A LEAP OF FATE

Chapter 1 - Escape

       Sydney's P.O.V
    It was the heat of the moment, everything seemed to be going perfectly, the lights were flashing, the music was playing and the crowd was cheering, nothing seemed like it could go wrong at that moment. Our choreography had been close to perfect, and it was already obvious we would be taking home the trophy for the sixth year in a row.
       I had been picked to do the human trapeze jump this year, and the time for the stunt had come, a group of girls gathered around me, put their arms around my slender figure and started to lift me up, the adrenaline was drowning me, I was grinning like a fool. Eventually, I was picked up and carried into the air, the excitement was getting to me, I couldn't think straight, I was supposed to toss my legs into the air and land on my arms. I wasn't able to, though.
      Whether it was the excitement or the adrenaline, I couldn't tell, but the next minute, I was losing balance and shaking vigorously, the girls under me started trying to find the perfect centre of gravity, the entire formation began to crumble and fall, and before I knew it, I was falling too...........
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     I woke up from the nightmare just before I hit the ground, three, three whole years it had been, three years and the memory of the accident was still as fresh in my mind as a headache.
     The injury it had given me had fairly healed, but the years of trauma and mental strain I had suffered, and was still suffering from, was now something I was sure would never go away. It'd been troubling me for 3 years, I guess it was time to finally admit that I would never get better, that I'd been permanently broken.
    The nickname the students of Rosecliff high had given me was one that suddenly felt fitting at this moment. No matter how much I hated it, I had to admit that 'broken cheerleader' was the only persona that could fit me now. Even if I wasn't cheerleading anymore, it had been a high school hobby, something I participated in to pass the time before I got to actually pursue my dreams.
     Mom hadn't allowed me to take dance full time, she hadn't wanted me to take dance at all, but I'd been adamant, and I'd insisted, pursuing my dream felt like the right decision at the time.
     Now, I wasn't so sure that it was, it had been three years, true, but I still couldn't pull an extreme move without making a mistake, without hearing that nerve-wrecking 'pop' sound that my knee always made, it was all in my head, at least that's what I'd been told a million times, by my physiotherapist, therapist and psychologist. I wasn't injured anymore, but my condition was entirely mental, apparently the trauma I suffered from had been so extreme it had left a permanent memory of the injury in my head.
      Sighing, I got up from the bed, I already knew I wasn't going to sleep anymore, I just wish the nightmare could've woken me up a little later. Now, I had to brainstorm things I could do at 4am in the morning. I walked downstairs to the living room, as expected, no one was there, I made my way into the kitchen, a little early morning snack never hurt, especially when it was ice cream.
      Just then, I heard something, it sounded like distant music, I opened the window of our living room to peek out and sighed, of course, I should've known, the house about 3 blocks away was booming, what looked like a disco light was flashing in the front yard, and even from my somewhat long distance, I could still see a lot of kids spread about the compound. No doubt, Jerome Johnson had decided to throw a graduation party, what else could be expected from the most popular boy at high school. He wasn't at high school anymore though, the graduation ceremony yesterday had been rough, and mostly uncomfortable. I personally didn't want to go, but mom had practically dragged me and chased me to school. I'd grumbled the whole way there, and grumbled even more throughout the entire event, mom still came though, and forced me to put a smile on my face.
      The thought of the graduation ceremony reminded me that I was going to College tomorrow, I was somewhat excited, leaving this town and going far away seemed like a great dream, and it couldn't happen fast enough, I was going all the way to Florida, Miami. From my small town in Pennsylvania, that seemed like a big leap, but what other choice did I have, that was the only place far enough where I could get away from the horrible trauma of Rosecliff, the namecalling, the mocking looks, the murmurs that I got, even from people that didn't go to my school.
      Besides, it was the state that had my dream school in it, the Miami institute of contemporary dance. It had been the school I had been dying to attend for years, one I'd almost killed myself with hard work to get into, my accident did have a setback on my application, but according to them, I didn't deserve to lose my chance based on one mistake. I had been ecstatic, mom had been silent, and dad, well, dad was dad.
     Now, I was going to be attending the university of my dreams, even if it only was as a part time student, yes, as shocking as it sounded, I wasn't going to attend their university full time. However, attending part time was still a great chance for me.
      A loud explosion sound suddenly came from Jerome's house, I stretched my neck outside to see what was going on, there was commotion as people all clambered about, running in different directions. I closed the window, got my ice cream and decided it was time to retreat back to my room.
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