And so it has been done. Wandering Quill, 'tis for you. I am rather inexperienced in the art of cheerleading, however, so this is a bit half-assed.
"Tedros, no."
"Agatha, yes."
"But it's – it's–"
"It's what?"
"It's… It's just, you really expect me to go through with this?"
"Not unless you want Reaper back."
"Oh my God, I hate you."
"Naturally."
"Why would you go through all this trouble just so you can see me as a cheerleader!?"
Scouting the various other females in the team was fun. The fact that Agatha had to wear a sinfully short skirt and a blouse that was more of a piece of scrap material than actual clothing was not.
Somehow, Tedros had gotten hold of Agatha's cat, Reaper, and coerced the raven-haired girl to join the cheer team. If Agatha could last until the second game against the opposing schools, she'd get Reaper back and she could quit the team instantly. However, by the way Tedros had been snickering all the while, Agatha was starting to doubt this was a good idea.
So far, she was starting to see exactly why Tedros had made her join the team – to hook her up with someone. That someone was quickly starting to become a certain cheer captain, though by the way Tedros had been not-so-subtly trying to get them to at least talk with one another about something else besides when the next practice would be, it was starting to become irritable.
In conclusion, Agatha had joined the cheerleading squad and was not doing a very good job at it. Common complaints from the other members were, but not limited to, "She keeps stepping on my head!" "She poked my eye out!" "She farted in my face!" so on and so forth. Once, Agatha had 'accidentally' looked up while they were practicing a pyramid formation, and she could not tear her eyes away from the sight of the cheer captain's…
"Agatha! Again with the head-stepping! Come on, focus, will you?"
She was getting distracted. Again. Somehow, she was not surprised.
The cheer captain in question was named Sophie – it was also obvious why exactly she was captain. Her beauty matched Beatrix's, who was considered the 'queen bee' of school (Agatha never did understand why she was called a queen bee. That was like saying Beatrix's only purpose was to make little Beatrixs). She also served as a constant distraction in several practices, especially considering that Sophie always seemed to be on top of Agatha when they were doing something that involved stacking people on top of each other.
Agatha could not decide whether Sophie's existence was a good or a bad thing. For one, she was starting to like being in the cheer team, if only because of Sophie's presence. She could watch the blonde brush her long hair for hours…
If she had not returned to reality a second later, she would be a smear on the floor by now. For some reason, Agatha got the feeling the others wouldn't care.
And yet, she still could not get the blonde's face out of her mind…
"How was cheer practice today?" Tedros asked conversationally as Agatha walked out of the gymnasium. It had become a pattern – the blond would wait outside for her until she came out in an hour, sweating like there was no end. Agatha never really was a person who did much exercise, and was more of a studying kind of person, so strenuous activity (such as cheerleading) tired her out quickly.
"… Fine." Agatha slung her bag over her shoulder, throwing a jacket over her blouse and slipping on a pair of jean shorts under her skirt. Just to be safe. She stuffed the pompoms in her bag (though she did contemplate throwing one of them in Tedros' face, just to see the look on his face) and gave another shrug. "The first game's coming up in two weeks, isn't it?"
He nodded. "Found a reason to stay yet?"
"Not strong enough." She glared at him, though the blond didn't seem to notice – rather, he did notice, but he refused to acknowledge her.
"It's Sophie, isn't it?"
"No."
"Can't be anyone else. She's always on top of you, how can you resist that kind of temptation, anyway?"
"Simple – I don't."
Tedros scoffed, though there was a smirk dancing on his lips. "Alright, I have another bet for you."
"Like Reaper's life isn't enough?"
"You know I'd never hurt your precious cat." Tedros rolled his eyes. "Here: if I can get you and Sophie together before the first game, aka in two weeks, you stay in the team for the whole year. You don't, I give you Reaper back after the first game."
"Rejected!" Agatha all but screeched – she could feel the hair on the back of her head shoot up at the blond's suggestion. Her brown eyes narrowed in suspicion, though the appearance was mostly ruined by the furious blush on her cheeks. "Where'd that come from, anyway!? I'm not planning on getting together with anyone! And - And I barely know her!"
"Sure you do. You've talked to her."
"Like everyone else!"
But the raven-haired girl knew that, even if she had just said the complete opposite seconds before, the bet was already on. This time, it wasn't just Reaper's ownership on the line – it was her relationship status, as well.
Much to Agatha's chagrin, she and Sophie were getting closer. At the very least, they talked to each other about topics that friends talk about. Every time she spoke with the blonde, Agatha swore she could hear Tedros cackling from outside the room.
Once, Sophie had asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?"
Agatha blinked. Oh, so she was… "I don't find boys attractive."
"Girlfriend, then?" Sophie said, with a little laugh.
"… No…" The fact that she had caught on to that gave away that she at least knew about sexuality. The question of which gender she fancied remained, though.
"I think princesses are nice, too." Sophie smiled. "Boys are like trolls."
'What do I say to a person who just admitted they like girls, too? Pat her on the back and say, "Let's be lesbians together"?' "Agreed."
Well, it was better than the last time Agatha had told someone about her likes and dislikes. The word 'dyke' wasn't nice to her ears. Vaguely, she remembered that that was how she met Tedros…
The days before the first game had Agatha stumbling on each and every formation they had practiced. There was much stepping on heads, and there was also much face-farting. That, no one liked. That also made much of the formation fall apart, and so, practices dragged on longer than usual with Sophie and the co-captain, Beatrix, trying to fix it up.
Most members' patience with Agatha ran out quickly, though Sophie always did her best trying to fix her stance and so on. The raven-haired girl thought it was mainly because of Sophie that she stumbled on the procedures, but she wasn't complaining whenever the blonde would hold her arm this way, or move her leg a little to the side that way…
So, by the day of the first game, Agatha was clearly not ready and she was still praying she could get out this alive without messing up. It did not help matters that her cheering was less than enthusiastic, and unless the person she was cheering for involved Sophie, then her cheering would remain less than enthusiastic.
"Yo."
She jumped, let out a yelp, and turned around. Tedros stood there, hands in pockets and looking suave as always. "What the hell?!"
"Just a tip – you know, you should envision the team as blondie. Maybe your cheers would get better." He shrugged, a grin on his face. "It worked last time, didn't it?"
"No…"
"Whatever. Anyway, good luck!" He raised a hand in goodbye, then walked away, disappearing somewhere else. Agatha watched him, feeling even more nervous now. Envision the team as Sophie… envision the team as Sophie…
"Hey, Aggie!"
"GAH – oh, uh, hi, Sophie."
This wasn't easy, was it?
The blonde walked forward, smiling and looking like she was jumping up and down excitedly. "Can you believe it? It's the first game of the year! You have gotta do good, Aggie!"
'What's with the nickname? Oh well… I'm not complaining…'
"I mean, you messed up a lot during the practices. But! I know you can be good when you want to! So, please, can you cheer for me?"
"…" The raven-haired girl continued staring off into nothing. Her brain had fizzed out and decided to take a vacation. Sophie blinked confusedly, before shrugging and walking away, shouting out one last 'good luck!' to the motionless Agatha.
By the end of the first game, Agatha had cheered her lungs sore.
"She kissed me!" Agatha whisper-yelled. "She kissed me Tedros holy crap holy crap I can't believethis she kissed me–"
"On the lips?"
The girl paused. "… Cheek."
"You guys together yet?"
"I… don't know…"
"Then you've accomplished nothing."
Agatha drifted back into a state of listlessness. Her soul practically floated out of her body and disappeared somewhere into an air duct. Then she realized –
"Your bet!"
The blond blinked. "My what?"
"Your bet!" Agatha cackled. "You said if you could get us together before the first game, I'd have to stay for the whole year! But look at that, we didn't! Reaper's mine again, pretty boy!"
"Oh. Hmm." Tedros looked away in disinterest. "Hmmm…"
"Don't just ignore me, damnit!"
"Get who together, now?"
Agatha almost screamed. She didn't, but she did topple over her chair and land on the floor. There was a great deal of panicking from the blonde who had snuck up on her (again), and Sophie attempted to help her up while trying to hold in her giggles at the same time. Needless to say, it was a hard task, but she succeeded. Somehow.
"Sorry about that!" Sophie said, cracking a grin. "Was just curious on what you were talking about…"
Agatha blinked. While the blonde had the looks of an angel, she didn't have very many friends, or so Tedros had said… it made sense for her to want to be involved in a conversation, she supposed. Even if her method of getting into said conversation involved sneaking up on the raven-haired girl and making her fall on her face.
"We were… talking about… uh." 'How does one tell her crush that her best friend is trying to get the two of them together? Simple answer: you don't.' "Nothing much…"
"We were talking about getting you and Agatha together," Tedros said bluntly, without a care in the world. He sounded like he was just talking about the weather or some sort.
Sophie gasped a very ladylike gasp, though she sounded more amused than anything. Agatha stood frozen still, burning a hole through Tedros' face with her stare. The surrounding people snickered and murmured.
"Oh my." Sophie blinked. Then a giggle escaped her lips, which Agatha pointedly avoided looking at, and she glanced back over to Agatha, who was in general pointedly avoiding her gaze entirely. "Is this true? How cute!"
'That's… a messed up version of 'cute' right there, buddy…' "I guess so…"
"Aww, no need to be shy!" Another giggle. Sophie's giggles were becoming Agatha's kryptonite. "I guess that's why you stay in the cheer team. You don't look like you want to stay there at all!"
"No, really?" The words escaped Agatha's mouth before she could take it back, and the moment she realized she said it, she felt her subconscious crumple to the ground and wail in disappointment. "I mean, ah–"
"Mm, it's okay!" The blonde leaned forward and pressed her lips softly to Agatha's forehead, golden locks brushing against the raven-haired girl's reddened cheeks. "Well, see you at practice later, Aggie! That is, if you don't decide to quit, now." Sophie gave her a quick wave and bounced out of the classroom, leaving a trail of pink glitter and the scent of lavender behind her.
The murmurs intensified. Agatha found that she could not really care much for anything else anymore, except that she wanted to brush Sophie's hair herself and maybe steal a few more kisses when no one else was watching…
She heard Tedros' snicker behind her.
How many times I had to revise this, you shall never know. Next stop on the AU Bus Tour? Suggestions are welcome!
Slacker, 8/22/14