"Are you gonna say something or..." Julia had a whisper of a southern accent and long (and she meant long!) brown hair. Her eyes twinkled playfully. "Don't go worrying 'bout if you get in or not, I'm in and I put in a good word for you!"
"But the dance is tonight! And I've barely practiced today!" Carla fretted, playing with her head scarf. "And Cooper is sick so I might not even go if my mom goes out to meet Mr. Grady again. And even if Mom invites Mr. Grady over then I might have to stay home and say hello! But if Cletus gets sick then Mom might have to cancel. And then she might not want me go out in case I get sick." Carla was panting at the end of her rant.
"Are you done?"
Carla dropped onto one of the benches in front of Woodchester High and nodded.
Julia sat down beside her, after making sure the bench was sanitary of course. "You always seem to find the worst situations don't you? Then you freak out over them, girl, you gotta chill once in awhile."
"Yeah, you're right, Jules." Carla stood up as the school bell rang. "Let's go or we're going to be late."
"Gimme a S!" Julia jumped up, wildly waving her coral-pink, teal, and white pompoms.
"S!" The other cheerleaders sang out.
"Gimme a T!
"T!"
This continued until "Stingrays" had been spelled. Of when Julia cried out. "What's that spell?!"
"Stingrays, Stingrays! Rulers of the Reef! We shall never, ever be beat! Yayyy!" The other cheerleaders jumped around giddily.
"Far out girls! Take five!" Julia strode over to Carla, who was drooping over after waiting for an hour of chanting and dangerous-looking stunts.
"Ready to head out?" Carla yawned.
"What? No applause? That was our best performance yet!"
Carla glared at her upbeat friend. "The dance off is in two hours."
"Alright," Julia scooped up her pompoms. "Let's go!"
The walk to Carla's house was mostly quiet. "So... When you win, milkshakes at Coughman's?"
"If I win..." Carla started fiddling with her scarf again.
"When you win," Julia argued and nudged Carla's shoulder.
"Omf!" Carla banged into school mascot, Coral the Stingray. "Sorry!"
The stingray lifted off her mask. "It's cool!" she assured and gave a cheerful smile. "I'm Dawn, by the way."
Carla nodded sheepishly. "Far out, I'm Carla. I didn't mean to bump into you."
"No harm done!" Dawn bounced up and down. "I'm so psyched to meet you!" Dawn had bouncing blonde curls and a face that looked like a printer had pasted a permanent smile onto it.
Carla high-fived her.
Julia suddenly brightened. "Hey, you go to Good Vibes right?"
"Sure do!"
Dawn froze as a voice yelled out. "Where's that stingray?!"
"Peace out! Gotta dash!" Dawn shoved the costume back on and flapped away.
"So she goes to GVDS?" Carla prodded.
"Yeah, Dawn's cool." Julia replied. "Now come on! Or do you want to lose that scholarship?"
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