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P1 - Chapter Eight

October 3rd, 2020:

~Part One~

"Moon, you're lying," Kinkajou said, her eyes wide. "No way they both asked you out."

"I know," I groaned. We were both skipping class in the girl's bathroom. "And so I spent the rest of my free block stressing over who to choose!"

"So?" Kinkajou asked eagerly. "Who are you choosing?"

"I still don't know!" I whined, wanting to flop over. My head hurt. "I want to be with Qibli, but at the same time, I don't want to hurt Winter's feelings!"

Kinkajou reached over and placed a hand on my shoulder with a sigh. "Moon, that's life. If you don't choose one of them, you'll end up hurting both of them. And, you shouldn't be with someone just because you feel bad for them."

I thought about that for a moment before Kinkajou placed another hand on my other shoulder. "Be smart about this, Moon. One wrong turn and you can't turn around."

I gave her a weird look. "Since when did you become wise?" I playfully scoffed. Kinkajou grinned the way Qibli did.

"I've been wise!" she exclaimed. "You've just never seen that side of me. Don't worry, knowing you, it'll probably come out more often."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, raising a skeptical brow. Kinkajou's smile grew as her hands on my shoulders pulled me into a tight hug

"Connect the dots, Moon. Connect the dots."

"*"

"Alright, everyone! Straight file line!" yelled Glory, running up onto the field. I had done gymnastics for 12 years before quitting, so I was pretty much a professional.

"I am flattered you guys had voted for me a cheer captain, and I would just like to say a special thank you to you all." Glory grinned, waving her pom-pom in the air. "But now, we've come to see who'll make the team this year."

Kinkajou excitedly, but quietly, squealed beside me.

"Who would be the first to demonstrate something simple... like a back handspring?"

Every girl around me excitedly raised their hands, eager to make a good impression. Without much thought, I rose my hand.

Too easy.

"Oh, glad to see you getting involved, especially it being your first year here," Glory said, nodding in my direction. "Sure, you can start us off."

I made my way to the center of the field and did an effortless back handspring. Everyone clapped for me as I made my way back to Kinkajou.

"You made it seem so easy!" Kinkajou said.

"It was," I said with a small laugh.

"I know," Kinkajou agreed with a grin. "But since it's your first year here, that was amazing."

"Wow!" Glory said with a warm smile, clasping her hands together. "You seem like a natural. Anyone want to go up against that?"

Kinkajou rose her hand up high, but to her dismay, Glory called on Anemone. Anemone ran to the middle and showed off a rather smooth back tuck, giving a little bow at the end as we clapped.

"Nice!" Glory said. "Just try bending your knees a little less. Okay, you're up, Kinkajou."

Kinkajou excitedly ran up to the center and miraculously showed off her triple-double.

Damn. Took me a year to learn to do that.

"Okay!" Glory said, seeming extremely impressed. "A bit advanced and we probably won't be using that in any of our routines, but I'm glad you showed me what you knew!"