CHEER up kiddo
The warm summer air lay heavily upon the tourney pitch, causing sweat drops to form on brows and foreheads before the practice had even begun. Their was no breeze, just a heavy, dry heat coming from the warm Auradon sun that beat down on the players, coach had refused to cancel practice despite the sudden heat wave that had fallen upon them, yet was no where to be seen leaving Ben in charge of the practice. The young teen ran out in his full tourney gear, the team following slowly behind him. While Ben ran trying his best to keep up their spirits, but it hadn’t exactly worked, the team were dragging their feet all besides jay who looked less warm than the others.
Ben’s game had been off for a while, he couldn’t tell what it was. Maybe it was the stress of school, maybe it was the warm weather but whatever it was he couldn’t put his finger on it. Another distraction was the constant cheering and chattering from the cheer squad, and while Ben did appreciate their dedication, one he wished his own team had. They were only getting louder but as he turned to tell them to keep it down his gaze fell upon the newest member of the squad.
The young boys white hair had become damp with sweat, he was the first male cheerleader on the team, a position Mal and Evie had fought for with great passion. He was nothing like Ben had expected when they had told him about the boy. His freckled skin glew in the light and Ben could hear his laugh from where he was standing. Ben’s focus had completely been taken away from the game causing Chad to charge into him, knocking the boy and several behind chad over.
Mal could not help the laugh that escaped her lips as she saw the collision of the boys in front of her. Her eyes fell upon Ben as she saw he was looking in the direction of the cheer squad. She followed his gaze and saw they fell upon the squads newest recruit and she soon realised the reason for the collision was not only Ben’s game being off but the boy beside them.
‘ooh what happened there?’ Evie had appeared behind Mal, her head was tilted as she looked at the pile of boys
‘Take a guess’ Mal said raising an eyebrow ‘Ben?’ it wasn’t a question so much as a confirmation to herself ‘whats up with him?’
‘Well this time there is an actual reason for his fluke’ at the raise of her eyebrow Evie’s unasked question was answered as Mals gaze fell upon the white-haired boy.
‘Carlos?’ she smirked at the idea ‘he has good taste’ she wasn’t wrong, the young boy while slim was still defined, his cheer top was more of a crop top showing off her abs and his shorts were tight in the right places.
The tourney team had picked themselves up and began to grumble, Ben had dismissed the training urging those who had landed badly to go and see the nurse rather than complaining. He walked towards them and stopped looking at the boy his jaw becoming slack, as the girls turned to share the view they saw the boy shaking his hips with several of the other cheerleaders and showing several of his best features, the crop top also swaying with his movements.
After a few minutes Ben’s focus returns and he realises the two girls are looking at him, smirks across their face. He shuffles away almost falling over, somewhat dumbstruck. The two had known Ben for almost two years and had never seen the boy act like this, he must have been really in over his head, that or the heat was really getting to him.
The cheer squad began to disperse as they noticed the tourney team had broken up and they saw no reason to stay if they couldn’t bother to. As they walked away from the girls, the two shared a look indicating that they shared the same idea.
‘Carlos?’ Evie cooed after the young boy before he left, they had a plan and it was going to work one way or another.
The bell rang for lunch and Ben followed the Mal and Jay to the outdoor eating area.
‘Why did you guys want to eat outside?; he asked them breaking their silence
‘Oh you know, nature’ Mal said very unconvincingly as she walked down the path ‘Oh look there’s Evie and Carlos’ she said as she and Jay sat at the table
Ben had stopped in his tracks and stared at the table, the trio feared he might faint from the colour he had turned but despite it all the boy forced a smile and sat in front of the freckled boy.
‘Hey Ben, this is Carlos’ Evie said turning to him ‘I believe you might have seen him on the tourney field, he’s the newest member of the cheer squad’
‘Oh um yeah I guess I have’ he said, his cheeks turning a deep shade of pink
‘Nice to meet you’ the boy said shaking his hand, a smile plastered across his face.
‘So you’re new?’ Ben asked choking the words out
‘Yeah I was in Camelot High but Roger and Anita felt the move here would better suit my academic and personal interests’ he said taking a bite out of his sandwich.
Camelot High was quite different than Auradon high, it was a more conservative school, with old fashioned rules and a smaller choice of classes, so they could all understand what he meant.
‘Yeah Auradon Prep has amazing resources have you seen the library?’
‘No I haven’t’ he said shaking his head
‘We should all go this afternoon!’ Evie said making Jay jump with her sudden high-pitched inclusion into the conversation
‘Oh yeah but Evie you’re helping Jay and I with chemistry remember?’ she was giving her a very obvious stare
‘Oh’ the boy’s face fell; he clearly had been enjoying the idea
‘But Ben is free, he could go with you’ Ben almost choked on his sandwich when Evie suggested this
'Really?' the young boy asked a sparkle appearing in his eyes
'Of course, if you want to...'
‘Yeah it’s a date’ he said with a smirk
It had been a joke or so they assumed but that didn’t stop Ben’s cheeks reddening and Mal and Evie exchanging a glance, placing their hands over their mouths to hold in their laughter. Jay looked at the two of them confused, they would fill him in later but for now they revelled in Ben’s embarrassment, they didn’t see him embarrassed often and so they would enjoy every moment of this that they could