From The Perspective Of A Player

I: Welcome to Junior high School!

It took him everything not to cry in the hallway, thirty minutes of crying in the toilet and boys suspecting he was a girl was enough. He knew he had to man up and stop acting like he was new in junior high school. His friends were probably having the best time of their lives, while he was here, trying to figure out where the school canteen was.

The crying wore him out, his dark hazel eyes were glassy as he pinched the bridge of his pointed nose to stop tears from flowing again, his previously gelled black hair was now messy probably because of the water he kept on splashing on his face to stop the tears. He was already tired, felt a bit dizzy, he needed water or a lil bit of food. The whole thing was pointless so he just sat in the front of his locker and continued breathing.

A week passed and the locker became his lunch break best friend, he also started bringing his lunch to school. He was getting used to life as a lonely folk but for some odd reason he enjoyed it, he hated it when people talked to him anyway. Legs stretched across the not so empty but empty enough hallway. He started unwrapping his paper bag.

~•~

Being an activist was something, loving cheerleading was another thing.

As an activist, Rachel tried to convince the cheerleading team that she can be a cheerleader and try saving the world at the same time but they didn't look convinced and she was not the one for giving up, her hair was packed in the usual bun because she hated when her hair got in the way of her daily activities. She tried to shave it once but not under her father's roof, the day she suggested it was filled with stares and unspoken words.

"Look, Bianca-"

"Rachel, my name is Rachel, not Bianca." She said gently trying her best to hide her frustrations, she has been trying to convince them for over 30 minutes and they still didn't know her name.

"Rachel," The head cheerleader started with a sigh, "You can't be against males -"

"I'm not against males, I'm an activist I'm trying to reduce global warming and stop humans before they send animals extinct. To be honest, I don't think feminists are against males, they're fighting for gender equality and trying to reduce the body-shaming people get these days. Oh, and they also support women and help stop bullying." Rachel ended with a pissed voice and shrug.

"Look, what we're trying to say is you guys are strong-headed and you oppose to almost everything people say to you." A meek voice came from the back of the group.

Rachel opened her mouth to say, 'no we don't.' but swallowed her words and bit her heart shaped lips to avoid hurling at anyone.

"I love cheerleading and I'll do anything you want me to do to get on this team but you can't control my life after school or when we're not practicing. I also promise that whatever I do won't affect the team." She said her voice almost pleading and breaking.

"We'll give you a chance, you have one week to prove yourself worthy of joining this team. A tiny mistake means you're out of the team. Got it?" The owner of the not so meek voice now said.

One of the cheerleaders tried to say a thing but a Stern look from the owner of the voice made her think otherwise.

"Thank you so much." Rachel said excitedly earning a small smile from the owner of the voice.

She turned her back to leave but she had to ask.

"I'm sorry, what's your name? If you don't mind me asking?"