Demon Hunters: Book 1 Faith [editing]

Chapter 19

At 7:10 a.m. Zoe stood outside of Mr. Brady's door, listening to the tap-tap-pause-flip-flip pattern of sounds emanating from his room. He punched on the keys of his computer, maybe entering grades into a grade book program. Regardless, he was alone. Zoe almost entered to remind him that she was still watching, but jumped when her phone buzzed. She retrieved the annoying device from her pocket and read a message from Riley: Don't forget to meet us at the flagpole. :)

Flagpole. Right. To chill with the teenagers. She scratched her head. What did the colon and parenthesis mean? Was this a grammar mistake? Were teenagers always this careless with punctuation? She shrugged and simply replied with, "Okay."

Zoe exited the back of the school and walked around to the front so as to look like she had recently been dropped off. "There you are!" Riley rushed to her side and nearly dragged her to bench where Lin and Dominic sat nestled together. "You gotta tell them, Zoe. Tell them how difficult cheerleading is."

Lin shook her head. "Don't force the girl to lie. It's not difficult to put on a skimpy skirt and flaunt your curves so all the boys will like you."

"Hey," Diego protested. "I like that skimpy skirt."

"See." Lin pointed to him. "Case closed. It's all about male dominance."

"Awww, girl," Dominic said, squeezing her tightly. "I thought you liked my male dominance."

"Quit it, you idiot!" She held up her fist.

"Okay, okay, okay. I'm just kidding." Dominic flinched.

Everyone laughed. Zoe shook her head in wonder. These two were very silly humans.

"Hey, everyone." Mason just arrived from the student parking lot. "What's up?"

"Zoe here is just about to confirm that cheerleading is an actual sport. Aren't you?" Riley crossed her arms about her chest, waiting for her just vindication.

In the big picture, Zoe didn't understand why it mattered so much. Must be some teenage thing.

"Oh," Mason replied. His eyes fell on hers, and he blushed momentarily. "Ah, so, what did you think?"

Zoe sighed. "Well, cheerleading can be very difficult."

"So. That doesn't make it a sport," Lin said.

"I guess it depends on how you define a sport. If done for competition, cheerleaders participate in competition against others. If defined by physical skills, I concluded that cheerleading requires skills similar to those of acrobats, dancers, and gymnasts. If a sport requires precision, I calculated that precision and timing are essential to complete a routine, and that a cheerleader faces as 23% chance of failure and a 17% possibility for being injured during a performance."

"Ugh." Lin's mouth fell open. Diego's eyes bulged out. Dominic could hardly contain his laughter. Mason stared at her with awe and admiration.

"See!" Riley squealed in delighted and hugged Zoe, nearly knocking her over. "It is a sport."