ARE YOU AN IDIOT?
THEN
Parenting a hyperactive five-year-old was hard. Parenting a five-year-old that just found out she had hard to control witch powers was even harder — especially when said parents, who used to have various supernatural abilities, could no longer rely on them. Meaning that when Carson Lupin vanished from the dinner table in a puff of shimmering, red smoke after refusing to eat the carrots on her plate, her parents had quite literally no idea where to start looking for her.
It wasn't Carson's fault anyway, the young girl knew. She told her parents she didn't like cooked carrots but would've had no problem eating them raw and cold. But that preference was ignored by her mother, and so she was justified in leaving the vegetable behind.
Granted, it was definitely Carson's fault for leaving the backyard and running into the Forbidden Forest. Her parents weren't one to hover, and they often would step back and let Carson explore the world at her own pace, but the Forest was an exception. Weston never let Carson step foot into the Forbidden Forest. So, naturally, that was the first place the child went while truly unsupervised for the first time in her life.
Carson didn't know what the word 'grounded' meant, but she'd find out soon enough once she was safe at home.
Though it was dark and there were no streetlights to guide her, Carson didn't have trouble seeing. The light from the moon and stars — and her light-up sneakers — were enough for her to observe the terrain before her. Carson moved quickly, taking in the new sights, sounds, and scents. She thought she'd feel fear in a place like this. It had to have been scary with a name like the Forbidden Forest. But Carson felt just as comfortable as if she was at home. As she climbed on a huge boulder, it felt like climbing the tree in her backyard. And the moon looked just the same as when she looked at it from her bedroom window.
It was nearly ten minutes that the five-year-old remained uninterrupted while staring up at the night sky. But eventually, she was interrupted by a rustling sound coming from the trees to her right. Carson didn't know curse words yet, but if she had, she would've let one slip out in annoyance over her alone time being interrupted. And she sat up instantly, assuming her parents had finally tracked her down somehow, getting prepared for the scolding her mother would deliver.
But it wasn't Weston and Julia Lupin who moved past the foliage. No, it was a boy near Carson's age that rushed through the trees and into the small, rocky clearing. Carson sat up on her elbows and narrowed her eyes at the boy, taking in his odd hair with a white stripe in it and clothes covered in what looked like fur. She looked down at her own clothes, which consisted of a pair of princess pajama pants and one of her father's insanely large sweaters that fell down to her shins. Technically, neither was dressed particularly sensible.
Meanwhile, the boy, whose name was Wyatt, was panting as he caught his breath, eying the figure on the boulder. He didn't exactly have permission to leave the den without his sister or one of his parents after an accident that ended with him breaking some equipment at the nearby cheer camp that they were meant to stay away from. But Wyatt wasn't a rule follower, and shortly after sneaking away, he caught an unfamiliar scent a few miles from the den.
Then as the young werewolf boy got closer, he found himself running as fast as he could, the sweet smell getting even stronger and nearly inviting from how much he liked it. Just before he reached his destination, his feet got tangled and he had to grab at the passing trees to keep from completely falling into the clearing that he'd arrived in.
There was only one person there — a girl with red hair sitting on top of the large rock. Under the sweet scent that clung to her, Wyatt could tell she wasn't a wolf, though she didn't necessarily smell human. Nevertheless, she smelled inviting and more like home than the den ever did.
"Hey!" he called out excitedly while skipping closer. It'd been a long time since he'd met someone not in his pack — actually, he'd never met someone not in his pack. "I'm Wyatt! What's your name?"
Carson glanced up from her pajamas and scooted back on the rock a bit. "Um, I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."
"But I'm not a stranger. I just said my name is Wyatt," he informed her.
Carson rolled her eyes, knowing that he was still strange, especially with how he was dressed. And why was he in the woods in the middle of the night? As if she wasn't also in the woods in the middle of the night. But she figured if need be, she could try and figure out how to use these new witch powers of hers to fight him. After all, she smashed a vase earlier by accident. She could probably do much worse if she actually wanted to.
She slid down the boulder and planted her feet on the ground, the shoes letting out a short burst of pink LED light from the soles. It drew the boy's attention for a second but then he looked back up at her as she spoke, eying him suspiciously.
"Well, Wyatt, if you must know, I'm—"
It was when their eyes actually met at the same time that it happened. Granted, Carson didn't feel it. As her magic had only just come in, she didn't know how it felt well enough to detect the change in feeling. But Wyatt sure knew what was happening, as he'd grown up on legends of it.
"Mine!" Wyatt couldn't help but exclaim, pointing at Carson while bouncing on his toes.
Carson reeled back at the interruption, now shooting him a confused glare. "'Scuse me?"
"You're mine!" he said, grinning. As he did, he revealed that he'd recently lost a tooth. Carson didn't know it, but his first fang would grow in its place.
"Yours? I'm not yours!" Carson shouted, putting her hands on her hips. "What's that even mean?"
Wyatt stood there for a second, still unable to wipe that content grin from his face as he looked at his mate. Then he shrugged almost lazily.
Carson mirrored the movement, letting out a scoff as she did. "Don't shrug. And don't call me yours. I'm not yours. I'm just me. My me!"
Despite her clear annoyance, Wyatt wasn't deterred. This girl was chosen by the goddess of the moon, who deemed her perfect for him — and he was perfect for her. And now they had an entire childhood to become best friends with each other. He'd sneak out of the den every night in order to get to know her.
"You're my me too," Wyatt told her, not caring how silly he sounded.
"Are you an idiot?" Carson asked, truly sounding like her father in that moment.
"Well, if you're asking my sister," he mumbled. Then Wyatt shook his head. "What's your name?"
"Why would I tell you my name? You're weird," she declared.
Again, Wyatt shrugged. "Well, if you don't want to tell me your name, I'm still fine calling you mine."
"Ugh," she grumbled, crossing her arms. "Don't make me hear it again. My name is Carson."
"Carson," Wyatt repeated, his smile growing. "Carson. Carson, Carson—"
"I'm going home," she interrupted, her annoyance growing at the boy's odd behavior. But he quickly rushed in front of her to block her path.
"No," he practically whined. "I'll quit being annoying. But you can't leave. We have to be friends now."
"What? You don't have any other friends to bother?" she asked, scoffing.
Wyatt kicked the ground. As the children of the pack's alpha, he and his sister Willa didn't have many real friends. Most were more concerned with showing them respect or just kissing up to get in good with their father. Though they at least had Wynter Barkowitz, who was as loyal as an actual dog.
"Not really," he mumbled, looking down.
If Carson knew the word 'shit,' she would've muttered it. Because, yeah, she had an attitude problem and was rather hot-headed and blunt, traits that came from her father, but she was also Julia Lupin's daughter too. Meaning, unfortunately, that she was compassionate, caring, and protective of nearly everyone she met — that annoying Bucky Buchanan from down the street included.
After grumbling complaints under her breath that Wyatt's werewolf ears picked up on but he chose to ignore, Carson spoke up. "What's, like, your favorite color?"
Wyatt perked up as she tried to bond with him, no matter how forced. "Purple! What about you?"
"Maybe red," she said after a moment, thinking of the new magic that seemed to glow red. Red made her feel powerful. "But I like to wear blue."
"Like the color of your eyes," he said, staring her down.
"You're being weird again, Wyatt," she said flatly.
"Sorry," he said quickly. But he couldn't help it. Not when every single cell in his body was singing happily in the presence of his soulmate. "S - so, where do you — uh, what do you do?"
By that awkwardness alone, Carson could tell he wasn't used to meeting new kids. "Um, like school or interests?"
Wyatt tilted his head. "School?" he questioned, unfamiliar with the word.
"Yeah. School. You look my age. Are you in Kindergarten too?" she asked. "I haven't seen you in class."
"Oh, uh, I don't go to school," he said, a bit unsure.
"You're homeschooled? That explains it," she muttered. Carson had overheard her parents discussing the option to homeschool her. It seemed her father was and didn't mind it, but her mother was convinced it'd help her social skills better. "I like sports. It's fun to beat people at them — and I usually am the one to beat people."
"I like competition too, except against my sister, 'cause she always wins," he told her. "But that's expected when she's gonna be the next alpha."
That made Carson hesitate and she eyed Wyatt a little more carefully. She spotted his ears, which were slightly pointed. Were his nails sharp too?
"Alpha?" she asked, never having heard that word outside of storytime. She tilted her head, and Wyatt instantly mirrored her actions, unable to help it. "Why are you talking about an alpha? That's werewolf stuff."
"Well, yeah," he said, chuckling. "I am a werewolf, didn't'cha know?"
Carson's jaw dropped as her whole world changed, as she realized maybe the world her father told her about wasn't as made up as she believed. "No, Wy, I didn't know."
☽
NOW
An aggravated sigh left Carson Lupin's lips — well, Carson Lupin-Buchanan's lips. She was trying and failing to pin up the single patch of white hair hidden at the back of her head. Later, at cheerleading tryouts, she'd have her hair in a ponytail, and so she needed to be certain no one would see the colorless strands. It wasn't that Carson hated the hair that stood out greatly against her natural red hair, but any member of the combined Buchanan and Wells families couldn't afford to be imperfect.
If her birth parents were still alive, Carson knew they wouldn't ask that she hide it. With that bitter thought, she grabbed another bobby pin and got to work.
"Stupid piece of dumb ha—"
It was then that Carson's brother, Bucky swooped in, grabbing the bobby pin from her fingers. "I got it, Sis," he said while expertly twisting the hair up and tucking it safely behind her red hair.
While Carson may have only been adopted by the Buchanan family at the early age of six years old, that didn't make her any less his little sister. Even after learning of her odd quirks such as the white hair and the occasional magic use. Of course, Bucky only accepted those things in secret. No one in Seabrook could know that Carson was a witch. If they found out, she'd be just as exiled as the zombies.
"Thanks, Buck," Carson said, smiling gratefully at him in the mirror. "Are you ready for the cheer season?"
"What kind of question is that?" he asked, scoffing playfully. Then he became more serious. "Are you ready for tryouts?"
"I'm gonna kick ass, bro," she said, crossing her arms.
"Remember, there's only one flyer position open this year," Bucky reminded her. The other two flyers on the team were Stacey and Lacey. "It'll be a hard position to get. Addy wants it too."
"I want it more," Carson said with a smirk.
It wasn't that Carson and Addison Wells hated each other. They were cousins after all. But they also didn't exactly get along. Addison found Carson too aggressive. Carson found Addison too perky. There was constant competition between the two, which led to many an argument. And because more often than not, Carson was the one to come out on top, Addison held that against her secretly. And sure, there had been one or two instances where Carson did something just because Addison did it as well and she wanted to prove she could do it better.
So if one girl made the cheer team and the other didn't, the two families would practically be at war.
Carson didn't want Addison to not make the team, but she certainly wasn't going to hold back and let her get the last flyer spot. Sure, Addison ate, slept, and breathed cheer, but she had a genuine, deep love for the sport. Carson was more like her brother and just liked competing and winning — and everyone knew there was no better cheer team than the Seabrook squad.
"We're gonna need talent like you with them letting in zombies," Bucky said to his sister, a scowl on his face.
Carson rolled her eyes and leaned closer to the mirror to make sure her bushy eyebrows weren't too out of control. "There's nothing wrong with them coming to school, Buck. And it's not like they'll be on your precious squad. Or in any of your classes. Just focus on the most important thing."
Bucky grinned brightly in the mirror. "Me?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
She laughed at her narcissistic brother and nodded. "Yes. You."
After they were finished getting ready for the day, Carson and Bucky left for school with a goodbye and good luck from their parents — though Carson never managed to call them 'Mom' and 'Dad,' not that they minded. Then they met Addison halfway on the short walk to the school. Given that all the residential neighborhoods were so close, it almost looked like a parade as students walked together. Bucky got plenty of attention on the way as he was the resident cheer rockstar of the campus.
The first thing that Carson noticed as they approached the building was the chainlink fence that hadn't been installed during her tour of the school over the summer. On the other side of the fence, a small crowd of zombies was making their way toward the school as well, seemingly just as excited as the humans for their first day.
It wasn't Carson's first time seeing a zombie, as her father had taken her to Zombietown several times growing up, but she hadn't seen any since his death. They looked and acted just the same, though.
Other than her, very few people paid the zombies any mind. Most ignored them or were like Addison, wide-eyed freshmen too distracted by the new school in front of them. She walked right inside while Carson stuck by her brother's side.
And it was a good thing she did, as just before they passed the fence, Bucky leaned close and began mocking the zombies. She rolled her eyes as he let out groans and raised his hands. But then one of the zombies spotted him and moved toward him, grabbing the fence and letting out a series of grunts.
Bucky squealed like a child and instantly backed away, making many of the zombies and even his sister chuckle. But a guard acted quickly and grabbed the zombie boy, already reaching with her other hand for the metal baton on her belt. Bucky then quickly rushed inside, not wanting to stick around the zombies anymore, expecting Carson to follow.
"Do we need to take a trip downtown?" the guard asked him threateningly.
Carson, who didn't follow Bucky, stepped up to the fence quickly. "No, officer," she said, gaining her attention, as well as the attention of several of the zombies. "He was just joking with my brother. It's all good."
After watching Carson for a second, the guard nodded and released the zombie boy. But as she backed away, he spoke something in his native language with a smile while moving in for what looked like a hug. That startled the guard, and another zombie boy quickly stepped in, holding his friend back.
"No, hey!" he said quickly, forcing a smile. "She does not want a hug."
"Off to a great start for you guys," Carson said a bit sarcastically. She shot the zombies a mix between a sympathetic and encouraging smile before leaving them behind, not having to go through a metal detector like they did to enter.
It only took a few seconds for Carson to catch up with her brother and cousin. It was easy, given the crowd of people around Bucky, asking for his autograph. And while he did that, he obviously complained to Addison about the zombies.
"Those freaks are nothing like us. They tried to eat our grandfather!" he exclaimed.
Carson snickered and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "It was just a small bite," she said teasingly.
"Easy for you to say when he wasn't your grandfather," he said, shaking his head. But he could see Addison thought the same as Carson on this matter — a rare event entirely. Then the older boy turned to address all the people in the hallway that were looking at him. "Cheer tryouts today after school, everybody. Let's go Mighty Shrimp!"
Several people let out excited whoops and cheers while one shorter girl with glasses squealed and rushed over to their group, clapping excitedly. "Go, Bottom Feeders!"
Carson hid a grimace. It wasn't that it wasn't a clever thing to say, as shrimp literally were bottom feeders, but this girl screamed 'perky,' meaning Carson would have to take her in small doses. She was much more Addison's speed — hopefully, her cousin would be able to make friends with her.
So, Carson at least managed to smile at the girl before walking past her and following after Bucky. He was going to show her where her new locker was. The rest of the cheer squad, led by the Aceys — Stacey, Lacey, and Tracey — also brushed past the girl and left her behind, paying her no interest.
"So not making the team," Bucky said under his breath.
Carson nodded, though hadn't made her final judgment seeing as she hadn't watched what the girl could do. "Not if she's not good enough to win."
☽
All those that were trying out for fall athletics were excused from their final classes so that they could attend the tryouts. So, after dropping her books off in her locker, Carson grabbed her workout clothes and made her way through a mostly empty hallway and toward the gym where tryouts would be held.
Though the hall wasn't completely empty, as she soon spotted a lanky zombie boy peeking around a corner just ahead of her. She watched him try to be stealthy for a moment, making sure that he wasn't a threat before speaking up.
"Hey, uh, aren't you supposed to be downstairs?" was all Carson asked. And the boy let out a yelp before turning to face her and putting his hands up innocently.
"I'm not doing anything," he said instantly.
"Really? 'Cause it looks like you're doing something," she noted. "Need directions?"
"Um, yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Zombies aren't supposed to be trying out for things, but I've still gotta try."
"Understandable," she said, moving to stand next to the tall boy. "I'm on my way to cheerleading tryouts but can point you in whatever direction you need."
"Cheerleading? Tough gig," he muttered, already aware of the reputation around the cheer squad at this school.
"True," she said, smiling. "So, what are you trying out for?"
"Football team."
"Easy gig," she said, the words slipping out before she could stop herself. It made him laugh, as he was also aware of how horrible the football team was at this school. They could use any talent they could get. "They could definitely use some zombie strength."
As they kept talking, Carson led them through the school and toward the exit that led to the football field. Luckily, it was near the gym.
"I've got plenty of that," he said while raising an arm and flexing. He'd been building up muscle all summer since they told the zombie kids they could go to a real school. "I'm gonna be the first zombie athlete ever."
"Well, if you're gonna be famous, I must know your name," she said, smiling. She liked how confident and optimistic he was. It would've been easy for him to be full of bitterness and hopelessness over the oppression of his people. But he was taking every inch that society was giving him.
"I'm Zed," he introduced while holding out his arm for a handshake. As she shook his hand, he realized he had never even touched a human before, he was pretty sure.
"Carson. I'll be sure to cheer extra loud for you if you make the team," she informed him. "Assuming Principal Lee doesn't catch you and throw you out for breaking rules."
Zed scoffed casually. "I've totally got this. Yeah, I know it's a high-risk move, but I got smarts and stealth on my side—"
It was incredibly ironic that as he mentioned stealth, Zed stubbed his toe on a metal stand to hold pamphlets and flyers. He let out a groan and limped a little while trying to not focus on the sudden pain. Carson winced and took a step back, giving him a moment.
"Hope you're not trying out for kicker—"
Carson was cut off as a girl came around the corner. All she saw was a hunched-over, groaning zombie. "Rogue zombie!" she screamed loudly. Then, before either could stop her, she rushed forward and pulled a nearby Z-alert alarm. It sent a blaring siren all over the building, telling everyone that a feral zombie was loose on campus.
It only took a second for people to run from their classrooms, screaming their heads off and searching for the nearby safe rooms. Zed looked around in disbelief as Carson smiled apologetically over the commotion.
"What? Wait - are - are you serious?" he asked in confusion. He wasn't dangerous. "It's - it's completely fine. You don't have to... worry about it." He trailed off as the people cleared out, and sadness overcame him. If that was the reaction to him just walking through the hallway, then how would they let him on the football team?
Speaking of the football team — they came around the corner and instantly laid eyes on Zed, glaring at him. The leader of the group pointed at him and shouted. "There! Zombie!"
Carson spun on her heel and looked at Zed with wide eyes. "My dude, I would make with the running. Now."
Zed didn't need to be told twice as he booked it in the opposite direction, the large boys following after him. Now left in the hallway alone, Carson let out an annoyed sigh. She narrowed her eyes and looked up at the flashing, loud alarm.
"Quiet," Carson whispered under her breath. No one was around to see her eyes flash red for a moment. Then the blaring alarms all over the school shut off, convincing students that the drill was over.
Then she took a deep breath and continued on her way, getting her mind focused back on cheerleading tryouts. Sure, Zed seemed nice, but he was so not making the team, especially after this. Carson could feel bad about it later. Now, she had a flyer position to secure.
☽
Carson stood in the center of the gym, proudly sporting the sheet with number one pinned to her blue tank top, having been the very first to arrive at tryouts. Her cousin was two rows back with the girl from earlier, whose name was Bree, she learned. All chatter ceased as Bucky entered the gym while blowing his whistle loudly with the Aceys right behind him.
"Okay. Let's go. Line up," Bucky ordered, the line beginning right after Carson. "Welcome to cheerleading tryouts. It's nice to see so many... wannabes." Bucky couldn't help but chuckle as he looked at some of the students. "I mean, we'd wanna be us too if we weren't already on the Cheer Squad." As he laughed, so did most everyone else. But Carson didn't bother, knowing her brother well enough that he'd switch to serious a few seconds later. "You need to bring it, okay? Like my assistant captains."
Bucky turned on his heel and held an arm out to the three that were always following him. "First up, we have Stacey. Lacey. And Tracey. The Aceys!" Everyone clapped for the assistants that were just as loved as Bucky. But after a moment, Bucky waved his arms to silence them all and get back to business. "Today's tryouts are going to be easy. The hardest thing you'll have to do is a back handspring, funky chicken, round off, mashed potato split, with a robot down powering finish."
Carson didn't have to turn to know that people's expressions were dropping as Bucky listed off several moves quickly. She wasn't deterred, and even stood straighter, knowing it'd be a piece of cake with all the training she had combined with her natural athleticism.
Other than her, though, everyone else looked nervous. And Bucky loved that as he raised an eyebrow. "Afraid?" In response, Addison raised her hand, and Bucky called on her expectantly. "Yes, Addison?
"Captain Bucky, was that funky chicken Cajun or shake and bake?" she asked brightly. Carson held in an eyeroll at her attempt to lighten the mood for those that were afraid. If they were afraid, then they weren't good enough to make the team. They weren't good enough to help win.
Though Bucky was likely thinking the same as his sister, he was far better at hiding his true expressions. "Well, I've never heard of Cajun, so spice it up!"
That made Addison laugh and she turned to Bree to try and make her feel better. "We got this."
Bucky looked right into Carson's eyes and raised his chin in a challenging way, an action which she mirrored. "The Mighty Shrimp don't think small. What else do they do?"
Carson smirked again. "Cheer until it hurts."
Many of the ones trying out had a right to be afraid. Bucky's process was brutal, and soon, they started dropping like flies. Some were cut over cartwheels, others because their movements weren't tight enough. One tried to sneak back into tryouts with a disguise and another had the Aceys fighting to pry her pom poms from her hands.
Carson hardly broke a sweat, but neither did Addison. And after making it through basic conditioning, it came time for specific skill sets. Call it favoritism all you want, but Bucky was proud to choose Carson to go first to show off her skills as a potential flyer.
She was smoothly lifted into the air and held all poses asked of her without having trouble with her balance, even when on one leg. Then she completed a series of stunts and was thrown into the air. Even as one of the boys at the base meant to catch her missed his mark, she was able to salvage the move and seamlessly regain her balance, only relying on the other boy trying out.
Only a second passed before Bucky was ripping the tryout number off the first boy's chest. Then he clapped approvingly for Carson who moved to stand by the Aceys until she was meant to participate again.
A few others went before it was Addison's turn. Carson wouldn't lie and say she wasn't on edge as her cousin got in position. Her fingernails dug into her palms, worried that points might have been taken off because of the now-cut boy's falter. But while Addison was very talented, she wasn't able to perform quite as many turns in one toss as Carson had, which would hopefully put her over the edge. And she hadn't attempted a flip at all while that high off the ground.
It wasn't long before they were narrowed down to the final ten, which surprisingly still included Bree. Bucky stood in the middle of the floor and stared them all down. "You guys got moves, but can you win over a crowd? Make them worship you? Like they worship me!"
Suddenly, the large banner that'd been hanging to celebrate the award-winning cheer team dropped, revealing bleachers full of cheering students, as well as the previously cut people.
"Hey, who am I fooling?" Carson heard Bree say to Addison. The girl was practically shaking now that she was in front of the crowd. "Bucky's never gonna let me on the team. He'll clip my wings. I'm never gonna fly."
As Bree ran to sit on the bleachers, the first candidate went in front of the crowd. Well, Tracey pushed her in front of them. As she stood there, doing nothing, the crowd began booing and shouting insults. The reaction caused the girl to break down into tears, resulting in Stacey and Lacey carrying her off the gym floor.
Without being chosen, Carson took the chance to rush forward. She did a cartwheel before turning and going into a back handspring, landing perfectly in front of the bleachers. Instantly, the boos turned to cheers.
"Go, Mighty Shrimp!" Carson shouted, her voice carrying naturally without the aid of a megaphone. With a big staged grin, she turned from the crowd.
Her brother was waiting by a cart and pulled back the lids of two, silver, covered dishes, revealing a set of shimmering pom poms.
"Welcome to the Mighty Shrimp!" he said, formally announcing the first to make the squad. "And our final flyer!"
"Yes!" Carson exclaimed, getting her pom poms. Her competitive side won out as she spun on her heel and shot a smile at Addison, who knew it was a way of her gloating.
Though she was let down, Addison still ran out and stood on the bleachers. She faced the crowd and clapped her hands together to try and get them pumped up. "We are the Mighty Shrimp! It's time to show you now!" she chanted, the crowd joining in. "We got the stuff to light you up. It's getting hotter now. We're getting hotter now. It's getting hotter now!"
Then she jumped off the bleachers and continued to move and chant. A few other people trying out joined in until it was finished, which brought the tryouts to a close. After dealing out a few more sets of shining pom poms, Bucky approached his cousin with Carson at his side.
"Welcome to the Mighty Shrimp," Bucky said while Carson handed the pom poms to Addison. "Wear our colors with pride."
"Thank you. Thank you so much!" Addison said, grinning brightly. Then she wrapped an arm around each of her cousins to hug them happily. Even if Carson and Addison had been competing, they still knew each other was a great cheerleader.
But then Addison looked to the side and noticed Bree pouting, who hadn't gotten a spot on the squad. "Hey, cuz," Addison said sweetly to Bucky. "Bree over there has great moves and serious pep."
Bucky instantly scoffed, eyeing the girl. "Seabrook is all about precision. Perfection." Carson nodded in agreement. Then Bucky put a hand on Addison's head. "She can't hide under a wig like some people."
At that, Carson did roll her eyes. She'd never keep someone off the squad for how they looked. It wasn't fair that Addison had to hide her white head of hair or that Carson had to keep her white strands hidden. Though they weren't related, they both lacked color in some way, which couldn't be dyed over or anything.
Addison managed to ignore the dig about her natural hair and clasped her hands together while flashing her puppy dog eyes. "Pretty please?"
After a moment, Bucky gave in with a sigh. Carson couldn't believe it as he called the girl over. "Bree!" he snapped, and she scurried to his side. "You have some real... potential. You made the squad. As a stand-in," he told her, clearly not excited.
"So, I'm on the team?" Bree asked in disbelief. As he nodded, she squealed impossibly loud and hugged Addison. "I made it. I'm on the team! I made it!"
Carson had to admit that seeing Bree so happy made her a little happy. And since she was a stand-in, if her progress didn't improve, she wouldn't be in any competitions anyway.
As those that made it celebrated, Bucky moved to the center of the gym once more to speak. "People love cheer. That's what makes me so important. And I'd hate to see that change. Change is upon us now that zombies have entered our school."
At that, Bucky lost Carson, who didn't agree with his thoughts on zombies. She thought he was making far too big a deal over it all.
"Cheer is being threatened," he went on before beginning to move his arms. "C-H-E-E, are you ready to protect it?"
A chorus of 'yeah's and 'we're ready's sounded as people agreed with him. Carson stayed silent, crossing her arms. The zombies weren't threatening cheer in any way. And honestly, so long as they were flawless at it, she'd gladly welcome a zombie to the team if it'd help them win.
That was how all three of them were divided when it came to cheer.
For Addison, it was about everyone being happy and having fun.
For Bucky, it was about himself, and nothing could take away from his stardom.
For Carson, she just needed to be the best and would take anyone that could help her reach that.
With cheerleading tryouts officially complete, it was time for the season to officially begin. But Bucky wasn't about to announce the practice schedule, as they might have expected. He clapped his hands before moving to Carson's side and leaning against her with a smirk.
"Let the cheer initiation begin!"
Carson eyed her brother suspiciously, not liking the look in his eyes. "You do know hazing is illegal, right?"