Cheerleader practice

Kim adjusted her cheerleader top as she ran into the gym, breathing hard.

Bonnie just smiled. “You're late, Kim dear.”

“Sorry guys,” panted Kim. “Mr. Barkin wanted to talk to me after class because of-”

“No excuses Kimmie,” interrupted Bonnie. “The penalty for being late is running ten laps around the gym.”

“What? Says who?!”

Bonnie smiled brilliantly, enjoying her moment. “I do! So get to it!”

Kim put her fists on her hips. “Bonnie, you're not the team captain, you don't make the rules.”

“Um, Kim?” said Tara. She leaned forward shyly, brushing her wavy blonde hair out of her face. “Bonnie is the team captain. She always has been.”

“What?!” Kim looked around in confusion, stunned to see everyone on the team nodding in agreement with Tara. “Oh, I get it. I've been really busy lately with missions, so you're giving me a hard time.”

“Missions?” asked Tara.

“Ignore her,” said Bonnie. “She's had a rough day. Look Kim, if you want to be head cheerleader, all you have to do is challenge me. The best cheerleader wins.”

Kim folded her arms cockily. “Oh, you think you can beat me?”

“I know I can.”

“Bring it!”

Bonnie walked onto the middle of the practice mat. She took a moment to enjoy what she was about to do to her old rival, then began. She rattled off a quick cheer, doing high kicks and jumps as she chanted. Due to the improvements to her athletic talent from the night before, the performance was perfect even with the extra weight she now had up top. She ended the routine with a backflip landing in a split.

“Your turn, Kimmie-Poo!”

Kim walked out onto the mat. She watched Bonnie walk off and thought, “Wow, I don't remember Bonnie being so good. Has she been practicing? I can't even imagine Bonnie practicing more than she has to.”

Kim got in position and started to cheer. Right from the start everything felt off. She couldn't quite get her balance on the kicks, she felt winded very quickly, and she had to slow down a couple times to remember the words to the chant. At the end, she jumped into the air for the backflip, but she didn't make it all the way around and belly flopped onto the mat.

“Oh Kim!” said Tara, rushing over with the other cheerleaders. “Are you okay?!”

“Yeah... I'm fine. Just... got the wind knocked out of me.”

“You shouldn't have tried to keep up with Bonnie,” said Hope, an Asian cheerleader. “You've never been anywhere close to her level.”

“I haven't?” Kim shook her head out, still feeling a little woozy. She pulled herself into a sitting position and tried to figure out why she was doing everything so poorly today.

“Come on girls, let's get back to it,” said Bonnie, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention. The other cheerleaders ran back into formation while Bonnie stood over Kim. “Nice try Kimmie, but we all have bad days. Not me, of course, I'm always a winner. I just mean the second rate people, like you. Now get on those ten laps!”

Kim got up and started to say object, but then something big interrupted her.