Purple and gold poms lie on the faded white line of the track glistening from the bright lights of the stadium. They sit there, waiting for me to grasp them in my hands and shake them for the start of game day. My poms rustle in the cool breeze of the beautiful Friday night. Hearing the sound of the tassels rub against each other elegantly, brings joy to my heart. With all the chaos going on in the world, cheerleading at a football game suddenly takes all of that away.

 

*** 

 

I pull up to the school around five thirty and all I can see are fans decked out in their Saber gear. The football players are in uniform on the field, parents are in the stands, and students are having their weekly tailgate. I walk up to the door of the school and meet all the girls inside. I too am decked out in my Saber gear, dark purple uniform with big bold yellow letters, sparkly senior bow printed with my name in my hair—all pumped for game day. As I prepare for the upcoming game, I jam out to “Fergalicious” and fix my thick locks of hair. 

 

All around me, girls are chatting about the stress of school, the giant mounds of homework, and the messy life outside of cheer. It tends to give me a lack of motivation hearing about everything being canceled or that half the school has entered quarantine. The one thing that never upsets me, though, is the game with my girls. The game throws all of those worries and negative thoughts in the trash. 

 

I walk onto the track with all my cheer girls behind me. My tight spandex uniform is rubbing together at my sides, the purple skirt swaying side to side as I take each step. The student section is all set in their spots, standing up on their toes full of excitement, screaming, “I believe that we will win!”

 

There are ten minutes left on the clock and the football boys are fired up and ready to go. All these feelings inside me make my stomach twist in every good way possible, and I do nothing but smile with my pearly white teeth. Fans are excited to see my team take the first step onto the track with our bright white shoes. The excitement from each person fills the whole stadium. Suddenly, all of the worries and uncertainties of my chaotic life have escaped my body. Gameday is what I’m here for. Cheering on my classmates is what I’m here for. 

 

The clock counts down 3...2...1—it’s game time. I run to my spot on the track and shake my poms above my head so hard that my arms hurt. I jump up and down high enough that I can see above all the players' heads as I watch the kickoff happen. The ball flies into the air and lands right into the opponent's arms.

 

Immediately after kickoff, I turn around to face the students and start the famous Saber Spirit cheer. The student section comes together, arms wrapped around each other shouting, “Let me hear your Saber Spirit!"

 

They stomp in unison making the entire stands shake as they yell every word to the cheer. This is one of the most exciting parts of the game. It makes my heart happy seeing everyone smiling.
 

Standing on the track watching the game with my team, I realize the connection I have with them. I truly adore and care for every single girl on the team. They bring out the positives of life. During the game, we all laugh with glee and talk about weird thoughts that go on in our heads. Skye’s laugh is always contagious. Sometimes Claire will just say words out of random because she feels like it. Sometimes it’s even just a song that gets stuck in Alivia’s head and it makes us all break out in dance. That’s the best part. Even during practice we laugh and work together when someone messes up. It’s always a positive environment with my girls. Pregame especially, we meet up and order pizza. While we eat, we tell stories about life. Kaitlynn tells about her weird occurrences with her little siblings while Allie and Jess talk about the latest tik tok they’ve made. 

 

Even outside of cheer we bond. Driving down the street to get ice cream, sitting outside in the freezing cold laughing as hard as we can, and just being loud and having a good time. I am inspired by the bond that we hold. This team is why I am so passionate about being a cheerleader. Every single girl brings me so much joy and lets me come to the realization that life isn’t going to be perfect, but I can make it as good as it will get. I have some of my best memories with these girls. 

 

As I look around the stadium, time suddenly stops. In my mind, instead of seeing dark clouds rolling in to cloud all the happiness, I see beautiful sunshine and rainbows. Everybody has come together as one for this amazing time in high school. I am making some of my last memories of school with my friends. It’s one of the only positives of the whole year. No one worries about anything else going on in the world. It’s time for friends to be next to each other and people to scream and shout to all the chants and good plays. Nothing else matters but this very moment. 

 

I never would have thought my senior year would be like this. The whole world is messed up. Everything is so chaotic it drains my body and gives me a lack of motivation. However, when I walk onto that track on Friday nights, all of that disappears. I no longer have anything to worry about but being with my girls and bonding over the great times that we have. There is nothing else I would rather do in this chaotic world than hear a roaring crowd while shaking those beautiful glistening poms on gameday.

 

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