Kara's Cross

“Here we go, Maddie,” I stop and turn to her before walking through the door, “I have a good feeling about this. Operations Spirit Fingers is going to be a success.”

“I hope so, Kara. We’ve practiced non-stop for two weeks.”

We saw the announcement for cheerleading tryouts a few weeks ago and had decided our best chance was to practice as much as possible before we tried out. At first, we didn’t know how to go about it, so we rented some cheerleading movies and tried doing the moves, but the movies mostly show dance cheerleading and we were pretty sure they don’t do much of that at the games. Then, Jackie heard us talking about it one day and offers to help us, since she was a cheerleader in middle school. The three of us got together every day after school and practiced until suppertime. Mason even thinks we’re halfway decent.

“It’s too bad Jackie’s parents won’t let her try out because she’s in volleyball,” I remark. “She definitely would have made the squad.”

“Yeah,” Maddie agrees, “your dad probably wouldn’t have let you do both activities either; you’d be away from home all the time.”

“Exactly,” I mumble, “your parents would let you, though, I’ll bet.”

“I wouldn’t have tried for both; I’m barely going to be able to keep up with homework and everything else if I make this team.”

“That’s not the point, Maddie.”

“It’s my point. I wouldn’t have done both.”

“Oh well,” I decide to change the subject, “it’s not important. Let’s do this.”

We walk through the doors together, and I am instantly surprised at all the activity going on. The left court is being used for practice by the boys’ basketball team, the center court is full of students doing jumping jacks as makeup for PE, and several other students are running laps around the entire gym. The right court has a table set up at one end with three chairs behind it and the rest of the court has girls spread out in all areas practicing various cheers. The bleachers have small groups of people sitting and conversing with each other. One of the groups sitting near the cheerleaders is Mason and his friends. I don’t recognize many people from the other groups. They’re probably upperclassmen. Up toward the top of the bleachers, someone is sitting by himself, it looks like Logan, reading a book or something.

“I thought this was going to be like volleyball tryouts, Kara,” Maddie’s voice shakes a bit, “we have to be in front of all these people?”

“I’m surprised, too, Maddie,” I almost feel like leaving, “this is kind of scary. We’ll be in front of more people than this if we make the squad, though. Do you still want to go in?”

I’m half hoping she wants to leave. I really wouldn’t mind at all right now. I hadn’t really thought past tryouts. The idea of us cheering in front of crowds is giving me chills.

Mason sees us from across the room and waves. He then nudges the guys beside him and they all look our way.

“I guess it’s too late now,” Maddie decides as she waves back at Mason, “Mason knows we’re here.”

It doesn’t feel to me like much of a reason to stay, but I’m not leaving if she isn’t.

“Fine,” I sigh, “let’s go. Yay, Operation Spirit Fingers.”

Maddie turns, eyebrow raised.

“It won’t work if you’re sarcastic,” Maddie scolds, “let’s do this, Kara.”

“You’re not nervous?”

“I’m terrified, Kara,” she admits, “but we agreed to do this and we practiced. How bad could it go?”

I shrug my shoulders. She’s right. At least we have a little experience this time; we probably won’t make fools of ourselves. Hopefully.

Walking to an open space on the court, we do a few of our moves to warm up. My confidence lifts as I look around. Many of the girls around me don’t seem to be that good, we might even be better than some.

The girls around us stop cheering and begin moving toward the table. I can’t tell, but it looks like the people the three chairs are for have arrived. Maddie and I walk in the same direction. As we get closer, I start to recognize the people at the table.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” The volume of my voice turns the heads of those nearest to me, including Maddie. “This is ridiculous!”

Maddie looks up at the table and she begins shaking her head, her face reddening.

“Arabella, Christina and Dani?” Madi voice sounds incredulous. “We might as well go home now, Kara.”

No. This isn’t fair. They are doing everything they can to keep us as the losers of the school, and it needs to stop. What gives them the right to control everything?

“Maddie,” I pull her to a stop and whisper, “listen.”

She leans in and waits.

“We are going to try out like we planned, and we’re going to give it our best. When we’re done, if we think we did as well as others who are making the squad, I’m going to make sure we make the team.”

“How are you...” she stops and takes in a quick breath, before speaking in a much louder whisper. “You’re going to make them say yes?”

“Shh! Jeez, Maddie,” I whisper, glancing around. Luckily, since we had stopped we’re not that close to anybody. “Yes, I’m going to use my power on them. If we’re good enough, it’s not fair for them to keep us off the squad.”

“Do you think it’s the right thing to do? Plus, what about your headache,” she asks, concerned, “or you blacking out. Don’t go through all of that over some stupid girls.”

“I’ll try my best to stay conscious and just endure the pain. It will be after we’re done anyway, hopefully, I can make it into the bathrooms.” I’m deciding things as I say them; I had better be as strong as I say I’m going to be. “You’ll stay by me, too, right? For support?”

“Of course, Kara,” she looks a little hurt, “I wouldn’t leave you like that. Are you sure about this?”

No, I’m not sure. I hate using my power, but it is time someone takes a stand against this girl and I have the ability to do it.

“I’m sure,” I nod to emphasize my words, “let’s go.”

We walk up to the group to find Arabella has already begun giving the details of the tryouts. I don’t think she knows we’re here yet. That could be good. She is saying the three of them will judge us on two performances, the first will be something we already know and we can show this in groups of up to three and the second will be repeating a set of moves Dani is going to show us in a couple of minutes. When everybody is done, they will decide who makes the squad with a vote. Only those who receive three yes votes will join the squad. My plan should work. Persuading all three of them will definitely take it out of me, though. I hope I can keep it together long enough to get out of here.

“Let’s begin everyone,” Arabella shouts to the group. “Make one long single file row along the wall and we’ll call you to the center when we’re ready for you. After you perform, rejoin the line at the end. When everyone has performed, we will call you to the table in the same order and number in which you performed. No questions, good! Move!”

Everyone hurries to form the line along the wall. Maddie and I end up about two-thirds of the way back. Once everyone is settled, Arabella scans the group. Her gaze fixes on our area for a few moments and she whispers something to Christina and Dani, who also look our way. So much for going unnoticed for a while.

Before anyone begins performing, Dani gets up and moves into the center of the court. She gets into a ready position and begins a routine. I study her moves whispering to myself to help me remember them. It doesn’t seem too difficult. A couple of kicks at the beginning, some arm circles and a few timed claps to the name of the school ending with a jump into splits. We can do this. I look at Maddie, the smile on her face suggesting she is thinking the same thing.

As the tryouts begin, Maddie and I repeat the new routine several times to make sure we have it and talk our way through our prepared routine. At the same time, we are sure to keep close track of the others trying out, so we can compare their performances to our own. At the halfway point, Maddie and I are sure we are better than all but two or three girls are so far. As long as we don’t mess up, we should be good enough.

They call up the two girls in front of us. They do a really good planned routine, nothing tricky, but well rehearsed. When it comes to the routine Dani showed us, they get it all wrong. It is as if they completely forgot what to do. One of the girls begins tearing up halfway through, and they just quit. They don’t even get back in line; they just leave the gym.

“Well, then,” Arabella sneers, “as if that wasn’t pathetic enough, here come the loser sisters. This should be good, like watching zombies try to dance,” she laughs at her words.

Dani and Christina start laughing along with Arabella as we move to the center.

“Don’t let them bother you, Maddie,” I whisper, “just do your best.”

She nods as we move into position for our planned routine.

We begin with our spin clap into a side-to-side step cadence. We are in perfect unison. We continue moving through our routine better than we’ve ever done it before. Jackie would be proud of us. We even nail the side cartwheels at the end.

Arabella looks shocked and then angry. She whispers something to Dani, who nods.

As we get back into position to begin the second routine, I look at Maddie. She smiles back. We’re doing it! We work through the second routine almost flawlessly. I jump into the splits a half second before Maddie, but otherwise, we did it better than I imagined. As long as the rest of the girls aren’t perfect, we should be a guarantee. Maddie elbows me and gestures up into the bleachers. Mason is giving us thumbs up and his friends clapping and cheering obnoxiously.

From the line, we watch the rest of the tryouts and like the first half, there are a few good performances, but most not as good as ours are. Two weeks of practicing three hours a day obviously paid off. After the last two girls perform, Arabella and the other two talk for about five minutes, writing things down and scratching them off. Finally, they begin calling us down. For the most part, it goes the way I figured. There are a few girls I wasn’t expecting, but it’s primarily the ones I thought did the best. When they call us down, they have picked nine girls out of the twenty-five they want.

“Well, Kara and Maddie,” Arabella begins, saying our names like they left a horrible taste in her mouth, “I’m sorry you wasted your time, but your planned routine was too easy to compare to any of the others and you had timing issues with Dani’s routine. It was somewhat embarrassing to watch. You both should probably stop trying out for things. I’m voting no, what about you, Dani?”

“No from me,” she plainly states.

“I’m a no, too,” Christina adds, “go home, losers.”

That’s what you think. Get ready to change your minds. I lean over and place my hands on the edge of the table, making sure I can look into all three sets of eyes.

Forcing my thoughts to bring my words to action, I focus on each one of them, “All three of you want Maddie and me on the squad.”

“Interesting,” Arabella mumbles to herself.

Pain begins shooting through my brain, but I try my best to stay upright.

“What were the votes again,” Maddie asks as she puts her hand around my waist for support, “I wasn’t listening.”

“I vote yes, I want you on the squad,” Dani nods.

“I’m a yes, I want you on the squad, too,” Christina adds more loudly.

I am starting to feel weak and things are getting blurry, the pain is as if someone is squeezing my head. Hurry up and say yes, Arabella.

“Very interesting,” Arabella begins, looking right at me, “You’re both so close. I’m sorry, though. I vote no. You’d better go now, Kara, you don’t look well.”

It didn’t work. It doesn’t even matter right now; the only thing holding me up right now is Maddie.

“Get us out of here,” I hope I said it aloud. I can’t focus. The pain, ugh, is it always this bad?

Maddie begins leading me somewhere. I can’t even tell where I am anymore. I just focus on taking deep breaths.

“You can lay down here for a while, Kara,” Maddie guides me to the floor, “it’s dark and away from everyone.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say everyone, slut.”

That voice. I have to focus. I try to look around but everything is a blur. I will stay conscious longer if I remain still.

“It’s so nice of you to come pay us a visit. I should’ve known a slut like you would try to be a cheerleader, but I didn’t know mice could try out.”

“Leave us alone, please.”

“No chance of that, slut, we’re going to have that together time I’ve been wanting, and your mouse, too. What’s wrong with you anyway, mouse? Wake up.”

Something sends a sharp pain up my back and I realize the cry I hear is my own.

“Oh God, please stop. Leave her alone.”

“Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you, slut. Girls, you can play with the mouse.”

I feel someone pulling my hair and see blurs of light and dark. Trying my best to find Maddie, I struggle against whoever is holding me. Pain explodes in my chest. Someone is holding me from the back and someone else is in front of me, hitting my chest. I hear Maddie crying out, but something is muffling the sound. I can’t help either one of us.

“STOP!”

Everything becomes still. Someone is still holding me, but no one is moving.

“Get away from them and go tell Officer Lang what you’ve done.”

Whoever is holding me releases me causing me to fall clumsily to the floor. Turning my head, I see the three girls walking away toward the light. I can focus enough to see we’re in the back hallway, leading to the wrestling room. No wonder no one heard us back here. I force my head back around to see who saved us, but all I see is a bunch of wrestling mats and storage cabinets.

I don’t even know how long I lay here before Maddie comes over to me. I actually stay conscious, though, whether that’s good or not, I don’t know.

“Can you walk, Kara?”

“I think so.” I’m sore and my head and back are killing me, but I think I can get up.

“Let’s try to get outside, and then we’ll call your dad.”

We help each other to our feet, Maddie doing most of the work, and begin walking down the hallway toward the outer doors. As we walk by the wrestling mats, I swear I see a body curled up on the floor, but I’m not sure and if I stop walking, I’ll probably collapse.

We get to the exit and Maddie pushes open the door. As we stumble outside, the cool air clears my head a little, but I don’t think I can go any further.

“I need to sit down,” I plop down before finishing the words.

Maddie sits down beside me. I can hear her crying.

“Maddie!”

I turn just enough to see Mason running toward us, his friends close behind. He rushes up and pulls Maddie into a hug.

“What happened? We saw you leave the basketball court but when we came down to look for you, you were gone. We came out here to look for you.”

She sobs for several moments, attempting to take in a full breath of air. I can’t focus past staying conscious now, or I would try to answer Mason’s question.

“Those girls I told you about,” she forces the words out between sniffles, “they attacked us in the back hallway.”

“The girls who cornered you on the first day of school?” Mason’s voice is suddenly deeper; he sounds upset. “Where are they?”

“They just left all of a sudden.” She stops crying, attempting to remember. “I heard someone telling them to stop, but there was nobody there.”

I was wondering if I had imagined the voice, but if she heard it, someone must’ve been there. I don’t recall seeing anyone.

The fresh air is helping my nausea a little. I don’t think I am going to throw up, but my head is still pounding as if someone is hitting me with a crowbar. I may actually be able to keep from blacking out this time.

A tall shape is walking toward us. I can’t make out more than an outline, but it looks like it is an adult. I hope it is my dad. He’ll take care of me. I don’t even care if he takes me out of school for the rest of my life. I am obviously never going to fit in. No one wants me to be here anyway.

“There you are,” a mysterious voice breaks the silence, “I’ve been looking for you girls. Are you alright?”

The shadowy figure comes into view upon reaching us and bends to his knees. I recognize Officer Lang from freshman orientation. I am surprised to find myself disappointed it isn’t my dad. I try to sit up.

“They were jumped by a bunch of girls, officer,” Mason’s tone doesn’t hide his anger, “I think one of them is named Shayna. You need to find these girls and arrest them.”

“Calm down,” he calmly replies, “the girls in question have confessed their actions and are currently in the office waiting to be questioned. Right now I’m more concerned about the well being of your friends here; you should be, too.”

“Sorry, officer,” Mason replies much more slowly, “let me know if you need anything from me.”

“Miss,” Officer Lang directs his attention to Maddie, “can you describe your pain and which areas hurt the most?”

I zone out for a while, focusing on taking even breaths and gauging my own level of pain. My back is sore, but not enough to worry about. It will probably be really sore tomorrow. My head is the only pain I am having trouble dealing with. I sit as still as possible, hoping to keep the pounding in my head to a minimum.

The officer talks to Maddie for at least ten minutes before turning his attention over to me. I answer his questions as well as possible, describing the situation and our previous encounters. As we finish up, I see my dad’s car pulling up into the parking lot, either Mason or Officer Lang must have called him.

“Well, I think I have what I need from the two of you,” he looks at me, “both of you, especially you, Kara, should go home and get some rest. You might even want to stop by the emergency room, depending on how you’re feeling. When your parents arrive, they can decide. I’ll take care of everything else.”

“Kara!” my dad rushes up to me and gently pulls me to his body. “I’m so sorry. Mason called me and told me what happened. How are you? Are you okay?”

“Just a little sore, Dad,” I lie, “I’ll be alright tomorrow.”

He continues to hold me, but focuses his attention on Officer Lang. His grip tightens slightly and I hear his teeth grind as he clinches them together. His concern has turned into anger.

“Officer…Lang, is it?” my dad begins, not waiting for a reply, “Mason tells me you have the girls who did this in custody. You had better tell me they are going to jail, and won’t be allowed in this school again. I’m sure I am speaking for Maddie’s parents, too, that we are going to be pressing charges against these girls, and if the school doesn’t make sure this ends well, I’m going after the school, too. My daughter is supposed to be safe at this school and she could have been severely hurt, or worse!”

“Sir,” Officer Lang begins, holding his arms in front of himself, “I need you to calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down. My daughter was just attacked inside this school, how calm would you be right now?”

“I know you’re upset, sir, and you have every right to be,” he lowers his hands, but his voice remains calm, “I have a son in middle school and if this happened, I would be enraged, but we have to do things the right way. The three girls have given us a complete confession, your daughter and Maddie have given me their stories, and everything matches up. Since they’ve confessed, it’s fairly cut and dry. I know this won’t take away what happened, but you have to let us handle it. Their safety is our number one priority.”

After giving our number to Officer Lang and assuring him he will do whatever it takes to keep those girls out of school, my dad shifts his focus on my condition.

“Let me know what’s hurting, sweetie,” he looks me in the eyes, “we should probably go by the emergency room.”

“I’m okay, Dad,” smiling in order to appear fine. “They stopped before they could do anything to really hurt me. I’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep and some pain medicine.”

“We’ll see, Kara. Let’s just get you home.” He shakes his head before turning to face Maddie. “Unless the two of you already have a ride coming, I am giving you a ride home.”

“Thank you, Mr. Eldridge,” Mason answers for both of them, “That’s very nice of you. We were supposed to walk home after tryouts.”

The ride home is a quiet one, and I am thankful. I just close my eyes and rest my head on the window. The pain is steady and my head continues to throb, but I have remained conscious this entire time. I consider this good news, even though I have no idea what is different this time. I tried to persuade three people, the same as on the first day of school, but I must have done it wrong. Only Dani and Christine changed their vote. Arabella still said no. I probably didn’t concentrate enough, or focus on all three of them, which must be why it didn’t work completely. My mess up must also be the reason I am not as sick as usual. Nothing else I can come up with makes sense.

We pull up to Maddie’s house and Mason walks with her to the door. I wave as they enter the house. Maddie seems to be doing well. I hope she isn’t in too much pain.

Dad carries me into bed when we get home. I feel like I should be protesting and assuring him I am okay, but my body tells me to let this one go. He takes my shoes off and places me in bed, covering me up with my comforter. The comfort and peace of sleep are calling to me, but I need to know what’s going to happen before I can let myself fall asleep.

“Thanks, Dad,” I try to sound as normal as possible, “I’m sure by the time I wake up for school tomorrow, I’ll be all back to normal.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go to school tomorrow, Kara. You’ve been through a traumatic event; you should probably take it easy for a couple of days.”

“I’m fine, Dad, really,” I sit up and smile at him. A splash of pain lets me know sitting up was not a good choice, but I keep my smile. “It would be worse if I stayed home. I’d get behind on homework, people would all ask why I was gone, and I would have to retell the story repeatedly. Yeah, I should definitely go to school tomorrow.”

I keep my gaze on his and continue smiling.

“Tell you what,” he begins, causing my smile to widen. He usually uses those words when he is letting me have my way.

“Yeah?” I nod.

“If you wake up and honestly feel like you’re at one-hundred percent, you can go to school,” he tilts his head and raises an eyebrow, “but you have to honestly feel better, alright?”

“Deal.”

I hug him and ease back down onto my pillow. I’m sure my bed hasn’t ever felt this comfortable before. I close my eyes and let myself fall right to sleep.