Breaking Tradition

Chapter Eleven: Rylee

Disclaimer: All characters and settings are purely fictional. If there are any similarities to real people or places, it is merely coincidental. The plot is written by me and not copied from any other writer.

Author's Note: I got over my writer's block and I am currently on Chapter 26. I have about six more chapters before the end of Breaking Tradition. I'm so excited to finish this book because the final installment of the Tradition series has nagged me constantly. I'm ready to introduce new characters and enter the final whirlpool in Rylee and Theo's story. I hope you enjoy this chapter and Chapter 12. Thank you for reading! Make sure to Vote and Comment!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bark No Bite ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today, we were holding cheer leading tryouts. Thankfully, Coach Lawson and Jessica were present. Normally, I would be excited for tryouts because it meant we got new girls, and new girls meant more room for stunts and pyramids. But today, I hated it because Vee was trying out. I'm not even sure why. One look at her and you knew she didn't have any kind of training. Besides, I went to middle school with her, and she never expressed any interest in cheering. 

It did give me a bit of satisfaction in knowing I was right when she failed to do a toe touch or a simple handstand. She just smiled throughout the whole tryout, giggling like an idiot. I couldn't understand why she was even here. 

"You think she craves the attention no matter how unflattering it makes her look," Mikah commented with a disgusted look on her face. She was looking at Vee, who was trying to do the High V Coach Lawson instructed. There was so much wrong with Vee's performance, including her outfit. She wore the wrong shoes, and it was evident she didn't have on a sports bra. I roll my eyes at her and turned to the other girls. 

A few of them seemed to have potential. I had my eye on a diamond in the rough. She was flawlessly hitting the moves with only a few kinks we could clean up with practice. She was a junior. Bianca Henderson. She and I went to the same gym when we were kids. She did cheer all through middle school but gave up when she got into high school. 

"She'd make a good addition to the team," Jessica says, walking up to me. Jessica had an eye for diamonds in the rough too. She was the one who pointed me out to Coach Lawson. I've always appreciated her for seeing the potential in me. Often, I wondered what would have happened if she didn't get pregnant. She probably would have killed it at college cheer. 

"Yeah, she's just what we need," I respond, stretching my arms. Our team needed girls with well-developed skill sets. Our competition got pushed up earlier on the calendar, so we didn't have time to build skillsets from the ground up. 

Jessica scoffs, "What we need are flyers. A lot of girls are scared of getting on top. I miss Destiny and Khloe." She was right. We needed flyers. With our star flyer gone and the other girls being too scared to go to the heights Khloe did, we were starving for those positions to be filled. Jessica gives me an apologetic look. 

"No!" 

"Possibly," she admits, patting me on the shoulder. I shake my head in disapproval. Jessica exhales, "It's a possibility, Rylee. No one is as daring as you are." She explains. I frown. I hated being a flyer. I only held the position when necessary. I was not the best, but with the others graduated, I was one of the best on the team. I groaned, the weight of Jessica's words hit me. 

"Just think about it," Jessica says before leaving me to my thoughts. I didn't want to be a flyer, but I didn't want to let my team down either. I would have to ask Mikah to help me. She was our main flyer at the moment. She was good---No, amazing at it. I'm certain I could ask her for some private lessons with some of our bases and spotters. I exhale.