Title: Cheercamp
Gregory Michelson
Chapter 1
A cheercamp is going to change everyone’s lives…
The van was bumbling through the country roads, and Mandy was bored. They were heading to the cheer camp, only unlike a big bus, everyone got these luxury automated vans. But that didn’t change the fact that the cheer camp was in the middle of nowhere. The rest of the team and Coach Sheila would meet them there, along with the other colleges, but for now it was just Mandy, Kyoko, Maria and Doris.
“Do you think this thing’s brain is busted?” Kyoko asked, the short Japanese girl frowning at the wooded slopes that surrounded the van as they drove down the road. “We’ve been driving, like forever.” She shifted in her comfortable seat.
And they were really comfortable, complete with TV screens on them, but they weren’t playing anything.
Figures, they rent super luxurious vans and then cheap out on the streaming deal.
“It’s been that long,” Maria said, running a hand through her hair. “I mean, we’ve only been on the road for an hour.”
‘Yeah, that’s an hour too long,” Doris said, the head cheerleader brushing her blond hair back. Like Mandy, she was taller than the other two girls, with gleaming green eyes. “I mean, seriously, do they think we need to be in the middle of nowhere for a cheerleading camp?”
“Hey, at least we get one,” Mandy said. “Usually, for our college, “camp” is reserving the gym and getting a coupon for whatever is about to go bad in the cafeteria. last year?
“I thought we agreed nobody would talk about The Attack of The Bad Potato Salad?” Kyoko said. “I never wanted to talk about it again.”
“I just said last year,” Mandy replied. “You brought up the Food That Shall Not Be Named.”
Doris and Maria both started throwing napkins from their food stop at Kyoko.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Kyoko said. “Let me call coach and see if she’s already there with the rest.”
Then she frowned.
“What is it?”
“No connection.”
“What?” Mandy said. “We get connection all over the world!”
“Not here, evidently…” Kyoko said, looking at her own phone. “What about you two, Doris, Maria?”
“Dead as a doornail,” Doris said.
Great. Mandy thought. Sure she had some saved games and such, but honestly, would it be too much to expect to get a signal so she could watch the newest streaming episode of the mystery series she’d fallen in love with?
“Try the van’s monitors,” Doris said. “Maybe we can—“ She fell silent as the monitors in front of each seat blinked and flashed several times. Then each one glowed with a single question:
HAVE YOU LOST PHONE SIGNAL? Y/N?
“Great,” Mandy muttered. “I guess they don’t want to pay for their own service unless they really need to.” She punched the Y.
The screens pulsed several times, the light somehow… compelling. Then there was a woman on the screen, someone about their age, dressed as a cheerleader.
“Like, Hi!” she said, her voice annoyingly chirpy. “I guess you’re out of cell phone range, but that’s fine! Because we’re going to be going on an adventure, together, as we learn what it is to be true cheerleaders!”
“Ugh,” Kyoko said. “She’s too energetic. Turn it off.”
“Um… there isn’t an off switch,” Mandy said.
“You mean we have to listen to this?” Maria asked.
“Um, I guess so,” Mandy said.
“Now, being a cheerleader isn’t just about bouncing around, it’s about making the audience happy, and showing yourself that you know your place…” She smiled again, raising her pom-poms. “So sit back in your seats, all the way back, and be ready to learn what it takes to be a true cheerleader!”