Never Easy

Banner by Michaela

Callie adjusted the green tote bag on her left shoulder as she pushed open the glass doors. The blast of air conditioning hit her the minute she stepped inside the high school doors. She quietly maneuvered around the mingling high school students and made her way to her locker.

Her fingers grasped the black dial and twisted it to match her locker combination. Callie pulled open the metal locker and looked down into her bag to pull out her books. After having her first and second period books in her hand, she placed the tote bag inside.

The mirror on the side of her locker caught her attraction and Callie quickly glanced at herself. She ran her fingers through her long blonde hair and then frowned at her eye makeup. Rummaging through her tote bag once again, she pulled out the black eyeliner pencil and applied it. She smiled in satisfaction causing her bright blue eyes to pop out.

The five minute warning bell rang throughout the school the minute Callie slammed her locker shut. Kids paid no attention to the warning and continued to talk to their friends. Callie could see ahead a crowd of people gathered around the bulletin board. She knew exactly what they were all looking at and just thinking of it made her nervous.

Today was the day the results from the tryouts would be posted. It took all of her courage to walk up there into the crowd of people. Both boys and girls were surrounded the board trying to catch a glimpse of the new cheerleader. Chatter filled the air as girls either comforted the ones who hadn’t made the team or the guys asked each other who the girl was.

Callie muttered an apology as she pushed past a few people to get to the front. Her eyes traveled to the paper and scanned it to find the lucky girl. Her heart stopped as her eyes froze on the name. There in plain black typing, was her name.

Congrats to Callie Ryans for making the Firebirds Varsity Cheerleading Squad.

The rapid beating of her heart returned. Callie couldn’t believe it. She had actually made the Varsity Cheerleading Squad. She turned around to find herself trapped in the horde of people. A smile slowly started to form on her face as a few of her friends from her classes excitedly congratulated her.

The rest of the day passed by fairly smoothly as Callie felt like she was walking on air. The alluring smile hadn’t left her face. In each of her classes, people had come up to her and expressed their happiness for her. She felt like she was on cloud nine as the day seemed to pass by without a glitch.

Cheerleading had always been a huge part of her life. Ever since she was little, about three years old, she had been cheering. After her mother gave up on her dancing, figure skating or soccer, she finally put Callie in cheering. The moment Callie stepped onto the mat, even at the age of three, she was in love with the sport.

Growing up, Callie quickly realized there was a stereotype against and for cheerleaders. She started to feel the pressure of looks once junior high started. Cheerleaders had the pressure to look the best and Callie quickly found that out. Her little kid cuteness wasn’t going to cut it. The summer before 8th grade was the time she transformed herself into the attractive blonde she was now.

But the way she appeared to others didn’t bother her too much. Sure, she had had her share of boyfriends here and there but nothing to serious. Callie could never find the right person for her. All the guys she dated seemed the same. The ones who dated her, tried to get some and then when they realized she wouldn’t give in, dumped her for the next girl.

She didn’t let it get to her though. Nobody could tear her apart. Ever since she was little, the confidence in herself was always present in her attitude. There was no way that anybody could get the better of her. This attitude usually got her in trouble, but Callie didn’t care. She was proud of the type of person she was and planned on not changing herself one bit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Callie tossed her blonde hair behind her shoulders and took in the scenery around her. Chatter filled the girls locker room as the high school girls changed out of their school clothes and into comfortable shorts and tshirts. The stuffy air was beginning to get annoying as Calling stripped out of her clothes.

Even though she was in an isolated section in the locker room and away from the other nine girls on the squad, she was starting to feel queasy. It was the first cheer practice that Callie was attending since being chosen to fill the vacant spot on the squad. Some of the girls had approached her during lunch a couple days ago welcoming Callie onto the squad.

Taking the chocolate brown hair tie from her wrist, she wrapped it around her hair and pulled it into a ponytail. She pinned up her bangs with a slide and sighed. Callie didn’t really know any of the other girls on the squad. It seemed like a miracle to her that she had made the squad without a push from someone on the inside.

If they were still in junior high, the label The Popular Girls could be used to classify them. But they were in high school now and different names were used. The type of people she hung out with were all over the popularity chain. She didn’t really stick to one clique-it didn’t seem possible to. It always intrigued Callie how people could be so different yet so similar in some terms.

Callie had only moved here only recently, during the summer before her junior year. Her dad had been transferred to another city an hour away from her hometown for another branch. Unfortunately for Callie, that meant losing the school and friends she had grown up with.

At first, her first instinct was to throw a tantrum and demand her parents to find an alternate solution. But later, it proved to be an interesting experience to start anew. But it had been difficult. Her outgoing personality could only do so much in gaining friends. Sure, she had found friends here and there to mingle with and share jokes. But there was only one girl who could fill the job as her best friend.

Callie and Shannon had grown up together since the first day of kindergarten. They had had their ups and downs over the years but had always been able to maintain a strong friendship. Shannon had been there through everything with her, the same applying for Callie for Shannon. Her best friend’s personality was a bit more bubbly than hers, but they always had the most fun together.

The day of her cheerleading tryouts, Shannon had drove from her old hometown to where she now lived, Mason, to support her in the audition. Just like Shannon did, Callie went back to her hometown occasionally for visits. Almost every day of the summer was spent going back to her hometown and back again to her new town. The visits had dwindled down as the school year started a few weeks ago. Callie still kept in touch with her old friends through phone calls and texts as the days passed by. But even those couldn’t fill the ache in her heart that screamed homesickness.

Callie sighed again and bent down to tie her cheer shoes. Thinking of her friends would only bring down, and being depressed was the last thing she needed to feel right now. Sneaking a glance out of the corner of her eye, Callie noticed the other girls were just about done getting ready. With one final look in the full length mirror, she followed the other girls silently out of the locker room.

A smile arose on her face as she stepped onto the gym floor. Tumbling mats were set up next to each other with little white x’s chalked upon mats here and there. This was the life Callie lived for. Cheerleading was the one of the very few aspects of her life that had stuck with her since childhood.

Her energy level started to increase as she let her feet press and sink into the tumbling mat. The shrill of a whistle echoed throughout the gym and started Callie out of her thoughts. “Gather here girls!” Coach Alison called out. The mini groups that had formed began to mingle together where Coach Alison was standing. Callie could feel eyes on her as she joined the group.

“I’d like to welcome Callie into our squad. I hope all of you also welcomed her,” Coach stated expectantly. “That said, two laps around the gym before we get started. Callie, if I could speak to you for a moment.’

Callie nodded and stood off to the side as the other girls broke off into a casual jog. “Now I know we talked a couple days ago about the procedures, paperwork and such, but there is one more thing I’d like to discuss with you.” She continued to talk without waiting for a response from her.

“I’m fresh out of college. I just turned 23, I’m not that much older than you. I remember what high school was like. To tell you the truth, college isn’t much different.” The young woman pushed her chestnut colored bangs away from her face and gave Callie a small smile.

“I was like you once, the new girl who was a top cheerleader which I’m sure you will be. Being at the top is hard, I’m not going to lie. You’re going to be pulled into opposite directions with neither side looking pleasant. It’s difficult to stay true to yourself and still be accepted. High school can be a bitch but I’m sure you already knew that.” A slight laugh escaped her lips cutting the tension. “I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t do something you’re going to regret later.”

Callie stared at her coach as she took in the information that had just been told to her. She regrouped herself quickly and gave her coach an easy smile. “Thanks, Coach. I’ll watch myself.”

The sounds of running feet came to a slow walk behind them and Callie turned around to see that the rest of the girls had finished the two laps and were taking a quick breather. She joined them and took a gulp from her water bottle and set it down next to the rest of the bottles. Rubbing her hands nervously, Callie listened to her Coach explain the drills and focused her mind on the practice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Callie collapsed on the floor of the locker room and leaned back her head against the metal lockers. She had barely made it into the locker room without feeling faint. Her hands shaking, she reached for her water bottle and chugged the entire bottle down. A few minutes passed before Callie began breathing normal again.

Practice had just ended minutes before and the girls were just now starting to enter the locker room again. Callie wasn’t emotionally and physically exhausted because of the hard practice, in fact she had enjoyed the strenuous workout. Oh no, it was something that shouldn’t even had made her tired.

Everything had started out smoothly in the beginning of practice. Callie had been able to follow along with all the directions given to by her coach. She was doing all the drills correctly, occasionally making mistakes but fixing them immediately. It wasn’t Callie’s skills that were the problem; it was the other girls on the team.

The urge to push them all down a flight of stairs finally reached her about halfway through practice. Well, maybe not all of them, there were a couple of girls Callie though looked decent enough, but the others were driving her insane. Most of the girls were deliberately making it miserable for Callie to even do one cheer.

It had been noted that Callie was one of the smallest and lighter of all the girls and it was quickly decided she would be at the top of the pyramid. Callie was used to that, she usually ended up being at the top. But what she wasn’t used to was the girls dropping her every other time. The first time, she laughed it off knowing that any girl could make the mistake of accidently letting go. But after the third time, Callie wanted to shake them and ask them if they felt the pain that was going through her body.

She had felt the looks and heard the comments that had been passed during a couple of their breaks. But she chose to be the bigger person, and ignored them fully. They weren’t worth it she told herself. Callie had met at least one friend on the squad, Holly, a shy brunette at first but later proved to very outgoing.

Callie pushed the fallen strands out of her ponytail out of her face and gingerly stood up. She stuffed her school clothes inside her cheer bag and pulled off her shoes and stuffed those inside as well. A hot shower seemed to be the best thing at the moment, and Callie couldn’t wait to get home to do so.

Her head lifted to meet the eyes of the rest of the girls on the cheerleading squad staring at her. Callie rolled her eyes and adjusted the strap of the bag on her shoulder and began to walk towards the exit of the locker room. She brushed past the other girls and continued on her way.

“Callie.” A voice stated loudly. Callie stopped in her tracks and turned around slowly. Her eyes wandered through all the girls before she connected her eyes with one of the team captains, Amanda. “What?”

"Nice practice today,” Amanda lightly said. Callie was about to mutter a thanks when Amanda added one more thought. “Though I’m sure we could work on the pyramids later.”

Callie stared back at the smirking girl. She tried her best to fight down the urge to answer back to the comment but failed. Callie was dead tired and she honestly wasn’t in the mood for anybody’s bitchiness toward her. The fiery attitude that had been with her since childhood was threatening to reappear. She was done with everything that had happened today. “And I’m sure we could also work on that mouth of yours.”

Amanda narrowed her eyes. The rest of the girls watched them silently wondering how far this was going to go. Callie was trying her best not to smile, knowing she had cought the team captain off guard.

“You think you’re so smart, don’t you? Just because you miraculously made the squad doesn’t mean you’re in. We can still release you from the squad. I’m team captain. I have that power and unfortunately for you, you don’t.”

“You don’t think I have what you guys have?” Callie shot back. “I made the squad for a reason and that was because I’m as good as you all are. I’ve been cheering since I was three years old, Amanda. It’s in my blood.”

Amanda shrugged. “Okay, so you can cheer. So what? Being on the squad is more than just cheering. Looks are just as important as skill, no matter what anybody says. I’m sure you know that.”

Callie bit her tongue. This time her mind won in keeping the vulgar words from escaping her mouth. “I do know that. I’ve been on a Varsity cheerleading team since I was a freshman. We have the pleasure of being some of the most sought out girls in the school. But I don’t care. I can get a boyfriend by myself. I don’t need the status of being a cheerleader to do so.”

Amanda scoffed. “You think so?”

“I know so,” Callie gritted.

“Fine,” Amanda stated. “Prove it."

Callie crossed her arms. “And how am I supposed to do that? I can’t just go grab any boy off the streets and say, be my boyfriend because I know you want me.” Amanda turned behind her and shared a smile with the other girls who were all smiling at the battle that was taking place in front of them. Apparently, this was normal for Amanda to challenge others.

“If you’re so confident in your skills in the boyfriend department, do this. The Student Council decided the date for our Homecoming Dance, November 6th. It’s September now, you have two months to do this. Win Homecoming Queen and I’ll believe that you have what it takes to be a cheerleader.”

Callie blinked. It was clearly something she was not expecting. Make a guy fall for her within two months and win the whole package? Was it really worth it to put herself through so much trouble just so she could feel the satisfaction of beating the enemy? She was about to retort that she didn’t need to prove herself to Amanda, but then she looked at her now enemy. An arrogant look was plastered on her face with a knowing smirk.

“Who’s the guy?” Callie asked cautiously.

Amanda twirled a piece of her hair and smiled slyly. “The football quarterback, Joe Jonas.”

Callie froze. Joe Jonas? He was easily one of the most popular guys around school. He was funny, charming, and had the looks that made girls swoon. Hell, he was probably one of the most hottest guys at school. Callie had only talked to him a couple times, out of side conversation in class. Shameless flirting never hurt anybody, but she knew that he got around. From what she had heard from her friends, he never seemed to have a lasting relationship.

“You don’t have to do it,” Amanda added. “He’s not exactly an easy guy to get.”

That last comment was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Callie didn’t care what was going to happen to her in the future, or what had happened in the past, all she cared about was now. The girl standing in front of her had already put her through too much hell and she wasn’t going to have it. Nobody told her who she was and what her capabilities were. Callie was a strong girl and she’s wasn’t going to have other people controlling the rest of her high school years.

Callie lifted her head up high and watched the team captain’s face change from a smirk to shock as the words left her mouth.

“I’ll do it.”