Getaway Car: A Hellcheer pregnancy story

Ask me no questions

It's 0800 and Chrissy is on her knees.

Clutching the porcelain of the toilet bowl in her bathroom, another wave of nausea rolls through her. She hasn't even eaten breakfast yet and already she's throwing up.

Her mother will be thrilled.

When she's quite certain there's nothing else she can bring up (not that there was much, to begin with), Chrissy pulls herself up. She splashes her face with cold water, brushing the acidic taste off her teeth.

Maybe she's caught something? For at least a week she's been feeling under the weather. Lethargic and queasy. Her cheer coach even sent her home early from practice to get some rest. Laura Cunningham had hit the roof over it, insisting that she was fine and the coach was just overreacting.

"You just need to lose some weight. That's how you'll get your energy back."

Chrissy pays attention to biology. She's pretty sure that's not how it works.

Dressing into her cheer uniform, Chrissy ties her hair up in a functional ponytail with a yellow scrunchie. Another day. Another practice. The championship game isn't for a few weeks but the coach is acting like it's a sure thing that the Hawkin's Tigers will get there. She'd like to believe it, the team has worked hard and they deserve it. Still, even if they do get there, she's sure Jason will just take all the credit anyway. He seems to treat it as his prerogative as captain.

Chrissy walks down the stairs, entering the kitchen where her parents and brother are already sitting.

"Are you alright, sweetie? You look a little pale," her father, Phillip, comments.

"I'm fine," she shrugs. "Just...been working really hard at cheer I guess."

"Hmm. Not hard enough," Laura says curtly. "You're still not at the top of that pyramid!"

Chrissy bites the inside of her cheek. "Mom, I already told you. I'm not a flyer, I'm a mat tumbler."

She's had this conversation countless times but Laura never listens. When she was a high school cheerleader, she was at the top of the pyramid so she expects Chrissy to be top. It's bad enough that Chrissy was passed over for captain and she's sure that's what her mother is really sour about. Chrissy herself doesn't actually mind, especially when the honour went to her best friend since third grade.

"Is Jason picking you up today?" Chrissy nods and Laura smiles for the first time since her daughter appeared. "Good. He's such a wonderful boy, you're really never going to do better."

"Yeah, I know."

You've told me a million times

A car horn sounds outside and Chrissy takes that as her cue to leave. Once upon a time, Jason used to come to the door. Now he just honks his horn like he's picking up a package. It used to upset her.

Now, she doesn't care.

"Morning babe." Jason flashes her perfect teeth at her, shoving his mustang into gear to drive towards the school.