Monica’s ‘So Gone’ blasted through the large speakers of the gym as students occupied it by filling up the bleachers. Everyone was separated not only by grade, but by race, unfortunately. Basically, most of the white and popular students sat on one side and the black students sat on the other.
Justin furrowed his eyebrows when he walked into the gym, behind his friend Trace. It wasn’t like this was his first rally and he’d never seen the school segregate themselves in the way they did; but he thought they would get over it. Apparently no one had. Justin followed Trace up a few levels of the bleachers and sat on the end. They weren’t too far up from the bottom, and Justin was grateful. He wasn’t a fan of heights. He wasn’t scared, but he’d avoid them if he could. Mark, who was sitting above them, tapped Justin on the shoulder.
“Why aren’t you sitting on the other side?” He yelled over the music, which had now switched to Clipse’s ‘When The Last Time’.
Justin turned to Mark and rolled his eyes, “Kiss my ass, Mark and stop talking out of yours…it’s starting to get old.”
Trace nudged Justin and pointed to the cheerleaders. Justin’s eyes focussed on them as they stiffly danced to the music with cheesy smiles plastered on their faces. Their baby blue and maroon uniforms singled them out as they pranced around the gym trying to encourage others with their school spirit. Their pom-poms razzled and dazzled in the air, while they were firmly clasped to their hands. They then separated and went to different sections of the gym. Victoria still smiled, even though she was getting stares from the black students sitting in the stands on that side of the gym. Her smile faded though, when she noticed a group of girls standing in a cluster at the back door of the gym. She recognized their uniforms and her smile quickly transformed into a scowl, but back to a smile when she noticed her coach eyeing her.
Knowing she’d be cheered up, she walked over to the other side of the gym, where she knew she was welcome. As she assumed, people clapped for the tricks that were done and participated in their little games.
*
Melanie stood in the back of the gym with the rest of her teammates and watched the cheerleaders contemptuously. She crossed her arms over her chest as Nicole worked on the ball of mess on the back of her head. Melanie’s head jerked at the tugs of Nicole’s comb, but her eyes stayed glued to one person. Victoria simply made her blood boil. She found joy in making Melanie’s life miserable, which she’d done earlier in their high school years. It also didn’t help that they’d been competing against each other since about the fifth grade.
Chasity came up beside her now, “Hey, girl. Are you nervous?”
“Nope.” Melanie said, her eyes still transfixed on the events taking place in front of her. “I’m past nervousness. Now it’s anxiety. I’m ready to throw this shit down and get it over with.”
Chasity grinned, “Me too, man. Some of the sophomores are nervous though. I told them not to show that they’re nervous or else that will screw everything up, but I don’t know if that helped.”
Melanie sighed, “Nicole, are you done with my hair?”
“Yeah, girl.” She said and sprayed a little more hairspray on top of her head.
Melanie turned around and signaled to the girls standing in the back to walk out the door. They’d be going on in about 5 minutes, and Melanie didn’t have time for girls to be nervous. When they’d gotten outside, some girls began to shiver because of the cold air that hit them rapidly.
Melanie spoke anyway, “Who the hell is nervous? Y’all don’t have time to be nervous! Do you guys understand that? It would be something different if we were scheduled to perform, but we’re not. We’re performing because we need to defend ourselves and let them know that they can’t walk all over us. If they see some of us nervous, they’re not gonna take us seriously.”
Chasity came in, “Yeah, don’t worry about how you look. Yo people will support you anyway. You know all the ghetto ass black people are gonna jump up for you.”
Some girls laughed. Melanie had to admit, that Chasity would probably be the one the girls went to when she’d get on them. Chasity was definitely the nicer one of them both when it came to regulating the team.
“Now, let’s go in there like we’re the shit cause dammit…we are.” Melanie said and led the girls back into the warm gym.
As soon as the steppers walked into the gym, the principal introduced the cheerleaders and they began their routine. They were supposed to do two, but today they wouldn’t even get to finish one. Melanie poked her head around a corner and made eye contact with the DJ, Trevante. He nodded at her when he saw her looking at him expectantly, letting her know that he knew when to cue their music.
Melanie rubbed the sweat off her palms onto her shorts and told everyone to make sure their shoes were tied. She didn’t need anyone falling and hurting themselves, also being embarrassed. Now, that beat they were waiting for was coming up in a matter of eight seconds and Melanie raised her hand, signaling to her teammates. Their faces were alert upon waiting, and finally it came. They sucked it up like the last drop of soda in a can, and used everything to refresh themselves and the crowd by coming in with quick cartwheels, large leaps, fast turns, and brought it all together by hitting a pose.
The crowd cheered as the cheerleaders stood in awe next to the steppers. They had absolutely no clue what they were supposed to be doing and the fire surged in Victoria’s eyes as Melanie stood next to her, still holding her pose, sucking up the crowd’s roars with a large smile. Discretely, she averted her eyes to Trevante, who was waiting for the signal, and started up their music.
Joe Budden’s, “Pump It Up” came on, and the students went wild as the steppers began their dance routine. The cheerleaders still stood, confused until the steppers began to dance around them, circling them and teasing them. By then, they were forced to ‘prance’ off stage and the steppers brought their attention back to the students, who were already dancing in the stands. Melanie called out different formations and the girls executed them flawlessly. Even with their elaborate and detailed hip-hop, they still managed to add in the delicacy and sassiness of ballet and jazz.
The music stopped, as rehearsed, and immediately cut to, Lil’ Bow Wow’s “Basketball” in honor of basketball season. The students cheered more as the step squad did a step that went along with the beat of the song. Their moves were sharp again as they created the flawless beat just by creatively clapping their hands and stomping their feet. The song ended, and the girls ended with the splits, each going down simultaneously. They got their last applause as they ran off the gym floor.
When they were outside the gym, they congratulated each other animatedly with hugs and high-fives. The girls were ecstatic and shared their happiness equally. But, it seemed like there was always a rain on their parade, and the rain cloud had been hovering over them for quite some time now.
**
Justin looked down with sympathy when he saw Victoria, tears in her eyes, slam down her pom-poms and storm out the gym. A few girls followed after her, but Justin was the first one to get up. He followed her rapid pace and called her name. She didn’t stop, so he grabbed her arm.
“Victoria…sweetie.” He said softly.
She turned and looked at him, her eyes wide and tears at the brim. “I can’t believe what just happened.” She whined and buried her head into his chest.
Justin stroked the curls in her ponytail, and rubbed her back comfortingly as she cried softly. “It’s okay, baby.”
Victoria’s sobs became silent now. Her tear stained face looked up at him with confusion. “It’s okay?” she scoffed with disbelief. “It’s not okay, Justin! Did you see what just happened in there? I was humiliated in front of my peers and all you can say is, ‘It’s Okay?’”
Justin widened his eyes all little from shock at her outburst. He honestly didn’t know what else to say because he thought the steppers’ performance was good. But, he thought Victoria would realize he was trying to be nice. “Well, I mean…it’s just one rally. There are more on the way, and then you guys will have competitions and stuff. It’s really not the end of the world, Vicky.”
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were on their side!” she accused and pointed her finger at him. “It’s true isn’t it?” she pressed on, “All the rumors are true…you wanna be with them. You hang out with them after school when you think we aren’t looking. Do you participate in their things, Justin? Are you becoming on of those ni-”
“HEY! First of all, you have no right to talk like that, or use that type of language.” He scolded.
“Yes, I do…oh wait. Does it offend you or something?” She mocked.
“Yeah, it does actually. And I’m offended by the fact that you, my girlfriend, let people talk about me behind my back without sticking up for me or letting me know! If you wanna know something about me, then ask me.” Justin said.
Victoria crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to her back leg. “Okay…fine. Are you playing basketball?”
Justin hesitated, “Yeah.”
She shook her head, “Does your mother know you play ‘ball’…is that how they say it?”
Justin rolled his eyes, and tapped his foot, “No…”
“Are you talking to that bitch, Melanie?”
“No…not to start a relationship at least.”
“Well, then are you talking to her…period?” She insisted.
Justin didn’t know what to say for a moment and he contemplated telling her the truth, “No…not really.”
“What do you mean ‘not really’?” she demanded loudly.
Justin sighed, “She called me last night about the English homework.”
“And that’s all you guys talked about?”
“Yes,” He lied.
“How long did you two talk?” she inquired further.
“Does that matter?” he saw the look on Victoria’s face and reluctantly answered, “I don’t remember, to be…honest. Not that long though,” He lied again. He was getting tired of lying when he didn’t know whether or not he should be.
Victoria then head the loud chatter of Melanie and some others, and her face immediately stiffened. She pushed past Justin and made her way to the sounds. Some of the cheerleaders that were scattered about, followed her. After turning a few corners, she saw Melanie, Chasity, Nicole, LaVita, Joya, and two other girls that she didn’t know the name of, standing around talking. It didn’t matter if she knew them or not, the thing she did know was that they were wearing those uniforms. The uniforms that separated them from the rest, and made them think that they were better than the rest. Victoria was ready to show them that they weren’t.
“Melanie!’ She yelled from the end of the hallway.
Melanie snapped her head in her direction and a smirk came upon her mocha face. She walked toward Victoria, taking her time and the girls followed. Victoria quickened her pace however, and breathed heavily with anger.
As Victoria came closer to Melanie, she was pulled back by strong arms.
“Justin! Let me go!” she yelled.
Justin ignored her and carried her further from Melanie. Victoria’s skirt flew up as she kicked her legs and flailed her arms in order to get out of her boyfriend’s grasp.
“Put the bitch down, Justin,” Melanie challenged by calling to his retreating form.
Justin turned and looked at Melanie like she was crazy. He shook his head and continued to walk. “Put her down!” He heard Melanie call. “Let her get what’s coming to her.”
Justin continued to walk, however until he reached the gym. He took Victoria back to the cheerleaders, oblivious to everyone looking at the two. Justin then returned to his seat next to Trace with a heavy sigh.
Trace turned to him, “What happened?”
“I’ll tell you later,” Justin said, and Trace rolled his eyes.
Justin ignored his action because his attention was averted to the basketball coach.
“This year, I think we’ll have a great basketball team…especially Varsity. So, I’d like to invite you all interested to come out next Wednesday and tryout. You can try out for either Freshman/Sophomore, Junior Varsity, or Varsity,” Coach Walker informed. He scratched the stubble on his chin.
“And the lovely ladies you just saw perform, the steppers, perform like that at every basketball game. I assure you, they will be more than happy to help you guys out if you have any questions or you want to know what to expect. Talk to them. They are my eyes and ears at the school,” He grinned at them as they walked in the side door to go sit down. They waved gratefully and allowed him to finish talking. “Also, they’ve been performing every night at different courts for Chicago’s street ball week. This time, the boys that are participating decided to represent us as a school and today we’d like to take the time to recognize them.” Walker reached toward the shelf under the podium and pulled out a folder and a box. Inside the box, there were appreciation ribbons and certificates signed by the mayor, Coach Walker, and the principal.
“Now, we’d like to acknowledge the boys participating in street ball week. As a token of our appreciation, we’d like to give y’all a certificate and a ribbon. The first award goes to Jerome, whose nickname is ‘Hot Sauce’ for street ball week.”
Jerome stood up and made his way down the bleachers as the coach went over his statistics and averages in games.
Justin cringed with trepidation as he watched Jerome proudly accept his award. Justin knew his time was coming and the closeer it got, the more scared he got. He’d been doing a good job at trying to keep his dream away from his friends. He knew they’d look down on him as if he were an outcast playing another man’s sport. All the rumors would be confirmed as the truth and he was to get talked about even more.
“This next young man, they call him ‘The Jet’…” Justin took a deep breath and closed his eyes. They would say his nickname and further humiliation would come his way. His palms began to sweat as his stomach began to flop uncontrollably.
“This next fella is new to the whole ‘street ball’ thing…”
Justin’s eyes jerked open quickly and horror seeped through his body.
“It’s his first year at Calumet as a senior. He averages 25 to 30 points a game and his game can only get better. Please give a warm welcome to Justin Timberlake, who they call the ‘Milk Man’.
Justin’s face turned a slight shade of crimson as people cheered for him. Slowly and reluctantly, his long legs stretched down as he descended down the bleachers, causing people to move aside and give him room. When he finally reached the gym floor, he shook hands with the coach and stood next to his teammates. As the coach introduced Mike and Damien, Justin’s blue eyes peered around the gym.
All the people he associated with were whispering and pointing fingers at him. He felt as if all the lights were only shining down on him. His eyes then landed on Melanie and she raised her eyebrows at him. However, her look wasn’t a satisfied one. She looked as if he’d done something wrong and she’d just caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. Justin furrowed his eyebrows with confusion and rolled his eye when he saw her give him a dirty look. It perplexed him greatly with how she’d been acting. One moment, they were cool. They talked, shared stories and laughs frequently.
Realization now dawned on him and he figured out that she only acted they way she was now when people were watching her.
The boys were allowed to go back to their seats and Justin was greatful. The student counsel president got up, made final announcements, and uneasily, introduced the cheerleaders uneasily. She didn’t really know if they were going to get up and perform again.
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