When past and present collide

[Andie Simone]

Wearing her favourite pair of pink (short) shorts and pink and black sleeveless shirt, Andie; carried a boombox onto the field while she typed out a text on her cell, sending a message to Sara to let the girl know where the squad was meeting. She had sent the girls a text the night before asking them to be on the field in their uniforms.

Placing the boombox on the ground, Andie pushed the play button and the music of Hey Mickey filled the air and Andie moved in time to the music. Just mucking around as she waited for the girl's to arrive. Today was the day that the spirit stick was passed to the new captain, a big day for the Blue Ridge Firebirds. She pressed her lips together as she wondered if she should have got the photographer for the school paper to be here to take photos, then curled her nose up. AS big as this day was, it was also a day to be shared only with squad members (both past and present).

The woman glanced over as she saw the first of the girls walking across the grass to join her. "Have a seat and we'll get started when the others are here." She had only asked the girls to meet her here, not telling them why, just that they needed to be in uniform. She had also left a note on the bulletin board telling anyone who was interested in joining the squad to be on the field as well, for after all, even wannabes needed to witness this moment.

[Cortney Smit]

Pulling her hair into a high pony tail, Cortney applied just the right amount of make up to her eyes, lips and high cheekbones, so that each area was highlighted, but not enough to make herself look like a hussy. She then left he bathroom and began to sort through her clothes until her uniform was lying on the bed.

She carefully dressed, making sure to brush out the creases that had been cause from the uniform having been in her closet for the past few months. She glanced around the room, wondering where her dorm-mate, whom she had actually yet to speak with, was but then brushing that thought aside as she finished getting ready, pushed her feet into her shoes, grabbed her bag and left the dorm.

Walking onto the field, she saw that their coach was already there, not surprising, and she smiled as she reached Andie. "Hi Andie!" She said brightly. "We need to stop meeting up like this." The joke was about the fact that other than classes, she saw the cheer coach whenever she was working in the barn. She sat down on the ground as instructed and began to stretch out her muscles.

[Adonya van Rutherford]

Blythe had been in the office that morning, enquiring about a schedule change, as one of her classes had been cancelled. As she waited to see what classes she could transfer into, she read over the bulletin board, raising an eyebrow as she saw an announcement about the cheer team. How could she not have known that they were meeting? After picking an elective class at random from the list, she hurried through the rest of the affair, hoping that she would be able to change and arrive at the field in time.

After running back to the dorms, she climbed the steps and let herself into her room, glad to see that her roommate wasn't there anymore. She dug through her drawer, pulling out black shorts and a pink tee that simply read 'cheer' in a decorative font. After glancing at her fish tank, which had arrived, although the fish wouldn't for a few more days, to see that she hadn't hit it, she tied her hair up and put a small bow into it. A few dabs of makeup, and her look was completed.

Calming her breath, she walked out of her room, making sure to lock it behind her, then made her way down towards the field where the cheer meeting was to be. As she approached, she saw two people there already, and heard the music playing, music which sounded vaguely familiar, although she couldn't place it, her nerves in the way. This was it!

She stepped onto the field and raised a hand in a half wave to the two females, one of whom was her roommate, although they had never talked, and an older girl, who might be the coach. "I'm Blythe."

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara pulled into the main office parking lot, a smile on her face since she had turned into the driveway to the academy. She was so happy to be back, even for only an hour or two, and she couldn't wait to see how the squad was doing. After stopping her truck, she hopped out of the cab, walking around to open the back door, "Foris." The two large malamutes that had been in the back jumped out, one after the other. Sara reached up to the seat to pick up the two vests as the dogs padded around, shaking out their fur, knowing that they wouldn't go far.

After sorting out the tangle of straps, she bent down to put the service dog vest onto her red and white Cinder, before asking him to sit, then turned to the black and white, going grey Nunya and buckled on the red vest with 'therapy dog' patches, recently added. Without picking up either of the leather tabs that each dog wore, she locked her truck and moved in the direction of the football field, checking her bag to make sure that she had what she needed.

As she approached, she called the two dogs to heel, entering the field with a grin as she saw Cortney and Andie, although she noticed the new girl as well. Approaching Andie, she smiled and called out, "Someone called for mutt transport?" She glanced down at the two dogs, one of whom was visibly eager to go and greet the others, "Lorem, Nunya." The taller of the two dogs was off like a shot, dancing around Andie's legs, while Cinder stayed by Sara until she nudged him, "Lorem." With both dogs released for the time being, she grinned at Andie, "So, before you get smothered by fur, how are you? Are they all behaving?"

[Andie Simone]

Andie grinned when Cortney joined her. "Indeed we do!" She replied as she narrowed her eyes playfully and arched a suspicious eyebrow. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were stalking me." She was curious to know why the girl wasn't in the reproduction class, after all she spent enough time around the broodmares, but now was neither the time nor place.

She watched as an unknown girl approached them, and took her as being a wannabe. "Hi Blythe, I'm Andie, the squad coach." Whatever else she was going to say was lost as a large blur of black and white fur suddenly appeared around her legs.

Being careful not to get tripped up by the canine, she ruffled Nunya's neck and turned to face Sara, as most of the other cheerleaders (the NPC ones) arrived. "I'm great!" She said as she untangled herself from the large floor rug, stepped forward and hugged the other girl. "They are getting there. How are you? How are things treating you?" She glanced around at the girls who were sitting on the ground and then turned her attention back to Blythe. "I don't intend on doing try-outs today, just a warning before you try and start kissing up, so go and sit down and chat with the others while we're waiting for the rest to arrive so we can get started."

She turned back to Sara and let out a long breath. "The joys of replacing last year's seniors. You can do your thing whenever you are ready." She knew that they were still missing a few girls, but she'd deal with them later. She bent down and grabbed the clipboard from where she had left it by the boom box and consulted it, jotting down the wannabe's name

[Cortney Smit]

At their coach's words, Cortney's eyebrows flew up, her eyes widening in surprise, her mouth forming an "o" and her hand touching her chin in feigned shock. "How'd you guess what I was doing?" She asked, but then lost the act as she burst out laughing.

She listened to the exchange between the girl she shared a couple of classes with and Andie, but continued stretching out her muscles. They hadn't been told what they were doing, but as they had been told to come in uniform, Cortney could only guess that they would be working through so routines and she didn't want to go into them cold.

A blur of black and white caught her attention and she grinned when she saw Nunya and then Cinder, which could only mean that Sara couldn't be too far behind. As keen as she was to greet the older girl, she knew her place was to wait while royalty greeted royalty, the lowly commoners needed to remain beneath the Queens until they were addressed. She gave Cinder a scratch behind the ear as the red and white dog walked up to her. "How are you?" She asked the canine softly as she went to rubbing the canine's belly as Cinder flopped over.

[Adonya van Rutherford]

Blythe nodded as the cheer coach acknowledged her, stepping back as something came at Andie. She watched with a raised eyebrow as the coach greeted the dog that had come at her, then followed the path that the monster had come from, seeing a tall girl dressed neatly, someone that she hadn't seen before, carrying a backpack. Glancing around as the girl greeted Andie, she saw her roommate with another dog, and wrinkled her nose.

As Andie's attention turned back to her, Blythe nodded and looked around, choosing to sit next to a raven-haired girl and shrugging, "Who's the blonde chick?" She nodded at the girl that had arrived with the dogs, and was surprised when she was told that she had been the cheer captain the past year. "Her?" Blythe sneered, looking at the dogs, both of whom were wearing vests, which meant only one thing to her.

Looking around the field as she waited, she kept an eye on Sara and Andie, wondering when they would get this thing started, since it was probably a waste of time. If they weren't doing tryouts, why did she have to be here? It didn't make any sense to join the team if there was any question about being a part of it, not that there was for her, but for the other wannabes.

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara smiled brightly as Andie responded, "That's good." Her eyes sparkled as she watched Nunya and Andie, glad that when the coach tried stepping out of the dog's way, the malamute respected that, wagging her tail as she went to explore some of the other members of the team that had been friendly to her. She returned Andie's hug and smiled at the coach's exasperation, "I'm sure you and the captain will whip them into shape quickly enough." She eyed the girl who was still standing there, "Although some of your wannabes need work." After Andie had shooed the girl away, Sara continued, "Things are going well, I haven't had any trouble with Cinder yet, and Nunya's settling in to her new life well."

Hearing Andie's welcome to start whenever she was ready, she nodded and whistled to get Nunya and Cinder over to her, and with a word had them laying down. She grinned, taking a moment to organize her thoughts before she took her backpack off of her shoulders and pulled out a velvet bag that held the most important thing for the Firebirds. Undoing the knot that held the bag closed, she pulled out the spirit stick and let the bag drop to the ground. Holding it loosely in front of her, she beamed at the assembled girls, her face showing not a trace of the worry she had of messing this up.

"For those that don't know me, my name is Sara. I was the cheer captain of this team last year, after Andie passed that responsibility on to me. This year, its my turn to pass on that legacy, pass it on to the girl who I see the same spirit and dedication in." She stepped forward, offering her hand to Cortney to pull the girl to her feet, "With the passing of the spirit stick, I pass on the responsibility to uphold the Firebirds legacy. I know you can do it, because otherwise, you would never have made it onto the team." She held out the spirit stick to Cortney, and as the girl took it, she turned to the assembled girls, "Your new squad captain, Cortney!" As she waited for the girls to clap, she stepped back, planning on talking to Cortney again afterwards, after she had taken command of the squad.

[Andie Simone]

Andie rolled her eyes. "That's only if they take the new captain seriously and if she can be butch enough to make the others bend to her will." Which what the coach was most worried about, as the girl they... well, Sara... had chosen was a very nice person and she wasn't sure if the girl had the power in her for the others to look up to her.

She stood back as she allowed Sara to take the spotlight and address the squad, and wannabe, and pass the spirit stick. The coach got a little misty as she remembered passing the stick to Sara the year before after holding it herself for the previous two years, as like this year's captain, she had been selected by the departing captain when she was only in her Junior year. There was almost a stunned silence as Cortney was pulled to her feet and presented the spirit stick. "Woo, go Cort!" Andie cheered as she began to clap, breathing again as the others took her lead and also applauded their new captain.

Andie caught Sara's eye and arched her eyebrows in a worried way, but she gave Cortney a beaming smile and walked over to join the girl. "Well, Captain, what do you want to do now?"

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney sat up from her left split stretch as Sara addressed them. She smiled and applauded when the older girl introduced herself and then laughed at herself when no one else applauded. She moved her legs around so that both legs were in front of her and she pulled her knees up to her chest, she had an idea that she already knew who was going to be the next captain, and from the proud look on the senior girl's face, Iris knew she was going to be named captain too.

It took Cort a few seconds to take in what Sara had said, and she looked at the outstretched hand dumbly and allowed the older girl to pull her to her feet. She shook her head and quickly pulled herself together as she accepted the spirit stick - there was no way that she was going to doom herself and drop the stick that never touched the ground. "Thank you Sara, I promise I won't let you down." She was gutted slightly when there was no reaction to the announcement until Sara and Andie started applauding.

The girl stood tall as their coach address her. "Why don't we see what the new girl is made of?" She asked as she looked at the girl with a raised eyebrow, the look on her face challenging. She had heard the cutting tone in the blonde's voice when her and the raven haired cheerleader were talking about Sara.

[Adonya van Rutherford]

Adonya watched with disgust on her face as the girl, the previous year's captain, started the ceremony to pass on the spirit stick. She had never attended one before, although they had obviously had a spirit stick, but then, in a team of near-perfect girls, the coaches would never want to single out the best... Not that Adonya wasn't sure that she would have gotten it if they had.

As Cortney was announced as the new captain, Adonya held her applause, waiting to see how the squad reacted, and only after the coach and other squad members had started clapping did she join in, watching her roommate's reaction. As the girl with the mutts walked to the side of the field, she watched Andie and Cortney conferring, but she wasn't prepared for being called upon to try out, after Andie's comment earlier.

However, the challenge on Cortney's face was unmistakable, and she stood, her face flat and expressionless, "Bring it." She wasn't worried about what Cortney would throw at her, although she did consider that maybe their room would get a bit... tense, after this. But who cared? She wasn't going to let this girl try and take her down, no matter what happened.

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara returned Andie's worried look with one of her own as she heard how unenthusiastic the team was. Hopefully they would be able to rally behind Cortney, or perhaps Andie would be able to help her gain their respect. For the first time, she felt a twinge of doubt that she had made a mistake in giving the girl the captaincy, and she wasn't able to push it away as she asked both of her dogs to heel and walked off to the side of the field, clearing the way for the captain and coach to figure out how they would want to spend the rest of their meeting.

After she had leaned up against the chain-link fence and let both Nunya and Cinder lay down again, in the most shade she had found on the field, she looked up to the cheer team. Just in time to see the first challenge that was brought before Cortney, which was bad... Very bad. However, she would only make things worse by sticking up for the junior, who would have to manage on her own against the new girl. A small frown on her face as she worried, Sara leaned against the fence and watched.

[Amelia DeFoe]

Amy had been sitting underneath the bleachers for quite some time now, camped out for more than half an hour before the cheer meeting had started, just to catch a glimpse of the girl that Andie had mentioned. It seemed an odd way to spend her time, but Amy had brought her book out, and was using Wolf as a pillow as she lay in wait, reading. The sound of music had made her put her book away, although it had been some time of watching the cheerleaders interact before the girl that Amy was watching for appeared... Or at least, that had to be her, although she came with two dogs instead of the one that Amy had been expecting.

She leaned forward all the same as she watched the girl, who seemed far more confident than Amy ever felt, waiting to get a better glimpse of the two dogs that she had brought, although she hoped that she wouldn't be seen... That would get awkward to explain, fast, although Andie might vouch for her. As the girl stepped towards the fence with her canines, she came towards Amy, who finally got a chance to look at the two dogs, while Wolf lay quietly where he had been all morning. Maybe they weren't doing any cheer moves, but the two dogs still seemed perfectly trained, responding to the slightest hint of a word from the taller girl.

[Andie Simone]

Andie gave a sharp look to a few of the seniors of the squad, as the applause came to a halt, the girls that had cheered under her leadership only a couple of years earlier. the look told the girls that she would be speaking with them later and nodded as they cowed, lowering their eyes from the coach's.

Andie's eyebrows rose as she looked wide-eyed at Cortney as the girl made an open challenge toward the new girl, Blythe, but she shrugged when the other accepted the challenge with as much bravado as it was given. She could understand that the new captain was trying to prove herself, Andie just hoped that Cortney wasn't going to ruin all chances of ever gaining respect by doing it this way.

She followed Sara with her eyes as the Alumni retreated to the edges of the field, and she suddenly thought about Amy. She had told the girl about this meeting, but only because she knew Sara was going to be here, she hoped that the young girl wouldn't arrive in the middle of this cheer-off and think that she had been tricked before she noticed Sara and her dogs. She too took a step back to give Cortney and Blythe more room.

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney was slightly taken aback as Blythe accepted her challenge with as much challenge as it was given, though she didn't let her face show it as she smirked and lifted her chin a little more. "Right then, let's see how flexible you are; Standing back handsping, back tuck. Front handspring, step out, round off back handspring, step-out, round-off full twisting layout." She raised her eyebrows again and then gestured toward the open area with her hands. "The floor is all yours, new girl." She made a mental note to either apologise to the other girl later when they were about to sleep for the night, or else to make herself scarce around the dorm room.

She had been tempted to give the girl an eight count routine to do, but her head was a little fuzzy from being selected as the squad captain. That and the fact that she was already thinking of new routines that the squad could do that year, but she guessed that she would need to discuss things like that with Andie. She stood beside the boom box, wondering if she should put some music on for the other girl, but decided against it as it would mean all of the attention of the squad was on the tumbling girl, rather than on the music playing.