Cheerleaders

How it all started...

6 WEEKS AGO

Lauren

"Hey guys," I mumble, plonking down onto the floor next to my four best friends.

"Wow, you look dead," Dinah comments with a giggle. I roll my eyes at her.

"She's right," Ally agrees playfully. She's the head of the school cheerleading which we're all a part of.

"Thanks guys," I mutter, running a hand through my long dark hair.

"Didn't sleep well last night?" Normani asks while reaching up to fix a clip in her hair.

"What do you expect? It's the second day of school and the first morning of cheerleading practice which means that we're in school at six-fucking-thirty in the morning," I state dramatically. She laughs at me before nudging the small dark-haired girl besides her.

"Mila, come back from Camzi-town," She teases. I smile warmly as my girlfriend's chocolate colour eyes glance up from her phone to meet mine.

"Oh, hey Lo," she says softly.

"Wow, you only just noticed me?" I ask with a laugh. She smirks at my comment before shoving her phone into her bag and standing up and stretching her arms out behind her back. The rest of us stand up too, me, Ally and Dinah wearing identical red cheer-dresses and Mila and Mani wearing red cheer-skirts with fitted, long sleeve crop tops. It's our choice whichever we wear, but I felt more comfortable in the dress.

"You chose the skirt again," I note out loud as I walk to the centre of the auditorium with my hand intertwined with my girlfriend's.

"Yeah, and you chose the dress again," she replies, glancing at me judgementally.

"Sorry Camz, I was just saying," I reassure her. "Plus, it looks good on you," I add.

"Guys!" Ally's voice interrupts our awkward conversation. "Everyone to the centre of the auditorium in four lines for stretches!" she exclaims. I sigh and try to shake off my tiredness but I just feel more sleepy; this is going to be a really long practice.

"Okay, everyone, good practice!" our Coach, David, says, glancing at his notes as we all sit on the gymnasium floor after the tiring practice.

"Camz?" I mumble, nudging her.

"Yeah?" she asks, taking a large sip of water.

"You're coming with us after school, right? We're getting ice-cream," I whisper. She smiles and nods.

"Lauren, are you listening to me?" David's loud voice booms.

"Um, yeah, sorry," I reply sheepishly, earning a muffled giggle from some other girls including Mani who is sitting on my other side.

"Like I was saying, we have to be at our best for competitions which means that now we need all of you to be healthy, okay? We're going to be weighing you once a week and having extra fitness and flexibility classes. We'll start the weighing today so that we can see who is and isn't on track, okay?" he asks.

"Um, Alz, did you know about this?" I ask Ally quietly.

"Of course I did Lauren," she says with a small laugh. "I'm the cheer- captain, he asked for my opinion," she tells me as we form a line, all talking with one another seeing as practice is technically over.

"And you thought that was a good idea?" I ask with a scoff as I join the line.

"Yeah, I mean, it'll keep people on track," she justifies with a shrug.

"Lauren, your turn," David interrupts our conversation. I walk over to the weighing scale and stand on it slowly. "Hmm, 56 kilos," he notes, scribbling the number down.

"Camila, you're next," he says as I step off and join Mani in the corner.

"Don't you think this is a bit extreme?" I ask her as I watch my girlfriend hesitating briefly before standing on the scale.

"54," he says as she quickly steps off.

"It's okay for skinny asses like her," Mani jokes from next to me.

"Camila, you're not at all on track, to be a flyer you need to lose at least another five kilos," he states disapprovingly before dismissing her with a gesture of his hand.

"I'm starving," I complain once Camila walks over to me and we start making our way to the changing rooms.

"You can have my granola bar," she offers, reaching into her bag and tossing it to me.

"Aren't you hungry?" I ask, tossing the bar from hand to hand. She shakes her head and smiles before disappearing into one of the changing rooms. I quickly tuck it into my bag before going into one of the changing rooms and replacing my dress with a pair of jeans and a tank top with a jumper. I walk out of the room to see Camila standing in front of one of the full length mirrors in a pair of leggings and a Hollister tank top next to Ally who is running a brush through her hair.
"Hey," I mumble, slipping my arms around her waist and planting a quick kiss on her cheek before pulling the granola bar out and tearing the wrapper open.
"Does anyone have a jumper?" she asks, not tearing her eyes away from the mirror.
"Why? You can't possibly be cold in here," Dinah states, emerging from one of the stalls.
"I'm not, I just don't like the way this top looks," she explains, tugging at it obsessively.
"Here, take mine," I say, pulling my jumper off of my shoulders.
"Thanks," she mumbles, zipping it up.
"We're going to be late if we don't leave now," I remind Dinah who is still lacing up her shoelaces.
"Right, let's go, bye guys," she says to Ally and Mani before me and Camila follow her out of the changing rooms and gymnasium.
"You're kinda quiet," I comment as I slip into the seat next to my girlfriend's.

"I'm tired," she counters immediately.
"No, something else is up," I argue, slipping my hand into hers.
"I guess practice wasn't great this morning," she admits, focusing her gaze on my rings which she is twisting around my fingers.
"Why? It seemed fine," I answer in confusion.

"I messed up that flying stunt," she says in a small voice.
"So? You mess up all the time, Camz," I joke, trying to lighten her mood.
"No...this was different," she mumbles.
"How so?" I ask curiously, blocking out my math teacher's monotonous tone.

"This wasn't because I messed up over something small, it was because...I gained too much weight over the summer," she blurts out quietly, refusing to make eye contact with me.
"You're kidding, right? You're tiny!" I exclaim, prodding her torso.
"Don't say that," she protests.
"Oh my god," I mumble as realisation hits me. "This is because of that bullshit weighing thing they did at practice today, isn't it?" She shrugs,
"Don't stress it, Lauren," she says pointedly.
"Okay, whatever," I say with a sigh before focusing my attention on my math work.

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