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It was official: Riley was going to prison and Cairo would be the one to take her place as the captain. Reese genuinely wanted to be happy for her, they really did, but they couldn’t help feeling a little bit bitter. They had wanted to be the captain so badly for so many years, and the job ended up going to the girl who bullied them for years. They were sure that she deserved it, but it did kind of feel like a slap in the face. She did let them come up with a new cheer for the team, so that was nice, but it still bothered them.
The first practice with Cairo as the captain went decently…as decently as they could, given the circumstances. The team actually seemed to be doing really well; Kate and Eva were a thing now, Annleigh was talking to a guy, nobody argued (which was a first), Mattie rejoined the cheer team and seemed relatively happy to be there. She interacted with them a lot more than any of them thought she was going to. And Reese finally got to make up a cheer. They really thought they’d be okay with that arrangement.
But the next day, it was different. Reese found that Cairo being captain instead of them actually really bothered them. They’d worked harder than probably anyone on the team, they’d wanted it so badly, they’d prayed for a chance even though they weren’t religious. And who got it instead? The girl who made a point of being mean to them every single time she saw them. They knew deep down that yeah, Cairo probably earned this, but it didn’t stop their jealousy. And apparently it wasn’t as subtle as they thought, because when they got home that night, they saw they had some texts from Kate.
Kate: Hey
Kate: You okay?
Kate: You seemed a little off tonight so I wanted to check in
Reese stared at the messages. They thought about just telling Kate that they were completely fine and nothing was wrong. After all, Kate was still dealing with the loss of their best friend, they probably didn’t want to hear Reese complaining about a stupid cheer team. But then they thought about it a little harder and decided to tell them what was going on. For one, Kate was probably their only real friend at the moment, so besides their moms, it wasn’t like they could tell anyone else. Also, Reese had a problem with Cairo, and no one hated Cairo more than Kate. Besides, if Kate didn’t want to hear it, they wouldn’t have asked. So Reese just went for it.
Reese: Yeah I guess I was a little upset
Kate: Wanna talk about it?
Reese: Sure
Reese: It’s about Cairo getting captain over me. I mean, I know she’s good and she probably deserves it, but I worked so hard and I’ve wanted this since forever and I don’t know, it kind of feels like I failed.
Reese: I guess I wouldn’t have been that upset if it had gone to Annleigh or Eva or someone else, but the fact that it was the girl who bullied me for like ten years kinda feels like a punch in the gut.
Kate: That really sucks :/ Yeah, it’s kinda fucked up that you actually treat people with respect and got sidelined while Cairo is a bitch to everyone for no apparent reason and got that title
Reese: Yeah
Kate: Fun fact, when I found out that Cairo was captain, I was surprised that they gave it to her instead of you
Kate: I’d take you over her any day
Reese: That makes two of us 😂
Reese: But I wasn’t really surprised. Eventually you get used to being sidelined 😅
Kate: I’m sorry, Reese. That’s really messed up.
Reese: Thanks
Reese: I’ll get over it eventually, I think
Reese: I’m just a little bitter right now
Kate: I’d be bitter too if I had to put up with all the shit you’ve had to put up with
Kate: Actually no I wouldn’t
Kate; Because I’d have given up so long ago
Kate: But you never did
Kate: So major kudos for that
Reese: Thank you :)
Reese: It actually means a lot that someone appreciates the work I put in
Kate: Yeah it’s pretty awesome
Kate: In fact, I’d say you’re the best one on our team
Reese: I think you might be a little biased there Kate 😅
Kate: Please
Kate: If I was biased, I’d say that Eva was the best 😂
Reese: Eva is the highest-ranked flyer in our state, so I’d argue she is quite literally the best
Kate: Oh yeah I guess you’re right
Kate: You’re definitely up there though
Reese: Thanks Kate
Kate: Of course :)
Reese: I’m gonna go now, I’ve got algebra homework
Kate: Yeah, me too
Kate: See you tomorrow!
Reese: See you tomorrow!!
The next morning, they saw that they had another text from Kate.
Kate: Hey, you feeling any better?
Reese: Yeah, our talk last night really helped
Reese: Thank you
Kate: Hey, what are friends for?
Kate: By the way, thank you for trusting me with all that
Reese: Thanks for listening and being nice
Reese: You don’t know how much of a difference it makes
Kate: I’m glad I could help 💚
Kate: See you at school :)
Reese: Yeah, see you there! :)
If you went back in time and told Reese two years ago that they finally had a real, genuine friend that they could open up about their frustrations to, they probably would have thought you were joking. But that was how it turned out. And it was awesome.