THIEVES

Cheerleader

"Things are never quite as scary when you've a best friend."

- Bill Waterson

"5! 6! 7! 8! And one and two and three and four now repeat!" The cheerleading captain's voice echoed in the spacious gym room as Athena and Ace tried to keep up with the steps, sweat ran in rivulets down their chest, miserably failing.

"Remind me why are we here again?" Athena asked, spinning in a serated circle.

"Easy. You're always watching cheerleading movies, begging me to buy you deformed pom poms and asked me to pyramid you so I think we're more than prepared for this audition." Ace shrugged coolly, bumping into someone while attempting the spin.

"Pyramid me? Is that even a verb?" She did a star jump, hitting two person behind square in the face with the back of her hand.

"As long as you know what I mean." Ace did the same stunt, nearly dislocating his knees when he landed.

She sighed. He was right.

She used to climb on trees and cupboards just to fantasize of her being at the top spot of a cheerleading crew, but they weren't suppose to be a master of the pyramid act only.

They had thoroughly forgotten the package: cartwheels, extreme shaking, excellent dance moves and fit body.

"I think we should just give up and probably switch to chess club. That way, we don't even have to move our ass while still getting curriculum marks," she suggested after witnessing their individual freak show.

"And be a lazy bum? No freaking way! Come on, I know you want this and your knight signed this up just to escort and protect you so don't be shy and work it girl!" He placed both hands on his hips and began twerking shamelessly as Athena cowered in red.

"Oh my God, baffoon, stop it! It's not even in the choreograph!" She tried to stop him in an exceptionally loud whisper.

"Don't be silly, babe. It's 2K20. If twerks aren't included in a cheerleading choreograph, I don't know what is." He raised his hips, unintentionally ramming his behind into a guy's crotch.

The hapless guy clenched the front part of his jeans and dropped to the floor on his side, too in pain to yelp a word.

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" Athena came to the guy's side flipping him over.

She was worried enough to miss Ace resume bouncing on his toes backwards with his pelvis still in mid air, knocking off the people in his path.

He was so into it that he failed to notice this treacherous stunt duplicated out of an enormous wrecking ball roaming freely in a city, bulldozing innocent lives.

Like a tailspin, the loud lively music that boomed through the gym hall was quickly replaced by fearful screams as the students scrambled out of Ace's way desperately.

"Jesus! Ace, what the hell are you doing?!" Athena got up from kneeling but lose her footing so she crawled on fours a few steps to stop Ace from this ridiculously humiliating nightmare.

"What is going on back there?" Their little activity achieved to get the cheer captain's attention finally.

The captain appeared through the baffled participants with thinned lips, concern swarmed her icy blue orbs that matches the colour of her ribbon tied to her ponytail.

Athena was quite perturbed at Ace for only snapping out of his world after having the havoc whizzed by.

Ace got into his feet properly, scratching the back of his head, he studied his surrounding and noticed the groaning people.