The Zodiac Guardians

1

*girl on top is suppose to be Cadence*

Cadence Archer tucked a lock of red hair behind her ear, as she prepared for her first basket ball practise in Richwood High. She took a deep breath in and out, and straightened her Go Richwood Rabbits! Sports uniform, she tied her silky velvet hair into a ponytail, and practised her fake smile.

Cadence had only arrived in Mt Zodiac  a couple of weeks ago, and Cadence had only started attending Richwood High a few days ago, so far she had no progress in socialising, or even having the courage to sit next to anyone at lunch. Her only hope was basketball, she used to play it back in New York, in fact, Cadence was the best player on the team, she would stride around the court proudly, and shoot hoops like laying gum on the counter,

but after Mr Archer, Cadence's father, died, Mrs Archer couldn't support the family, so she was forced to leave New York, and enter Mt Zodiac, where she would be a banker, and finally earn enough money to support the family. But that would mean, Cadence would have to leave everything behind, her school, her friends, basketball....

Cadence stared at herself in the cold, fog filled,  bathroom mirror. A giant knot formed in the pit of her stomach, Cadence's hands ached, and her mind was spinning, with thoughts of embarrassment, and fear. Her first training was about to start in 5 minutes, but Cadence could barely even stand, or hold her lunch inside her stomach. But this was her only chance to socialise, and if she didn't get a grip of herself , she would just be another hopeless loner in the world.

Cadence took another deep breath in, and out, and started her journey towards the Stadium. The Stadium was only a short walk away from the girls bathroom, so she tried to avoid the looks and stares from students around her. She reached the Stadium, and opened the large steel doors,

on one side of the Stadium, a group of girls was practising netball, and on the other, a group of girls were warming up, and getting ready for basketball. Since Richwood was a small school, the Netball Team, and the basketball team, had to share a court, which would often be very confusing, since both teams wore the same sports uniform. Cadence made her way towards the right side of the Stadium, where the basketball team was warming up, "hi there!" A vibrant voice startled Cadence, she turned around, a tall, auburn haired girl was standing behind Cadence, she was goofily waving, and smiling. Cadence smiled back, "my name is Gemi! But you can call me Gem, have you played basketball before?" Gem asked,

"yes, in my old school" Cadence muttered, "great! Then you'll be a great addition to the team, today is trials! And I'm the deputy captain, I can't wait to see you play!" Gem joyfully exclaimed, "yea, me either" Cadence replied, a loud whistle sounded from the corner of the room, all heads turned towards the corner, a tall brunette, stood by the corner, her arms folded, and a blue whistle in her hands. "If you don't already know, my name is Ariel, I'm the captain of this team, now get to the hoop, and start showing me what you got!" Ariel yelled, she pointing at Cadence, "you red head!" She yelled, "one on one with Gem!" She yelled, I nodded, and walked towards the hoop with Gem, Ariel blew the whistle, and the game begun.

Gem dribbled the ball towards the hoop, but Cadence stole the ball from her, and dribbled it closer to the hoop, Gem went in to steal the ball, but Cadence pivoted, and shot a clean hoop. The crowd clapped, and Ariel smiled as well, "Good job Red, next!" The trails went on, with each person, Ariel either nodded, or smirked. She never smiled like how she did with Cadence. Once trails had ended, all the students were sent to the locker rooms, again the netball girls and the basketball girls share a locker ball. Which was also very confusing.

"So, what did you think of that?" Gem asked, "it was, fun" Cadence replied, smiling. Gem was dribbling a ball between her feet, "you're really good at it, and your-" Gem threw the ball at Cadence, she instantly caught the ball, "-reflexes, are really good" Gem continued, Cadence smiled, this time it was a real smile, a happy smile. Suddenly, the door of the locker room, burst open, the netball girls barged in, "hey losers!" A tall blonde girl walked into the room, "my name is Scorp, I'm the captain of the netball team, and I want all of you OUT"

Scorp yelled, Ariel took her place in front of Scorp,  "this isn't just YOUR locker room, it's ours too" Ariel yelled back. "Bad idea, ARIELIA!" Scorp yelled back, she pushed Ariel in the shoulder, knocking the basketball she was holding, out of her hands. "Not so strong are you" Scorp smirked, she lead her team past Ariel, and into the locker room. Cadence was staring blankly at Scorp. Eying her every move, suddenly, Gem grabbed Cadence by the shoulder, and pulled her aside.

"Stay here" Gem assured her, "Scorp is deceiving, she'll find any way to embarrass or ruin your life, for nothing" Gem continued, Cadence did nothing but nod, the netball girls filled the locker room, there was no space, so the basketball team had to leave. "Girls! The team results will be announced tomorrow" Ariel announced, after her mini speech, everybody went their separate ways.

Accept, Cadence and Gem walked to the cafeteria together. "I'll introduce you to my finer friends, but their all in the soccer team so you probably won't them" Gem smiled, Cadence hooded in return. 1 minute later, Gem and Cadence reached the cafeteria, they sat down at a table close to the buffet. "So, I never got your name?" Gem asked, "my name is Cadence" Cadence replied, a few seconds later, a tall blonde girl, wearing a blue shawl, and a pink necklace, and a short girl with black hair, a silk white poncho, and some black tights, approached Cadence and Gem.

"Cadence, this is Carla and Veronica" Gem pointed towards the two girls, Carla, the blonde, waved, and Veronica, the black haired girl, nodded. Veronica had dark brown eyes, and pale skin, while Carla had lapis blue eyes, and tanned skin. "You must be from the basketball team" Carla assumed, "Yup! That's me!" Cadence faked smiled, Veronica seemed very uneasy, Cadence could easily tell she wasn't used to changes. "She's really good at it!" Gem exclaimed putting an arm around Cadence's shoulder, "um, Gem, have you forgotten about the soccer game we were going to play with Sarah and Andrea?" Veronica butted in, "ohh, um, I'm not in the mood for soccer anymore" Gem replied, "are you serious right now?" Veronica demanded, her voice was cold, and shaking. "I'm sorry V, I'm a hypocrite, you know that" Gem replied, curling a lock of brown hair in her pointer finger.

"What ever!" Veronica growled, she narrowed her eyes into small slits, and stomped away. Her eyes were dark brown, and cold. She had a flower head band, and bitter pink lips. "I'll go talk to her.." Carla exclaimed, Carla's eyes were full of passion, and Creativity. She had a bounce in her step, and her mind always seemed to be at work. "Sometimes V can be a little, Un relaxed" Carla continued, she turned to smiled at me, and I smiled back. And with that, Carla turned on her heels, and ran after Veronica. "So, do you want to go shoot some hoops at lunch?" Gem asked, "don't you need to, settle the situation with Veronica first" Cadence replied, I'll think about it Gem answered. Cadence nodded her head and faced the ground. "So should we go get some food?" Gem asked, "yup, I'm starving!" Cadence replied, she placed her hands in her stomach, and groaned. "Alright, alright, give me some money, and I'll get some lunch" Gem smiled, "ok, just make sure you come back" Cadence winked, Gem smiled, and walked off with a handful of notes.

Thanks for reading everybody! Make another girl in this world happy by clicking that star button an commenting, once again thanks for reading!