Reason for Cheer

 I am really sorry about the unintended break. I planned to skip a week from Christmas and then I was really ill for the two weeks that followed. I have only been functional since about Friday. Anyway, here's a nice gentle one to start off the new year.

One of the greatest moments of my life happened in the school gym during a basketball game. No, no, it isn't what you are thinking. I wasn't out there on the court. I'm not some athletic prodigy. No, actually, I was sitting on the bleachers with every other loser forced into sycophancy to those more sportingly accomplished in the name of school spirit.

On that sweltering afternoon there was a problem with the scoreboard and the game had been delayed almost an hour. Boredom and frustration reigned and even the cheerleaders usually deployed to rev up the spectators had exhausted their routine and were sitting on the playing surface amongst their pompoms grumbling like everyone else. I don't remember why I started doing it. Just a fidget I guess, but absent-mindedly I raised a foot and planted it down on the metal bleacher. The other followed and then a clap and before I knew it I was drumming out the percussive introduction of 'We Will Rock You' by Queen. BOOM BOOM TSSSH. BOOM BOOM TSSH. Right foot, left foot, clap. Right foot, left foot clap.

The acoustics of the large airy room carried the infectious rhythm and within seconds my beat had spread in every direction from where I sat and met at the other side of the room. The entire gym was following my lead. BOOM BOOM TSSSH. BOOM BOOM TSSH. Right foot, left foot, clap. Right foot, left foot clap. It didn't matter that noone knew I started it. I knew. It had become much bigger than that. The rhythm was an extension of myself but it now encompassed the whole room and everyone inside. It was electric. I felt so powerful. Single-handedly I had rejuvenated the pre-game spirit and now even the cheerleaders were on their feet. I was in heaven.

Before I continue my story, you need to get to know me a little better. I am not a popular guy. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I am not someone you would ever give a second look. Hell, I am not someone you would even remember meeting. So to have an entire room of my peers following my lead like that is simply something I can't even properly describe. It is also why when given a chance to wish for anything my heart desired, I asked to relive that moment...again and again...

I think the girl who offered me the wish may have been trying to trick me. Like some kind of corrupt-a-wish thing. She introduced herself after school one day as Jeanie and said I could have anything I wanted. I told her and she smiled this sort of naughty smile. No girl had ever smiled at me that way before and I didn't get more than a few moments to enjoy it as suddenly my body was filled with a warm glow and began to change. I became something else,,,someone new...my wish was fulfilled...

I was surprised how easy it was to get on the cheer squad. The bitchy stereotypes just never came up and I was welcomed with open arms. It didn't matter that I was a beginner as I was given the easier parts of the routines while I learned the ropes and soon the watching crowds loved me too. Maybe it's because of how I look now..