Don't Get Me Wrong (Middle of Revamping)

Chapter 14: I've Got Issues, You've Got'em Too

2 weeks later...

***

As I work on a Spanish assignment with some friends, my feet fidget in excitement. Today's Thursday, and that means we have our big homecoming pep rally and our game against Blue Ridge at Infiniti Stadium. I'm always excited for homecoming, but this year's going to be even more thrilling.

Why?

Because... drum roll, please...

ARJUN IS COMING TO THE GAME TODAY! 

That's right, y'all. Because Arjun's school is our opponent in the game, he's coming to the game with my friends today! Before he moved, we used to go to every football game together. But last year, we couldn't go together because his game was on a different day.

But this year is going to be different. Way different.

***

Because I'm on my school's drill team, I have to leave my Spanish class early so I can get ready for our pep rally. After an announcement comes on the loudspeaker, I gather my stuff and say bye to my teacher before leaving. Our team locker room is on the other side of campus, so I speedwalk as fast as I can. Some of my teammates come behind me, so we just go to the locker room together while talking about school.

After I enter the locker room, I take off my backpack and hang up my mum on the "Mum Wall". Mums are giant chrysanthemums decorated with bells and ribbons. They're made by your date, and it's completely personalized for you. It's one of our state's main traditions for homecoming, and it's super fun too!

After doing all that, I open my locker to pull out my drill team uniform. Our team got new uniforms a few weeks ago. It's a combo of a black, sleeveless leotard/skirt and a shiny white vest covered in tassels. The leotard and skirt have Persian green borders* and opal accents. To finish it off, we have a cute green hat and white boots. 

Because today's going to be a little cold out, we're wearing a sequined green jacket that goes with our uniform. You may think this is a bit weird since the pep rally is indoors, but we're leaving school as soon as the rally ends. So it's always better to prepare earlier.

Not gonna lie, I was a little scared for joining the drill team because of how uncomfortable the uniform looked with all the sequins. But it feels super comfortable after getting used to it.

"Hey, Tia!" Emma gleefully says as she sits next to me to adjust her boots. Emma is the 1st Lieutenant of the drill team. Because she's a dance officer, she and our captain wear different-colored uniforms. It looks just like ours, but it's all white with green borders. They even get cool batons. I'm probably going to try and run for Captain next year. That'll be so cool.

"Hey, Em! Are you ready for today? I know I am," I ask her as I put on my tights. I wear my boots soon after. I shake my vest tassels right before I take out my makeup bag. This may look weird, but I do it because the tassels tend to clump together.

"You bet I am. I'm so excited!" She exclaims as she goes to the nearby mirror to straighten her strawberry-blonde hair. I follow right behind to reapply my makeup.

We tend to wear our performance makeup beforehand to prevent time-waste in a performance. It consists of some foundation, powder, mascara, and matte lipstick. We tend to wear very dark shades of lipstick since bright colors are too extreme, and it takes attention away from our dancing. 

Because of that, I tend to wear red shades like burgundy or a deep scarlet. Luckily, Vinnie gifted me two amazing shades of red lipstick from Gucci for my birthday last year. Because of my extreme indecisiveness (and the fact that both shades are amazing), I use them interchangeably. When I wore one of the shades for the first time last year, she freaked out in the bleachers.