"Krystal! Why are you late?" the teacher quizzed.
Krystal looked up vaguely. "I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I'm really not sure. I don't know where I've been."
The class burst out laughing. I felt a teeny bit sorry for Krystal. Her mind would probably be a blank page for a while, which people might misinterpret as dumbness. She wouldn't remember a thing of where she'd been or who she'd been. That was the bonus about being the witch and not the mortal. We get to remember!
"Krystal please sit down."
"Where?"
"In an empty chair, anywhere," the teacher replied starting to lose her patience.
I began to feel guilty that I had caused her to become a little bit dumber than normal. It was my fault that she was acting like a turkey with a lobotomy, but I was sure she would return to normal soon enough, which was more like a turkey with a pea brain.
I went back to my class and returned to normal activity, though the afternoon was worse than experiencing an agonizing death in a slaughter chamber as Mrs Snezel stalked and taunted us with boring algebra equations and long division. The whole time I could think of nothing but the final and Kaitlyn. This time however, I would be competing in my own body.
The problem was, I had more serious things to think about than making it to the team. Looking into Krystal's classroom, I realised that Kaitlyn wasn't there either. I began to get really worried about her. I decided that I would totally give up my chance of getting onto the team if it meant I could save Kaitlyn. But how could I make that happen? That was the question.
23. Detonated Disaster
Nearly half the school was seated in the gymnasium to watch the final. That's how awesome it was. I don't think I'd ever competed in front of so many people including students, teachers and parents. I not only had butterflies in my stomach, I had worms, larvae, cocoons and a whole atrium full of the jittery insect inside. I had no idea how I would compete feeling like that. My mom always said if I ever got nervous about being in front of a big crowd, to take a deep breath and imagine everyone was naked. EEWGH GROSS MOM! My Mom is so weird at times. I wouldn't dare imagine the eighth graders in the nude. That would probably make me puke all over the stage like the snobby Bella's singer does in the movie 'Pitch Perfect'.
We only had ten minutes to get ready backstage before we were on. A lot of the girls were applying makeup, heavily transforming their naturally young complexions to striking vamp-like twenty year olds. I just didn't get it. Cranky pants and Mr Gorgeous wouldn't be looking at the faces of 12 and 13 year olds and judging whether they'd pass beauty school or if they'd be good candidates for Miss America. They would be looking at our cheerleading skills. I preferred to spend the time stretching and warming up. And yes, I did have my trademark trusty red outfit on with the big L, and I loved it.
I looked around for Kaitlyn, but couldn't see her anywhere. I started to panic. Mishy and Sarah bubbled excitedly and didn't seem to care when I mentioned that Kaitlyn hadn't appeared.
"She'll be here in a minute," Mishy said. "Do I need any more blush? What about lipstick? Is my lipstick dark enough?"
"Mishy, you would look gorgeous even if you had a bag over your head. And even if you looked like Fiona from Shrek, it wouldn't matter. That's not what they're looking at."
"I know, but I still want to look my best."
As I laughed, I noticed the end cubicle open and Kaitlyn walked out holding her stomach. She looked pale with a greenish tinge around her face. She did not look good at all and I suspected Tiffany's plan had worked. I felt an overwhelming pang of sadness that she had to go through this because of the sheer cruelty of others.
I looked over towards the mirror where Tiffany and Chantelle were applying their third layer of foundation and putting false eyelashes on. MAN! They were going to need a chisel to get that stuff off. Tiffany looked around when Kaitlyn walked out, and whispered something to Chantelle. Krystal didn't seem to notice as she wasn't standing next to the other princesses.
"Are you ok?" I enquired as she made her way over to the other princesses. "You don't look so hot."
"I know. I kind of do feel really bad. I don't know whether I ate something off or whether I've got a bit of a tummy bug."
"Where have you been? We've been absolutely worried about you," Tiffany said as she edged her way in.
"I just feel a bit grumbly in the tummy that's all," Kaitlyn replied trying to laugh. "I've probably just got butterflies."
"I know. Don't tell me about it. I'm sure my butterflies have laid eggs I'm so nervous." Tiffany laughed looking sideways at Chantelle. I'm sure I saw her wink at her as well.
"Two minutes ladies," Mrs Carmichael had stuck her nose around the corner. There was a mad panic as all the girls rushed to do last minute adjustments to their makeup .
"Oh no!" Kaitlyn exclaimed in a panic as she dashed off to a toilet cubicle again. What a cruel joke they had played. How I wished I could tell her the truth.
The girls started to file out to wait in the wings to be introduced to the restless audience. Cranky pants put on her posh voice and addressed the crowd. Most of them wouldn't be listening to a word she said anyway. We had to stand according to where she placed us. I looked around for Kaitlyn as Cranky started to call out the names to enter the stage.
After several names I heard Kaitlyn's called out. When Kaitlyn didn't appear, Cranky Pants gave one of her perfectly cranky looks demonstrating the fact that she was majorly unimpressed. I wanted to race back to the girl's change rooms to find Kaitlyn but she appeared just as my name was called out. Her face had changed from pale white with green tinges to full on Kermit the frog green.
"Are you ok?" I whispered as she joined the group.
"No I am not! I think I need to go again." She was nearly in tears.
"What's the problem?"
Before she got to answer, Cranky pants had noticed she was in the wings and called her on again, just as I walked out, so she was positioned right next to me on stage.
When we were all on and in our positions ready to 'bring it on' Mr Gordon made one final speech and then the music pumped out as we moved from our beginning poses energetically into the well-rehearsed routine. I tried to concentrate hard on my moves while keeping an eye on Kaitlyn to make sure she was ok. She seemed to be turning greener and greener with every jolt of her body. Her face, which was usually beaming and full of lively animation resembled a squashed up prune, wrinkled in every corner. She didn't look happy, but she was still doing the moves perfectly.
A minute into the routine we all jumped high into the air, landing then moving quickly into the splits. Then we turned quickly to the side to go into cartwheels. That's when I noticed the shocking horror of what was about to happen. At first I saw the terror in Kaitlyn's eyes and then I realised why. I was helpless to help her. There was nothing I could do to save her from the biggest embarrassment of her life.
I closed my eyes tight to try and execute a spell to prevent the catastrophe from unfolding. I knew my concentration on the spell was impeded by my current activity, and I knew it would also hinder my ability to perform competently and I probably wouldn't be chosen on the team. But I couldn't let the unimaginable happen to Kaitlyn. I repeated the chant quickly in my head as I did a cartwheel.
"Stop this nonsense
Stop this cruelty
Stop this harshness
That escapes so insecurely"
I looked at Kaitlyn when we landed but it was bigger than before, and I could see her face tighten up in pain as she grabbed her stomach. The spell wasn't working quick enough. There was nothing left that I could do to save her. The seconds were passing by but it felt like an eternity had passed. I felt like my body was moving out of time to the music in slow motion knowing that an explosion was about to happen. The detonator was Kaitlyn, the target was Kaitlyn and Kaitlyn would be the one destroyed.
I saw the little patch of brown spreading li
ke a noxious vine, escaping through the white shorts at a rapid speed. I looked around to see if the others had witnessed the fatality, but they were all preoccupied with their routine. My heart sunk for Kaitlyn. Why didn't she just run off the stage? It might mean disqualification but at least it would mean she could save herself from being totally humiliated, never to be able to show her face at school again.
I had failed my duty. I couldn't save her in that split second that was left. Or could I?
24. Little White Lies
Just when I thought it was 'all over red rover' (I have no idea who red rover is), I had a brain wave of immensely intelligent proportions. "Pssst Kaitlyn," I said under my breath as I leapt into the air, "You need to get off stage pronto. Go get some ice. Hurry! Get out of here." As she looked at me with a mixture of confusion and total fear, I commanded (as much as you can in a whisper), "Just do it," as I fell spectacularly, in an academy award winning face plant onto the ground. My chances of getting into the cheer leading team had just been squashed in the same manner an ant would face walking into an elephant parade. But there was still hope that Kaitlyn's dignity might have been saved. Hopefully she would fix her smelly little problem when she ran off to get the ice.
The other girls started to slow down to witness my catastrophe but Cranky Pants yelled from the side to keep going as the audience emitted the predictable oooo's and ahhhh's. Mr Gorgeous dragged me out of the way, trying to dodge the flying legs, arms and pom poms around us. His big, strong biceps encased my shoulders and with one full scoop I was in the wings with my legs elevated.
"Get some ice," Gorgeous ordered to a student helping on the sides.
"No," I butted in quickly, "Kaitlyn has already gone to get some I think."
"What? She's supposed to be out there dancing."
"I know, but she's so sweet and selfless, she put my needs before herself."
Mr Gorgeous shook his head bewildered. "Well what's taking her so long?"
"I don't know."
"Well your ankle doesn't look swollen or displaced."
"Funny about that," I said to myself.
"Where is it sore?"
"Ah just here on the outside."
"Does it hurt to touch?"
"Just a little," I lied.
"How did it happen?"
"I'm not sure, it just sort of gave way from beneath me."
"Did you stretch before you came on?"
"Yes of course Mr Gorge? Gordon sir."
"Is your Mother in the audience?"
"No, she had to work."
"Well I'm not sure. It doesn't look too bad to me, but I'd better ring an ambulance just to be sure."
"NO! I mean, no that's not necessary."
"Where is she with that ice? She must be waiting for some water to freeze. What sort of PE teacher am I if I don't apply RICE to my injured students immediately?"
"Rice? No thanks, I'm not hungry," I laughed.
"No silly. RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation." He ruffled my hair.
"Trust me Mr Gordon, you're doing more than is necessary for the nature of this injury."
"M'mm, well, I'm not so sure about that. I'll get Miss Cranski for a second opinion when the girls are finished."
As I was about to protest, the music came to a sudden halt and the girls held their final pose with the three tiniest (including Mishy) standing on the shoulders of the stronger ones. Mishy had a good chance of getting in because she was tiny. As for me and Kaitlyn, I was pretty confident that we'd be head of the cheer squad not the cheer leaders. I felt gutted. I felt like someone had ripped my intestines through my belly button, stretched them out, tied them in knots and stuck them back in again, all mixed up.
Kaitlyn finally arrived with the ice and gave it to Mr Gorgeous. Funnily enough she had made time to change into her clothes.
"Thank you Kaitlyn, that was very quick thinking and thoughtful of you. Although I must say, you weren't exactly 'quick'."
"Sorry Sir. I needed to go to the bathroom. I have a really upset stomach." She blushed as she said it, looking sheepishly at me. "Could I please be excused to go to the sick bay now that the final is over?"
"You do look a bit green around the gills. Probably just nerves, but off you go."
"I hope you're ok Lily, and thanks for ?.you know," Kaitlyn said looking gratefully into my eyes. She bent down and whispered, "You're the kindest friend anyone could ever wish for," and she raced off as she had done so often that day.
After the song was finished, Mr Gorgeous carried me up to the sick bay where I could get some crutches. Kaitlyn wasn't there so I assumed she'd gone home. I wondered if she would turn up at the presentation dance; if she would be well enough. I felt a pang of sadness for us both, imagining the presentation of names, knowing that we had no chance of getting in after all the hard work we'd done. And it was all because of the mean antics of the princess gang.
Mom always says in her weird wisdom, "Life is full of disappointments, you just have to pick yourself up, learn from it and get on with it." Sometimes life felt really cruel and so unfair, but my crazy Ma also told me that "life indeed could be cruel and unfair, and we could either sink or swim, we could let it trample us or get up and run ahead." I have no idea where she comes up with these philosophical thoughts but I always choose to get on with life. Not because I like swimming, but because it's more fun that way.
So what! I didn't make it to the team, but there was always cheer leading classes and there was always next year. It was too bad that Kaitlyn didn't make it either, but at least she still had her dignity intact. And it was too bad we wouldn't be going on stage at the presentation, but at least we had the dance to go to. And there was a small part of me, a teeny, weeny part that lived way down at the bottom of my untouched heart that was secretly hoping to see one particular boy there. I knew there was no chance of dancing with him because I wasn't Krystal anymore, but I still couldn't wait!
25. It's a Miracle
Finally after an exhausting week of practicing, rehearsing, competing, switching, lying and worrying, it was finally time for the presentation dance. I was running late because Mishy kept face timing me like usual. Mom picked her up and we met the others there.
When we arrived at her house, I didn't recognise her as she skipped down the drive way. She looked like an eighteen year old wearing a baby blue halter neck dress with matching chunky heels. Her golden brown hair left out flowing, glistened in the sun as she jumped gracefully into the car. Maddy and Sarah both looked equally gorgeous in bright red, slim line dresses standing out the front of the hall.
As we walked into the gymnasium, the atmosphere was electrifying, with twinkling lights scattering the roof and lazer beams flashing across the room. Shimmering snowflakes floated around and fountains of light sprayed up from the ground illuminating the walls spectacularly.
Tiffany was almost unrecognisable with the amount of makeup plastered over her face. She was huddled in a group of adoring fans all wearing enough makeup to paint the faces of the whole Miss American beauty pageant ten times over. They looked like prom queen barbies escaped from the toy shop. Their eyes darted around the room checking out the scene and gossiping about what they saw. Kaitlyn was nowhere to be seen.
"Come on let's dance," Mishy said as she dragged us onto the floor when the song "Ugly Heart" came on.
"But I'm not sure about my ankle," I lied.
"Come on, you'll be ok, you're walking fine now." I looked around before deciding whether to dance, and to my surprise I saw Kaitlyn walking through the door alone. She looked anxious so I went over to meet her. My 'know all' mom always said to try and make people feel comfortable if they were alone, because you wouldn't want to be in the same position yourself. And she was right of course.
"Hi Kaitlyn. How are you feeling?"
"OK. I actually feel a lot better thanks, and I'm not running back and forth to the bathroom anymore," she giggled nervously. "What about you? How is your ank
le?"
"Oh it's fine. It's a miracle!" I said remembering I should have been trying to fake a slight limp. "Amazing what RICE can do in a couple of hours." But I think Kaitlyn could see right through my story, though she didn't say. She knew why I tumbled spectacularly to the floor. "Do you want to come and dance with us Kaitlyn?"
"Sure, maybe in a moment. I just want to go and say hi and wish Tiff good luck."
Kaitlyn went over to the closed group and I went and found the others on the dance floor. I hobbled a bit, but I really wanted to have a good time dancing so I faked a miraculous improvement.
As I danced freely, a few people commented about it and I just kept saying, "It's a miracle," and "I think the fall looked a lot worse than what it really was." I may have been going to miss out on the cheerleading team, but there was no way I was going to miss out on having a great time at one of the most awesome dancing events of the year.
"Ugly Heart" changed into "Break Free" by Ariana Grande and we danced wildly. Kaitlyn joined us when Katy Perry's "Roar" came on. I looked at her face which seemed to be shrouded in sadness again. Perhaps she was feeling sick again, or perhaps something happened with Tiffany. The poor girl had done nothing to anyone yet she had been subjected to so much torture by that girl.
I leaned over as we danced and asked if she was ok. She looked at me blankly, her face hard to read. I thought I saw her mouth twitch as though she was holding back tears.
"Can we talk?" she asked as my favourite song came on.
"Sure, let's go outside." We'd only just got outside the gym when Kaitlyn started sobbing. Droplets of tears became waterfalls as the tears became uncontrollable, blemishing her dress.