“Off the Ground” Chapter 5

“Are you kidding me?” Mrs. Humphrey exclaimed once the office door closed.

I stood next to Melissa and wished I could turn invisible. Perhaps if I touched my lanyard then Chief O’Brien would transport me out of the wrath of Mrs. Humphrey. We could all see the vein in her head pulsing faster with each passing second.

“It was my idea, Mrs. Humphrey,” Andrea said.

“And what gave you this idea, Andrea?”

“We were pressured, Mrs. Humphrey. Our honor was at sake,” Melissa stated as she looked at Andrea and I.

“That’s complete bullcrap, Melissa, and you know it.”

“Everyone was impressed, Mrs. Humphrey,” Andrea chimed in as Melissa grabbed me by the arm and dragged me into the firing line.

Mrs. Humphrey laid her head in her hands and silently counted to ten. “I’m so going to regret this…but, it was impressive,” she said as she pointed to me.

“I think we have a great chance at winning the Cheer Challenge at the end of week,” Andrea said with a smile.

“Because Lin can fly! She knows her stuff,” Melissa replied.

I looked at Melissa and then back at Mrs. Humphrey.

“She?” Mrs. Humphrey asked and the room grew silent except for the sound of the air conditioner. Then she laid her head in her hands for the second time in less than a minute.

Ten minutes later, our squad manager led the way back to the rest of the squad with the three of us following behind her like ducks in a row. The other girls had mixed looks on their faces.

“Everyone fall-in,” Mrs. Humphrey ordered and everyone gathered in. Our squad was the last one remaining as everyone else had left. “We’re missing a few minutes of dinner.” She glanced at her watch and then to all of us. “This may sound a bit, conceited, but I would like it if we won the
Cheer Challenge this year and it appears we have someone in our midsts who can do it.”

I slowly shook my head and Melissa turned to me and grabbed my face with her hands. “Yes, you can do it, Lin.”

“I didn’t say anything,” I protested.

“I felt confident and you should too.”

“I’ll just work with the guys.”

There was a ripple of laughter in the ranks. There was a joke there, I just didn’t know it at the time.

“Okay,” Nola said as she raised her hands. “Is everyone in on winning the Cheer Challenge?”

The rest of the squad shot up their hands as I stood before them, shocked.

“We’ll need to work on your hair a little bit,” Melissa said as she held up one of arms. “Ladies, meet our new high-flyer.”

(…more to be added at a later date. I’m sorry it’s so short right now)