The Flier (Patrick Stump)

3 - Fall

/Chapter 3\
Next Practice

"You've got to be kidding."

"No, I'm not kidding." Kam gazed at me with a serious look on her face. I stood there speechless at what she just asked me to do.

"I don't think that that would be safe, Kam," I admitted.

"Don't be a wuss!" Emily, the other instructor, yelled from in the bleachers of the gym we were occupying, taking a bite of the salad she brought in a Tupperware container. "Just do it! Don't think about it!"

"Zenna's right, Em," Patrick said from next to me. I glanced over at him, noticing that he wasn't originally there. He was originally about three feet away, and now, he was about one foot away. My body tensed up a little. "It's not really all that safe, since there's no professional training or prior experience in gymnastics involved. Well, at least not for me. I don't know about my apparent partner here." I shook my head in agreement.

"I've seen many guards do many kinds of tosses, especially this kind of toss," Emily exclaimed, setting down her salad-filled Tupperware next to her and standing up. "All you need to do is let her stand on your hands, toss her high enough, and catch her right."

"That's a sketchy trick, Em," Quinn chimed in, reviewing a move we had just learned called a cone. His silk (the actual flag part, not the pole) was a deep red that resembled the color of blood, just like everyone else's.

"It may be, but I've seen it done before. In fact, I've seen it done so many times that I know how they do it," she countered, stepping down the bleachers and approaching us when she reached the bottom. Her clear blue eyes glanced between me and Patrick impatiently before she blew out a deep breath. "If you guys are seriously so freaked out about it, then I guess me and Kamryn will have to change it."

"I'm all for it, Em. I just don't want anyone getting hurt, especially this lovely young lady," Patrick replied, causing me to blush and him to smirk at the sight of my burning cheeks. Ever since we met, he'd always casually throw around little flirty/complimenting remarks, and it would always end up with me blushing because I couldn't control how I felt.

"Well Zenna, it's all really up to you, since you would be the one getting thrown into the air," Kam sighed. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. Emily's, Quinn's, Patrick's, and even the four girls and two guys who came in late last week. They were all watching me, waiting for the response that could either make the show stunning or make it ordinary. So, I let the thing that they wanted to hear pop out of my mouth before I could really think about what I wanted.

"Sure," I agreed, and Emily nodded.

"Well that settles it," she confirmed. "Patrick and Zenna will be the lead roles in the show!" As much as I was excited about being a lead in the show and being in the toss, I was nervous. Really nervous. I gulped and glanced over at Patrick, who was looking at Emily. His beautiful green eyes bounced over and locked with my gray ones, and I couldn't look away. A reassuring smile crossed his lips. He could probably feel the nervousness radiating off of me.

I just hoped he couldn't tell one of the reasons why.

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"Okay, you two, this is how you do it," Kam started as she approached Patrick and I, who were waiting in the corner. "Zenna, before going into the toss you're going to be doing a little bit of dance, but then you'll run (gracefully) up to him. Then, you'll stand on his hands, which will be like this..." She took his hands and pulled them out so that they were together and the palms were facing up, like if he was cupping water. Big hands, I observed in my head. "...and you'll step up, gain as much balance as you can, and he'll toss you. Remember, you have to also jump on your own, or you won't go as high as you need to in order to complete the toss."

"Got it," I answered.

"Good. Do you want to go ahead and try just standing on his hands?" she suggested. My heart instantly started to pound, the insecurity about my weight kicking in. What if I weigh too much? Gulping, I nodded. "Patrick, do you want to try it?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure," he said, holding out his hands as Kamryn had shown him. He held them there for a second as she analyzed it.

"You'll need to bend down a little, because she's a little shorter than the rest of us," she teased, pushing his shoulder down a little with her hand. He bent a little so that his hands were lower. "Well, not Izzy-short."

"I don't think any of us are that short," I mumbled, and Patrick chuckled a little.

"Not at all," he added on.

"Now Zenna, go ahead and step up," Kam continued, laying her icy hand on my back and gently pushing me forward. I stepped up to Patrick and looked down at him, who smiled up at me.

"Do you promise that you'll catch me if I fall?" I hopefully asked, and his smile faded a little. He stayed silent but still stared back up at me. "Do you swear?" After a minute, he cleared his throat and replied with a simple,

"Always."

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AN: i know it's been a while since i updated this, but i've been working extra hard on this chapter. hopefully it's good.

regarding the toss being used: i'm not a cheerleading expert, i just know that the end of the toss will be an actual, real move. if you know of some kind of safety rule in cheerleading against the toss being used in this, please let me know so that i can replace it with a more realistic alternative. i'm just using the one that i originally planned in my head.

GOAL: can we get 10 votes and at least 3 comments?

sorry about the long author's note. have a nice day!