Leading Ladies

III. Cheerleader Blues

The thunder of many running feet can be heard as eleven-year-olds tried to avoid the red ball of doom.

"Bianca, watch out!"

Bianca ducks just time to avoid the ball aiming for her face.

"Whitney, you jerk!"

"Sorry, Bianca! Wasn't aiming for you!"

"Yeah, sure," she picks up the ball and aims, hitting her target right on.

Whitney groans, her blonde curls bouncing as she falls. "Ow! I told you I wasn't aiming for you."

Bianca sticks out her tongue. "Too bad, so sad."

Gazing around the room, she noticed that only a few people left on the floor, with her team having more members than the other team and her friends sitting on the sideline. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a member from the opposite team throw a ball at her. It hits her arms.

"Ow," she says dispassionately. "I'm out."

As soon as she sat down, a freckled face, cognac eyed, strawberry bonde pinched her lightly on the arm.

"Kirsi, that hurt," Bianca rubs her shoulder. "What did I do?"

"Don't 'what did I do,' me. We're gonna lose now," Kirsi scolds her.

"Serves your right," Whitney glares at Bianca. "Those balls hurt."

"You aimed for me first," Bianca rolls her eyes. "And Kirsi, there's 10 on our team, and 4 on there's, it's a 5 to 2 ratio, there's no way we can lose."

"Except you're the one that took out 11 out of 20 of their members out," the red-haired reminds her.

"Including me!"

Bianca sucks in her teeth before shrugging. "We'll be fine," she backs up as forest green eyes burn through her skull. "So competitive, you're just like Elsa."

Kirsi's mouth drops. "You liar."

"You're more competitive than Elsa. Sabrina is surprisingly the least competitive out of the three of you. Also, if this were a competition where winning mattered, especially dance, this would be a different story," Whitney argues. "Three, where are Sabrina and Elsa? I know your mom convinced the school not to let you guys have classes together, but even gym?" Bianca shares a look with Kirsi. "Don't do that. I'm new."

"You can't use that new card anymore; you were new in September; it's April," Bianca laughs.

"Okay, explain it, please."

"So if you take an extracurricular activity that is physical for six hours or more a week, you don't have to take gym. And it doesn't matter if it's part of the school or not; you just need to prove," Kirsi explains to her.

"So what? Sabrina and Elsa don't like gym, so they're not taking it."

Bianca nods. "Yeah?"

"Not fair."

"Join a sports team," Bianca retorts.

"Nah, I don't like exercise," she replies, and the three girls laugh.

"So, how is dance going for you?" Kirsi asks. "You never told us who won."

"Elsa won, I got second, and Sabrina got third," Bianca replies. "Our schedule is crazy now since I'm doing it five days a week instead of three, but it's fun."

Whitney rubs her head on her shoulder. "Not as fun as again out with us, right?"

"You don't give me money or a trophy."