Dream Chaser (2 page)

“Willow, you’re here!”
Jilly
popped up like a
ping pong
ball.

“Yeah, barely.” I eased my aching body into the spot on the decorative park bench she offered. My muscles screamed as if
I’d been pummeled by the football team
, not suffered one measly fall. Granted, it was a horrible fall that I couldn’t erase from my mind. I moved carefully to avoid jarring my tender back and shoulder as I leaned against the bench. The rest of the squad rushed over.

“Coming to school today seemed like a good idea this morning, but my painkiller wore off about an hour ago.”

“Awesome, can I have some? ”
Kyle
, my other
catcher
on the squad, joked. Kyle’s short hair always curled tight at the sides, framing his quirky smile. “Maybe I could sell them. I need money to fix my car.”

“No way. Those babies are edible gold. I can’t wait to get home and take another one. I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck.” I shifted the tray on my lap and tried to get comfortable.

“So what did the doctor say?”
Rick
asked.

“That I’ll live,” I joked. I didn’t want to go into the details of my concussion and whiplash, or that the doctor said I was lucky to be alive. If Kyle hadn’t made a last instant lunge to break my fall, I might have been toast. Charred-to-a-crisp.

“We need you for Sectionals. Can you compete next weekend?”
Sydney, a pixie-haired blonde,
asked.”

Every team member stopped what they
were doing and collectively held their breath. Normally, I’d say absolutely nothing could keep me away from competition, but every day since the fall I became less sure.

I’ve suffered tons of bumps and bruises during practice, but this time it was different. I hit hard; I almost bit the dust. Big time. My body hurt so bad I could barely raise my left arm above my shoulder. The thought of being launched skyward and doing a
double twist flip
seemed impossible.

“I don’t really know,” I said. “I go back to the doctor early next week. He said no practice until then.” I took a huge bite of pizza so I couldn’t say more.

My friends exchanged glances, but no one spoke. Every move was choreographed for maximum impact. Losing any piece of our complex puzzle would shift everything, not to mention I was their
top flyer
. I’d try anything, no matter how difficult. I know how much the team needed that wow factor to push our routines over the top and win. My role was kind of the sparkler on the top tier of the cake.

“You’ll be fine. I know you will,” Jilly said. “We don’t even have to worry about it. We could win Sectionals on rollerblades and blindfolded.”

“That I’d like to see,”
Kyle
said.

 
“You aren’t serious are you?” Carly, the only sophomore on the squad, asked.

He reached over and ruffled her hair. “You are so pathetic.” Carly swatted his hand away and smoothed her glossy blond hair back into place.

“Hey Anna, Did you guys hear what happened at musical practice?” Jilly said, her eyes aglow with gossip.

“Yeah, Jessica Seymour brought pot brownies to rehearsal and got busted.”

“No way!” Kyle said. “Why do I always miss the good stuff?”

I took another bite of
pizza,
relieved they’d moved on to a new topic.

Jilly leaned forward. “But did you hear the part about the big-wig director eating about six?”

“What! Are you serious?” Anna said.

“Yeah, Jessica thought it would be funny for the cast to get high. Apparently, the director is a total slave driver. She figured they’d float through practice. But before anyone realized, he saw the brownies and started eating.”

“Oh my God! What did she do?” I asked. A few years ago, I took dance classes with Jessica. She danced great but was always getting in trouble. It seemed like a lifetime since those days.

“They didn’t want him to eat too many, so most of the cast started to eat them too.” Jilly cracked up.

“Alex Walker told me that after about a half hour, the director couldn’t concentrate. He’d be talking, and then he’d start looking around the room in a daze.”

“I heard he’s totally hot!” Carly said.

“So, what did they do after he got high?” I couldn’t imagine doing something so ballsy or stupid.

“Nothing! Who was going to point out that he was flying high on pot brownies?” Jilly replied.

“Can you imagine if we got Ms.
Klahn
high?” Kyle said. “We totally should.”

That, I would love to see.
Our coach, Ms.
Klahn
, acted like a drill sergeant.
She pushed us super hard, but she knew her stuff. We couldn’t have gotten to Nationals without her.

“Yeah, I dare you to try it,” Rick said to Kyle

“And get kicked out like Jessica did? No way!”

“What? Jessica got kicked out of the musical?” I dropped my pizza and my jaw.

“Yeah, a janitor overheard Jessica bragging about the pot brownies, and he told the choir director, Ms. Fuller. She threw a royal fit because she’s in charge of overseeing the show rehearsals. Fuller reported it to the principal, and Jessica’s out!”

“But isn’t Jessica the lead?” I asked.

“Not anymore. They’ve been in rehearsals for two weeks. Now they’ve got to replace her.”

“That ought to be a real cat fight. Can’t you just see all the other girls hissing to take her part?” Anna said.

“You don’t replace Jessica Seymour. There is no one in this city as good as she is—no one!” Jessica danced like nobody’s business. We’d spent years dancing together until I quit the beginning of freshman year. The last couple of those years, I started landing the bigger solo parts and the leads in the dance competitions and programs. Jessica was not happy. I could only imagine how pissed off she was about losing her part in the show.

The bell rang. Everyone gathered their stuff and moved to the atrium doors. I groaned as I stood and eased my book bag over my shoulder. I picked up my tray and as I left the atrium, I couldn’t help but wonder who would take her part in the show.

A few days later, with my doctor’s permission, I was back at the scene of the accident. My pulse raced out of control.

Same gym.

Same mats.

Same skylights giving us a glimpse of the heavens.

The Capitol Flyers stood in formation, warmed up and ready to go.

“Ready and go!”
Anna, our team captain, chanted.
In unison, we moved through the routine with snappy arm motions, loud chants, and the occasional eagle jump. As we approached the first trick, a simple
toe touch basket toss
, I froze. Rick and Kyle stood in front of me, waiting for me to put my hands on their shoulders and feet on their linked
arms
. I didn’t step forward. I stared at their waiting
load in position
, seeing only a
sling shot
of danger.

“Willow, come on,” Rick urged.

I looked at him and hoped he couldn’t see my fear. I didn’t move.

“You can do it,” Kyle said. “Let’s go.”

I turned to Kyle and his grin of encouragement. He waited expectantly, eager to vault me into space. I liked Kyle, and I wanted to trust him, but I couldn’t. Not him, not even Rick, who had been one of my bases forever. I shook my head and stepped back away from the threatening catapult. The rest of the group had stopped the routine and watched the hold up. I was always the first one at practice, always eager to get started. Cheerleading was like playtime. Until last week, flying was my greatest thrill, and I couldn’t wait to go again. I always pushed for more difficult stunts and higher launches.

Now the team stared in silence as panic squeezed my chest. I noticed Jilly and Rick share a glance.

Jilly stepped to my side. “It’s okay, you can do it.”

“No,” I whispered, paralyzed, arms glued to my side and palms moist with fear. My shoulders hunched tight, my breath came in shallow bursts.

Jilly got in my face and spoke in slow quiet tones. “Let’s just try it again from the top. Willow, it’s just like getting on a bike.”

Dread stalked me. I shook my head. “I can’t do this.”

“You just need a little time. You’re still sore from last week.”

She was trying to talk me off this ledge of terror, but it didn’t matter what she said. I looked at each of their faces, first Jilly, then Anna, Kyle and finally Rick. My face turned hot in a flush of panic as the words I longed to speak wouldn’t flow through the tightness in my throat. The squad surrounded me, sucking up all the breathable air. My chest tightened as they stared at my unusual behavior. They needed me for the next competition and I wanted to need them too, but they represented pain and fear and maybe even death.

I didn’t want to fall again. I didn’t want to die.

All it took to make me slam down into the mat last time was a simple distraction. How could I believe Rick and Kyle would catch me this time? Even if there were a dozen bases on a twenty-foot mat of feathers, there were no guarantees.

I took another step back and shook my head. I looked at Jilly and whispered, “I think I quit.”

“No!” She reacted as if I’d slapped
her .

“Willow.” Jilly took my arm and spoke like I was a scared little kid. “It’s going to be okay. You don’t have to do this right now. You can try again later.” She exchanged glances with the others.”

“I quit,” I said again and felt more secure saying the words out loud.

They stared, jaws open in shock. More kids squeezed closer as word spread.

“Come on, you’re our Fearless Wonder,” Kyle teased. He’d always been my biggest supporter, but his eyes looked worried.

“I quit,” I repeated, more fortified each time I said the words.

“Hey, what’s going on? I step out for two minutes, and it’s a parking lot in here.” The squad peeled apart to let Ms.
Klahn
into the middle of the circle. “Is there a problem?” she asked, her brow furrowed when she discovered all eyes on me.

I faced Coach. The rest of the squad no longer mattered. This woman taught me how to fly, how to reach for the stars and how to be the best I could. I gulped.

“I quit,” I said quickly before I could chicken out of chickening out.

Our eyes met and locked.
 
Ms.
Klahn
could always read my emotions like a Vulcan in a mind meld. She held my gaze and saw my panic and terror.

She knew. She saw it.

I would never fly again. Fear had this girl grounded. Permanently.

“Are you sure?” Ms.
Klahn
asked after a few moments.

“Yes.” My heart tried to pound its way out of my chest.

“I see.” Disappointment colored her face as she contemplated the situation for several beats. She looked into my frightened, determined eyes, and I knew she realized she couldn’t change the reality of the situation. She nodded in understanding. “You may go,” she said softly.

Relief washed over me and took away the weight of the world that I hadn’t realized I’d been carrying. The stark fear and panic I felt earlier evaporated. I exhaled a breath I’d been holding. My shoulders sagged in release.

“What about Regionals?” Anna blurted. “We can’t win without Willow. She’s the only one who can do
kick triple twist basket.”

“Looks like we’ll have to get back to work and redo the routine then. Let’s go. What are you all standing around for?” Ms.
Klahn
barked.

I sure ruined her day, but it couldn’t be helped. This was about survival.

I walked through the throng of my friends and former squad members toward the locker room. Their eyes followed me, filled with a combination of shock, confusion and anger. Jilly ran after me.

“Willow, wait. Think this through. You can’t walk away from cheer like this. Okay, you’re not ready to fly again yet. You just need some time. We’ll figure out Regionals, but we can’t win State without you.” Jilly pleaded. “Take a few days off, let your bruises heal. It’ll be okay.
You can be a base at
Regionals, nothing hard. Just don’t give up.”

“Jilly, unless you plan on handing in your uniforms too, get back in formation,” Coach yelled across the gym.

“The team needs you. You just can’t walk away so easily. I need you!” Jilly pressed.

Easy didn’t begin to describe the mix of my pain and emotions.

“Remember how we talked about Nationals, and that we were going to get our belly buttons pierced when we win?”

I grimaced. My belly would remain pure and unmarred as the driven snow. No more National titles, no more competitions and certainly no belly piercing.