The VLC - Adelaide

Spooning

Everyone was talking about Homecoming. I was sick of hearing about the dresses, tuxedos and dinner plans from every girl in the school. There was no way my parents would ever let me go, even if I had, somehow, had a prospective date.

I sat down in fourth period fed up with it all. "I am so sick..."

"Of the constant talk about Homecoming?" Liz asked. I nodded. "I am with you! I can't stand school dances. It isn't even dancing! Everyone just grinds up on each other, slobbering and sweating. Yuck!"

"At least you got an offer to go Liz. The rest of us can hate it, but we don't even have the option." Ashleigh pouted.

"You got asked to go?" I looked incredulously at Liz. "And you said no! I would love to have a reason to dress up. It is funny because forever when I was younger I hated dresses and boys, but now... I am really just jealous of everyone and that is why I am tired of hearing about it."

"I think it would be so romantic to go!" Marley sighed. "It is one of the few traditions we have anymore. Guys never dress up and bring girls flowers. This forces them to be a little more old-fashioned."

"Yeah, until they get to the dance floor. I don't think our grandparents would have approved of that!" Liz laughed.

Marley punched her in the shoulder. "You know what I meant."

"At least we can go to the game. I went to a few high school football games in middle school. They are fun."

"Is our team even any good?" I asked Ashleigh.

"I think so, but I haven't been to a game yet. I feel like in a school this size you should be able to get the cream of the crop to play."

"Let's all go together! Carlos and Mateo can drive us." Marley offered. "I know they are planning on going."

"I think I can get my parents to agree to that. Football games are harmless right?" I hoped.

Ashleigh patted my shoulder encouragingly."They will be fine with it. We are all going together."

She was right, my dad said I could go as long as I came home right after the game. I was so excited! I had only ever watched football at home with my dad, and only occasionally. I knew it was only high school football, but I was excited for the atmosphere. There was always an electric buzz in the air at athletic events. As an athlete myself, I fed off of it. I had missed the competitive nature of sports this fall.

Friday morning I put on a red top and black pants. I tied red, white, and black ribbons in my ponytail, our school colors. The plan was for the four of us to get together at Marley's house after school and head out to the game. My parents had even decided I could spend the night there as long as I called them when we got back from the game. My enthusiasm was boiling by the time I saw Ashleigh that morning. I usually didn't act like one of the "giggly girls," but I couldn't help it. It was my first high school event.

"I am so excited!" I grabbed Ashleigh by the shoulders. "I am not sure why. Maybe it is the tiny bit of freedom my parents are giving me."

She laughed, "I get it. I would feel the same way." Ashleigh had outdone herself dressing up. She had red, white, and black striped leggings, a red and black tutu, a shiny red spandex top, red, black and white paint on her cheeks, and red ribbons twisted throughout her hair.

"You look awesome!"

"Thank you! I try."

Ashleigh wasn't the only one who went all out, but she did look great. Apparently, the girls at my school really had spirit. Our cheerleading team was huge, they had competed at nationals for years, and they were all in uniform with sparkly hair, carrying their pom-poms around. They all looked amazing. California cheerleaders are nothing to be scoffed at. Where I grew up, it wasn't hard to become a cheerleader. You didn't have to be thin; you didn't have to have any real athletic ability, or be popular. Here, you had to be an acrobat gymnast with amazing strength. These girls were lean, fit, super talented, and gorgeous. Some of them were even nice, but that might be the girls who weren't actually competing yet. There were four cheerleading "teams," freshman, sophomore, j.v. and varsity. Typically those divisions do not exist, but with such a large student population they had to come up with something to accommodate all of the interested talent. I saw Gavin chatting with one of said cheerleaders when I walked in the room. She had long red hair, up in a ponytail that curled and twirled between her shoulder blades. She was probably one of the only people who did not have a tan. Instead she had the creamiest, whitest, porcelain skin with a brush of freckles across her nose. She was laughing and smiling and kept touching Gavin. Her legs were long and toned under her short skirt and she had strong, but feminine looking arms. I must have been staring at her for a while because Ashleigh gave me a hard nudge.