Holiday Spirit Read online

  Wow, what a day. I have to say the highlight of it is happening right now: Me, a cup of peppermint tea (so Christmas-y!), some great music playing, and my journal. Luckily, no one from school is at the Jumpin’ Java right now, so I can just relax. I hate when people who never talk to me in school try to chat me up when we see each other somewhere outside of school. So fake.

  Last night I dreamt that my squad was drowning in a big ocean, and they were all calling for me to save them. Ian McClusky had sunk right to the bottom of the ocean because of all his football muscle. And Tabitha Sue was waving her pom-poms frantically before she fell underwater too. Jared did a swan dive before realizing he couldn’t swim, and Katarina was saying, “Help me!” in Russian. I woke up sweating and realized after a few moments that it was a bad dream. Then I was like, whoa, Captain Obvious-someone’s freaking out about leaving the team behind. Couldn’t my brain have tried to be a little bit more mysterious and deep? I decided I definitely had to tell the team about my New York plan before my nightmares got worse.

  I texted Jacqui right after I woke up to ask her to meet me a couple of minutes before practice in the gym. I’ve always kind of liked the emptiness of our school over break. It’s like you can still hear the echoes of lockers slamming and kids shouting in the hall, long after everyone has left for winter vacations. But today, as I pushed open the heavy doors to the gym, the school felt TOO big and empty. I could hear my heart beating, thunka, thunka, thunka. I can’t believe I was so nervous just to talk to my friends! But I really was worried that:

  a) Everyone would think that I’m not a good captain.

  b) Something bad would happen to the team because I wasn’t there (hmm, big ego much?).

  But one thing at a time. First I had to talk to Jacqui. I know she can totally handle the squad on her own, but me not being there will def mean more work for her. As I walked toward the bleachers on our side of the gym, I decided that if she said my going was ok, I would stay late with her after practice today and come up with a plan for the week for her to do with the squad. And I would owe her big-time, of course.

  Jacqui was sitting on the lowest bleacher, digging around in her ginormous bag. “I got you, my pretty!” she said, imitating the Wicked Witch of the West, and holding up a safety pin.

  I sat down next to her. “Uh, should I be worried about that pin of yours? Do you want me to take it down? Because you know me, I can seriously kick some safety-pin butt if needed.”

  And it’s true. I know my way around some sewing supplies.

  “No.” She frowned. “’S ok. Just lost a button on my shirt. Ugh, and I hate this shirt too, but it’s the only thing that’s clean.”

  “Here, let me help you with that.” I took the pin and performed some of my fashion design magic. When I was done, her shirt was back together and you couldn’t see the pin at all.

  Jacqui took out a pocket mirror to check it out. “Nice, Mads, I owe you one! It looks good as new.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said. “And . . . speaking of favors, I kind of have a big one to ask you.” I rubbed my sweaty palms against my sweatpants as I geared up for her reaction. I told her about Dad asking me to go away with him and how it was super last-minute. “And I completely understand if a whole week alone with the squad is too much to handle. I don’t know if I could do it alone either,” I said.

  I think I was expecting her to be mad, or annoyed. I wouldn’t be overjoyed if she sprang a last-minute trip on me, either. But instead, she just patted me on the back and said, “Cool.”

  “What?” I asked, amazed.

  “Seriously?” said Jacqui, smiling. “It is so not a big deal. Don’t worry, I got your back.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked. I couldn’t believe it had been that simple. I thought for sure she would need some time to think about it at least.

  “It’ll be great!” said Jacqui. She rubbed her hands together like an evil villain. “With you gone I can be extra tough on them.”

  “Are you calling me a softie?” I asked jokingly.

  Jacqui smiled coyly. “Only a little. Remember how drill sergeant-y I was when I first got to the team?”

  I nodded, thinking back to last September, when Jacqui first joined our team. The squad didn’t even know what hit them. I knew how to cheer and dance, but I hadn’t been part of a squad before, so pushing others to their limit wasn’t really my thing. Jacqui came in and changed that. She taught us all what a real warm-up was-leaving us sweating and in an insane amount of pain when she was through with us. We’re in such better shape now. Sometimes I can’t believe how far we’ve come as a team in so little time. Even the Testosterone Twins have learned some coordination.

  As if on cue, Ian and Matt came strutting into the gym, wearing practically identical muscle T-shirts and bandannas. Matt stared at one of the Titan girls, who was practicing her round-off.

  Jacqui rolled her eyes. “These guys especially need a little kick in the butt,” she said, motioning in Ian and Matt’s direction.

  I was so relieved. I really am lucky to have Jacqui as a co-captain. I mean, without her this trip wouldn’t even be remotely possible. It was only a couple months ago that I was the only captain of the team. And if that were still the case, who would take over if I went away? (Besides Mom, I mean . . . but that would be totally out of the question.)

  Even though Jacqui said she was cool with it, I was still worried about what the squad would say. I told Jacqui I’d tell them at the end of practice. I didn’t want to ruin their upbeat mood-they’ve been doing great all week on this thing Jacqui and I came up with. Inspired by the awesome dance moves from the Titans’ routine from the qualifier, we decided to create a routine for the Grizzlies to learn over break that paired the new cheer moves they’ve learned with lots of dance. Ian and Matt were less than thrilled with having to learn more dance moves, but Jared (of course) was psyched.

  Practice began with a few laps around the gym and then some stretching. I had the idea to incorporate a little yoga into our stretches-to really elongate the body. I’ve taken a bunch of classes with Mom, so it was easy to figure out some basic moves that the squad could handle.

  “Tabitha Sue, straighten your leg,” I instructed, as I walked around the mat.

  “This is as straight as my leg goes,” she said. “And all the blood is rushing to my face. Is that normal?”

  “Ummm . . . just breathe it out.” That’s what my yoga instructor always said, anyway.

  Jared had already resorted to child’s pose, which is the position where you kind of look like you’re praying. It’s a great position to rest in after a tough pose, but I could tell Jared was just trying to get away with some relaxation during stretching.

  “Ahem,” I said, my hands on my hips.

  “What?” asked Jared innocently.

  “Up, Jared,” said Jacqui, still in downward dog position.

  I heard someone snickering nearby and turned my head: It was Clementine Prescott. Somehow she had a deep golden tan, even in winter. “What’s this? Yoga for dummies?” she said with a grin.

  I tried to ignore her but had a feeling she wouldn’t leave unless I acknowledged her presence. “For your information, we’re trying something new. Mixing it up. Maybe you guys should try it.”

  I turned back to the Grizzlies. “Ok, everyone, do your sun salutations.”

  “Say hi to the sun for me,” she sniffed.

  “Go back to the mall,” said Ian.

  As soon as Clementine walked away, Ian got up from the mat. “Hey, everyone,” he said. “Guess who I am?” He started prancing across the floor with his hands on his hips. He gave his imaginary audience a serious stare, then shimmied down to the floor into a split (or his version of a split).

  “That was a pretty good Clementine imitation,” said Tabitha Sue.

  “But Clementine would remember to point her toes in that split,” said Jacqui.

  “I was doing an imitation-not an actual cheer,” growled Ian.


  “I think Ian likes to dance more than he lets on,” said Jared.

  “Do not, Twinkle Toes!” barked Ian.

  Jared made a face. “Call me names all you want. I’m proud of my dance ability. Speaking of,” he said proudly, addressing the team. “I’ve been DVRing So You Think You Can Dance, and I can basically do all the moves on the show.”

  “You mean, like the part where the team bows at the end?” quipped Ian.

  Jared continued, ignoring Ian. “I was thinking Jacqui and Maddy might want to add some of my moves to our new routine. Watch. And. Learn.”

  Before we could look away, Jared did a series of head bobbles and awkward kicks, and even attempted to break-dance. It was pretty brutal to watch. I could see Jacqui was trying to hold back giggles.

  “Thank you for um . . . that,” I said to Jared. “We’ll keep some of those moves in mind.” Uh . . . yeah, for when we need a good laugh.

  “Ok, ok, guys,” said Jacqui, clapping her hands together. “Enough playing around. Let’s get back to our own routine, shall we?”

  Immediately, everyone got into formation. That’s something I really love about our team. They know when they’ve had enough goofing-off time and when it’s time to get serious.

  Jacqui continued to drive her point home. “You guys say you want to be like the Titans?” she asked. “Well, you can’t get there”-she pointed across the gym to where Clementine and Marie were demonstrating advanced basket tosses to the rest of the Titans-“without starting here.”

  I caught Tabitha Sue staring at them in awe, her eyes glazing over as one of the Titan flyers was propelled upward into a pike, and as she started to fall she went into a toe-touch before landing in a cradle. Then Tabitha Sue seemed to snap back to attention and turned to the rest of the team. “Let’s go, guys,” she said. “No pain, no gain.”

  Jacqui and I gave each other a look that said, “We’ve created a monster-and that is totally awesome.”

  Which got me thinking-I guess the team WILL be just fine without me.

  We practiced the routine until our limbs felt like they might come off. Everyone was red in the face from the millions of jumps we’d been practicing. As I bent over my knees to catch my breath, I saw that some of the squad were already heading toward the locker rooms.

  “Wait!” I shouted. “I need to ask you guys something.” Four heads turned to me at once.

  Jacqui just smiled, like what I was about to say was no big deal.

  I took a deep breath. “My dad invited me to go to New York with him next week, but I wanted to make sure you’d be ok if-”

  “I love ze New York!” squealed Katarina, not letting me complete my sentence. “Ze Big Apple! I always have dreaming of going there. You can go to museum!”

  “Oh, Madison, there are so many Broadway shows you have to see! I’ll tell you everything you need to know,” said Jared.

  “I know.” I beamed. “So are you guys saying you don’t mind if I go?” I asked.

  “Are you kidding?” said Tabitha Sue dreamily. “You have to go! Just think of the celebrity sightings.”

  “There’s so much I want to do there,” I admitted. “But what I’m really excited about is the fashion.” As I thought about it, I started to get even more excited. “It’s the home of Vogue! And Fashion Week!” I exclaimed.

  “And the Rockettes,” said Matt, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. He closed his eyes and sighed, with a smile. “Ah, the Christmas Leg Spectacular.”

  “Seriously,” said Jacqui. “You have problems. But speaking of legs, none of you are leaving without stretching first. I don’t want any injuries while Maddy’s gone.”

  Everyone groaned.

  Everyone except me . I was so relieved that my teammates were cool with my announcement that I could have stretched for hours.

  Everyone who I’ve asked about my going is practically pushing me onto that plane. Hmm . . . either my family and friends really want to get rid of me for a week, or I look like I’m in MAJOR need of a vacation.

  Whatever the reason, all signs are pointing to me going. So there. There is no reason NOT to say yes to this trip.

  Jacqui and I stayed late as planned to go over what the team will do the week I am gone. The Grizzlies are in for a grisly surprise (Get it? Ha-ha.). We planned one day that will be intensely tumbling based, another with tons of jumps (not so diff from today’s practice), and another that’s going to be an insane amount of dancing. Not to mention the mandatory laps that Jacqui is planning on having them do.

  “Don’t worry, they’ll be fine,” she assured me, as I looked over the week’s roster.

  “Just promise me, if someone passes out, you’ll take it down a notch. Ok?”

  Jacqui laughed like the Wicked Witch of the West (she was really getting into character today!). “Just kidding. I know when to lighten up.”

  “Suuuure you do,” I said.

  So I finally called Dad to tell him my decision.

  “Oh, Madison! That is just delightful news!”

  Delightful? Who says that?

  “Yeah,” I said. “It will be fun.”

  “Well, thank goodness you said yes, because I have to admit-I’ve already bought the ticket.”

  “Daaad!” I whined. “That’s a lot of money wasted if I had said no.” “Good thing I had a feeling you’d say yes,” he teased. “I’m going to call Beth right now!” I could hear him smiling on the other end of the phone.

  Ah, yes. The only bummer part of the equation-a whole week with Beth. Well, as Jacqui says, no pain, no gain, right?

  Ok, well, off to Evan’s now to tell him the big news. Fingers crossed he takes it as well as everyone else (even though something inside tells me that’s not going to happen). . . .

  LATER, COMFY ON MY COUCH

  The walk to Evan’s from the coffeehouse was fuh-reezing. When exactly did Port Angeles turn into Antarctica?? I passed the familiar streets leading to his house, noticing as I got closer that the lawns were getting bigger and bigger and the houses were taking up more space on them. The two of us used to walk to his house after school almost every day-way before I joined the squad. Sometimes we’d race there, making up dorky rules like, “You can only hop the rest of the way,” or “Quack like a duck as you’re running.” But that was a loooooong time ago. As I took the last turn on the way to his house, I realized I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d been to Evan’s! It dawned on me that we really haven’t been seeing much of each other. Maybe it’s because of how much time I spend cheering, or maybe it’s because Bevan and I have been hanging out a lot. Or maybe it’s because we’ve grown apart since our racing days.

  I reached up to knock on the door in the one area that was not covered by the enormous Christmas wreath his mom puts up every year. I waited, but no one answered. Boy, was I grateful for my new black knit gloves with sparkles on them. They’re so cool because you can wear them either fingerless or the regular way.

  Finally (what felt like ten years later) he answered. His eyes seemed to soften a little when he looked at me. Weird.

  “Sorry,” said Evan, closing the door behind me. “I didn’t hear the doorbell.”

  The speakers were blasting with the telltale sound of his favorite game.

  “Oh, don’t worry about little ol’ me freezing my brains off out here,” I said, shivering, and headed for one of the old-fashioned radiators to get the blood flowing back in my fingers.

  “It’s time for some hot chocolate, STAT. Remember, our tradition?” I asked.

  Winter break has always been a big Evan and Maddy week. Every year we’ve made, like, six different types of hot chocolate and had a blind tasting. The highest rated hot chocolate recipe would accompany us as we watched cheesy Christmas movies.

  Evan smiled. “I thought you forgot. We didn’t exactly make plans,” he said, with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

  “Gee, I didn’t know we were so formal.”

  He shrugged.


  We went into the kitchen to start pulling some spices. I’m a big fan of cinnamon in mine, and he is all about the vanilla.

  “Well, to tell you the truth,” said Evan, “I already ordered a bunch of DVDs for us to watch. I figured either you’d come over, or you wouldn’t, but tradition’s tradition. Gotta have my Christmas movie fix.”

  I winced. I hate to disappoint good ol’ E, especially since I’m the one to bring up our hot chocolate and movie thing. And now I had to cancel it. I’m a monster.

  “Actually,” I said, “that’s kinda why I stopped by. There’s a going to be a bit of a change in plans this year. See, I’m actually going away with my dad for the rest of break. We leave on Sunday.”

  “Oh,” said Evan, obviously surprised. He was quiet for a few beats. “That’s cool,” he said finally. I could hear the little squeak in his voice that always comes when he’s disappointed.

  “Yeah, we’re going to New York City. Me, Dad, and Business Beth.” I made a serious/mean face as I said Beth’s name, hoping Evan would laugh at my Beth imitation like he normally does.

  He didn’t. Ugh.

  I stirred some milk into my drink to fill the silence.

  “So, just wondering, how long did it take you to tell me you were leaving? I’m surprised you didn’t just call from the plane at this point.” He was trying to sound like he was just joking, but I could hear that he was annoyed.

  “I’m not leaving. It’s a vacation. And it was super last-minute. I just decided I was going about an hour ago,” I said.

  “Whatever,” said Evan, playing with a button on his shirt (which, BTW, looked like he had raided a hippie’s closet-it had those oversize cuffs and a huge collar. Saturday Night Fever much?).

  “I thought you’d have to stick around since you’re a captain,” he said. “At least, Katie told me that this week is one of the most important practice weeks of the year.”

  He knew he was dealing me a low blow. Mentioning Katie Parker is his way of hitting a nerve, and trying to make me feel guilty about cheer in the process-well, that’s a double hitter. Boy, he’s good.