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“My apologies, ma’am,” Tuesday said with a shy smile.
“Your timing is a little on the slow side. You’ll have to speed it up. This is the cheerleading squad... not yoga.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Tuesday said.
“You’re replacing Jennifer, right?” Audrey went on.
Tuesday shrugged. “I don’t know who I’m replacing. I was just told that there was an opening and...”
“Yes,” Audrey abruptly cut in. “You’re replacing Jennifer... one of our best cheerleaders. A fast learner and an innovative girl who often brought us new and exciting moves.” She snapped her fingers. “I just had to show her the moves once and she had it... perfect every time.”
Tuesday just looked at her, not knowing what to say.
“You have big shoes to fill... Tuesday. I won’t have you slouching on my watch.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Audrey glared at her. “Don’t call me ma’am. I’m only a year older than you, freshman.”
Tuesday turned beet red.
With an arrogant grin on her face, Audrey turned to walk away. “Oh,” she said, turning back to us. “Next Tuesday...”
Tuesday looked up expectantly.
“Not you, honey,” Audrey snapped. “The actual day of the week. So, like I was saying, next Tuesday we were supposed to meet here for another practice, but the guys will be on the field. Instead, we’ll meet at the dance studio and have a final run through Friday before the big game on Saturday. Be ready girls. Spend every spare minute that you have practicing these routines. I don’t want to have to waste any time going over simple moves. Friday is a dress rehearsal, and the routines need to be perfect.” She turned on her heel and strutted off the field.
As the rest of the girls gathered their belongings and prepared to leave, I went up to Tuesday.
“You did pretty good,” I said, hoping to encourage her.
She shrugged. “Not according to Miss Perfect what’s her name.”
“You mean Audrey?” I said. “Don’t worry about her. She enjoys playing the boss, but she’s pretty harmless. She really takes this squad to heart.”
“Yeah,” Tuesday said with a laugh. “I kind of figured that out about her.”
“If you have time, we could stay out here and go over the routine a few more times.”
Her face lit up and for a second, I thought she was going to jump up and down with excitement.
“I’d love it,” she said. “I don’t have any friends and I really miss having some girl time.”
“Great. We can go over the routines and then grab some lunch.”
I pulled out my phone, set it down on the bench in front of us and started the song to one of our routines.
“Let’s get started,” I said.
The first section was easy, and she already had that part down. But the second section was tricky with a few sudden spins, a succession of quick kicks in the air and some intricate hand movements.
“You’re so patient,” she said after an hour of going over the routine. “You’ve the patience of a saint.”
I smiled. How fitting, I thought.
“Well,” I said as I picked up my phone and slipped it into my pocket. “You’re easy to work with. I can see that you’re really trying.”
She nodded. “Some of the moves I’m familiar with. But some of those nasty little trick moves... wow. Who came up with those?”
