Coach's Daughter

5.

Chapter 5.

I decided that, overall, yesterday had been a good first day of public school. Tae was only in a few of my classes, but Kelsey was in almost all of my classes. There was only one class that I didn't have either of them in, and that was home economics, and we were in assigned groups there anyway.

Throughout the day, I had met more friendly people than I could ever hope to keep straight. Seriously, I worried that it would take me until the end of the year to learn everyone's names. Among the friendly faces Kelsey introduced me to were most of the freshman cheerleaders, all of whom were on JV. That had been one of Kelsey's not-so-subtle hints that I needed to join cheer.

This morning, Kelsey practically tackled me at my locker. "So please tell me you decided to try out for the cheer team," she squealed, fidgeting impatiently while I grabbed my Algebra book, notebook and pencil case.

I gave her a half-hearted smile. "I don't know. I mean, I'd like to, but I'm not sure my dad will agree to it. He might think it's too dangerous."

Kelsey laughed and raised her eyebrows, not quite seeming to believe me. "Seriously?" she asked, shaking her head. "Your dad, the football coach, is worried about cheerleading being dangerous? What about his football players? They're tackled every game! What about them getting hurt?" She said all of this without taking a breath, and was finally forced to pause for air.

"I mean, yeah, cheer is a very demanding and physical sport, but at least you aren't being tackled," she continued.

"What's up? Who's being tackled?" Tae asked, walking up carrying her Spanish textbook, which is the class she had first period.

Kelsey grinned. "Apparently, Lilly thinks her dad will say that cheerleading is 'too dangerous,'" she said. "Or maybe she just doesn't want to go out for the team, but doesn't want to admit it."

Tae rolled her eyes. "You'd be surprised how controlling an overprotective Dad is, Kelsey," she said, defending me. "My dad won't even let me go to a school dance unless Zach is going to be there to supervise. I doubt he'd let me go out for any sports teams. Seriously, I wouldn't get to do anything if Zach didn't make sure Dad let me out of the house sometimes."

I smiled at her, thankful to have a friend who understood how difficult it was to live with my dad. "Have you seen Finding Nemo?" I asked. Kelsey nodded. "Well, my dad is just like Nemo's dad. He loves me, but he doesn't always see things the way other people do when it has anything to do with me. I think he's afraid something bad is going to happen to me, so he has to do everything in his power to prevent it."

Kelsey was quiet for a moment, and I could tell she was trying to think of a clever response. "Well, I dare you to touch the butt," she smirked. "Come try out for cheer after school. If your dad won't let you try new things because he's afraid to get hurt, maybe we need to show him how much you're capable of. Hey, it worked for Nemo."

"Fine," I sighed dramatically, grinning to let them know I was kidding. "I'll do it." Laughing, we walked to our first period classes, and I couldn't help the smile spreading across my face. It was good to have friends.

________

Later that day, Kelsey and I went to the library for our fourth period class, a study hall. We walked over to the table we sat at yesterday and set our stuff down on the table. I looked around the library, and small butterflies formed in my stomach at the sight of the senior football players sitting on the other side of the library.