Back in the Studio (Cheerleaders)

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara walked through the double doors into the gymnastics hall, Cinder at her side. She was wearing her cheer uniform, of course, but had simplified the makeup for the day, putting on only a tiny bit. She knew that Coach Hoefflin didn't approve of makeup, but when she had spoken to him about holding a gymnastics session for the cheerleaders, they had been able to agree on it being acceptable, this once, if it was toned down as much as possible. As soon as she had gotten it scheduled, she had texted her team, telling them to be there, be early, and wear as little makeup as possible.

Deciding to let Coach know that she was there, she walked towards his office, peeking her head inside briefly, "I'm here, Coach, and the rest of the girls should be here within the next ten minutes." She walked back to the wall and took off her sweater and sweatpants, dropping them into her bag and leaving the bag at the wall, then walked over to the mat. She had Cinder lie down at the edge of the mat and slid into her stretches, starting with the quadrucepts and working her way down her legs, then her arms.

[Antione Hoefflin]

Antione sat in his office, busily typing information into his computer. The meet was coming closer and closer and he didn't think he had even one gymnast ready for it.

He looked over what he had just typed out. This was the email of each of the girls' routines that they were going to do so that the judges could work out their start value. His eyes gazed over the routine that Cara was doing and he shook his head, knowing that the small gymnast could do better than the D skill moves that she was doing.

He glanced up as he heard the doors open and looked over his shoulder before turning his chair around when a girl appeared at the door. "Alright, Ms Lyena." He said, none of the gruffness he used with his girl in his voice. Sara was here on her own time and the girls that would be arriving were her's to boss around, although he wouldn't hold back if he felt the girls did need a tongue lashing.

He walked out of his office, eyes already searching the room for the girl's canine, his eyebrows lifted slightly at the canine lying on the edge of the mat, a different dog then the one he had met the first day he had met Sara. "He doesn't want a towel, does he?" The coach asked, knowing that the mats were anything but warm, and even if a towel wouldn't offer much heat it would take the chill off the vinyl covering on the mat.

[Erica Jane Morgan]

Erica was in her dorm putting on her cheer uniform. She was glad to have made the team, and can finally pass at having her sister's genes for cheerleading. She looked at herself in the mirror and smoothed out any wrinkles on the cheer uniform. Not that it had any. She brushed out her hair and put it in a almost nice ponytail. She clipped on a matching ribbon in her hair and then started on make up.

She heard about the meeting being in the gymnastics studio. She as well heard about the gymnastics coach not approving make up. Glad she knew that. She really doesn't use as much make up anyways. She put on a layer of clear lipgloss and that was all. She grabbed her gym bag with her extra clothing, phone, keys, and water bottle. She put on a sweater and her shoes. She said good bye to her pet dachshund before head off towards the studio.

As she winded her way through the gym towards the gymnastics studio. She noticed Sara, and what seemed like the coach while peering through the double door windows. She silently opened the door and slipped in. She then grinned towards Sara and gave a wave and spotted the malamute. She smiled and put her bag on one of the benches and walked towards a space big enough for her to do some stretches before everyone else started to come in. She hoped she didn't bother Sara's conversation with the man.

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney pulled on her cheerleading uniform and posed in front of the mirror as she took a photo with her phone and sent it through to her parents. They were super excited when she had told them the news of making the team.

She then left her dorm and rushed down to the gym, not wanting to be late - she'd heard the rumours about the coach and knew that his bad side was one she didn't want to get on.

Walking into the gym, she grinned and waved to Sara and Erica who were both already there. Bouncing across the room, she found her own space on the mat in the middle of the large studio and began to stretch out her legs and back, trying to remember all the stretches they were taught in ballet so many years ago. She thought she had remembered all the different muscle groups that needed to be worked on.

She sat up and lifted her arms above her head, she rocked forward and rolled backward into a handstand - something she had been working on in her dorm room ever since she had found out that she was indeed on the team and giggled when she actually managed to hold the handstand, her legs pretty straight, before putting her feet back down on the ground with a huge smile on her face.

[Lucy Davis]

Lucy sat in her chair in front of the black dresser, placing a coat of mascara on her lashes and then being done with makeup. From what she had been told, the coach did not appreciate it, at all. Then placing her hair into a high ponytail; with a casual bump ontop, Lucy smiled it being nearly perfect.

Standing up, she smoothed her uniform down until no more wrinkles showed. Then she checked her face making sure nothing smeared; even if it was just mascara, grabbed her phone and bag, and then headed outside the dorm room; leaving her Aussie inside.

Making her way to the Gymnastics Studio, Lucy smiled, excited that she finally got to be on the team, everless more her first pratice.

As she made her way up the stairs of the gym, and then opening up the gym door, she got an incoming text from a friend back home. Metioning a good luck to her, Lucy locked her phone and placed it into her bag; before smiling at Sara, Erica, and Cortney.

Placing her bag down, Lucy then glanced at the malamute on the mat. She didn't know why Sara had needed the dog, but never asked; not wanting to be rude. Smiling at the dog, and giving a wave to him, Lucy then headed out next to Erice, but not to close; giving them enough room to stretch out.

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara looked up from her stretches at Coach Hoefflin's gruff voice, glancing over at Cinder as the coach asked about a towel, "He would probably appreciate one, but I didn't think to bring one for him." She frowned slightly, knowing that she would pack one for the next meeting. She got to her feet, "Do you perhaps have an extra one I could use for him?" She didn't know if the coach would have one, but if he did, it would be great.

She saw the three members of her squad enter and guessed that the rest would be late, as usual, if they showed up at all. She remembered how Andie had had the same issues last year, and it motivated her slightly. After getting Cinder settled on a towel, she went back to her stretches, deciding to give the girls another five minutes to stretch out, then starting the practice.

After she had counted the five minutes off, she rose from where she was stretching and called out to the three girls, "Since everyone else has decided to be late or not to show up, we'll just get started." She looked around at the three, not having missed how they stretched. "Our routine is already set up, but I can't show you guys, since everyone that's been missing is late." She glanced at the door, hoping that some of the girls would walk in, but no such luck. She glanced at the girls, "So, today we're going to be working on some general things that everyone in the routine will be using: Roundoffs and back tucks." She stepped away from the other three girls, clearing some space, then took a step forward and did a roundoff and then a back tuck before sticking the landing and looking at the girls, hoping that some of them would be able to do it, because she wouldn't be able to teach them.

Starting at about 0:30, what the large group of girls is doing.

[Antione Hoefflin]

Ant rolled his eyes and shook his head at the reply Sara gave him. He would never have asked if he didn't have one to offer. Striding back into his office he came out carrying a very large beach towel that he folded over a few times before he handed it to the girl so that the dog had something comfortable to lie on.

He walked back to lounge against the wall as the other girls walked in, he raised an eyebrow when only three others turned up. "Where are the others?" He muttered as he pushed himself away from the wall and walked up to where Sara was now standing, just in case she needed him for something

He stepped onto the mat as Sara was obviously about to start her tumbling, he was there to spot her if anything went wrong. After all, the last thing he needed was for some cheer girl to break her neck in his studio. He lifted impressed eyebrows though as she stuck her landing on each move and he nodded his head as his arms folded in front of his chest. "Not bad." He looked at the three girls who had just finished warming up, he had seen that at least one of them could do a handstand, but that didn't mean anything as most girls could do a handstand.

[Erica Jane Morgan]

She continued her stretches and saw Courtney and Lucy walk in and one waved and the other smiled towards her and Sara. She grinned and gave a small wave back towards the both of them. She listened to Sara and the man's conversation. One of them wondered where the others were. She wondered as well as she continued her last few minutes of stretching.

She heard Sara call out to them. She stopped her stretching and quickly took off ehr sweater and stuffed it into her gym back, before she walked over to listen to what Sara had to say to them. First of all, Sara talked about how some tend to be late or just not want to show up. She glanced towards the door and didn't have any luck. She then turned her gaze back towards the captain and heard about the routine. She heard they needed to learn the general: round offs and back tucks. She watched as Sara demonstrated and stuck the landing. She heard the man's comment and would agree. She hoped she wasn't too rusty on her round offs and back tucks.

She gave some room for the other two girls as well as she got on the mat and got ready to take a step forward. She did a round off and back tuck as Sara instructed. She almost stuck the landing, just a tiny bit unbalanced. She then bit her lip and looked towards Sara. "Sorry, a bit rusty today.." She said softly towards the captain before trying again. She took a breathe and tried again, this time she stuck the landing. Round offs and back tucks were simple, yet some reason her body and muscles didn't feel like it. She just gave a grin as she watched the other girls do their round offs and back tucks.

[daine6]

Chris cursed his luck at running a few minutes late. He truly didn't know what to think, that he'd been allowed on the cheer squad... so far, as far as his knowledge went, as the only male cheerleader. He had wanted to make it early to this meetig, as he hadn't been a member of Blue Ridge when the cheer group had had their first meeting... but he'd been held up by his sister, whom he hadn't told about him being on the cheer squad. He'd left her rolling on the floor laughing. It hurt a little, but he knew she'd apologize later. They were like that, him and Ash.

Chris wore a pair of simple, lightweight cloth pants, black in color, and a light blue long-sleeved shirt under which he wore a sleeveless black shirt, as he knew that later on he'd be hot and would be dying to remove the sleeved shirt. A gym-bag was slung over his shoulder, in which he carried a few bottled waters and a personal, basic first aid kit as well as a few rolls of ace bandages, a few candy bars (he never went anywhere without his sweets), and a knee-brace, if he so needed it for his left leg. He'd done gymnastics before, with his sister, when they were younger and knew from those years that he didn't have quite as much strength in his right knee as his left, so sometimes, if they were doing streneous work, he would possibly need the brace for support.

The teen didn't know if the cheer captain had been informed that he had been placed on the squad, but if she hadn't, she would soon enough. He had een told who to look or, so upon entering the gymnastics area, he immediately spotted the girl and walked her way, stopping short upon seeing the dog. Chris felt his breathing hitch, as his panic rose upon seeing the huge canine, and he stumbled back several steps, face going pale... well, paler than his already porcelain skintone was. The teen felt some of the fear leave him when the canine stayed where it was and didn't move, though he backed several more steps away and made a wide circle around the dog, keeping an eye on it, ready to bolt at the slightest movement towards him that the creature made.

When the dog did nothing, the boy slowly made his way towards the group, eyes spotting the girl he was supposed to see standing with a man, whom he assumed was probably the gymnastics coach. Chris turned slightly so as to keep the canine in his sights as he moved. There was no way he was turning his back on the dog... As he grew closer to the cheer captain and gymnastics coach, he moved around so that the gymnastics coach was between him and the, in his mind, bigger than normal canine, though he kept glancing between the two people and the dog. "I'm looking for Sara." He said, thanking the stars that his voice didn't betray the nervousness he felt at being so close to a dog. Ever since he'd been attacked as a child, he hadn't gotten near dogs since... so to have one so close was rather nerve-wracking...

[Cortney Smit]

Cort didn't want to tell anyone, but the gymnastics coach scared her - a lot! So she kept clear of him while she warmed up and then when she watched Sara as the cheer captain went through the moves for their routine. The moves were complex, but they didn't seem too difficult, However, she could see that timing would be paramount with the squad all doing the handstand/cartwheel and roundoffs.

Not wanting to be left behind, she quickly fell into step with Sara and the others, praying that she wouldn't mess up too much, as she couldn't stand the thought of publicly being kicked off the team.

It was the arrival of a boy that made her miss a beat. It wasn't hard to work out who the boy was - he couldn't be anyone other than her room-mate's brother. She nodded her head toward Sara when he spoke up. She followed his gaze toward Cinder. "He's a service dog." She told him. "He won't move a muscle until Sara tells him to." She gave him a grin. "I'm Cortney, and I'm guessing you are Chris. Ash is my roomie."

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara took the towel, "Thank you." She knelt next to Cinder and laid out the fabric, smoothing out the wrinkles before she pointed to it, "Praesto."

She smiled after she finished her routine, seeing her team follow her example. She heard Coach Hoefflin's praise and smiled at him, "I was lucky to have a great teacther." In the past year, she had learned everything from the gymnastics coach, and she knew to appreciate his praise. She watched Erica attempt the sequence and nodded as the girl almost had it down. She grinned as Erica tried again, this time doing it really well, "You're getting it, just had to warm up a bit." She smiled at the girl and turned to Cortney, ready to watch her, and smiled when the younger girl landed rather well, "There you go." She turned when she heard a masculine voice. She glanced around to see a pale-faced boy, who seemed to be keeping Cinder in view at all times. About to respond, she heard Cortney's voice and nodded, "Despite his size, he's a teddy bear." She smiled and held out a hand, "I'm Sara." Cortney had already ventured a guess as to who this was, and since Chris was the only guy signed up for cheer, Sara was inclined to agree with her assumption, "Welcome to Blue Ridge, anyway. What kind of cheer experience do you have, or gymnastics?" She looked the boy up anddown, evaluating him, and adjusting her plans according to this new addition.

[daine6]

Chris swallowed nervously, keeping the dog in his sights. Even though the one girl had said he was a well-trained animal, the boy didn't relax much. He slowly edged around the og in a large semi-circle before facing the two girls. "Uh, yeah... I'm Christopher. Chris, please." He said to the one, Cortney, giving her a small, shaky smile. "Ash's told me a little about you." He said in way of greeting before turning to the other girl, the apparent cheer captain.

He moved a few inches to the side, putting Sara between him and the canine, and relaxed margially. Chris's fear of dogs kept him from being too chivalrous. He'd gladly sacrifice a person to a vicious canine if it meant he'd get away. He gave the girl a small grin, feeling some of his confidence return now that there was at least one body between him and the canine.

"Thanks," He told the girl upon hearing her welcome, "Experience-wise... um... no cheer experience, but I've taken gymnastics before. Did gymnastics back when I was seven and eight along with my sister, then again at twelve, thirteen, and fourteen." Chris said, counting up the years mentally to make sure he was right in his ages. He was.