//countryhuman stories\\

ScotAus (highschool au) 1

~~~

"Sorry not sorry, you just shouldn't be on the team anymore." A giggle followed the girl's words.

"Yeah, cheerleaders are supposed to have a certain... body type. You don't really fit that."

Aus' heart broke at that sentence. She had felt this for a while now; the isolation, the once subtle jabs at her and the mockery. Maybe they were right, it was time for her to just resign.

She sighed gently when she finally picked her stuff up at the old locker room. There she contemplated whether or not she should just ignore it again and let her cheerleading buddies keep abusing-- or, well, as they say; 'joking' with her, or if she really just ought to give up her passion for cheering the boys on.

By the end of the day, after a few more abusive comments, she made up her mind.

The next morning came by sooner than expected.

Aus looked around her room, her longing gaze drifting from the slow-moving dust dancing in the sun's golden spotlight as it poured through the slits of her blinds, crawling into the crevices of her carpet and slipping between the sheets of her blanket.

Her cheer poms lay abandoned in the corner of the room, their shimmer now seeming duller than before as tears pricked at her eyes and she turned away from them, shifting under the sheets and staring at the wall for a few minutes.

Guess she'd have to tell Scot somehow.

Well, no, she didn't. Why the hell would her presence matter at the games anyway? Those girls were right, she just didn't have the body or personality for cheerleading.

She pushed her face into the pillow, groaning gently. She'd still have to come to school today, even if she really didn't want to. She desperately needed notes and she'd feel ashamed to ask for them from Kiwi, much less Ame (as if she ever took notes).

The thing that made it all the worse, of course, was that today was the day the boys were playing against the other school. She would have been there on the sidelines cheering them on, but now...

She looked up at her alarm clock as it buzzed annoyingly.

Whatever. There wasn't any time to think about it now. She had to get up and go.

She arrived at school early to turn in her uniform, hopefully early enough for no one to see her admitting defeat. It almost felt like she was throwing part of herself away as she gently set the brown paper bag with her clothes and pompoms just inside the receptionist's office.

Aus wandered the halls a bit, unsure of what she should do with all this extra time before school began. Most of the school was still dark, but a few rouge lights and windows gave off just enough light to show the shiny linoleum floor and scratched-up metal lockers.

"What're you doing here?"

Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest. Aus knew she had forgotten something important. Maybe it was the fact that the football team always practiced before school started, so there was always bound to be a few jocks frequenting the hallways, no matter how early she came to avoid other students.

She turned, offering a half-hearted smile to the football player standing behind her. Scot wasn't just an athlete, though; Aus considered him as one of her very few close friends in this hellhole. "Just... thought I'd come early."

"Oh." He stared at her like maybe if he looked long enough, she'd offer up a more plausible excuse. He had been a bit scary before Aus had gotten to know him-- she was surprised when she found out he could say more than monosyllabic words. It wasn't that he was stupid, it was just that he rarely spoke at all. He gave off that 'strong but silent type' vibe that so many girls liked. Unfortunately for them, Scot showed no interest in interacting with any girl that approached him.