All My Mother's Rules

Chapter 4: Accidents

I entered the locker room with a queasy feeling in my stomach. I had rarely felt so out of place in my life.

At exactly five feet and ninety-four pounds, I was small, even for my age. During the physical exam I had taken as a requirement to be allowed to try-out for the cheerleading team, the doctor had told me that I was in about the 25th percentile. I'm not quite sure how the knowledge that a quarter of the girls my age were smaller than me was supposed to cheer me up. It sure didn't feel that way when I looked at the rest of the freshman class at River Valley High School. Visits to the doctor were a rarity for me.

I stood awkwardly inside the entrance to the locker room, just taking in the bustle of girls changing from school to workout clothes. Communal dressing, just another item to add to the list of why I was going to hate cheerleading. An upper-classman I hadn't seen before came running up to greet me.

"You're Sarah, right?"

I nodded affirmatively.

"I'm Sasha, one of the team captains. I'm sorry I missed your try-out the other day. Heard you were splendid, though. Coach Addison was running late, so she asked me to give you a quick tour."

Sasha led me on a brief lap around the cheerleading section of the locker room and introduced me to the other eighteen members of the team. She pointed me to my locker, which was next to Claire, the only other freshman on the squad. We began to say "hi," but were interrupted.

"Come on, girls. Cut the chitchat. We need to be in the gym in three minutes. It's an indoor practice today because the field was taken," Sasha yelled.

I stripped off my jeans and hoodie and changed into shorts and a t-shirt, careful to keep my back to the locker. I didn't care to show off the bruises that I imagined must still be emblazoned on my bottom from yesterday's spanking.

Just like any sports team, everyone on the cheerleading squad had their own role to play. In this case, my smaller stature had been a huge benefit when trying out for the team. After all, it's a lot easier to have someone stand at the top of a human pyramid or be tossed in the air if they don't happen to weigh a lot.

We spread out in a big circle in the middle of the gym as the captains led the team through a series of stretches. OK, this hurts. I'm definitely out of shape, no matter what Desi says. We spent most of the afternoon learning some new cheers for the upcoming football game – there goes more of my evening free time. But the end of the practice was the part that I had been dreading more than anything else.­

"Don't worry about it," Sasha said. "You've got the easy part. Just need to hold still as we toss you in the air and then gravity does the rest."

"Have you... Have you ever dropped anyone before?"

Sasha rolled her eyes.

"You think they'd make me captain if I was in the habit of dropping people?"

"Anything else I need to know?"

"Just make sure to waive to the crowd while you're in the air and fall with your back to the ground so that we can catch you."

This was utterly terrifying, but I'd come too far to back down now. A group of six teammates, including Sasha gathered around to lift me up.

"One. Two. Three."

I let out a slight scream as I was tossed up into the air, but I did make sure to wave my pompoms before falling back into their arms. The adrenaline rush swept away all of my fear. That was exciting. Never mind earlier, I might actually like cheerleading after all. We practiced the routine several more times without a hitch. I was really getting into the swing of it.