Chapter 1 Snippet!

Good morning guys! Here's the Chapter 1 snippet I promised y'all!

So without further ado, I present to you, Chapter 1! (I still have no name....)

Like powdered sugar slowly tumbling through space onto a chocolate-layered cake, snow was falling all over the quiet little city that afternoon. Pure white crystals of goodness dotted my jacket, auburn hair, and were rolling off my nose.





Grinning, I jogged briskly through the streets, watching cars roll by on the street next to me.
Even though I’m always excited, today I was even more pumped than normal. For one thing, I got to take a break from the busyness of the school week, since the weekend was pretty much here. And for another thing, I had cheerleading practice that day.

I’d been in cheer since I was eight years old. I went to a little cheer camp in the summer. We got to wear a bright pink dress, clunky white shoes, and flip around. It was then that I realized cheer was my passion.

That fall, Mom signed me up to be in a little cheer squad fifteen minutes from where we lived called Electric Cheer. We practiced Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays in the gigantic gym, from five till seven. I’d been doing it ever since.

Rounding the corner, I saw a large brick building with a sign in front. It read: Electric All-Star Cheerleading Squad, Home of the Electric Eagles. I walked up to the glass doors, pulled one towards me, and walked inside. Girls wearing sports jackets with the official team logo and Emma Platten leggings were everywhere. I skipped gleefully down the hall towards the locker room and found the other girls hanging out.

“Hey Stormie,” the girls greeted me as I set down my duffle bag.

“Hey,” I replied, pulling off my sweat pants and stuffing them into my personalized duffle bag. My best friend Catharine came over to me.

“Hey, Stormie, did you hear the news?” she asked, plopping down on the bench next to me.

“What news?”

“Coach Rihanna got a call from the Ricochet Cheer Association,” Cate informed me. “They’re going to be having a statewide meet here in New York, and we’ve qualified for it! A bunch of other local cheer clubs are having meets all across the state too, and winners get to face it off for the regional finals in June.”

“Are you serious?” I asked, adjusting my lopsided ponytail in the mirror. I had seen tons of Webeo videos documenting the middle and high school cheer teams that made it all the way to state competitions. Ricochet Cheer was one of the biggest names in cheerleading, and any cheerleader knows that if you wanna get to nationals, you gotta get through Ricochet.

Cate fiddled with her thick braid. “Not even kidding,” she answered.

“Cate, people who win RCA meets move on to national meets. We could be national cheer champions!”

“I know! It’s nerve-wrecking.”

“So, do you think we’re going to learn a whole new routine? Maybe get some updated music files?

Oh––what about a new costume. I’d love a brand new costume.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Cate replied, “and you know I hate speculating. But still, it’s really exciting.”

“What’s really exciting?”

I whirled around on the spinning seat I was seated on. There in front of us stood Harper Wilcox and Valerie Mitchells, about the most popular girls in the seventh grade, both at cheerleading and at school.

“Nothing,” Cate said. I quickly turned away from Harper and Valerie and tried to focus harder on my hair.

Suddenly the clock struck 5. The locker room quickly emptied as the girls hurried into the chilly rink. I grabbed my skates and rushed after them.

“Good evening ladies,” said Coach Rihanna as we entered the room. “Begin your stretches on the floor, and don’t forget to sign yourself in at the kiosk.”

After lacing my skates, I padded quietly over to the check-in kiosk and put my name down for attendance. I tried to hang around and wait for Cate, but Coach Rihanna had her eagle eyes on me.
“Go ahead and start your stretches, Stormie,” she instructed. I sighed and went over by a couple of girls I knew. One of them was Alex Berman, about the biggest complainer I’ve ever seen.

“I’m not flexible,” Alex complained as she forced her straddle as wide as she could get it. “You girls are sooo lucky, being able to do a full straddle and full splits and all.”

“Yeah,” I replied as I folded my upper body over my knees. “I’m pretty flexible.”

“Are you guys talking about flexibility?” asked Harper in her whiny nasal voice. “I’m super flexible. I take a Stretching and Flexibility class on Sunday nights here at the gym. You guys should try it. Our teacher is a real yoga instructor, and she’s strict. Really gets you to”––she plopped down to the ground in a full right split––“stretch.”

Harper switched to her left split, which was just as flawless, and turned towards Valerie. “Don’t you like the class too Val?”

Valerie grinned. “Uh-huh,” she replied. I noticed that Valerie hardly ever talked unless Harper gave her permission.

“I’m flexible anyway,” I said. “I don’t need a class to get me to stretch, I do it willingly.”

“Well girls, that’s enough stretching,” Coach called. “Circle up––I have some announcements.”
“I’ll bet it’s about the RCA meet,” Cate whispered to me.

“What are you two always whispering about?” Harper demanded. I shot her a fierce look, and she quickly turned away. She and Valerie started whispering too, but I’m sure they were just trying to make us feel bad.

“So, you all have been working very hard these past few months, as we work to pull this competition routine into the best performance possible. And on the note of competition––”

“She’s gonna tell us about the statewide meet,” I blurted out. Immediately my hands flew over my mouth. I had meant that comment to be a whisper to Cate, not an announcement! Chattering and whispers rushed among the others like a wildfire in the forest. “Statewide meet?” “Where?” “I heard some girls talking about it in the locker room.” “I hope we win!”

“Calm down! Calm down,” Coach Rihanna ordered. “Well, yes, Stormie, you are right. Ricochet Cheer Association has invited us to compete in this year’s Tri-State Meet!” Cheers erupted. “1st through 3rd place winners will be going to the Nationals, something this gym hasn’t done in a long time. I’m hoping we can pull off at least a 3rd place at this meet.” Coach glanced around momentarily. “Any questions?”

“Will we have to learn a new routine?” Harper questioned excitedly.

“No,” Coach Rihanna answered. “I think we’re just going to work with what we have.”

“Are all the levels going to the competition, or just the Junior High team, because my mom will get annoyed if she’s only driving me around,” said Alex Berman. She had two other sisters that are both in cheer, one younger and one older.

“I’m pretty sure every level will be going,” Coach replied.

“Is the meet going to be out of state?”
“Will we have to stay in a hotel?”

“Does my mom have to drive or are we taking the bus?”

“Are we getting new costumes?” I could tell by the accent that Valerie Mitchells had asked that question.

Coach Rihanna got cross about all the travel-related questions and told everyone that they and their parents could look out for an email. The whole class was jittery and frantic for the rest of the hour, and hardly anything got done. Coach was even more cross about that, and I didn’t blame her. But then again, I was too busy dreaming about the competition to care.

After class was over a bunch of girls left to go to a small dinner down the street called. Casey’s. I didn’t have enough money, so I hung out in the lobby of the gym and waited for my Mom’s big van to pull up.

“Hey, are you hungry?”

I looked up. Cate was peering over me.

My stomach growled. “Starving!” I cried.

“I’ve got money,” she said, holding two twenty-dollar bills in her hand. “Let’s go get some grub.”

“Oh, it’s alright,” I started to protest.

“Let’s go get some grub,” she repeated fiercely. I had no choice but to comply. As we filed out of the door onto the salted sidewalk, I managed to text my mother that I was getting food with Cate and to drive up by Casey’s to get me. As we walked, Cate and I discussed the competition.

“It’s Tri-State, isn’t it?” I asked. “Do you think we’ll have to sleep in a hotel?”

“I don’t think so….or at least I hope not. My mother might not be happy about that.”

“Yeah, mine either,” I agreed. “Mom was hoping not to have to drive to any out-of-state meets, at least not until the snow clears. Now I’m going to have to break the news. Still, it might not be as bad as we think.” I began to paint a picture for my friend. “Imagine, flipping and bounding in front of Ricochet Cheer itself. Imagine, running out onto the carpet with gold medals ‘round our necks. Imagine, being invited to nationals.”

“Stormie, the restaurant’s over here,” Cate called.

I whirled around. In my daydream, I’d walked right past the dinner.

“That’s what you’re around for,” I chuckled. “Let’s go grab a burger.”

Then, Cate and I filed inside the diner for a warm, soft, burger, dripping in ketchup and mayonnaise.

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