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“Congrats, girlie,” a familiar voice behind me said. “I just saw your name on the list.”
I turned to see Mandy strolling toward me as if in slow motion, her mini leather backpack swinging from her side. She brushed her long blonde hair out of her face and shot me a beaming smile.
Mandy was the third and final portion of our BFF trio. While Trina was classically beautiful and quiet, Mandy was sexy and confident. No one would’ve guessed that she was only five foot two. She carried herself like Cara Delevingne down the catwalk, her hips swaying in skintight leggings. Boys would constantly hit her up, but she shot them down like flies. She was too busy to fall in love. As an all-state long distance track star, she had more important things to worry about.
I let a little squeal slip out and jumped into her arms. “Thank you. I can’t believe it.”
“Well, I do.” Her dark eyebrows knit together and she gave me what Trina and I lovingly called her take no crap expression. “You worked hard, put in the time, and you did what you had to do to accomplish your goal. They couldn’t have asked for more.”
I’m pretty sure Savannah would disagree with that assessment, but I wasn’t going to argue with Mandy.
“How was cross country practice this morning?” I asked, draping my arm over her shoulder. “Our infinitely sexy carpool just wasn’t the same without you.”
She laughed and grabbed my hand resting on her arm. We walked toward the gym, our strides in sync. “Practice was great. Coach says I’ll blow them all out of the water at nationals this year.”
I smiled, loving the confidence in her tone. Mandy had never been one to waiver. If she wanted something, she went after it. That included her running career. Colleges were going crazy after her and she’d already been offered several generous scholarship opportunities.
“That’s my girl,” I said, giving her a last squeeze.
Savannah and the rest of the squad were gathered just inside the gym, the football team on the other side in their practice pads. I could feel my cousin’s scorching glare as I said goodbye to Mandy and jogged toward my new team. They were celebrating the recent additions, hugging and squealing in delight. I gave a few hugs of my own, thanking my fellow seniors for voting me in. Thank goodness it was a team decision to allow new members on the squad, because I was pretty sure if it were up to the captain, this would’ve been a different outcome. The closest I would’ve come to the spirit squad was selling hotdogs at the concession stand.
“Welcome back, Lady Bandits!” Savannah started, clapping her hands for silence.
The whole team took a seat on the gym floor at her feet. I sat in the midst of the group, feeling relieved for the first time today. Maybe I didn’t have that solo spot yet, but I was going to get it. I could feel it in my bones.
“Welcome to our baby bandit recruits,” Savannah continued. “Your sisters are thrilled to have you.”
I clapped with the rest of the group and smiled at the girls sitting next to me.
“As your team captain, I want to take a moment to remind you of what you ladies now stand for.” Savannah arched her back and placed her hands on her slender hips, posing like a model from a fashion magazine. Her black Spanx shorts and thin cami could hardly count as clothing, but she still looked amazing. “We are the life and blood of the Rock Valley High Bandits. We’re the fans’ connection to our amazing athletes. Games are won and lost on the strength of their cheerleaders. When we walk out on that field, it’s war. Anyone who thinks cheerleading isn’t a sport is sadly mistaken. We are athletes of the highest caliber and we will take our teams to the championship.”
I tried my best not to move a single facial muscle as Savannah went on to preach about the importance of the cheerleading squad. From here on out, I wasn’t going to do a single thing that could draw unwanted attention toward myself. If she wanted an Amazonian warrior tribe for a team, then I would be just that. I’d dress myself in leather and war paint if that was what it took. Anything to keep my spot on the team.
Behind her, the football team was welcoming their own freshman recruits with a speech from the head coach. I could see Collin and the other seniors standing just behind their coach, their heads nodding along with whatever he was saying. Collin had exchanged his leather jacket for shoulder pads, a practice jersey, and pants. As much as I hated to admit it, he looked good in the get up. It was hard to look away. The short sleeves of the purple jersey revealed his muscular forearms and the pants were just tight enough to reveal the massive amount of strength in his legs.
“Audrey? Did you hear what I said?” Savannah’s shrill voice snapped my attention back to her face. She was staring at me with her red lips curled in a sickly sweet smile.
“Yes?” My breath caught in my lungs. What had I missed?
“Your sisters are counting on you,” she continued, her eyebrow arching. “Don’t let us down.”
I chewed on my inner cheek, wondering what exactly that meant. My attention had drifted for only a few seconds.
Savannah snapped her fingers and immediately one of the other seniors on the squad approached her with a large oval object encircled in her arms. It was dark gray and covered with what resembled matted fur. Two grotesque cartoonish eyes stared up at the ceiling while a red tongue sat inside an ajar mouth. It had a large hole at the bottom, big enough for someone to place their head inside.
“Here’s your costume,” Savannah announced proudly. “The rest of it’s in the locker room, but I wanted to make sure you were properly introduced.”
My jaw dropped to my chin and I slowly pushed myself up on trembling legs to get a better look at the monstrosity. Surely, she was joking. She couldn’t make me wear that thing. By all accounts, forcing me to eat mud pies as children didn’t even rank on this spectrum of cruelty.
“It’s a raccoon,” I said, my voice croaking.
“It’s Rascal the Bandit,” she answered innocently. “Principal Newton has been wanting to revive our team mascot’s image. I told him we had the perfect candidate. This is why you were selected for the squad.”
It was as if someone had punctured both of my lungs and snatched my vocal chords from my throat. I couldn’t wear that thing. It was at least a hundred years old and probably filled with dust mites the size of prehistoric dinosaurs.
Savannah took the decaying raccoon head and held it up for me to see. “Better try it on for size. You’re going to be practically living in this thing. First game is this Friday.”
Before I could protest, she lifted it up and shoved it on my head. I involuntarily gasped, inhaling the scent of dried sweat, moth balls, and wet fur. My gag reflux kicked in, causing me to double over in an effort not to drown myself in my own vomit. I could barely see the rest of the squad through the two black nets that had been placed over the eyes.
