice. Ms. Annabeth had finished the entire routine. It was up to them to practice and get the steps now. Synthia looked at Julie for help.

“Andrea, please understand. We have track, ballet, and cheer leading everyday. It's really exhausting for us. Besides, we have our competitions in October.”

Andrea sulked. “Fine.”

Even though Julie and Synthia were extremely tired, they hated seeing Andrea upset. She was the softest and sweetest of them all, and they wondered why she was practicing so hard. She was a natural at it. She didn't have to.

“Here you go, ladies,” Mrs. Higgins said, as she gave them cookies.

Synthia gobbled it up quickly causing her mother to scold her lightly.

“I was hungry,” Synthia said, defensively.

Jake picked Julie up, after dinner, around 9:30. That day, they had loads of homework. Project submission on Monday, and the usual weekend assignments.

Ms. Annabeth wanted to start rehearsing from Monday. Mr. Thomas was going to time them every single day, so they all had to keep in shape. Mrs.Nina had asked them to do the stretches so that they can start with the pyramid right away. The football games were starting from next Sunday. She called them on Saturday and Sunday for extra practice, from 6:30 to 9:30 am

both days.

Andrea wanted her and Synthia over for the weekend from 3 to 8, both days.

That left Julie only five hours to herself, including the two hours she had to

tutor Laurent.

Perfect, she thought, sarcastically. I have to get started. And so she did. She finished her project layout, deciding to do the actual one tomorrow but decided against it as she didn't know if she would have time and finally

finished it. It was 2:00am by the time she finished. She tried to start her weekend assignment but dozed off.

Trrriiiiiiinnnng.

Nooooo, she groaned. Not morning already, she thought. Dragging herself out of bed, she slowly got ready. Finally when it was time to leave for cheer leading practice, she gasped. She totally forgot about her ride. Laurent dropped her to school that whole week, and they never had a bus on Saturdays.

Silently yelling at her luck, she got out her bike and left for school, not wanting to disturb either of her parents who were sleeping soundly. She made it in the nick of time. Phew, she thought. Diara looked really white. Julie wondered why. She found out soon.

“Hey, do you remember, Mary? The time when we lost our hold and everyone fell, in New Jersey?” Martha asked.

“Oh yeah, I do. It hurt. But the person on the top got fractured the most.”

“You guys, stop it. I'm already so freaked out, okay?”

Martha and Mary hi fived each other. They weren't huge fans of Diara, and when they found a reason to make her scared out of her wits, they were thrilled.

“Don't worry Diara, they are professionals. It wont happen.”

“Unlike you,” Diara sneered.

Julie sighed. She was getting tired of this.

Lydia and Grace were practicing in the middle of the field.

“Fantastic girls. Keep it going. You girls are doing excellent.” Mrs. Nina said.

Lydia and Grace beamed. They walked over to them.

“Okay, so shall we start? Now, you have to follow exactly what I'm saying. Andrea, Synthia, over here. Okay, listen...”

Martha and Mary got into their positions, and then Julie, Synthia and Andrea followed. Diara with trembling knees started to go but freaked out.

“What's wrong, dear?”

“I've never done this before. I'm afraid to fall.”

“Look here, I'll be there to catch you if you do, okay?”

Diara meekly nodded, and eventually got into her position. Lydia and Grace did their moves.

“Bravo. That was brilliant. This will be our beginning move, okay? Let's do this again, and then start the rest of the moves.”

The girls did the pyramid a few more times, and when Mrs. Nina was completely satisfied, she taught them the next moves. The girls were having the time of their lives. Although it was tiring, they truly enjoyed themselves.

Julie spared no time the moment she went back home. She took a shower, ate her brunch, and started studying. At 12 o clock, she tutored Laurent. He had finished all his homework, and wanting to test him, she gave him a pop quiz. When he got a 20 on 20, she was satisfied and continued teaching him.

“Alright, you are progressing super fast. Two more weeks, and you'll be fine. Now here's tomorrow's homework.”

This time Laurent was really enthusiastic about his homework.

“ I don't really like school homework, but your homework is fun!”

Julie flushed. She didn't know what to say, but was glad he enjoyed it. She didn't want him to feel overwhelmed with how much more he had to learn, but at this rate, he will be more than just fine. He would be on par with her. Sooner or later, she'll probably have to compete with him.

At 3 o clock, Julie got ready for ballet practice and went to Andrea's house. Now that they had completed everything, they had to dance everything right from the beginning. The three girls, had the most to dance in the entire show.

“Practice makes perfect. You know that. And this has to be PERFECT.”Andrea said.

“What's the deal, Andre? You've never been so obsessed with it. You are a natural. You don't have to practice,” Synthia asked.

“Oh, now I'm a lunatic, aren't I?” Andrea said, high pitched. She looked so tired and exhausted already.

Julie looked pained. “No, we never said that. We want you to relax and chill for a bit while.”

“I'll relax only if we get this perfect. So if that's what you want, come on, let's do this.” Andrea said.

So for the next four hours, the three girls practiced and practiced and practiced that day and the next day stopping only for lunch. How they managed, Julie never knew. It was hell. Julie's arms and legs ached, Synthia looked like she was ready to murder someone, and Andrea was completely red in the face by Monday.

Mrs. Nina wasn't as hard on the girls as Andrea was, but hard enough. Going by the same motto, she made the practice for ten times straight, no exaggeration.

Completing the little homework she had left, and teaching Laurent three new chapters, she went to bed. She hardly saw her mom, dad, or her brothers. She was amazed she had gotten through the whole week successfully.

As the alarm bell rang the next morning, Julie was filled with dread. 

It was the beginning of a whole new week.