Free Fall [PETER PARKER]

THIRTEEN: METAMORPHOSIS

chapter thirteen

When she had gotten home after tryouts, the first thing Ana had wanted to do was gush about it to her mom. But then as she walked up to her door with a smile that hadn't left her face since the good news had been released, she realized that she couldn't tell her mom anything. As far as both of her parents knew, she was still a Decathlete, not a cheerleader. They would be furious with her if they knew she had tried out. Who knows what kind of things they would do to her? This was uncharted territory.

Her newly given title hadn't completely set in yet, but Ana had a sense of pride having it. She was about ready to have it embroidered on all of her clothes to make sure everyone knew it. So the fact that she couldn't share it with her family kind of sucked a little bit.

Before she opened the door, Ana wiped the grin off her face and entered the apartment emotionless. She didn't burst with excitement like she had wanted to, nor did she even tell her mom that her day had been great, she settled for a simple 'fine' in response. There was no questioning her about her previous activities at all.

In all of the high school teen movies Ana had watched before going to Midtown, (strictly 2000s film era) the cheerleaders were the most elite and exclusive group one could be a part of. Now it had already been made clear to her at the beginning of her attendance at school, that what happened in the movies was far from what things were like in real life, but that did not stop Ana from getting giddy at the thought of her actually being a part of the squad. She also didn't want to get too excited about it in front of Michelle, because she knew that the girl was not one to jump at the thought of cheering for jocks who thought they ruled in a school literally made for nerds.

"So you're a cheerleader now? Like, with pom-poms and all? They actually do that shit?" Michelle gazed at her with a quirked brow. They walked around the corner and tried to avoid bumping into passing students in the hallway. This was a daily exercise for them and everyone else who went to school. You're either the one pushing people out of the way, or the one being pushed. Ana had found herself being the latter a few too many times to count. It sucked to say the least.

Nodding her head to Michelle's question, Ana confirmed it and said the words out loud for the first time since she found out she made it on the team. "Yep, you're looking at Midtown's newest spirit leader."

Michelle made a face at Ana's statement, then cast her a look of dismay. "We're both gonna pretend you didn't just call yourself that."

"Seriously, I really don't know how this is going to be. It could be total hell, for all I know." But Ana was hoping against that with all of the hope she could conjure up inside. If this failed, she might as well just give up on trying to get involved in school because she was not looking to make a third try at joining an extra-curricular and getting kicked out a pattern.