"It's nice," Rebecca replied. "Where's my room?"
"Upstairs. We left the door open so you'd know which one it was." Rebecca picked up her bag and slowly made her way upstairs. She found the room with the open door and walked in. Sitting on the large canopy bed was a little boy. He looked up and grinned.
"Hi!" he said. "My name's Bobby. You're Rebecca and you're my new big sister!" Rebecca smiled at him. He was adorable.
"That's right," she said.
"Do you wanna play?" Bobby asked.
"Sure. You go get a game and I'll meet you downstairs in a little while."
"Okay!" Bobby jumped off the bed and scurried out of the room. Rebecca threw her bag into a chair and collapsed onto the bed. She now lived in a big house with "parents" and a little brother. Completely different from her real home. A mom and a best friend. Then at the home, just a good friend. Now all this. It was going to take some getting used to. Rebecca sighed and changed into shorts and a t-shirt before going downstairs to play Candy Land with Bobby. It was hot in Texas.
A few days later, it was Rebecca's first day at her new school. She walked inside hoping to stay invisible. No such luck. As she walked down the hall, heads turned. First the guys' then their girlfriends' or the girls who were crushing on them. Rebecca quickened her pace as she looked for her locker.
"Hi," a voice said. Rebecca looked up and saw a tall blonde guy staring down at her.
"Hi," she replied softly.
"I'm Grant. Let me help you find your locker." Rebecca nodded and handed Grant her locker number. "Well, that's right next to mine," he said smiling. He led Rebecca to her locker and watched as she opened it.
"Thanks," Rebecca said, a little unsure about why he was still standing there.
"No problem." Grant didn't move. Finally, Rebecca looked up at him again. He was smiling.
"What?" Rebecca asked.
"Nothing," Grant replied. "I'll walk you to class."
At lunch that day, Rebecca sat by herself under a tree. A tall dirty-blonde haired girl walked up to her. "Hi," she said.
"Hi," Rebecca replied.
"Can I sit down?"
"Sure."
The girl sat down and smiled. "My name's Alexa. Have you ever thought about cheerleading?"
"No," Rebecca said immediately. "Getting up in front of all those people and yelling is not my idea of fun."
"You should try it. It's awesome. Besides...we need a flyer and you're small enough."
Rebecca just about dropped her sandwich. "Me? A flyer? You mean the person that gets thrown up in the air and stuff?" Alexa nodded. "Wow...I don't think I could do that."
"Tell you what, come to practice tonight and just see. If you don't like it, you don't have to do it. But I think you'll like it," Alexa said.
"Fine," Rebecca said reluctantly. "I'll try it."
So that's how she ended up at cheerleading practice that night. "Okay, girls! Rebecca's gonna try this and if she likes it we'll have our final flyer!" Alexa was saying. "Brianna, Claire, Mia, and Andrew work with Rebecca for awhile." The four people walked over to Rebecca and introduced themselves. Then it was time to get to work.
"Once we get you up make sure not to wiggle around," Mia said. "If you do, we'll probably drop you." Rebecca nodded and took a deep breath.
"Ready?" Claire asked. Rebecca nodded. "Okay. 1, 2, 3!" Brianna, Claire, and Mia lifted Rebecca up and Andrew put his hands on the backs of her calves to steady her.
"This isn't so bad," Rebecca said.
"Ready to come down?" Brianna asked.
"How?"
"We'll push up on your feet and you have to spin. Have you ever seen the cheerleading competitions on tv?" Rebecca nodded. "Then you know what I mean. Ready?"
"I guess..." Rebecca said. She closed her eyes and did what they told her. When she opened her eyes, Brianna, Claire, Mia, and Andrew were holding her and smiling.
"That was perfect," Andrew said as they put her down.
"Well?" Alexa said walking up to them.
"She can do it," Mia said.
"Do you want to?" Alexa asked Rebecca.
"Why not. You only live once!"
That night, Rebecca sat on her bed with a picture that Brenda had taken the day Rebecca had come to live with them. She was sitting on the porch swing with her legs pulled up. She slid it into an envelope and sealed the envelope. She'd mail it the next day on her way to school.