When Tabitha returned from the bathroom, she seemed composed. I could tell she’d retouched her makeup, likely to cover tears, but she seemed calm.
“Okay, girls. Break’s over. We have to go over this dance again. Let’s take it from the top.”
She glanced at me and then over to where Joy and my two best friends still stood arm in arm. Even though she’d composed herself, Tabitha couldn’t seem to hide the surprise at this new development. She lifted one perfectly manicured eyebrow. She didn’t say anything. No one ever said anything to Joy. They all knew better. She would get that peeved puffed peacock look like she’d just gotten with me when I’d told her I was uncomfortable.
“Five, six, seven, eight,” shouted Tabitha.
“Wait!” Joy ran to the front of the gym where Tabitha stood. “I have an idea. Why don’t we do this move in segments, so it is like a wave instead of everyone at the same time.”
It wasn’t really a suggestion. It was more of a statement. I saw Tabitha take a deep breath and paste a smile on her face.
“That is a great idea, Joy, but we don’t have time to learn something new. We don’t even have the dance down yet. Maybe we can add that in later.”
Tabitha’s reply seemed like a reasonable response to me. She wasn’t totally discounting Joy’s idea, just saying there wasn’t time to work on it now. Apparently Joy didn’t see it the same way.
“We need to do the wave and really have an impact, don’t we girls?” Joy said.
Again, she was putting us in the middle of her disagreement with Tabitha. The other coach frowned and her hands rose slowly to her hips.
“Sorry, Joy, but I just don’t think we have time right now.” Tabitha was in charge of the dance part of our cheer squad. She’d trained as a dancer for fifteen years and had competed in high school. She’d even worked for a local ballet company for several years. Joy had no training whatsoever in dance.
“Let’s vote on it.” Joy clapped her hands. “Who wants to do a wave in this part of the dance, raise your hands.”
Brooke and Savannah lifted their hands immediately. No thought. No hesitation. Just sheer agreement with whatever Joy wanted and a little bit of of “stick it to Tabitha”. I stood there staring at my toes and wondering what was happening. I wished my mom was at practice today, but she’d had to work late. All three coaches had jobs of some sort, which is why having three coaches was also helpful. If one couldn’t make a practice, there were always two others who could.
One by one, the other girls on the squad started to fall in line with Brooke and Savannah. That is when I noticed Joy glaring at the girls individually until their hands lifted. I kept both of my arms by my sides. Finally, Joy turned her attention to me. She smiled at me encouragingly. I lifted my chin slightly and stared back at her, unsmiling. What she was doing was wrong. I felt it in my soul as certainly as I knew there was a God and He loved me. When I didn’t move, her smile disappeared by slow increments. A frown drove deep grooves in her forehead. She crossed her arms and glared at me. I continued to stare back. My arms were now glued to my sides. I couldn’t have raised them if I’d wanted to.
“Fine,” she shouted. “Everyone yes, one no. We’re doing the wave.”
Everyone yes, one no. I could feel the gazes of fifteen other girls boring into the back of my neck. I was only trying to do the right thing.
“I g-guess we’ll have to try to learn it,” Tabitha stuttered. She looked like she was about ready to cry again.
The rest of the practice was spent trying to perfect the wave. We didn’t even get to the rest of the dance.
