SOPHIE O'NEIL LOVED to cheer. She loved everything about it, from the crowd she'd gather to the dances and the sparkly pom-poms.
Sure, she got excited about a lot of things, but cheerleading was one of the only things Sophie was truly passionate about.
When she had first joined the team, it wasn't on her own accord. She was pressured by Stephanie to try out, claiming it would help her become popular and she wouldn't be picked on as much. And while at first joining wasn't her preferred choice, Sophie grew to love the sport.
Cheerleading was what gave Sophie confidence. All her life whenever she tried new things, attempt to gain new skills, she would be insulted. Ridiculed for thinking she'd actually be able to be good at something for once.
And she could fake confidence all she wanted, but deep down a small part of her couldn't help but feel like they were right.
She wasn't good at math, she wasn't good at reading, she wasn't good with spelling and she sure as hell wasn't good at writing either. People made fun of her for being dumb and there was nothing to do about it, because it was true. Surely she deserved it, right?
The blonde's self-esteem was at an all time low, but then cheerleading came into the picture. And suddenly the boys who'd laugh at her math scores were complimenting her on how she performed at last night's game. The girls who made fun of her story ideas were now asking her to teach them the dances so they could try out too.
She was reluctant to admit but she guessed they were correct. Maybe she wasn't the brightest tool in the shed. She could never focus in class, she had an imagination far too big for her own good and she wasn't good at basic things like reading and writing.
But she was good at cheerleading, and no one could tell her otherwise.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Sophie's summer was uneventful. She had stayed home for the majority of her break as her parents were out of the country for work and her friends were preoccupied with their families. She had thought of asking Chase if he wanted to hang out but decided against it as they hadn't spoken since their last tutoring session.
Sophie's sessions with Chase had helped her greatly. Granted, she still had to take tutoring this year but Mr. Cochran had let her know that her improvement was good enough and she wouldn't be pulled from the team if she kept it up.
She was currently at Bree's house. The girl wanted to join the team and Sophie was more than happy to help her out.
"It looks good but try to be a little bit sharper," she suggested. Bree took the criticism and tried the routine again, earning a happy nod of approval.
As Bree went over the routine again Adam came rushing into the room, clutching his heart. "Bree, you scared me!" he panted. "I thought you blew up!"
"No, I was practicing my cheer."
"Oh, you mean... tick-tick-tick-tick-boom! We're dynamite! We're boom!" Adam jumped around, doing his own little routine. "Also, what is boom dynamite? I'm all excited and I don't even know what it is!"
"Adam, that's the beauty of cheerleading. You don't have to think," Bree said.
"Well, then it's perfect for me! I cannot wait for tryouts."
The brunette's smile fell. "Wait, you're trying out?"
"Duh, you just saw my mad tick-boom-pow skills. Pow! That's the 'pow' part."
Sophie looked between the two awkwardly. She frowned, "We only have one spot left on the squad.."
Bree nodded. "And that's why you can't try out for cheerleading. It's my thing and you do not want to compete with me."
"Yes, I do. See, cheerleading is one of the few sports that isn't competitive enough to raise my adrenaline and make me glitch out. So primp up your pompoms, Girly, 'cause I'm about to...Be aggressive! Be-e aggressive!" He moved his arms wildly to his words before throwing Bree back her pompoms with a chuckle. "Again, I'm all excited and I don't even know why!"
As Adam left the room Sophie couldn't help but think over his words. Glitch out? That was even more proof he was a superhero!
Now that she knew two of the davenport siblings were superheroes, she couldn't help but wonder... was Bree a superhero too? And what about Leo? The cheerleaders have been picking on him all this time when really he was saving them from all sorts of bad guys!
She shook her thoughts away and put a reassuring hand on Bree's shoulder when she noticed her frown. "Don't worry Bree, if it makes you feel better I think we're going to have another spot open soon. Quinn's totally pregnant - she said she saw a bunch of storks sitting by her window and I'm pretty sure they're getting ready to bring her baby. Coach is not going to be happy when she finds out."
Bree stared at her friend in disbelief before smiling warily. "Thanks, Soph."
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
"-and no hoop earrings. They're kind of Stephanie's thing."
Sophie stared at Adam intensely, giving him a rundown of the cheer team rules.
Adam and Sophie were standing in the halls, waiting for the other cheerleaders to arrive. They had yet to show up and Sophie decided to use this time to help Adam adapt. Unfortunately, Bree didn't make the team and Adam did but Sophie was glad the last spot was taken by someone she already knew.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sophie spotted Stephanie walking in with the others and remembered one last thing.
"Oh, and Stephanie can be mean sometimes but you'll get used to it eventually."
Adam shot her a questioning glance but it went unnoticed as Sophie went to stand with the girls.
"Behind me, Adam," Stephanie commanded. He did as she told and they began practicing the routine as they had done earlier.
"Ready? Okay!"
"Two, four, six, seven, who do we appreciate?!" Adam began his own routine, striking a pose once he finished.
Stephanie smiled. "That was great, Adam. My favorite part was when you stopped talking."
"Aw," he smiled bashfully.
"Now get ready. We're about to perform at the Hoop-A Palooza, and I don't need to tell you how important this is." She stared at Adam, blinking when his blank stare didn't change. "This is important."
Adam nodded but his smile faltered once he noticed Bree sitting alone in the gym with a pout on her face. "Hey, look, I know I took the last spot on the squad, but do you think you could make room for my sister Bree? I think she's kinda mad at me."
Sophie cooed at the question but prepared herself for Stephanie's answer. Someone had asked a similar question the year before and needless to say, it wasn't pretty.
"Yeah, not gonna happen. If we let her join, she won't feel the true sting of rejection. And I generously try to give everyone that experience," she grinned and Adam laughed falsely before his face contorted into a weirded-out one.
"Girls, come look at this." She giggled and the others came closer to watch. "Ew. She looks like my pet pug when I paint her paw nails against her will."
The cheerleaders erupted into a fit of giggles and Sophie smiled uncomfortably, growing embarrassed at her "friends"' behavior.
Adam's brows furrowed. "Hey, stop talking about my sister like that."
Stephanie's smile dropped and she spat out her usual response to anyone who dared stand up to her. "Um, I'm cheer captain. I talk, you listen."
"No, when it comes to defending my sister, I'm gonna talk all I want. In fact, I quit the squad." He glared at Stephanie and threw his pompoms down, coming back once Heather began reaching for them. "Hey, back off, neck brace! Those babies are mine!"
Sophie stood awkwardly as the cheerleaders began making fun of Adam next. What Adam did was admirable, and she couldn't help but wonder what would happen if she took a leaf out of his book.
Sophie stayed in her thoughts until Stephanie brought her back to reality. "Come on, it's time."
"Go dingoes!" The girls ran into the gym, shaking their pompoms as they cheered.
Stephanie held her arms out, shooting Jasmine and Sophie a glare. "Ugh, move back! I'm in front! Ready? Okay!"
"We're dynamite! We're dynamite! We're tick-tick-tick-tick-boom! Dynamite!"
"Cheer bomb!"
Sophie turned to the direction of the voices, curious as to who would interrupt their cheer and her eyes widened when she saw Adam and Bree standing in the doorway.
Bree began cartwheeling at an inhumane pace and Adam pointed at his sister, smirking at Stephanie. "Oh, Stephanie, can you do that? No, I didn't think so!"
Stephanie backed away and called the girls to follow and Sophie rushed towards her. They had no choice but to watch the performance.
"Ready? Okay! Ooh, what's that? What do I see? Bree cheers better than Stephanie!"
Stephanie's brows furrowed and she looked to the girls for reassurance. Jasmine quickly came to her rescue, telling her that Bree was lying and Stephanie could do cartwheels too.
"Hold up there! Not so fast! Stephanie's a thing of the past!"
"Better call your mom! It's a cheer bomb! Huh!"
"Ring, ring! Hello? Oh, it's your mom!"
"Hey there, mom! It's a cheer bomb!"
"Whoa..."
"Cheer bomb!"
Adam's hand began glowing blue and before Sophie had enough time to process it, a small blue ball blasted out of his hand up towards the ceiling. Chunks of the ceiling began pouring down next to Adam and Sophie's eyes grew wider.
Bree jumped off of Adam's leg nervously. "Uh... Yeah, that's right. Special effects. When we say 'boom,' we mean boom!"
The crowd erupted in applause and Adam felt the need to chime in. "Yeah, and when we say "brunch," we mean a delicious combination of breakfast and lunch!"
The girls looked around before storming out of the gym and Sophie began to follow, her face red with embarrassment.
Before she could fully exit, however, she felt a pull at her arm. It was Adam.
"You okay?" He asked with a frown. "That didn't have anything to do with you, by the way."
"Yeah, I know.." she nodded feverishly while glancing at the exit. She just wanted to go home.
Adam let go of her hand to give her space. "Just so you know, we have more room on the cheer-bomb-squad..."
She was about to ask what that meant but he beat her to it. "Stephanie's a jerk. You shouldn't have to get used to it. You can always hang out with us." He looked back and Sophie followed his field of vision. Bree was staring at her with a smile. "Chase and Leo, too."
Sophie felt sick.
In some tragic ironic twist, the people the cheerleaders made the most fun of ended up being the most kind.
"Just think about it," he offered with a small smile.
Sophie nodded and returned Bree's smile before running out of the gym.
The airhead, the reject, the nerd, and the lamest loser.
Maybe she could get used to that.
A/N: oops I lied teehee
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