𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐃 • 𝐉𝐄𝐍𝐙𝐈𝐄

6.40

horns and hooters were blaring. teachers and students were chatting, filing into their seats at the stadium. the footballers were yelling out to eachother while they warmed up, and the cheerleaders yelled and flipped to keep the crowd entertained.

it was dark over the pitch, but the moon and the overhead lights provided more than enough light for the people there. the cold night air was blown around by the slight breeze, making goosebumps arise and teeth chatter. most spectators were wearing the typical cali high beanies and scarves, which were striped; maroon and mustard coloured.

overall, the atmosphere was tense. this game was a big one; one of the biggest of the season. cali high would be facing off against beverly hills, and there was a huge rivalry between the schools. plus, the whole of cali high was still gossiping about the johnny-kenzie situation, and many of the spectators wanted to see some drama, or some "tea being spilt" as the immature (and cringey) freshmen kept saying.

mackenzie was nervous. more than nervous. currently, she was trying not to hyperventilate, the perky cheer girls crowded around her.

her waist-length brown hair tumbled down her shoulders in a mass of elegant curls. her makeup was perfect, stunning actually, and you would have never known that a few hours earlier she'd been crying her eyes out to an old adele song. complete with her (very short) cheer uniform and white sneakers, she was breathtakingly beautiful– not radiating confidence and cockiness like she normally did, but instead rocking an enthusiastic yet humble vibe. her breakup with johnny had changed her, but only in the most subtle of ways.

"hey. it's okay. just breathe!" emily patted kenzie on the shoulder.

"yeah," lexi said, "it's just a game, and i promise, this'll all be over in a few hours."

mackenzie scrunched up her nose. "not helping." she grimaced. "fuck butterflies, i've got sharks in here!" she pressed both hands to her stomach, willing the nerves to disappear.

maddie slapped her on the back and kenzie shrieked. the girls laughed. maddie then gave kenzie an inspirational pep-talk.

"kenzie," she said, "you need to fucking get over yourself and start ordering us around like the bossy bitch you are so we can get to work and help these stupid footballers in their stupid pants and stupid helmets win. okay?"

mackenzie surprised all of them by taking a big breath and then plastering on a grin– a real one, not a fake one. trust maddie to tell it how it is.

"okay. okay girls." mackenzie smiled. "we'll start with intimidating the other team. we can run over there and start yelling. then we'll spilt and do the tumbling and stunt routine. to round it all off, we'll do our all time favourite cheer. y'all got it?"

"definitely." dylan grinned, high fiving devenity.

mabel, lily, brynn, annie, jayden and lilia linked hands. the action passed throughout the circle, until everyone was holding hands with kenzie in the middle, her eyes shining with love and gratitude.

"we got this girls!" she then yelled out, "lets go to the other end– then take your formations!"

the cheereleaders all dispersed, strutting to the other end of the stadium. after the spilt, they quickly regrouped and obediently took their places, mackenzie front and centre. she counted them in, yelling, "five six seven eight!"

"you might be good at basketball,
you might be good at track,
but when it comes to football,
you might as well step back,
gooooo cali!" the girls yelled out along with over-the-top and enthusiastic choreography.

they repeated this cheer many times over at the end where the beverly hills students were spectators. the footballers from beverly tried to inconspicuously watch them at the same time as they were warming up– some of them kept looking over at the cheer girls. mackenzie thought that was probably not because of their intimidating cheer, but more likely because of their tiny cheer dresses. oh well, you can't win them all, she thought.