Cheer Angels

A speechless result

"And now we are going to announce the results for the super teams!"

All five of the super teams were on the floor where they had performed. Their awards were last after the main awards. It was one of the most nerve wracking moments for the team.

"Let's talk about the basics. Yadada yada. First gets gold, second gets silver, third gets bronze, and then fourth gets a yellow ribbon and fifth gets a purple ribbon. I don't see how this would be a bad thing, you all technically place. But nonetheless, you want to win, so I'll dish out the results with some class."

The announcer held his microphone in one hand and the results in another.

"Starting off with fifth place."

The tension was between all of the teams.

"This team had a pretty good performance. The song was catchy, I guess."

The announcer looked like he was finished.

"With 237.7 points out of 300, give it up for..."

A drumroll rolled through the hall,

"Midwest's best!"

Midwest's Best accepted their stack of medals. They didn't look pleased at the result, and Tina had a colder look on her expression.

"4th place!"

"This team and 3rd place has quite a difference in scores. They are that close. And how close you might ask? Just by a point."

The audience gasped.

"I don't want to spoil who it is because you might tell, so I'll just tell you all the result... drumroll please?"

The Angels were on edge.

"It could either be us or maybe the Oceans."

"Give it up for the East Coast Oceans with 259.0 points!"

"Oh thank god, we placed well."

Luís was disappointed, so was most of his team. One of the girls held her head down and grabbed the stack of medals.

"I feel bad for them."

"If they hadn't had that stunt fall, then we'd be in 4th."

"Now what team could possibly got into third? You could feel their enthusiasm. You could see their enthusiasm, and they had a lot of fun while doing it well. This team in third place blew me out of the water at least, but apparently not the judges, if I was the judge, they'd get first place. But you know I'm only an announcer."

"Third place with 260 points out of a possible 300...... is........"

"The Angels!"

What?

Third place?

They had received a lot of applause. But they were disappointed because they had worked so hard and only got third place. Ronnie went up and got the bronze trophy, she could hear the laughters of the girls from Midwest's Best.

"Stupid pricks."

She mumbled.

"Alright, there are two teams, and if I tell second place, then first place will know who they are. I'll just tell you about the two teams. Second Place had energy, First Place had a catchy routine. The difference is 30 points between their scores."

Everyone gasped.

"By a landslide, I know. Who takes the gold and who will take the silver? The results are in.."

"First place with 299.1 points out of 300..... a round of applause for the........."

"West Coast Royals!"

The West Coast Royals has won, and they blended the rules. They had cheated to win. One of their similar looking girls had grabbed the trophy and showed it off to everyone in the air.

"The Southern Sweethearts had 269.1 out of 300, come take the silver."

One of their girls got the silver trophy.

None of the Angels could look at each other, because they all thought that they had failed each other.

The bus ride back home was mostly silent, nobody looked at each other, or spoke to each other. Just quiet, even Cecilia and Pamela were distant.

It seemed like 10 seconds when Florence finally stopped on the breaks. Her head hit the steering wheel and she started to sob furiously.

Sheila and Cristina were the first ones to say something about it.

"The trauma  and all of our emotions must have got to her. She has turned into a mess."

"I'll drive the rest of the way home, it's almost 5 am, she couldn't have done a one shot with this trip even if she wanted to."

Sheila grabbed Florence and laid her down in Florence's row while Cristina took the wheel.

"Watch everything that happens around here, Sheila. I don't know if something is going to happen, but please keep an extra eye on Florence. God knows if she'll have another heart attack,"

Cristina went to the front and Sheila stood in the pathway.

The last two hours were as quiet as most of the bus ride, the sun started to shine a little bit, and a cool morning air wafted through the bus. It was half past 8 by the time everyone woke up.

"We're here? We're back in West Des Moines?"

Florence was the most confused of them all. After that stress attack that she had, she couldn't remember much. The last memory she recalled was crying so hard that her head had hit the steering wheel and her foot was on the brake.

Cristina got out of the front and locked eyes with Florence. Florence ran over to Cristina.

"I'm so sorry for making you drive and for what I done. You see, I felt the burden lay on me because I thought that I failed everyone. Really I'm sorry, if you didn't have to drive, you didn't have to."

"No, it's all fine, I saw how you were and as one of the co captains of the team, I should take responsibility too. You can always count on me for anything, and don't worry, I'll always be there to help. Sheila and I have to do stuff too."

"But, I feel bad you know?"

"Don't feel bad, as a team we all need to do our part. You don't have to do everything yourself."

Florence hung her head down, she grabbed the trophy and headed inside. Some of the girls followed suit.

The shelf that was bare was meant for trophies. The first trophy was not a first place, but Florence put it on the top shelf with upmost dignity.

"You know what? It's not much, but the work that we put into that trophy was hard and honest work. And what could be better than that?"