Definitions

Chapter 73: Just Do It

Anticipation, abstract noun.
For me, this is an incredibly strong emotion. You're literally bouncing on the spot in excitement, and you're not 100% sure how this will all go down, but wow, you're so ready for it.

Chapter seventy three: Just Do It
JJ flew to Florida the next day, and surprised Meah at practice by making his own way out to the gym we had been borrowing to train in whilst being away from our home gym. His flight had gotten in early, apparently, so instead of waiting for us to pick him up at the airport, he turned up at the gym whilst we were in the middle of a full out. He wore his usual happy grin, and his hair styled in his 'electric shock' look, which was pretty much normal for him these days as well. I was so surprised to see him that I missed catching Meah's and Vanessa's feet in our pyramid, nearly bringing the whole thing down. That was nothing to Meah though, who squealed in delight, startling everybody. JJ chuckled at his girlfriend, shaking his head playfully.
"Go on then Meah!" Yelled Eddie. "You've got a reason to perform your little heart out now!"
We completed the rest of the pyramid without mishap, and danced our way through to the end of the routine. Meah was in the centre of the dance section, and I could see out of the corner of my eye that she was definitely giving it all she had. Once the routine ended, she didn't hold her position, like we're supposed to do, but took off, and flung her arms around JJ.

"How did you get here so early!" She yelled in delight, repeatedly kissing him. He only laughed, and cupped her chin in his hands, kissing her more slowly.
"My flight was brought forward, and we landed early," he grinned. "I'm only here to say hi, I'll wait out in the foyer for you to finish practice."
My part of the dance ended with a partner stunt, so once Alex, my partner, finally set me down again, I ran over to give JJ a hug.
"Hey Jord," he grinned. "Long time no see, huh?"
"I know right," I chuckled. "Good to see you bro."
JJ and Meah had a few brief words with Eddie and Orby, who had heard much about Jide, but had never met him. JJ then returned to the foyer to wait for practice to finish, which would be at least another thirty minutes, and the rest of us returned to practicing with renewed energy.

The cheerleading world championships was a competition held over two days, much like many other cheer competitions. Your score and position after day one contributed towards day two, so it was possible if you didn't do well on day one to make a comeback on day two. There was also the fact that if you did terrible on day one, you could be dropped from day two altogether. The standard was incredibly high, and it often came down to the difficulty score of a team's routine, with near perfect execution.

The day of the competition dawned a beautiful sunny one, thankfully putting us all in a bright mood, despite the underlying nerves. Simon, Josh, Freya, Em, Tobi and Summer were all flying out to watch Meah and I perform, but they wouldn't arrive until later that morning, meaning we probably wouldn't see them until the evening, unless I spotted them in the crowd somehow.

The routine was coming together beautifully now. All the kinks we'd been dealing with had been ironed out to perfection - anything less than perfect at this point wasn't acceptable. We were all in the warm up hall at Worlds, and we had a set amount of time we could use the mats until we had to go and get ready to perform. All my stunting was hitting consistently now, with the exception of my partner stunting with Alex. It had been fine up until today, but wether it was the nerves, or something we were doing differently, today it was inconsistent. Our coaches watched us nervously from the side as we warmed up ready to perform.
"If you two aren't hitting it by the end of the warmups I'm taking it out," Eddie warned us seriously. "Jordyn, you're not fighting like you should be today, and Alex, your hand needs to be flatter. You've been perfect all season, I can't have you dropping these now, you're stunting in our dance section as well."

"You know he's serious when he gives you that look," Alex smiled weakly at me, as we headed back onto the floor, after the brief talk with Eddie.
"I know right," I nodded. "Come on, let's get this right."
"Your leg's not hurting you, is it?" He asked.
"No it's fine," I replied. "I think it's the nerves, I can't even remember the last time we dropped this! We're more than capable."
"Five in a row perfect," Alex suggested. "If we drop one we start again, yeah?"
"Let's do it," I nodded in agreement.

In the end, we managed to get it back on track, and Eddie decided it would be okay to leave the stunt in the routine. Our warm up period was over now, and all that remained was a final team talk from Eddie and Orby, before they left us to watch from the front of the stage.
"Well... this is it, guys," Orby stated. "All of our hard work for the entire season comes down to this moment. That's all behind us now, what matters today is not the scoresheet, not the judges, but you guys as a team out there on the floor performing your little hearts out. If you give everything you've got today, we'll come away happy.
"I know you guys have got this," Eddie stated. "I've seen you do it countless times, I know you can hit it today. I love you guys so much, go out there and do it!"

Before I knew it, we were in the tunnel behind the stage, waiting for our team to be announced. I held hands with Sienna, Lexi and Alex, who were my elite stunt group, as we pumped each other up, with positive words, trying to forget the words we felt. I could see the lights flickering, and hear the music pumping loudly. All of a sudden, the music was cut, and a booming voice was heard over the loudspeakers.

"In Level Six Small Coed Division, from Ventura, California, please welcome the California Allstars Reckless!"