TROUBLED || thirteen reasons why

046.

e i g h t   m o n t h s   l a t e r

"Go Tigers!"

Tristan Foley waves her pompoms in the air as her short uniform flaps in the cold November wind. The crowd erupts into cheers and as soon as Tristan turns around, Liberty High scores another touchdown.

It's homecoming night, and the Liberty Tigers are winning against the Hillcrest Knights fourteen to ten. The cheer captain, Allie Stanford, shouts to get the rest of the girls' attention as the band begins to play their winning theme. Tristan's eyes make contact with Caroline Anderson before the two of them step into their cheer with the other girls.

Tristan raises her hands as the music dies down and she looks back to the scoreboard. Only two minutes until halftime. Allie motions for the girls to gather around, and once the cheerleaders are in a huddle, the leader overlooks everyone.

"Okay, when we get on the field, I want to see everybody's choreo sharp. We've had three extra practices for this. I'm not going to be embarrassed in front of the Hillcrest squad, understand?"

A few in the group nod as the other's roll their eyes to Allie's persistence in showing off to the other school's cheer team. Allie forces a smile onto her face as she reaches for her pompoms off the ground, "Alright, let's do Blue and White, and then halftime should be close."

The girls break apart and go back to their formation, where Tristan and Caroline stand next to each other towards the front, their matching uniforms brushing past one another.

Soon after their cheer is over, the buzzer blares and the crowd yells as the teams return to the sidelines. Tristan drops her hands down to her side as the rest of the cheer team shake their metallic blue poms together for their football team running towards the locker rooms.

"Tris!"

Tristan turns and sees Justin dripping in sweat as he runs towards her. She smiles as her brother reaches her and holds out his fist. She copies him and their fists bump together as he continues towards the locker room, not before he turns his head and smiles, "Hey you're gonna kill it out there, good luck!"

"Thanks!" She shouts back as he gets lost in the sea of other players.

"Tristan." A sharp voice forces the girl to turn and see the cheer squad starting to file out to middle of the field. Tristan quickly catches up with her team and gets into position for their halftime show.

She shuts her eyes as she waits for the music to start, and she tries to tune out the loudness of the crowd. She doesn't like cheerleading. Not all that much, at least. The only reason she tried out was because Caroline said that it would be a great opportunity to get involved. Whatever that meant. Tristan didn't even expect to make a callback, nevertheless the actual team. But she would do anything for Caroline, even if it included tight uniforms and dance routines.

The music begins to play. Tristan moves her body to the beat with the choreography that she has been practicing for weeks. Her feet carry her to her next formation as her pompoms whirl in her hands. The smile Tristan plasters hurts her face and she can feel the glare of Allie when she stumbled landing her walkover. Tristan continues the routine as the team forms together and jump into synchronized toe touches.

By the time they perform the last eight count, Tristan is out of breath and her chest feels as if it is caving in on itself. The music fades out and the announcer speaks out, "Let's give it up for the Liberty High cheer squad!"

Tristan shakes her pompoms one last time with the other girls as the crowd applauds their routine. Shortly after, she exhaustingly jogs back to the sidelines with Caroline by her side. Coach Loftin is clapping as the cheerleaders return to their spot and the woman calls everyone over, "Good job, ladies! Those high steps looked good, Caroline,"