We were getting cremated—and I don’t use that term lightly due to recent events—by the time the fourth quarter rolled around. Honestly, I don’t think anyone even cared, though. The cheerleading squad was on fire, and for the first time in forever, whenever we’d turn to the crowd to get them to participate in a cheer or chant, every single person in the audience was with us. It might’ve had something to do with the large, curly-haired man who was encouraging them from his seat about halfway up the section closest to the end of the court where our squad cheered. Every time I looked over at him, he had a huge smile on his face. Even Emma looked happy, and I couldn’t remember ever seeing her happy at a sporting event.
My parents were sitting near Elliott, though not right by him. There’d been such a rush of students who wanted to sit next to him, he’d had to demand they scoot down so Emma could find a seat right next to him, and I was sure the bubble around her was due to his manipulation, not the fact that the kids were trying to give her personal space.
The other team called timeout, so we took our positions to do a quick cheer. This was one where I’d be a flyer—the other girls would pick me up and lift me over their heads before they threw me up into the air and hopefully caught me. The other half of the squad would be doing the same with Lucy. While I liked flying, and so did she, it always made me nervous. Once in practice a few weeks ago, I’d almost hit the ground. If it hadn’t been for the spotter, the girl standing right behind us, I probably would’ve landed on my face. Even then, I’d banged my knee on one of the other girls’ shoulders and had a big bruise.
Still, part of being a cheerleader is selling it. As we began the cheer, I stepped into position. “Give me a V!” we all shouted, and thanks to Elliott, we got a huge response. “Give me an I!” They all did as instructed, and we did our movements, continuing to spell “victory,” something we would not be getting tonight for sure. On the R, I put my first foot up into Jessica’s intertwined fingers. On the Y, I swung up my other foot over to Rachel. We all shouted “Victory!” and they pushed me up toward the ceiling. I raised my pompons and shouted, “Victory! Victory! SHS!” Holding the pose for a split second, I waited for them to toss me, trying to keep my stomach out of my throat. I knew Lucy had the stronger team, that she would likely have no issue at all, but something felt a little off. My foot was coming loose from Rachel’s grasp before they counted for the toss, and I thought I heard her shout, “Wait!” just as Jessica pushed me up into the air. Rachel hesitated for a second, but then threw my right leg so that I was spiraling slightly off-balance. I fought to rotate back around so that I would come down where they were expecting, but I knew they’d tossed me too far back. The spotter, Jenny, wasn’t much bigger than me, and even though she’d kept me from connecting with the gym floor two days ago, I could see from my position above her in that split second, she wasn’t ready.
The ground was rising up to meet me, flailing limbs in uniforms just like mine came shooting out toward my arms and legs, but my head was going to hit the gym floor. It was like it was happening in slow motion. I squinted my eyes closed and braced for impact, fully expecting to feel my bottom teeth burst through the top of my mouth. I could hear the panicked screams from the crowd who realized they were about to see a bloody end to a once promising cheerleading career, and at about the time I expected to feel gymnasium on my face, I felt something else instead. Arms. Around my body, around my head.
Opening my eyes, I heard a cheer from the crowd and looked up into familiar green eyes. How he’d gotten here in time without everyone realizing he’d moved at super human speed was beyond me, but Elliott had me; I was safe.
“You’re okay, lil girl,” he assured me, setting me down gently on the gym floor.
“Oh, my gosh!” Lucy exclaimed, running over. “Are you okay?”
I was still having trouble believing the wood planks of the floor were not embedded into my skull. “I’m fine,” I said, “thanks to Dr. Sanderson.”
He stood up from the crouched position he’d been in when he caught me, and the crowd cheered. Loudly, he exclaimed, “I’m just happy I happened to be sitting right here on the first row so that I had time to catch this cheerleader!”
Everyone cheered again, perfectly happy with that explanation, and then Elliott slowly headed back up to his spot, not on the front row at all. No one seemed to notice.
“Thank God,” Lucy was saying, helping me to my feet.
“I’m so sorry,” Jessica and Rachel were both muttering.
“I’m okay,” I reminded them.
“You went off to the side. I couldn’t get there in time,” Jenny muttered.
I put my hand on her shoulder. She was clearly beside herself. “It’s okay,” I repeated. “I’m fine.” Although, I was thinking I probably didn’t want to be a flyer anymore if Dr. Sanderson didn’t agree to come to the rest of our games.
There were about ten minutes left on the clock when we got back off of the court so the game could resume, and while I was nervous at first that I wouldn’t be able to concentrate, a wave of calmness washed over me, and I looked up into the stands to see Elliott smiling at me. I embraced that feeling of serenity, realizing fully he was manipulating me, but letting it be for now. There’d be time to worry later that I’d almost bit it in front of a crowd of hundreds from my hometown and visitors from the other team. For now, I just needed to get through the game.