Meet Me At The Mat

Chapter 1

Cheer. It takes a lot. The long hours at the gym. Eating mat. Icy hot is your BFF. There's a saying "If you haven't said once 'I can't I have cheer' you're not a real cheerleader." I, Liz Dodson, am here to tell you the truth about cheer. You don't have to be pretty, blonde, skinny, or stupid to be a cheerleader.

I have brown hair, average height, average looks, I'm not skinny or fat. I'm in advanced math and science. I love Girl Scout Cookies. I'm far from perfect. Here is a look into my life.

"Liz time to get up!" my mom shouts up stairs. I get up and put on a pair of jeans and a graphic t. I put on some socks and a pair of black Vans. I run downstairs and grab a banana. After I finish eating I grab my backpack.

"Don't forget you have cheer tonight." my mom says.

"I know mom." I say.

"Cameron has baseball so he won't be here this evening."

Cameron is my older brother. He is 17. His nickname is Cam.

I head to the bus stop. I go to North Ridge High School. We are the knights.

I run out the door and the down the street to my bus stop. When I get there I talk to my friends about stuff. When my friend starts singing to her music we all start singing then the bus arrives. We all get on. I sit in my set towards the back of the bus. I put in my earbuds and listen to music while I read a book. The bus picks up a few more kids then heads toward the school. When I get off I go to homeroom where I sit and read, go to the library, go see teachers, or hang out with my fiends. I then listen to the announcements then go down to the commons for Knight Time. This is a 25 minute study hall built into my schedule. Here is my schedule.

A1: Beginning Wms Choir

A2: Spanish II

A3: Advanced Algebra II

A4: AP Human Geography

B5: Advanced English 9

B6: Gym

B7: Study hall

B8: AP Environmental Science

Today is an A day so I go to Choir. Today in Choir we are just going over our music for the next concert. It isn't that hard.

Next I have Spanish. We check the homework and classwork that we did last class. I did okay on the classwork and a little better on the homework. We then learn some new words and have practice conversations using those words. Next I have lunch. I walk to the commons and take a seat waiting for my friends to arrive. I take out my lunch and start eating. We basically eat and play in our phones the entire time. Then I go to math. I hate math. It's Mental Abuse To Humans. We have to go up the stairs and to the other side of the library. When we cross the bridge over the commons my friend makes a joke about throwing her work over. Afterwards we got to AP Humans Geography which is almost as bad as math. Then it's time to leave. I walk outside and talk to my friends before getting on my bus.

I sit in my seat and put in my ear buds. The bus ride is like 20 minutes. I sit and read on my phone. Halfway through the ride my friend in front of me gets in a stupid fight that is hilarious to watch. Sadly I have to get off. I walk home and get right to work on my homework. It is 3:00 when I start.

It is now 4:30. "Liz! Dinner!" My mom shouts for me from downstairs. I run downstairs into the kitchen. My little brother is at the table already. For dinner we are having my moms special mac n' cheese. I love this but I don't eat too much because I have practice at 6 o'clock. It takes 40 minutes to get there. We have to leave at 5:20 the latest.

I cheer at Cheer Strike All-stars in Midlothian. If you don't know where that is look it up. Our colors are green, black, and white. I am on a senior 3/S3 team. Here are the requirements

Standing tumbling:

Required: Series back handsprings

Specialty: Handspring step-out through to round-off handspring tuck

Running tumbling:

Required: Round-Off Handspring Tuck or Round-Off Tuck

Specialty: Punch front roll through to tuck/front walkover through to tuck

Jumps: Jump combination through to series handsprings

I am a base so I don't have to go into the flier stuff.

I finish eating and run upstairs to put on my practice clothes. I put on the black spandex shorts with our gym name on them and sports bra that is black and says CSA in green. I put my hair up in a high ponytail and put in my green and black bow. I put on my warm ups and Bear paws and go downstairs. I grab my phone, cheer shoes and cheer bag. My mom comes down and we leave.