to catch up on everything I
missed. I am fully committed to this team, and I will do whatever you
need me to, to help make us successful,” she smiled at them all, hoping she’d
earned herself a reprieve from the hate.
“Thanks,
Bri, we’re all glad you’re here. Now, I have asked Bri to teach us the
routine she performed at her audition, and we are going to use it as our dance
routine this year. We’ll start learning next Monday. Now, since Bri
wasn’t here to learn the military routine we worked on this summer, I need one
or two of you to volunteer to teach it to her and get her caught up.
Anyone?” Belinda eyed the team.
For
a moment, nobody moved. But then, a hand went up in the back, from one of
the few girls who hadn’t been glaring at Bri.
“Layla,
thank you! We’ll be starting our evening practices this Wednesday, from
six to nine. You two can stay after and work until ten. It
shouldn’t take you long. Okay, everybody finish stretching. We have
our first halftime performance in two weeks, and we need to get to work.”
Belinda
walked over to the stereo system to get the music ready. As Bri began to
stretch, the girl who’d volunteered to help her walked up.
“Hi,”
the tall brunette said, smiling sincerely. “I’m Layla Monroe. And
before you ask, yes, that is my real name and not some stripper name I
adopted!”
Bri
laughed. “I’m Bri. Layla... that’s really pretty. Like the
song.” Bri hoped she didn’t come off as too eager, but she could really
use a friend on the team. Someone who didn’t automatically loath her.
“Yep,
my parents are huge Eric Clapton fans. In fact, it’s quite possible I was
conceived at an Eric Clapton concert,” Layla smiled. “So, how are you
liking California?”
“It’s
nice,” Bri paused as she was hit by the shoulder of one of the girls
walking by. The fake blond turned and smirked at Bri over her shoulder.
“Real
nice, Natalie,” Layla yelled at the girl. “Don’t worry about these guys,
they’ll get over themselves eventually,” she smiled at Bri
sympathetically. “Just show them you really meant what you just
said, and they’ll come around.”
“Thanks,”
Bri smiled, gratefully.
Belinda
announced it was time to start, and practice got underway. The two hours
flew by, and before she knew it, Bri found herself walking out of the gym and
into the school. Ready or not, it was time to face her first day at
Santa Monica High.
She
didn’t have time to stop at her locker, as her first, technically second, class
of the day was on the other side of the school. She took a deep breath
and started down the hall. She kept scanning the throng of students,
looking for a particular face, but she didn’t see him. She knew she and
Cole had fifth period History together, and also seventh period Ceramics.
She was unsure if she’d be able to find him before that.
Sliding
into a seat in her AP Calculus class, Bri pulled out her schedule. She
groaned as she looked over it again. Dance, AP Calc, French, AP English,
History, AP Biology, and Ceramics. What had she been thinking? She
must’ve had a death wish when she’d signed up for classes. She was going
to be drowning in homework, and then had night practices on top of it.
She’d be lucky if she survived until graduation. But, it would be worth
it. It was all about getting into Stanford.
Her
French class was back on the other side of the school, the scheduling gods
having a hay day with her, so it wasn’t until after third period that she was
finally able to stop at her locker and unload her backpack. She had just
opened her locker door when she heard something that made her pause.
“Coleston,
my man!” a voice shouted. It came from the bank of lockers around the
corner from Bri’s. “How’s it hangin’, dude? I didn’t see you all
summer.”
“That’s
because I was working. You know, making
missed. I am fully committed to this team, and I will do whatever you
need me to, to help make us successful,” she smiled at them all, hoping she’d
earned herself a reprieve from the hate.
“Thanks,
Bri, we’re all glad you’re here. Now, I have asked Bri to teach us the
routine she performed at her audition, and we are going to use it as our dance
routine this year. We’ll start learning next Monday. Now, since Bri
wasn’t here to learn the military routine we worked on this summer, I need one
or two of you to volunteer to teach it to her and get her caught up.
Anyone?” Belinda eyed the team.
For
a moment, nobody moved. But then, a hand went up in the back, from one of
the few girls who hadn’t been glaring at Bri.
“Layla,
thank you! We’ll be starting our evening practices this Wednesday, from
six to nine. You two can stay after and work until ten. It
shouldn’t take you long. Okay, everybody finish stretching. We have
our first halftime performance in two weeks, and we need to get to work.”
Belinda
walked over to the stereo system to get the music ready. As Bri began to
stretch, the girl who’d volunteered to help her walked up.
“Hi,”
the tall brunette said, smiling sincerely. “I’m Layla Monroe. And
before you ask, yes, that is my real name and not some stripper name I
adopted!”
Bri
laughed. “I’m Bri. Layla... that’s really pretty. Like the
song.” Bri hoped she didn’t come off as too eager, but she could really
use a friend on the team. Someone who didn’t automatically loath her.
“Yep,
my parents are huge Eric Clapton fans. In fact, it’s quite possible I was
conceived at an Eric Clapton concert,” Layla smiled. “So, how are you
liking California?”
“It’s
nice,” Bri paused as she was hit by the shoulder of one of the girls
walking by. The fake blond turned and smirked at Bri over her shoulder.
“Real
nice, Natalie,” Layla yelled at the girl. “Don’t worry about these guys,
they’ll get over themselves eventually,” she smiled at Bri
sympathetically. “Just show them you really meant what you just
said, and they’ll come around.”
“Thanks,”
Bri smiled, gratefully.
Belinda
announced it was time to start, and practice got underway. The two hours
flew by, and before she knew it, Bri found herself walking out of the gym and
into the school. Ready or not, it was time to face her first day at
Santa Monica High.
She
didn’t have time to stop at her locker, as her first, technically second, class
of the day was on the other side of the school. She took a deep breath
and started down the hall. She kept scanning the throng of students,
looking for a particular face, but she didn’t see him. She knew she and
Cole had fifth period History together, and also seventh period Ceramics.
She was unsure if she’d be able to find him before that.
Sliding
into a seat in her AP Calculus class, Bri pulled out her schedule. She
groaned as she looked over it again. Dance, AP Calc, French, AP English,
History, AP Biology, and Ceramics. What had she been thinking? She
must’ve had a death wish when she’d signed up for classes. She was going
to be drowning in homework, and then had night practices on top of it.
She’d be lucky if she survived until graduation. But, it would be worth
it. It was all about getting into Stanford.
Her
French class was back on the other side of the school, the scheduling gods
having a hay day with her, so it wasn’t until after third period that she was
finally able to stop at her locker and unload her backpack. She had just
opened her locker door when she heard something that made her pause.
“Coleston,
my man!” a voice shouted. It came from the bank of lockers around the
corner from Bri’s. “How’s it hangin’, dude? I didn’t see you all
summer.”
“That’s
because I was working. You know, making
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