Dare to Be Different (18 page)

“I was just thinking that it would be something fun for us to do together.” Their friends slowly backed away and headed off in different directions, sure there would be an argument.

“No, you’re more interested in things that you can do alone these days. It doesn’t matter anyway; I am not trying out for cheerleading, and you already know that.” Dani was emphatic in her answer—it was not something she wanted to do then, or ever.

“Come on, sis, you might enjoy it.” Drew gave a halfhearted attempt at coaxing Dani, but she secretly hoped to be able to do it alone. “I’m not trying to find things to do that you aren’t interested in … I’m just trying to explore other options, you know, spread my wings a bit.”

“Well, I suppose you have the right to do things, just as I have the right not to do things.” Dani sighed, resigned to the fact that she and her sister were pulling apart. It was inevitable, she supposed.

The bell rang, and it was time to go to class. Not wanting to end the conversation on a sad note, Drew gave her sister a hug and promised that everything would be fine. “Oh, you know me, Dan. It’s probably just a phase I’m going through. Just let me try some things out and test the waters a little bit. I’ll probably realize that I liked it better the other way.”

“Yep, knowing you, that’s true.” Both girls laughed and headed off to their classes.

Chapter 3

“Girls, I need you all to line up. We’re going to teach you a cheer and then have you perform it. What we are looking for is style, smile, and choreography.” The cheerleading coach, Tracy, was leading the after-school tryouts out on the football field on Friday afternoon. “If you get tapped on the shoulder, it means that we’re asking you to step out of the tryouts. Please understand that we appreciate your efforts, but there are only seven freshman positions available for the junior varsity squad and about thirty girls who are trying out for them. At this time, though, I’m going to turn things over to our head cheerleader, Kallie, who will teach you the routine. Good luck, girls.” The coach sat on a chair on the sidelines with
a clipboard poised on her lap for note-taking. The thirty hopefuls who were trying out for the squad lined up on the field awaiting their instructions. Drew looked up and down the two rows of girls, sizing up her competition. She knew at least two of the girls had prior dance experience and three others had been in gymnastics with Drew. She wasn’t sure about the dancers, but she knew that she was more skilled than the other gymnasts. She also noticed that there were many girls who weren’t really contenders for a spot for various other reasons. As she waited, she began to grow a bit more confident that she could secure one of the spots on the team.

Kallie took her position in front of the girls, and two of her cheerleaders joined her and flanked her, one on each side. She began to teach the girls the cheer that they would have to learn for their audition. First, Kallie and the other two cheerleaders performed the cheer three times for the girls to watch. One thing that Drew took note of was that they smiled the entire time, even while they were shouting the cheer. After they had the chance to watch it three times, Kallie took them through the moves and the words one section at a time. It was unnerving to see that
Tracy, the coach, had begun to move about the rows of girls, looking at them closely as they practiced. A few times, she tapped girls on the shoulder to let them know that they were excused from the tryouts. That just made Drew work even harder at keeping that smile on her face and getting the moves just right.

After almost two hours of practicing, they were almost ready to perform the cheer as their final audition for Coach Tracy, who had left the field about an hour earlier. Before she went off to find the coach, Kallie asked, “Is there anyone who can do a back flip and would feel comfortable performing it for your audition? Since you have all done so well, I have a little surprise in mind for Tracy.”

Three girls raised their hands, including Drew. Kallie gave each of them a chance to show her their back flip so she could select one girl to perform it for Tracy in the audition. First was Delaney. She was a decent gymnast and, if she nailed it, she could possibly be the best one to perform the flip, but she was often inconsistent, as Drew knew from gymnastics practice and meets. So Drew was anxious to see how she did. Delaney stood back and set off on a little run,
did a round-off, and then a back flip. Her moves were fine, but she stumbled at the end rather than standing tall and solid. Her stumble caused her to lose her concentration, so her smile wavered.

Drew didn’t know the second girl but was glad to see that her back flip was nowhere near as good as Delaney’s was. It was Drew’s turn. She wanted to nail this so badly. She looked down the line of girls who were waiting to see how she’d perform. She put a big smile on her face and set off on her run, preparing for her flip. She, too, did a round-off first and then a flip. It was perfect! She ended without a wobble and raised her arms as high as she could with a big smile on her face the entire time.

Kallie announced that Drew would be performing the trick at the end of their audition. They ran through the cheer one more time, adding in the specialty move that would be a surprise to Tracy.

After seeing the finished product, before she called Tracy back to view the final audition, Kallie told the girls her thoughts. “I am so surprised and impressed with this freshman group. You have done a fantastic job, and it’s going to be a very difficult choice for us to make. I wish
you all the best of luck.” With that, she went to find Tracy, leaving the girls to take a break while she was gone.

“Okay, girls, let’s see what you’ve got.” Tracy came back, eager to see what the girls had learned and more than ready to begin the selection process for the new junior varsity cheerleading squad.

“Ready? Begin,” Kallie shouted, calling for the cheer to start. The girls waited the two seconds they were supposed to and then began. The cheer went remarkably well except for a few girls who forgot the words and a few others who missed their cues. They were out of the running. At the end of the cheer, Drew poised herself to perform her big finish. It went perfectly, even better than the first time. She was exhilarated and proud when the cheer was over and they all turned to look at Tracy.

“I must say, girls, I am very impressed. You went above and beyond what was called for and even added difficulty to the routine. This is going to be a difficult selection process. You can look at the bulletin board outside of the sports office for the results on Monday morning.”

Drew left the tryouts excited and hopeful, but
as she walked home, she became worried. It was sure to be a long weekend while Drew anxiously awaited the results of her cheerleading tryouts.

“Of course you’ll make the squad. You got to do the big finish that impressed the coach,” Dani tried to assure her numerous times. Drew even showed Dani the cheer to get her opinion. “You look like a natural-born cheerleader, Drew. Stop worrying about it.” Dani was so irritated by the end of the weekend that she couldn’t wait to get the results on Monday morning either, just so the constant talking about it would be over.

Monday morning couldn’t have come soon enough for Drew. She jumped out of bed as soon as the alarm began to ring instead of pushing the S
nooze
button three times like she usually did. She yanked on the window shades, which opened with a loud
snap
and flapped as they rolled up. Bright sunlight streamed through the windows and filled the pretty, pink room. Dani began to stir and then groaned as she tried to open her eyes to the bright light.

“What are you doing?” Dani whined, rubbing her eyes. “We have more time to sleep. Why are you torturing me?”

“Dani! You need to get up right away. We have to leave for school as soon as we can get ready.” Drew was so excited, she could barely contain it.

“Is this because of the cheerleading list?” Dani asked with obvious irritation.

“Of course. I’ve been waiting all weekend to see the results. Now come on.” Drew pulled on the floral quilt that Dani held up by her chin.

“Okay, okay, I’m getting up. Give me a second.”

“I’m going to use the bathroom. Please, please, please don’t go back to sleep,” Drew begged.

After Drew prodded Dani through breakfast and hurried her into dressing and packing her backpack, they loaded in the car and waited for their mom. She had agreed to drive them so Drew wouldn’t have to wait for the bus or walk. “Come on, Mom,” Drew called through the open window.

“I’m coming. Hold your horses,” Mom climbed into the car.

As soon as they got to school, Drew said a hurried good-bye to her mom and Dani and then jumped out of the car and sprinted toward the building. Dani quietly watched her go, shaking her head with a smile and wondering how
they could be identical twins, yet so incredibly different.

Drew ran right to the sports office and stared at the bulletin board, so anxious to see the list of the new squad members but afraid at the same time that she hadn’t made it. Going down the list of names …”Stephanie Akers, Melanie Coldwell, Emily Frankle …” A lump caught in Drew’s throat as she realized that the alphabetical list of the names of the girls who had been selected to be a part of the JV squad, the varsity squad, and the dance team didn’t include her name. She hadn’t made the team.

Not knowing what to think and not wanting to face anyone for fear of bursting into tears, Drew just stood there staring at the list. She was so disappointed and, admittedly, surprised. Continuing down the list, she read the names and sighed as she neared the bottom.

Still having trouble dealing with the news, she decided to read the list again. Starting at the top, she made her way to the bottom. Her name never magically appeared among the other girls’ names. As she was about to give up and step away, she stopped short as she noticed her name at the bottom of the page, separate from the list.

She stepped a little closer and read the note in italics:
“Drew Daniels; Junior Varsity Cheerleading Squad Captain.”

So she had made the team! And not only had she made the team, but she was given the high honor of being the team captain. Her heart was beating wildly in her excitement.

“Drew, welcome to the team.” Coach Tracy walked up behind her and patted her on the back.

“Thank you so much, Coach. I didn’t see my name at first, and I panicked a little. I wanted this so badly, and I appreciate the extra responsibility you’ve given me by making me team captain. I didn’t even know that was a possibility for a freshman.”

“Well, Drew, your tryouts were exceptional; you definitely stood out among your peers, and you went above and beyond what the rest of the girls did. I also spoke with a few of your teachers from last year. It seems that you have a reputation for being a kind and fair leader in school. So it was a logical choice. I’m sure you’ll do very well.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Coach,” Drew said. “I promise I won’t let you down.”

It was an exciting day for Drew. Her new position on the cheerleading squad and her role as captain gave her instant celebrity among the freshman class.

Dani, on the other hand, plodded through her day with growing resentment of Drew’s new focus and popularity. She didn’t want to be jealous, and it wasn’t exactly jealousy that she felt. She just felt left out. Dani and Drew had been inseparable, a single unit, for their whole lives up until this first week of school. All of a sudden everything changed and she was left standing alone, and Drew didn’t even seem to notice. It seemed like Drew wanted to be as far from her as possible and didn’t even seem to miss her and the tight bond they had, while Dani felt like a part of her had died.

Everywhere she went that day, people were saying things like, “Drew is the captain of the cheerleaders—isn’t that fabulous? She’s going to look so cute in the uniform.” Or, “Why didn’t you try out for the squad, Dani? I’m sure you’d have made it like Drew did.” Or, “What are you going to do with all of your time now that Drew will be so busy with practices and games? I’ll bet she’ll make a lot of new friends,
too.” Each comment was like a knife through her heart. By the end of the day, all she wanted was to be home, in her room, alone.