when I was around 8 years old, my best friend told me she wanted to be a cheerleader, and without thinking, I said, "that's really dumb." and she asked me why and I said, "all you do is do flips and stuff and cheer at sports." I didn't want to tell her the real reason I thought it was dumb was because she could do a back handspring, and I couldn't, no matter how hard I tried. so, in my little 8 year old brain, if I couldn't do it, it was dumb. my mom was a gymnast in her younger years, and she thought that because I was her only girl, I was her only hope of carrying on the tradition. so when I was 5 years old, I got enrolled in a gymnastics class. and I SUCKED. I wasn't flexible, I fell all the time, and my grandma even came to watch a lesson, and she told my mom, "you're wasting your money on this." so, after a year, my mom pulled me out of gymnastics, and all I really knew how to do was turn a cartwheel. so I knew, at a very young age, that I would never be able to make it as a cheerleader.
fast forward to 8th grade, when all my friends decided that they were going to try out for cheer in 9th grade. now this was around the time when I started to actually enjoy playing tennis, so my plans were to defy everyone and join the tennis team instead of the cheer squad. but part of me wanted so desperately to fit in with all my friends, so I began listing all the reasons to why I would be a good cheerleader: I was cute, short, full of energy, I had a loud voice, and I would look so good in a cheer uniform. I would get to go to every football game and everyone would be watching me. I told my best friend that I wanted to be a cheerleader (the same one I tried to convince that cheer was dumb), and she said, "well, you better start taking real tumbling classes, and you better actually learn how to do a back handspring." and then I decided to be rational and I realized I am a horrible dancer, I can't move in sync with anyone, and sadly, I cannot do a back handspring. my freshman year, I didn't end up trying for any athletic teams because my dad's sabbatical in Japan interfered with my first term. but when I went to my first football game, I watched my friends cheering and I thought, I really just want to go down there. just once. I have school spirit. I'm not a gymnast, I'm not a dancer, but I can get the student section pumped up. I learned all the cheers from being in the student section, but as I became more involved in tennis and other things, my desire to be a cheerleader diminished.
until Halloween.
last year, I dressed up as Ron Burgundy, and everyone thought it was super funny. the year before, I was a Duck Dynasty guy and even brought a fake duck that my grandpa uses for hunting, and covered it in fake blood and everything. that was also memorable. but this year, I didn't have any ideas, and since I was a senior, I thought that dressing up was starting to get lame anyway. but then, I remembered that I lost a bet on the first day of school and I was supposed to wear my old ugly tennis outfit from sophomore year on the first day. but I chickened out, didn't do it, and who knows where that uniform went after that. So I thought, well it's Halloween, no one will question me if I wear it on that day! but I knew I wouldn't be able to find it. so I asked my best friend on the tennis team if she still had hers, and she said she only had the skirt, but if I wanted, I could wear it with her old cheer top from freshman year, and go as a cheerleader with an ugly skirt. (she actually ran into me at the gas station that night, and she had the clothes IN HER CAR so in our weird gas station rendezvous I came back with my Halloween costume.) Halloween was on a Saturday, so that Friday at school, I wore the cheer outfit and a lot of people told me I looked good (even though I didn't), but it just wasn't Ron Burgundy or Duck Dynasty. then, I got a brilliant idea.
the next day (which was actually Halloween) was the first round of the playoffs for football. I figured if I show up to the game in the cheer outfit, people would think it's funny and just think I was dressing up for Halloween or showing a bunch of school spirit. but when no one would expect, I would hop over the fence and onto the field and join the cheerleaders and see how long I could get away with it before I got kicked off.
during the second quarter, good things started happening in the game, and it was my moment. I told the student section to move out of the way, hopped the fence, and stood by the cheerleaders. my really good friend Lindsey who also happens to be cheer captain, just starts laughing, hands me her pom poms, and says, "Stand up on my box while I take your picture! and you can lead a few cheers!" everyone looked confused (mostly because the cheerleaders dressed as zombies for Halloween and I just looked like a normal one in an ugly tennis skirt), but then they started laughing and cheering for me. so I led a few cheers from the cheer captain's box, front and center. I didn't care that I couldn't move my arms in sync with the other cheerleaders or that my pompom was in the wrong hand. it was so fun. I couldn't believe that I had the impulse to do it, and that I followed that impulse. so I decided to make the most out of it. after a few minutes, cheer captain needed her box back, so I just stood off to the side next to the JV squad and was completely off sync, but it was so funny to see all my friends walk into the game, look at me, look confused, and then start laughing. I didn't care. in that moment, I wasn't a tennis player or a senior in the student section. I was a Timpview cheerleader.
well, after like 20 minutes, the cheer coach finally notices that something isn't right, and someone let an impostor onto the field. she walks up to me and tells me that I stole a freshman's pompoms and when she comes back, I need to go back to the stands, and asked me why I was even down there. well, since I wasn't a real cheerleader, and it was my senior year so it was really the last time I could really do whatever I wanted, I said, "I'm cheering! It's Halloween! Only this one time!" and she is not amused and tells me not to go down there ever again because it's some liability thing, and I guess I sassed her some more, but as soon as the freshman came back, I returned her pompoms, and she looked very confused, but I didn't want to explain to her, so I just went back to the stands.
well, everyone was just laughing. I was greeted with, "you are my hero!" "you're a freaking legend!" "I could never have the confidence to do that!" and "you looked so good down there!"
and I felt good. people asked why I did it, and I said, "well, I just......wanted to do it. it's my senior year, and maybe it was kinda a senior prank." I knew I looked totally stupid down there, but I was having a good time, and I'm just glad that the cheerleaders didn't kick me off or tell me I was doing a bad job. so maybe the next time I get an impulse like that, I shouldn't act on it. but I'm just glad I could live to say I did it once. and it was indeed, the best Halloween ever. one week later, I'm still getting praised for it.
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