302/Rah! Rah! Get Your Cheer On!

Rah! Rah! Get Your Cheer On!
Date of Scene:	05 March 2020
Location:	Happy Harbor High Gymnasium
Synopsis:	Spring tryouts for Happy Harbor High cheerleading squad. Bring your own pompoms. Swords optional.
Cast of Characters:	Christine Lake, M'gann M'orzz, Morgan le Fay, Alton Schmidt, Alexander Aaron

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Christine Lake has posed:
There's a buzz of excitement throughout Happy Harbor High today, as a new round of cheerleader tryouts is being held at the Gymnasium after school. There's a few floor mats laid out, and a folding table set up where the Captains of the JV and Varsity squads, as well as the coaches, sit in judgement. In the bleechers are the applicants, some looking confident, some looking nervous; as well as various bystanders wanting to watch the proceedings.

Christine is sitting in the bleachers as one of the applicants. She's dressed in a pair of tight black sweatpants, a turquoise athletic top with a bare midriff, and white sneakers. Her long reddish-blonde hair is gathered back in a ponytail, and she's smiling from ear to ear; she's back in a familiar environment, and she's loving it. Christine turns to the tall girl sitting next to her and gives her a confident nod. "You're gonna do great, Morgan. Just relax and breathe easy. Focus on the dance moves we practiced and don't worry about the tumbling. You've got this."

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
    Megan Morse didn't have any experience cheerleading, just like she didn't really have experience with a lot of high school things. Figuring out athletic clothes was easy enough at least. Black yoga pants, dark red athletic top, and her usual red sneakers. What exactly to do while she was out there... Honestly she wasn't quite sure other than gymnastics? A brief skim of crowd surface thoughts gave her a few ideas, but this was the most nervewracking part honestly. How was this making her more nervous than interplanetary travel?

Morgan le Fay has posed:
Morgan's looking fiercely determined with a fire in her green eyes. King Arthur t-shirt, sweat pantsand battered sneakers, true. Morgan's determined to put on a good show. Even if she has no clue what she's doing at all. She's got a sword tucked into a sheath at her hip, too. Jeez, she wasn't joking about bringing the sword to fend off the boys. "Thine milkshake brings alll thy worthy peasants to the courtyard" she whispers to Christine with a wicked grin. Oh Christine started that. Morgan is going to keep that going.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
Cheer Practice. Well then, Alton was sitting up there in the bleachers...and he was hardly alone. Many of the jocks were up there too, pointing out which one was their girlfriend or soon to be girlfriend, which one they might take to prom, which one their girlfriends told them was terrible, and so on. Because Alton had more recently trasnferred in, he also had to some scouting of his own...Prom wasn't THAT far away, and establishing relationships took time and effort. If he was to have a Prom date, he'd have to get some scouting and research done so he'd have a good idea on who to take. And that...starts today. Also convenient to overhear which ones are 'taken' so he doesn't waste time and effort.

Christine Lake has posed:
At the table, the judges quiet down and adress the prospective girls. "Okay, thank you all for coming out to Spring Tryouts," Lisa Barnes, the vasity squad Captain, starts. "We're going to judge you on your dance routines mostly, but we would like to see what you've got in the gymnaastics department. We hope you've all brought your A game today, ladies; we expect to be wowed." She straightens her papers and and calls out. "Okay, first up is Christine Lake..."

Christine stands, gives a thumbs-up to Morgan, then walks out onto the floor. She doesn't have a sword, but she's weilding her pompoms. And when she gets to the table, she strikes a confident pose; hands on her hips, back straight. one leg slightly angled. "So, you were a cheerleader at your old school?" Lisa asks. "Yup. San Mateo High. Made the JV squad Freshman year, and I was on the Varsity squad this year until I transfered out here." Lisa and the other girls nod and look slightly impressed. "Okay then. Show us what you got..."

Christine nods to the A/V guy in the booth, and he starts up her chosen track: Taylor Swift's 'Me'. Christine starts dancing, working her hips and shoulders. She's confident in her moves, slowly gyrating her hips during the song parts where the lyrics are slow, strutting to the marching beats, hair tosses, high kicks, and shoulder shakes added in for effect. As the song ends, Christine drops from standing into a full split, arms raised in a V and pompoms shaking. Getting up after dismissed, she returns to sit next to Morgan, sweat coating her brow and breathing heavy, but still all smiles. "See?" she whispers to Morgan. "Nothing to it..."

"Alright. Next up we have...Megan Morse." The girls at the table look over at Megan expectantly.

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
     Megan swallows a bit nervously, standing up and making her way down to the mats. "I don't really have any previous experience, but I'm just hoping I can have some fun with this." The redhead gives her own wave to the AV guy, and the familiar synth tones of 'The Final countdown' start. The new transfer student's routine is heavy on the gymnastics, making use of her flexibility and agility to balance out her lack of practical experience. No pompoms, but when she sticks the final landing, she mimicks Christine's pose. rising to her feet again, she takes a bow and scurries back into the stands. Sweat's totally from exertion, not nervousness.

Christine Lake has posed:
The judges watch Megan's routine, nodding and writing down notes as the other red-head does her dance moves. With the final split-finish, they look at each other, still nodding, but smiling a bit. "Okay, thanks Megan. And next up is...Morgan Le Fay."

Morgan le Fay has posed:
When Morgan's name is called she gets up and bounds to the table. "Just one thing. Before we start, there's a guy up there" she says pointing to Alton. "He's apparently interested in trying out too. Can you see about slotting him in somewhere?" she asks with a sweet, saccharine sweet smile and a giggle. When her music hits, Morgan hasa the grace of a half fae. Oh, she didn't reveal that? Too bad. Fluid movements, one into another, like she's flowing in the routine. The music quickens and Morgan goes with it, with something she's improvizing, slower music means she's moving, and cheeering, the faster music gets her to ramp it up and get all eyes on her with her half-fae grace and style, flipping to the floor to end it, landing in a split pose, with pom poms above her head. Thats' after three minutes of simply flowing from one move to the next. Not bad for TSwizzle. Morgan still thinks that's a frat party straw or something. Shake it off? Morgan kinda did.

Returning to her seat, Morgan wipes her brow. Three minutes of exerting herself with the half fae side of her giving her natural style and grace was actually....fun. So she grins to Christine. If Alton heard Morgan, she may be in for it now...though the judges may well think Alton's not getting a tryout currently.

Christine Lake has posed:
Again, the judges watch as the dance routine unfolds. They do seem to look a little more impresses with Morgan's grace. And the flip into a split has them murmuring among themselves. "Okay," Lisa says. "Thanks for that..." She looks up into the bleachers at Anton, sort of weighing the outburst that Morgan made before her routine. There's whispering among the captains and the coaches. And, eventually, Lisa shrugs and calls out. "Okay, if he wants to try out, we won't stop him. Come on down...."

Christine smiles at Morgan, wraping an arm around the girl's shoulder and side hugging her. "That was amazing! See? I told you you'd be great!" She turns to Megan, nodding and smiling at the other girl. "You did really good, too. I'm sure you'll make the squad." She reaches over to Megan, offering a hand. "I'm Christine, nice to meet you."

Alton Schmidt has posed:
Alton is a fast thinker, though...and notices he's being pointed at. But no names were mentioned. So, he gestures at the dude next to him, whoever that happened to be, and said, "Yep. Put this guy on deck." Alton chuckles, as everybody starts razzing the guy next to him for being a little too 'girly' to want to try out for this sort of thing. This was supposed to be the manly section for manly men after all!

Alton then continues kicking back, clearly having no plans whatever to go anywhere near this as a participant.

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
     "Thanks!" Megan returns Christine's smile, returning the handshake. "Megan. I've never done this before, but I thought... why not give it a try?" All the people teasing Alex get a dirty look and a bit of a glare. "You'd think sexism would have died out by now in a school like this. It's supposed to be accepting."

Morgan le Fay has posed:
Morgan grins and looks to M'gan. "Morgan" she says and laughs. "I did good I think. So" she says pulling a milkshake out of her backpack under the bleacher seating. "Not a word, Christine. Not. A. Word!" she says with a smirk. Holding it up she's testing the A/V guy to see if the song changes. Oh Morg's cruel at times. Now this, is one of those times, as she settles back drinking the milkshake. She grins to Christine and giggles evilly. Oh Morgan is Morgan, no matter what incarnation she's in.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    As for Alexander, the target of said teasing, he was indeed slouched up there in the bleachers and scritches his chin with a fingernail. Settled in with his feet up on the seats in front of him and his arms sprawled on the seats behind, he's sort of at ease with a casual tilt of his head when Alton gestures his way, then he looks over towards Megan and his lip twitches a little with a touch of appreciation when he holds up a hand to wave at her.
    Then sloooowly, with a casual rolling crawl forward and up onto his feet he hops down the bleachers two at a time, then strolls off and out on front of the stands and then moves over toward where the judges are. "Soooo,"
    He stands there with his hands in his jeans that are a little too big for him and wearing those Chuck Taylors. His hands in his pockets and his t-shirt proclaiming loudly, 'Don't Be So Negative'.
    "How does this work, what do I do?" He looks around for leads or inspiration, spreading his hands wide.

Christine Lake has posed:
The judges look surprised at Alex as he comes down. But, after looking at one aother again, gesture to the floor in front of them. "Just give us your best dance routine," Lisa says. "If you've got a song request, shout it up to Mikey in the A/V booth and he'll play it." Lisa takes a deep breath, wondering when her nice, ordely tryout went sideways.. "When you're ready..."

Christine frowns at the teasing Alex gets, and some of the frown is directed at Morgan for her part in this. But, when Alex does in fact rise up and present himself, Christine claps for him. "Go Alex! Woooo!" She's genuinely encouraging him on. Runing back to Megan, Christine's thoughts are bright, cheerful, and clear. "Well, for a first timer, you did great!" she says. "And you're gonna love cheer squad; it's a *total* blast!" She smiles slyly and lowers her voice. "Not to mention a hella great way of attracting boys."

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
     "I guess... If that's what you want to do." Megan doesn't really have that much interest in that side of things. "And that also assumes I pass. I think she did a lot better than I did." The redhead nods to Morgan.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
Having successfully deflected the indignity of having to try out for this ort of thing, Alton continues to kick back with not a care in the world. Nope, it's not his job to do the dancing. He might well try out for baseball later, being as that's the spring sport. He's quite athletic, after all. But then...baseball might cut into his crimefighting time, and he's more interested in busting bad guys. So perhaps not.

Alex going up there makes this whole thing downright hilarious. And he notices plenty of his cohorts in the bleachers with their phones out, recording all Alex does. This will be all over Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Tik Tok...

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Reaching behind his back, Alexander is casually pulling the back portions of his t-shirt tighter, tying them together so that the shirt no longer hangs quite so loose and as much of a risk of getting in the way. It does ruin the aesthetic value of it though no longer is his lithe athletic physique quite so well hidden. He crinkles his nose a little at Lisa, "Don't have anything prepared, though some New Order or something might be fun? Confusion or whatever would be kinda cool."
    That said he kneels down and undoes the laces on his shoes, wrapping them around his ankles a few times and then refastening them so that there's no chance of hitting them, then he'll casually dig out of his buckets his wallet and some keys and leave them on the judge's desk for now.
    With everything secure he strolls over toward one side of the gym, cracks his neck one way, then the other. And when the music starts he sort of tilts his head a little with the beat, one way and the other, one way and the other, then once the first beat is added in he breaks into a run darting across the gym floor, (omg white sneakers on the basketball court!) And once he hits near the judge's table he flips forward, hitting the ground with both hands using them to propel himself up into the air where he continues through the movement, flipping with several snap kicks though a quintuple series of leaps, landing into a spinning movement where he whirls and then lands with one leg extended and the other under him, fingers splayed on the ground an /instantly/ stopping.
    Then he sorta gets up and starts bouncing to the beat again, as if enjoying it. The music keeps building, he keeps bouncing, and then when the vocals start roaring he breaks into a run again, leaping high into an elaborate gymnastic routine which is all /speed/ and precision...
    Until finally the music stops after the three minutes. And he's standing there, breathing a lil heavy.

Morgan le Fay has posed:
Morgan shakes her head at Christine and gestures to Alex. She did good. Apparently, got Alex up to try out. Looking to Alex Morgan grins watchimg him, then eyes back to Megan and Christine."Okay we're all good. So, how will they decide?" she asks. Morg's brought a book and she's set it on her lap to keep herself occupied while the tryouts happen, and she opens it. "You both did great" Morg nods to Christine and Megan. "So do we keep the outfits?"

Christine Lake has posed:
Christine smiles at Megan, shrugging a bit at her dismissal of attracting boys. "Well, lots of girls like the cheerleader look too. Just saying..." She's making an assumption, but there's no judgement in her voice or thoughts; she just likes helping people be happy. "And like I said, you did really good out there."

Turning back to Morgan, Christine takes the milkshake in the bottle and takes a sip. "I drink your milkshake," she says with a smirk. "They'll talk about it today and probably post the results omorrow," she tells Morgan. "But, I don't think any of the three of us have anything to stress over." Then, Christine starts watching Alxander's routine. And her eyes go wide as she watches the display...

And aparently, the Judges are also impressed with Alexander. They weren't expecting much more than a joke audition, but their jaws are hanging open with that routine. The gymnasium erupts into cheering and applause for Alex!

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
     Megan bites her lip a little, not really able to hide a blush and staring down into her own backpack. When Alexander's routine starts, her gaze lifts again and she's just as surprised as Christine. "...He could join an Olympic team or something if he wanted to. That's... amazing." She joins in the clapping and cheering, rising to her feet.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
Alton watches the crowd get into what Alex did. Interesting. He actually put effort into that. And not just effort, but elite effort. Still...while Alton claps for the performance, he still isn't going to to try out. Cheerleading is as much a time constraint as baseball would be, and he needs that time to pummel bad guys, so he's gonna keep his spot in the stands. And all the people with phones out recorded an elite performance instead of the travesty against gods and men they expected to see. Well, that's still going all over the internet, but for very different reasons now. Alton will not fry any phones.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    A small smile is seen, just at the corner of Alexander's mouth as he lifts a hand and offers a small wave to the folks that are cheering, then strolls on up to reclaim his keys and wallet. "Thanks," There's a faint sheen of sweat on his brow and the hollow of his throat as he lightly fans himself with his t-shirt. "Was kinda fun." And then he points at Megan out of all the folks since she was so kind.
    Then he nods to Lisa, "I sorta have stuff that preys on my time. But if like something goes down and you need an extra hand I can help out." Since, to be fair, there are likely other folks here that /really/ wanted to be on the team.
    He looks between the judges and grins a little, "Cool?" And with that he starts back up the bleachers, the seats thumping as he stomps on those wooden retractible rows, then undoes his t-shirt and lets it hang back free. "Woo!" Then he drops back into his seat.

Christine Lake has posed:
The Judges listen to Alex's speech, and look a bit disappointed in his outright refusal. But, the show must go on, and Lisa calls out for the next applican. "Okay...Sally Baker?" A slender blonde freshman girl stands up and reports to the table...

Christine nods to Megan about her assessment of Alex's performance. "Oh yeah. Total Olympics calliber there," she agrees. "Hey, after the tryouts are done, do we all want to go out and grab something to eat?" She looks between Megan and Morgan. "maybe a celebratory burger at Big Belly Burger?"

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
     "Uh... Sure, give me like fifteen minutes to shower and stuff, and I can meet you there?" Megan /did/ eat there last night, but it /was/ delicious. and it's not like she has to worry about counting calories to stay in shape.

Morgan le Fay has posed:
Morgan nods. "Sure, when do we find out if we made it? I'm down for a burger and celebrating" she offers with a grin. "Let's see, we all did good" Morgan adds, rinning a hand down the sword sheath at her hip. "Yeah I did my whole routine with my battered sneakers. Think I made the cut?" she asks them all. "Give me a few minutes to change and see to Merlin and pick out something good to wear, and we'll meet up for burgers, yeah?" she asks with a grin

Christine Lake has posed:
The rest of the tryouts go pretty much to an expected routine. After the last applicant performs, Lisa stands up to speak. "Okay, thanks again to all of you for attending the tryout. There were some great performances, so this is going to eb a tough decision for us. We'll be posting the result tomorrow. So, good job everyone!" She and the other Judges start applauding the applicants, and soon everyone is clapping and cheering.

With the discussion not turned to post-tryout burgers, Christine nods to Morgan and Megan. "How about if we all meet up there an hour from now? Give us all time to change and freshen up. Sound good?" And with tryouts complete, the students begin filing out of the gym.