What's on the Agenda?

[FlockOfHens]

((Inessa Highman-Roberts continued from 静けさ))

Inessa had made her way over to the entrance of the Stadium with her camera in hand. It was already a few minutes after school, and most of the other students were gone. She would be at home to catch up reading Sasaki and Miyano, but instead, she stayed behind to help with the School Yearbook. If she remembered correctly, they were mostly done with getting the picture of all the school's events, even with a few student quotes here and there.

But it wasn't until the teacher reviewed some of the photos themselves that they noticed how horrible they were. It turned out one of the Junior students had gotten lazy with their pictures and tried to hide them through Photoshop, with poor results. Not only did the club receive an earful, but they were forced to fix their mistakes. Thankfully, only the group photos of some of the clubs and teams were affected, so it wasn't much of a hassle to fix.

As she finally approached the stadium, she looked over the football field to find a few other students practicing. There were a few athletic teams that she had already taken pictures of, such as the track and field team practicing their long-distance running. However, there was one other team she needed to focus on.

The Cheerleaders.

[LYourLocalAutist]

"ONE, TWO, THREE! ONE, TWO, THREE!

Cheerleading is serious stuff.

[Sylvie Rattray-Aubert continued from Touch of Crate]

You think, when you're watching all those pretty girls motivate the current given sports team at the big game™ it's simple, right? They're just flipping around and doing kicks and lifting each other up. You don't particularly think about the physical connotations of the literal acrobatic miracles they teach these girls to contort their bodies to perform on this field. Heel stretch. Toe touch. Scale cupie torch arabesque. Not to mention just getting thrown into the air to do a bunch of flips and get caught by your friends, all expending that precious lung capacity to belt out a few of the corniest chants known to man. However, these girls are doing it. All to rally the team and preserve the spirit. That, you had to admit, was pretty incredible. Sylvie thought so at least.

Skirts ruffling, hair whipping, pom poms shaking all around, Sylvie at around the centre of the formation. Among her people. They'd been practicing this routine for a few sessions; a new one of Ms. Harper's design, and it was impressive. The girls had already become proficient despite the skilful movement it required. Sneakers beating against the grass. All thrill, no stress. Varsity means something around here, y'know. She smiles broadly as she moves left, right, juts and jives in perfect sync with her friends. Nowhere else she'd rather be at the moment.

Finishing the routine off, she and a few others on the team jump, are lifted, and fly. It's their job, after all. Doesn't even have to be actual flying (though Sylvie gets quite excited when it is), just the height of it gets her all cheery (hah). She's got all the right allocations for it. Been her specialty since freshman year. And there, on top of the world, high enough to see everything:

"GOOOOOO RATTLERS!"

Followed by that iconic hissing. What a cool mascot, Sylvie thought. Cheer had a way of lifting her up physically and emotionally. She took a small moment to appreciate this as she was let off the cheer pyramid's wild ride. Landing with grace. Nailed it, smiles and encouragement all around. Lost in a world little enough she didn't notice the photographer over at the stadium entrance.

[FlockOfHens]

Inessa quietly walked down to the stadium to watch the cheerleaders practice. Each girl was caught up in a routine of tumbling, backflipping, high-kicking, and literally being thrown into the air and caught by other cheerleaders. Most of them were too busy to notice her. She even recognized Sylvie on the team practicing a dance on the grass. Nonetheless, it was very impressive.

Overlooking the dance was the cheerleading coach, Mrs. Harper, who was conducting all the correct moves performed by the girls. She was focused on the cheerleaders as she called out to them. "UP AND AT 'EM LADIES, LET'S FINISH THIS OFF WITH THE FINAL JUMP!!!" As if on cue, a few girls, along with Sylvie, were launched into the air as they performed a few flips. Inessa looked closely to see Sylvie smile as she was caught by her friends below her. The team finishes their dance with a final pose, followed by the iconic hissing. Classic.

"THERE WE GO!! Alright, everyone, five-minute water break!" Mrs. Harper said to the team as they disbanded to the nearby bleachers. After being distracted by the training, Inessa finally called out to the coach. "Hi, Coach Harper!" The cheerleading coach looked over to see Inessa approaching her. "Well, hey there! Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yeah, totally!" Inessa replied, holding her camera. "I was wondering if I could get a few pictures of the Cheerleading squad; the yearbook club needs a few more photos." Mrs. Harper looked confused at her statement. "Didn't Yearbook already get their fill? I thought the Pep Rally performance was more than enough!" It was true, the Pep Rally had already made things perfect. If she were to tell the truth about the dismal fate of those photos, she was sure the coach would flip. Literally, she might still be agile enough to do a few front flips on the field. Either that or sit through another rant just like what happened back at the club.

"Yeah, well, y'know..."

[LYourLocalAutist]

whhhOOOooh. Finishing a routine left three things in its wake: refined skill, a warm feeling of accomplishment and around 15 girls who were sweatyyyy. For once, Sylvie felt thankful for the nippy weather; wind against her skin combined with a nice bottle of water (thanks, Juanito) made for perfect refreshments. She sat herself on a nearby bench to let rest seep in a moment, and trailed her eyes across the field. Everyone was around in their own little worlds. Clarissa had gone off for a quick shower just a few moments ago, Marcy and Kasta were off to the side chatting about some manner of vandalism probably, Ebony, Stella, Margo, Lightning and Alexis and Vivian and Coach Harper and Inessa and

...Wait, when did Inessa join cheer?

Oh, she had her camera. She hadn't joined, she was here for pictures! ...Which did strike Sylvie as a little strange as she picked herself up and approached her coach from behind. Yearbook had gotten their share of snaps of the varsity team during the big pep rally first semester. Things became apparent as she got closer, got a clear look at Inessa's face. Some weak deflections, some nervous demeanour, something had come up. Something Inessa was real worried about. Sylvie didn't like seeing that kind of thing in basically anyone at school, so she decided to help out. Putting on an easy smile, she jutted into the conversation, over Inessa's meandering.

"Oh, Inessa! Hiii! Here for more pictures?"

Mrs. Harper's eyes widened in slight surprise noticing one of her cheerleaders' sudden appearance, but they quickly relaxed and she broke into her own warm smile, replying, seemingly in Inessa's stead.

"Sylvie! Great work out there— and yes, I do believe Ms. Highman-Roberts here is here for pictures— but her club should have all it needs, don't you agree?"

Sylvie's smile somehow turned even gentler, a bit disarming really. Very sweet expression she could use to her advantage when needed, face you couldn't say no to, especially if you were a Coach staring down at your star flyer (who gets to be a little egotistical about her skills sometimes as a treat shush).

"Maybe, but it never hurts to have more options, does it? That's what you always tell us about our routines."

Mrs. Harper thought a moment, hands to her hips. Her brow barely had time to furrow in contemplation before she nodded. "Well, I suppose you're right. The floor is yours, Inessa." She smiled broadly, nodding at the girl with the camera before walking off and leaving both girls alone, and Sylvie satisfied with her performance in (what she was at least hoping was) helping out.

[FlockOfHens]

Explaining the situation to the cheerleading coach proved difficult, and it seemed like Mrs. Harper was already proud of the Pep Rally performance. What can she say to her? The perfect picture of the team forming the pyramid got diluted through Photoshop, and instead of making a copy, the original was overwritten by accident? Pretty sure that revelation had screwed the club over big time.

Thankfully, there wasn't much else to say when the varsity team's star flyer appeared behind her coach. It appeared that Sylvie had already gotten a good read of Inessa's situation and had persuaded Mrs. Harper to let her take more pictures. After giving her permission, the coach walked off to attend to different matters.

"Thank you, Coach!" Inessa said as Mrs. Harper left. She then turned over to Sylvie, now relaxed. "Thanks to you as well, Sylvie! For a second there I though I was going to collapse."

[LYourLocalAutist]

Sylvie took a moment to watch her Coach's back get farther and farther away before turning her full attention back up (as usual) to Inessa, politely clasping her hands together behind her back as she smiled. She could always do it like a picture, especially around friends. She replied;

"It's no problem, Inessa. You don't deserve all that trouble for..."

She cut herself off and blinked. Right! She'd gone and relieved Inessa of duty based off of... the vibe! Well, it surely couldn't be that big a deal, whatever she was here for. Sylvie could at least recognize it was for pictures! What malicious intent can you have in taking pictures of cheerleaders?

...Okay, quite a bit, but not with Inessa!

"...Well, it is just new yearbook pictures you need, right? We're on break now, but I'm sure you can get good stuff of our rehearsals in a few minutes."

[FlockOfHens]

Inessa had smiled at the offer. "Correct! All I need is a few shots of you're guy's practice and I'll be set. Maybe you could even do a team pose with everyone!"

As she talked to Sylvie, she couldn't help but analyze the high flyer more. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that this was probably one of the few times they'd interacted with each other. It may have mostly been due to being in different classes, but also because they each had hobbies parallel to each other. While Inessa mostly interacts with electronics and the arts, Sylvie fully embraces her position in cheerleading and soared through heights in popularity.

It would be impossible to try and strike up idle banter. As she looked around, most of the girls here were way out of her league to try and befriend. some of them had their own goals and hobbies in mind. It felt weird about how envious she was of their looks.

Inessa snapped back to reality to talk to Sylvie. "Anyways, the routine your team has is impressive!"

[LYourLocalAutist]

Sylvie smiled broadly at Inessa's suggestion.

"That's the plan, actually! Coach Harper's on the warpath for the nationals with her new routines."

She chuckled a bit at her own comparison. It was only half a laugh out of actual humour. The other half was a laugh trying to alleviate some small kind of tension present in that sentence in the form of a truth. She looked back out on the field, at her kin; All about as beat as her, and they were only, what, halfway through today's practice? Sylvie loved Ms. Harper, but the woman really knew how to put her own team through the wringer when she wanted to.

...She couldn't help but agree with Inessa's outsider assessment though; it was a very impressive routine. If anything, it touched Sylvie that her coach had such faith in her team to pull it off.

"I'd hope so!" She chirped cheerily. "We don't wanna let any of our teams down."

[FlockOfHens]

The thought of how intense the routines actually are made Inessa chuckle a bit. While the high jumps and cartwheels did seem easy, that was because most of the girls had been practicing for several months, and under the watchful eyes of their coach. It reminded her of that one anime scene where the protagonist had to go through an intense training arc to avenge their parent's murder. Was it weird to imagine Sylvie as an anime character?

Aside from that, Inessa had looked around the squad as they were on break. She seemed to recognize most of them (especially Marcy, who's probably on bad terms with her), while she may have only seen others once in last year's yearbook. However, it did give her an idea of how she wanted the final picture to turn out. Actually, maybe a few. Okay, she has several, but she wasn't sure what would suit the team best. There was a lot of potential to fix this year's photos, all of which had different solutions. She could try redoing the pose at the Pep Rally, but maybe they can do better.

Inessa turned over to Sylvie for advice. "So I might have a few ideas about how we'll do the final team photo, but I may need some insight..."

[LYourLocalAutist]

Insight? She could give that. Like she did with most things she worked on, Sylvie already had the entire routine memorized top to bottom, start to finish. If there was a best pose for Inessa to take a photo that would be proudly displayed across a whole page or two of the yearbook of, it would have to be...

"The routine ends in a human pyramid! Everyone's part of it."

She beamed. It was honestly one of her personal favourite parts! Who didn't like being on top of the world (your friends)? Sylvie's interest was piqued now, in how Inessa could capture that climactic moment. Coach Harper would certainly be proud for it to be in the yearbook.

[FlockOfHens]

The pyramid, how could she forget? It was a classical yet powerful pose that any cheer team could use!

[+] It was also less complicated than what Inessa envisioned...

But anyway, the pyramid can be perfect for the final photo! It not only shows the results of their training but also represents the triangle, which is a symbol of strength and power. And judging by how Mrs. Harper leads the team, that would be what she wants to see. So it seems that

"I think that can work! Maybe if-" Before she could finish her sentence, she noticed a few other girls returning to the fields. Mrs. Harper was returning on the tracks alongside them.

"Uhhh, I think water break's over."

[LYourLocalAutist]

Sylvie was just nodding along to what would've been the beginning of Inessa's yap, in that way that looks like you're only half-paying attention but you're actually giving your complete attention you swear, when she heard that familiar pitter-patter begin behind her. Inessa's words as Sylvie turned around to face it only confirmed the reality: Break time was over. Aww man.

She scrambled slightly to make sure her outfit was up to scruff (photos were about to get taken of her!!) before quickly addressing Inessa one more time.

"Oh- feel free to take as many as you like! Hope you get something good!"

She really did. With that, Sylvie was off to rejoin her fellows and restart the routine for, what, third time that day? She'd get it in the bag. For the yearbook.

[FlockOfHens]

"Yes ma'am!" She said jokingly, giving Sylvie a salute.

Without missing a beat, Inessa walked near the fields as each cheerleader had already taken their position. The girls had stood still as they readied themselves to practice their routine again. They each bore a black and red palette on their uniforms, with ponytails held in a bow, pom-poms in both hands, and smiles across their faces. Inessa kneeled on the running tracks, positioning her camera to them as she held it near her face. Through the lens, she saw her classmate's determination shine behind their smiles, focused on their coach.

Speaking of, Mrs. Harper was on some nearby bleachers behind Inessa as she called on her students. "ALRIGHT EVERYONE!!! FROM THE TOP, JUST LIKE LAST TIME!!!"

The shrill sound of a whistle echoed through the football field.

[LYourLocalAutist]

Sylvie made sure every single little thing was in order as she jogged over to her position in line. Skirt and shirt and sleeves and leggings and pom-poms and the bow tie always the bow tie. She was very particular about presentation. All her teammates were. That was by Coach Harper's instruction. 'You're not just being looked at as a group, but as individuals'. ...Lowkey bit of a creepy thing to tell high schoolers, but moving on. It was time to lock in.

In position. Breath in, breath out. Out came the command, then the whistle—

Move.

In nigh-perfect synchronisation, Red Rock's varsity cheer team started to do just that. Dances, flips, chants. The entire five miles, every girl giving it their 100%. Well-oiled machine of movement and motivation and pretty women. Certainly a photogenic sight to see.

[FlockOfHens]

It truly was a photogenic sight to behold.

Click. The ruffling of pom-poms.

Click. The combination of frontflips and cartwheels.

Click. The girls chanting as they raised their hands in the air.

Inessa had watched the routine through the eyes of her camera, and boy they were going at it. There was a ton of movement and dancing happening all at once, and she did her best to catch up. The Cheer Team clearly worked themselves to the bone as Mrs. Harper continued to shout out commands from them. In the midst of the practice, she even saw Sylvie dance away with a clear smile on her face, filled with joy and determination. Her time on the squad had show just how amazing she can truly be. A part of her wanted to stop and truly admire their craft, but her job was to fix her club's yearbook photos, not sit around and watch.