Love Letters

Chapter 13 - 4 Captains in a Pod

"Gather round, dancers!" It had been a week since the dance team tryouts and we were all here to see who got into the team or not. Chloe and I had been hanging out the entire week, my mom said we were inseparable. I mean, it was nice having someone to practice with late at night and early in the morning.

We were in Ms. Valencia's classroom and she was going to announce who got into the team and we were going to go straight into training. "I will list the new team members, once again, in alphabetical order, and the captains at the end." She listed random names as Chloe and I stood at the back, fingers crossed.

"And finally, our captains." The room went silent; the only thing we could hear was the buzzing of the lights and the cars passing by. Ms. Valencia had a huge smile on her face and a proud look in her eyes. "Our captains are...." The room went impossibly quieter. "Saffron Rhodes and Chloe Acosta!" The room was quiet for a second more as the news sunk in. Then, the entire room was in chaos. Chloe and I were jumping up and down and screaming as the other girls joined in, congratulating us and celebrating their spots in the team. We celebrated until our feet hurt, which didn't take that long considering we were dancers, and in pointe shoes 24/7.

At last, the team was called into the auditorium, where we were going to be training for the rest of the season.

...

We'd been training for weeks and today, Ms. Valencia said we had a surprise. Now, I am an observant person, what with the amount of mysteries that I read, but I didn't really have much of an idea of what was happening.

Chloe and I made our way to the football field earlier than the others because we were the captains and we needed to set an example. It was still dark since it was only 5 am.

We warmed up, doing port de bras and extensions and just talking. When we were doing our port de bras derriere (to the back) Chloe screamed and fell. I turned around to make sure she was okay and I noticed two pairs of feet in front of us. I helped Chloe up and stared into Hunter and Will's amused eyes; the pair of them trying not to laugh. Will cleared his throat and was the first to break the silence. "Umm, what are you guys doing here?" They both seemed ready for a workout; they had their gym bags and were in muscle tees and basketball shorts.

I answered since Chloe seemed a bit busy gawking at Will's biceps. "Well, our dance coach, Ms. Valencia, told us to meet her here. She said she had a surprise." Chloe and I were both in sports bras and gym shorts; our dance gear was in our gym bags. Hunter looked me up and down. "Weird. Coach said the same thing." Will and Hunter were both in the school football team. "He just left out the surprise part."

Then, Ms. Valencia and Coach Gleeson came walking towards the field, arm in arm. Did I mention that they were both married and had kids? "Look at that!" Coach said, gesturing to our little party of four. "4 captains in a pod!" We looked at him weirdly and it sunk in. First, Chloe and I looked at each other and Will and Hunter looked at each other. Then, we all looked at each other. "YOU'RE A CAPTAIN?" We all yelled at each other. Coach and Ms. Valencia just laughed.

Hunter and Will ran laps around the field and Chloe and I continued to stretch. The sun came up and the others came, dancers and football players, all staring at each other like we were all aliens.

After everyone was warm, we gathered around our respective coaches and they explained what was going to happen and why we were all on the football field instead of in the auditorium.

"Ok girls, as I said yesterday, we have a surprise for you guys. Before competition season starts, I want you guys to show me what you've got. We're gonna have a Winter Showcase after Christmas break and we need duets. So, I asked for help from the football team and they said yes!" Ms. Valencia's smile faded slowly as we stared at her, dumbfounded. It seemed the football team had trouble believing this too because they were just as silent. Then, all at the same time, all hell broke loose. People started yelling protests and for the first time, the girls stared at the football team like they had grown a third eye. It was getting out of hand, so I decided to take it into my own. "STOP!" I yelled at the top of my lungs and everyone stared at me. "Look, as much as I hate the idea, we are teenagers and we need to respect our coaches' decisions. We just have to deal with it."

Hunter, who was apparently the captain of the football team, agreed with me. "She's right guys." He started. "We need to act like teenagers. I mean, come on man," He looked at his team. "We kinda just have to accept it and move on." This time he looked at me. I cleared my throat and Chloe and I were called to discuss the matter with the coaches and the captains. 

What do you think about Chloe and Will so far?