Staying Afloat

Chapter 7

The weekend was pretty normal. August felt kinda guilty for how he treated me on Friday, so he didn't mess with me at all, and he even stopped Benny from being mean to me too. This was nice, but all I could think about was the cheer team. I felt pretty confident in my performance, but I was still anxious to get the results.

On Monday morning, I woke up at 6 am, wanting to leave no later than 7:15 so I could get there right when the team list was posted. My brothers were not exactly thrilled about this, but still agreed. It's a good thing that August was still trying to make it up to me, or else we definitely wouldn't be leaving when I wanted.

I immediately woke the boys up, much to their annoyance and ran to my room to get ready. I was ready by 7 so I just sat downstairs at the table and waited. After what felt like forever,
Benny and August finally came down and I practically dragged them to the car.

The drive seemed 3 times as long as normal because I was so excited, and I don't think I even waited until we were fully in park before I ran out of the car and into the school. It was about 7:28, which gave me a little time to make my way to the gym. As I turned the final corner into the hallway, I saw Gabby and two other girls at the bulletin board hanging something up.

I immediately slowed down, wanting to play it cool in front of the upperclassmen. As they stepped away from it, I scanned for my name on the list, and sure enough, it was on it! I let out an excited gasp and Gabby came over and hugged me.

"Congratulations, and welcome to the team! Our first practice is today after school until 4!"

"I'm so excited, I'll see you after school!" I hugged her again and went back to my locker, beaming the whole way. I couldn't stop myself from skipping all the way back to my locker. My brothers had finally made it out of the car and were getting their books out.

"Good news?" Benny asked me, likely judging by the smile on my face. I nodded back at him, grinning.

"I'm on the team!" I squealed, and August pulled me into a big hug.

"Cece, that's awesome! Congratulations!"

"Thank you!" Benny hugged me as well. I was pleasantly surprised that they were happy for me, I had completely expected them to make fun of me some more.

Eventually, it was time for school. My classes felt so dull because I was so excited for our first practice. The only semi-exciting part was telling all of my friends that I made the team. After what felt like forever, the last bell rang and I went to my locker to get my backpack.

"Cece, what time does your practice go until?" Benny asked me.

"4. Why?"

"Well, ours doesn't end until 4:30, so you'll have to wait out on the bleachers for a little bit."

"Okay, see you then!" I walked to the gym where we were set to have our practice and changed into shorts and a tshirt.

Our coaches, Danielle and Taylor, explained how our first practice would work. They and our captains would evaluate us, check for any special skills, and assign us our positions. We would also meet the rest of the team. We weren't actually learning any of our routines or cheers today, which was why our practice was much shorter.

First, they had us all go into the smaller gym, where they called us into the main gym individually. They didn't want us to feel nervous, so they didn't make us perform in front of everybody.

We were called up alphabetically, so I was about 4th in line. There were 20 girls total on the team, but 2 were captains, so only 18 of us were being tested.

When it was my turn, I walked into the gym, slightly nervous.

"Hi, Cece. I'm Hannah, I'm one of your senior captains!" A bubbly girl with light brown hair said.

"I'm Riley, the other captain." A colder girl with dark hair said. Both of the coaches introduced themselves to me as well before beginning to evaluate me. They first checked my height and weight, as well as my general appearance and posture. Then, they asked me if I had any special skills. I could do certain basic gymnastic stunts, like a handstand, a cartwheel, the splits, and walkovers, so I showed them that.

"Great work! Now just one more question. Are you afraid of heights at all?" Hannah asked me.

"Not really." I responded.

"Alright, thank you! You can send Amanda in!" I left the room and sent the next girl in. After a while, it was time for us all to go back to the gym. As it turns out, I was one of 4 girls selected to be a flyer, as was Gabby. We began to introduce ourselves.

The team was made up of 6 seniors, 7 juniors, 4 sophomores and 2 other freshman. Hannah, our captain would be one of my bases most of the time, along with a junior named Bella. My back-spot was a sophomore named Lizzy. They all seemed very nice. Lizzy was on the team last year, and Bella had just moved from Texas, where she was also a cheerleader.

At 4 pm we left the gym. We usually would end our practices at 4:30, 5:30 on the days before a game, so at least I wouldn't have to wait for my brothers everyday. After changing, I walked out to the football field and climbed up the stairs to the bleachers, sitting on the very side in the front row. I didn't have any desire to watch, so I pulled out my book and read a few chapters.

After about 20 minutes, my book was snatched out of my hands.

"Ooo, 1984. Fancy." Benny said while flipping through the pages in my book.

"Ugh, aren't you supposed to be practicing?" I groaned. It was only 4:25. I should still have 5 minutes of peace.

"The last few minutes are just for the captains and newbies, so I don't have to be here. But we have to wait for August still." I groaned yet again.

"Whatever, can I have my book back?"

"Sure, come get it!" He teased. I stood up and he held it high above my head.

"Benny, c'mon!" I jumped up, trying to reach it with no luck. He continued to put it in my reach and pull it away at the last second. Finally, he tossed it past my head, only for Dylan to catch it. Great, a game of monkey in the middle.

"What's wrong, squirt? Can't reach it?" Dylan mocked, dangling the book in front of me. I charged toward him, only for him to throw it back to Benny. I huffed and sat down on the bleachers, hoping they'd leave me alone if I didn't give them the satisfaction of annoying me.

"C'mon, Cece! Come get it!" Benny teased again, and I ignored him. He came a little closer, and I used that as my opportunity. I snagged the book from his hands and sprinted away from him as fast as I could. I swerved in between the railings of the bleachers, while both boys chased after me. I made it down the stairs and onto the field. As I turned around behind me to check how close Benny and Dylan were, I crashed into something and toppled over.

"Watch where you're going, you could've gotten hurt." August, the thing (or rather, person) that I had run into lectured me. He pulled me to his feet, and I stepped behind him as I saw Benny and Dylan approaching. "I'm all done, so you can go wait in the car while I change." He tossed me his keys, and I have never left a place quicker.

•••A/N•••
Hey guys! Hope you're liking the story! You might have noticed that I changed the name of the story. I did this because I feel like it's is becoming more of a general high school story than just an older brother story. Hope you're liking it! Let me know if you have any suggestions or requests!

Also, I'm trying to get on a more regular update schedule, so expect updates every Tuesday and Friday! (subject to change)