If It Was Meant to Be

25

Audrey POV
"Hello and welcome to cheerleading tryouts!" Becca smiles a rich entitled smile that she was taught from the moment she was born. Everyone clapped and cheered at this statement. Not by choice though, they just knew if they didn't smile and cheer. Well... something bad would happen to a certain someone's mood.
"Thank you, it's all right. Thank you!" Everybody kept clapping, especially Charlie. Poor Charlie is dating Becca, they've been at it for about 2 months. But the confusing thing for me is whenever I look into his face I don't see love, I see a mere glimpse of friendship in his eyes. That look, is barely considered what I would call a faint crush. The kind of crush you have on a movie star, something so unobtainable. "All of the girls inside the gym have to try out, of course we don't expect all of you to get on the team but we want all the options we can" Wait does that include me? I didn't come here to wear a short skirt and spread my legs but that seems exactly what Becca and more so Elise wanted me to do. Wait. I turn around slowly hoping my intuition is wrong that the overwhelming sense of the boy buy I once loved was not hanging in the air, but there he was, cute as ever getting ready to watch the tryouts with his team. How could I be so stupid! Of course Ethan was going to be there, the team would want to know who is cheering them on. Elise obviously wants me to try out to embarrass me in front of him because I know nothing about cheer and she does make her look superior by difficult. That girl may not be what you would call smart but she has prospects in psychological warfare. Well I'm not going to get up. Because if she comes over here demanding that I get up will make her look like an insurable bitch. Girls start to get up and Elise begins the seminar. "Please head over to Becca she will be giving you a number you may stick it anywhere within reach." As soon as she says that Marvin walks in. He is the class creep and is notorious for looking at girls intimate parts and having his hands down his pants. So coming watch girls in short skirts jumping around is right up his alley. After that Elise walks over to me pom poms and all. She learns over my chair into a slight whisper. "Audrey I don't think you heard the announcement, all girls in the gym are here to try out."
"Oh, I heard, but as you can see I was not planning on this and am not properly dressed for the occasion." I say in then her same tone
"Good thing we have the lost and found on this floor. That is if you fit in any of the clothes."
So like a clueless duck I walk to what seems like a cardboard box, just around the corner by the girls locker room. Sitting inside the box are a few very unstylish pieces of clothing. The type of clothing girls like Billie Eilish wear, low saggy, made sure to cover every curve of your body. Which is the exact opposite of what clothing I'd hope to find, especially since this school is the land of Gucci and Chanel spoiled teens. The one thing different about me is I use money the way it's supposed to be used. Yes, I have to admit, I am part of the few teenagers who get posh, and everything money can buy. But I know I have comes with a price, it's either you have a family or you have money. There's no in between for my family... and well let's just say I know if I could choose, I'd pick one over the other in a snap. Something that doesn't come to me in a snap is what I'm going to do with these ugly clothes. So in desperate times come desperate measures! The whole lacrosse team is out in the gym, scoping out the new shower girl. The shower girl is basically the girl who pours water on the winning team player, and if the guy is lucky she may sneak a kiss in there or two. Of course I'd never want to be that girl, but I'm always a candidate at the back of their minds. In desperation I sift through the items of clothing quickly, sorting out the unusable ugly clothing and the mediocre ugly clothing. But no matter how much I looked for an average shirt, there were both ugly piles, just one a little better than the other. Most of the shirts were made of stretchy fabric. Which is exactly what I'm looking for. After spending much of middle school watching DIY tutorials, I felt confident enough I could create some kind of top and bottom. Wait... my halter top is perfect. Maybe by cutting off the sleeves and using those to create a waistband I could be considered cute! The midi skirt around my waist is the most stiff fabric, I could never do the splits with this on, nevertheless get in position to do the splits. So I continue to search for fabrics that I can possibly use. Burying myself deeper and deeper into a sea of ugliness, until it looked like I was a refugee, surrounded by rags. This reminded me of my sister Kat and how I used to drag her from store to store while she would much rather be at an art show in Brooklyn of all places. But eventually she would get in the mood and I would here her say
"What's next!?" I'd be sure to hear every time we walked out of a store. With my mom always busy we'd always make time for each other. She was much older than me, making us seem more like acquaintances than sisters. She was like my best friend before Paige... and we all know how that turned out. All things aside when you have friends like that there's no need for ennemis. Although I had one bad experience I am not letting that define me. I am slowly but surely opening up to Brooke and I have Charlie in a way I'm putting my life back together. Running to the bathroom I barged in, leaving no second to wait, the shirt slid off me to leave only with a bralette keeping me from being totally exposed. I quickly ripped the sleeves right off my halter top, luckily the fabric was light and stretchy, so it wasn't that hard to tear. Wincing at the sight of my sleeveless shirt, thoughts of Elise's reaction circled my head. Would she contain her reaction, of me coming out into the gym. Or would she pounce and say a detailed explanation of each imperfection I represent. My guess is the second option. I then slid into some scratchy black legging I found in the lost and found. From an outside perspective I would never guess they felt like sandpaper, yet I was determined to keep them on for the look. The mirror in the bathroom portrayed an image of me, in a presentable, athletic outfit. I walk back into the gym and really hope for the best. I feel out of place and slightly bad for taking this opportunity from a girl who wants it. I start to 'stretch' in the back when Becca starts talking
"Ok so you have all spread apart so let's start warming up. We are just gonna start in a split-" What the fuck? Start in a split? I played volleyball for a while there but it didn't require you to be this flexible. Most of the girls around me are already in a split and I'm just standing here like an idiot. I have to try. Maybe if I pull a hamstring it will save me the embarrassment? I start to go down slowly. I feel every muscle in my leg screaming. When did I get so out of shape? I feel eyes start to gravitate when Becca walks over. Great now I'm going to get reprimanded. She leans over and whispers "If you bend your knee a little more you should be fine." Wait, she wants to help me? Why? Whatever god is looking down up one me deserves all the Chanel in New York. I bend my knee and fall seamlessly into a split. This might not be as terrible as I thought it was going to be. "Ok so now I'm going to have you all lean forward in the split. And try to really stretch your muscles." Elise says as she demonstrates the move. Becca continues to walk around and before she even gets to the second row she hastily pulls of a girls number. The girl stands up.
"But wh..y?" She says in between sniffles. Obviously trying not to cry.
"I looked at your portfolio and you just don't seem right for the elite team. Work on your flexibility a bit more and maybe next year." Becca says as she apologetically rubs the girls shoulder. I could tell this was hard for her but it didn't get any easier when the girls started to ball her eyes out.
"Just because my family doesn't have as much money as yours doesn't mean I'm not a hard worker. Please give me another chance!"
"Emily. We both know it's not about that. You're already a star on our tennis team. So just keep doing what you're doing." Becca says sympathetically. She is definitely doing a good job diffusing the situation when Elise walks up out of her split and throws all that out the window.
"You heard the girl, bye bye bitch. Better luck next year!" That's was intense. Emily is light years better than me and that's how they reacted to her flexibility. Why can't they just cut me now and save me the embarrassment. Elise starts to do some toe touches so naturally we all follow while Becca continues to scout out a few more people. Thankfully they go out with a lot less trouble.
"I think that wraps up the warm up portion of the session. I think that we should move into some partner work. Becca any suggestions?" Elise says standing at her full height.
"How about a thigh stand into a standing split?" She suggests
"Perfect. Could I use you for the example?" Before Elise even asks, Becca was already walking over. I look over at the boys and most of them seem to be looking on their phone, probably waiting for the final four. Hopefully by that point I'd be watching with them.
"So this move is pretty easy. Basically what you do is find a partner and ask if they are a base or a flyer. A flyer is typically lighter like me and Becca but because we are both flyers Becca will be the base for this demonstration." Elise finishes
"So like Elise stated, it's important to know who is heavier because if the lighter one is the base you run the risk of seriously hurting your partner-" Becca is interrupted
"Yeah if someone like Audrey was to be a flyer she would probably crush about 90% of our team." Elise snears. I hate that girl. She basically just called me fat in front of the entire lacrosse team. Just another thing to add to my to do list
-get to know Brooke better
-clean my makeup brushes
-plan revenge on Elise
"As I was saying this move is actually pretty easy all you do is get into a kneeling position with your right leg back and your left leg bent and your thigh stretched as much as you can. This will give the flyer as much surface area as possible." Becca says as she demonstrates.
"Now what the flyer does is also simple. The first thing is you stand on the base's leg with one foot. Then go into a standing split, holding your foot over your head. At this point your base can hold your leg if you're not stable. But we don't recommend it because it doesn't look the best." Elise finishes and gets off Becca.
"Please partner up with the person to your right." Becca says as she and Elise start to walk around. I look to the person on my right when-
"I will not let some two timing bitch tell me what I can and can't try out for!" Emily says as she walks in guns ablazing "I have been working to get on this team for months - no scratch that years! And for some reason you always take me out in the first round. Tell me Elise why don't you like me! How little must you think of me?" Emily said tears still staining her cheeks
"I don't think about you." Elise says in a cold voice "I don't waste my time thinking about your sickled feet or unstructured legs or how you don't open your rib cage when you're doing a flip. You want to know why I don't think about that? It's because thirty other girls here do the exact same thing. You want me to think of you? Then give me one good reason to!" Elise says her voice is steadily rising "but I have to admit the fact that you came back in here after I told you that you're no good is surprising to say the least... you must be either brave or stupid. And if my intuition is right then we both know which one it is. I'm going to give you one more chance. But if you don't wow me don't bother coming back next year." Emily runs back to her place on the mat this time in the back not too far away from where I am. I really hope there is no more drama today. I take one last look at the girl and out of the corner of my eye I see that we definitely have all the boy's attention now.
"I'm sorry for that slight interruption. Please start partnering up with the people around you." Becca says. Looking around I see that almost everyone here already has a partner in mind. I'm starting to feel a sorta lump in my stomach because I can't stand the idea of Elise having to pick my partner. But my prayers are answered when Emily of all people come up to me.
"Hey...  do you wanna be partners?" She says sheepishly.
"Yeah why not." I say matching her tone
"Well are you a base or flyer."
"I guess I don't know. But in all fairness I didn't come here expecting to cheer. So.." I say. I must sound so stupid! This girl has been trying to get on the team for months and I don't even know if I'm a base or not.
"Elise said you where a base-"
"Yeah let's do that." I say. This is terrifying. I mean Emily isn't 'fat' per say but she is bigger than me. So this dynamic should be interesting.
"Good luck." Yeah I'm gonna need it. I get into the position that Becca described earlier. Emily steps on my thigh and I'm not going to sugar coat it. That was some of the worst pain I have ever felt. Worst then when I was a dancer (which I hated by the way. Modeling is much better) but yeah worst then when I was a dancer and had to go on point for the first time, worst that the first time I stepped on a lego. It was even worse than the time when I almost waterboarded myself in a kiddy pool when I was seven and some kid started to hold my head underwater. It wasn't just the fact that she was slightly round; it was that I can barely open a jar let alone carry a person. And this  isn't some wattpaddesque esk monalologe where I talk about the struggles of being rich and skinny. No, I have definitely had moments where I have surpassed a size eight and let me tell you not once did my mom let me forget. I think that's the  reason she signed me up for modeling in the first place. To 'subtly' shame me into losing weight. I mean it worked. Very effective actually, I gotta to wear some of the worlds most fabulous designs and she got free advertising because I was always forced to wear her makeup on the catwalk.
"How does this look to you? Straight?" I heard an unknown voice say. I look side to side. Nope, it's not Becca or Elise coming to violently rip off my number, sadly. Wait... is my leg numb? I didn't do anything super strenuous. Looking down there seems to be nothing out of the ordinary besides, a foot?! It wasn't long before fight or flight kicked. No I mean actually kicked in, like I actually moved my thigh and while Emily was falling I kicked her mid air. I stand up and extend my arm to my victim
"I am so so sorry. I wasn't thinking. Reflexes kicked in adrenaline were pumping. But none of that matters so just please tell me your ok?" i say coming off way too worried to be considered cool.
"Im fine... i just-'' elise cuts her off
"Need to go to the nurses office. I am not going to allow you to rupture an organ on my watch."
"No. I can't... you said if i dont wow you won't let me be on the squad."  Emily says
"Yeah and if you don't get to the ER in the next few minutes you're going to bleed out from the inside." E elise says in a whisper screaming voice
"I refuse to move from this spot until I am guaranteed a positions!" Emily says as the decibels begin to rise.
"Are you crazy-" elise begins to say when Emily cuts in
"If you don't, I may just waltz
my way up to student government and ask what the most effective way is to sue for psychological and emotional damage." 
"You little bitch! You will never ever be on my squad if i have anything to say about it." Elise rebuttals
"The problem is you don't have anything to say about it. Audrey and Emily will both be allowed in. If anything just to avoid legal trouble." Becca says while giving us both the stink eye
"I might have one or two friends that are pretty well versed in the law."' I say
"Shut up Easterbrook. Now could both of you get out of my gym before I i am charged for something more serious than murder!''
Elise states as her final words.