Baby Changes

Whitney sighed dramatically. After Ariana appeared to restart Sean's motor, her rescuer seemed to slip backward slightly since the sexy tease departed. While the cheerleader captain couldn't complain that he'd turned listless again during the lap dances, Whitney wasn't thrilled by the limited amount of physical contact initiated from Sean's direction.

"Stop being so damn polite," Whitney growled, although her three friends standing on the sideline with her ignored the comment.

Instead, Lacey giggled as she alerted Caterina and Kaitlin to the group a dozen feet away from the wheelchair. There, Yumi laughed and clapped as she and the Babybees danced absurdly.

"Gawd, this is embarrassing," Cat griped.

"It's adorable!" Lacey responded, practically backhanding Cat's chest. "They're having a blast."

"I'm gonna agree with what Mrs. Tarver said earlier. Yumi's totally a big cheersister to all the Babybees," Kaitlin pointed out.

"More like she's the eleventh Babybee," Caterina groaned. Yet, even she couldn't hold back a brief smile at one ridiculous dance move their friend made.

"It's too bad she moved away for most of junior high and high school. Can you imagine how awesome our squad would've been with Yumi AND Amberly?" Lacey gushed more than questioned. "Not that Rory isn't a good cheerleader. It's just that if we had three high-flyers..."

"Speaking of Rory, if she hadn't quit volleyball, we wouldn't have an issue with them," Kaitlin responded, nodding over to where Claudia Cork replaced Brennah Karpinski on Sean's lap.

Aurora's decision to quit the sport had been called abandonment by many former teammates. That created a tense, cold war between the volleyball team and the cheer squad. However, the team's libero, Claudia, continued to be the most vocal player about what she saw as a betrayal by one of their best players.

"Maybe Cork can light a fire," Whitney muttered to herself about the outspoken girl and Sean.

"Maybe I shouldn't have pushed Rory to join the squad," Lacey admitted. "It's just that when Amberly's parents made the call to move, it was after we had picked this year's squad, and we desperately needed a replacement. Plus, Rory wanted to show her dad that--"

"She's an adequate replacement, but I preferred an extra senior than a junior," Whitney graded, finally joining the conversation. "Aurora just doesn't have any experience. Lacey's correct. We took a hard hit with Amberly--"

"Can we please not rehash this anymore? I'm so sick of Strattington!" Cat groused.

Kaitlin laughed out loud at the nickname for Lacey Stratton and Amberly Abbington.

"That's not funny!" Lacey complained, reaching around Caterina to lightly slap Kaitlin's lower back. Then, she turned to address Cat. "You always say that because you wouldn't be co-captain if Amberly were still here."

"I would too!"

"No, you wouldn't," Whitney declared. Although their missing friend drove Whitney nuts at times and made her a little jealous over how close Lacey and Amberly became, she wouldn't rewrite history to make Cat feel better. "She was co-captain in junior high and sophomore year. Face it, we lost talent and experience when she moved. And her new squad recognized it. Who gets elected co-captain only weeks after moving to a new school?"

"An annoying bitch, that's who--OWW!" Cat exclaimed after mumbling. "The hell, short stuff!"

"Lace, don't stomp on Cat's foot," Whitney ordered without much enthusiasm. "Wait, who created the ship name for them? I forgot."

"Jessy Falk. Priscilla started mixing up their names after repeatedly yelling at them to stop giggling during practice," Kaitlin recounted.

"We were working on matchmaking for you!" Lacey argued, throwing her hand up at Kaitlin.

"Oh, that's right! Prissy gave me a lecture about getting my squad under control," Whitney recalled, shaking her head. "As if she wasn't on Lana's chaotic squad the year before."

"Oh, wait, I forgot to tell you. Kelly and some other girls want to visit practice while on winter break," Kaitlin informed Whitney.

"Great! Who's going to criticize me more? Miss Peppy, my old cheersister, or Lana?"

"I'll say Lupita just so she can needle Tuesday," Lacey responded.

"Bea better keep the Babybees in line. I don't need to hear about how they all seem to have big mouths outside of Harley," Whitney moaned.

"Hey, they're good kids," Lacey defended.

"Good kids? When did you turn into your mom?" Cat questioned with an appalled expression.

"I'm just saying that outside of their talk, the kids mostly behave."

"Lace is right. I'm not thrilled with the factions on the JV squad and their bickering, but they don't get into trouble. Not like us," Whitney stated.

"Us? Don't drag me into this. I was a good girl," Lacey stressed. "You and Quilla nearly killed each other every day."

"Geez, has it been only two years? It feels so long ago, and we seemed so young back then," Kaitlin said, almost wistfully.

"I know!" Lacey exclaimed, then added, "Cat even had a boyfriend."

"Don't even think--"

"Oh, I love you, Kitty Q!" Kaitlin cut off her best friend, deepening her voice.

"And I love you too, Kissler!" Lacey mimicked Caterina, then made kissing sounds.

"--of bringing his name up!" Cat finished. Her glower caused the other two teens to giggle rather than shut up.

"Face it. Those were awful nicknames," Whitney judged, not sure if Cat or Kessler using those terms of endearment shocked her more two years later.

"At least I changed! Two years ago, Kaitlin wouldn't shut up about Palmer, and the same with Lacey's matchmaking," Caterina argued.

"Hey, I only had a crush on Palmer back then. We weren't even dating yet."

"And I wasn't with Austin yet, either. I had my crush on...well, we won't talk about that," Lacey stated.

"Why not? Afraid that your possessive boyfriend will attack him too?"

"Well, I never changed. I was just as mature back then as I am now," Whitney proclaimed.

That didn't go over well with the other three.

"Please, you actually dated guys in high school," Cat pointed out.

"But she had her two-year minimum age gap requirement," Lacey added, scowling.

"And I think you were maybe more of a bitch back then. Or is it the other way?" Kaitlin teased.

"That's because Quilla always argued with me!" Whitney defended herself.

"You egged her on," Kaitlin countered.

"Kinda did," Lacey muttered.

"Priscilla would get so pissed when she had to abandon varsity practice to walk over to ours and issue timeouts," Cat recalled.

"Whitney and Quilla, over to the bleachers! Amberly, run the practice," Kaitlin commanded, mimicking Priscilla's voice.

"See?! That's why she would be co-captain!" Lacey argued for her missing matchmaking partner.

"Delilah helped, too. She was basically the interim co-captain when Amberly got bumped up," Kaitlin recounted. "You know, we didn't have too much drama with future Sugarbees on our squad."

"You are so right, Katie," Lacey agreed. "We're lucky that Bianca, Yelena, and Tandy formed the largest sophomore class of Sugarbees ever. And nobody went off in a huff before junior year to join them."

"True. Rosita and Tandy were so close that none of us were surprised she joined them. And Jasmine looked sick from deciding which squad to join," Kaitlin reminded.

"And even I'll admit that Delilah's dance skills would've been wasted on another year of cheerleading," Caterina added.

"Sometimes I wonder which Babybees this year will turn into Sugarbees," Lacey remarked, sounding almost sad.

"Gawd, I hope it's Mercedes!"

"I don't know, Katie. Margo is going to demand that her little cheersister stick around for when she becomes captain next year," Lacey replied.

"Margo is not going to be captain," Whitney mumbled.

"Then, she can take Fern with her. I will personally attend every event if she screws up their dance routines," Caterina vowed, seemingly fighting the urge to rub her hands together in glee.

"Uma's their version of Delilah. She has to be a dancer," Lacey continued.

"Ariel and Uma, along with Olivia and the twins, are going to make one hell of a squad," Kaitlin remarked. "And I can honestly see YoYo flipping to join them as she hates Margo."

"Margo will not be the captain!" Whitney screeched.

"Then, who? Greta? She's a walking natural disaster. Elaine's crabby attitude is going to leave her with a sour face permanently. Joyelle will have a mutiny by Day Two, and Dreama will forget that practices began until the stars and moon align to remind her," Caterina listed.

"This is all Kelly's fault," Whitney declared in frustration. "Her ultra-peppy shit drove Olivia and the twins away. Livy is a natural leader and would be my pick for cheer captain. If only Beatrice could win the election."

"Junior captains don't happen--"

"It's not unheard of!" Whitney argued.

"Maybe Bea can be co-captain. That would help," Lacey suggested, knowing how much Whitney stressed over her successor.

"Bea's not Livy in terms of natural leadership, but she is close. I've mostly been pleased with her as my little cheersister," Whitney praised. "I think she relies a little too much on her friends."

"I like that about her," Lacey countered.

"I also need to spend this last semester teaching Bea to carry herself more like a queen. If she could do that, it wouldn't matter if Margo is the captain. She could be a powerless one."

"At least you're happy with your cheersister. I got stuck with my own little sister," Kaitlin bitched for the millionth time. She also turned to face her captain. "I can't even blame you for that, as my mom insisted. Like it's going to bring us closer together."

"Kizzy's not that bad," Lacey argued.

"Her Beal and Peel Team thing is way more annoying than you and Amberly. Not to mention that she's a gossip, and this new nursemaid shit is going to get obnoxious fast."

"I believe they are calling themselves Sean's candy-stripers," Whitney corrected. "And I don't mind Kizzy most days."

"Yeah, don't act like you got the worst legacy pairing. That's me," Lacey asserted. "Family tradition left me stuck with Cadence. And she is the worst ever. I mean, she's...let's face it...she's a bitch."

"Oh, no. Hell's going to freeze over as Lacey called someone a bad name," Cat teased.

"Shut it," Whitney ordered, without much energy.

"Well, she is! I'm just lucky that she hasn't had a growth spurt yet. Can you imagine her shitty attitude if she gets boobs like Lana? Talk about a monster," Lacey continued about her cousin.

"Yep. Worst-case scenario in two years is Cadence as cheer captain," Kaitlin remarked.

"Don't...I almost died this week," Whitney responded, holding up her hands.

"I would've been glad to have someone adventurous like Cadence to mentor," Cat declared, causing heads and eyes to roll. "I always pictured my little cheersister as a girl I could have fun with. And not in the matchmaker way, shortstuff."

"More like the fuckmaker way," Kaitlin teased.

"Harley's a sweetie. Don't badmouth her," Lacey argued.

"Yeah. That's the problem. My mom made me watch out for her. Even though I knew she was shy, I figured some part of her mom was in her. I mean, her mom IS Gemma Harlow. It's got to be in the genes, right? Nope, she's happy being Kizzy's sidekick. Who the hell is happy being a sidekick to Kizzy?!"

"Hey, Kizz, isn't that bad," Kaitlin defended after just harping on her younger sister.

"I would've been content with YoYo, but Roxie felt she owed it to Yanet. I even heard promising things about that one until she opted not to try out," Caterina said, motioning over her shoulder.

Lacey and Kaitlin glanced over to the cheerleader table, which sat empty except for Zoey Gibble and Dexter Kirby. Whitney acknowledged Cat's point. Not only popular with guys, but Zoey had also assumed non-official control over her junior high cheer squad after Fern failed miserably.

"After getting to know JoJo more this week, I think we need to make another run at pressuring Zoey to attend tryouts this summer. She can only strengthen next year's squad," Whitney commented.

"Ooh! Maybe we can **** out a junior or two," Kaitlin suggested, leading Cat to argue in favor of the idea, while Lacey wasn't as sure.

Whitney zoned out of the conversation as she watched Claudia depart Sean's lap. A girl she didn't know replaced the libero as another stranger directed the new participant on how to move. Something about the second girl rang familiar to Whitney, but she couldn't place it.

"Does anyone know those two?" Whitney asked, drawing her friends out of their bickering over the Babybees.

"I don't think so."

"Can't say I never saw them before...wait, maybe I have."

"I think we saw them at an away game. Not cheerleaders, though."

"And you would be correct, Stratton."

Whitney held in her startled reaction. Lacey didn't as she yelped.

"Way to act like a horror film killer, Bianca," Kaitlin commented, holding her hand over her beating heart.

Caterina didn't say a word. Instead, her gaze focused on the other Sugarbees standing behind their captain. Delilah wasn't with her squadmates, but Jasmine smiled. Yelena's gaze met Caterina's in a challenge.

"Perhaps if you weren't whining about your shitty juniors, you'd be aware of people walking up to you. And don't get ideas about poaching Olivia or the twins," Bianca warned.

"Did you come to start another fight? You know what our moms said," Lacey reminded.

"Not all. We came to see the show," Bianca replied, nodding over at Sean. "And for your information, the girl on Tarver's lap is Kacie Rand."

"Rand? Kellen's sister?" Kaitlin inquired before fanning her hand in front of her face over the mention of the hot athlete.

"Yes, Mr. All-Everything's sister," Bianca confirmed.

A three-sport star a year older than them, Kellen Rand had been the talk of many football, basketball, and baseball games. Handsome and rumored to be gifted down below, Kellen's only negative came from his vain attitude.

"Wait, if she's from Guzzle Crossing, then the other girl is--"

"Astoria Carlise," Bianca supplied, interrupting Whitney's guess.

"She's changed her hair since I last saw her. Older, too, of course," Whitney commented. "I haven't seen her in years. Her family and my mom's are friendly rivals in Guzzle Crossing."

"Oh, that's her?! I remember last year's basketball game when your mom wanted you to meet Astoria. You hurried off with that one guy from Zurbrugg after the game to avoid your mom," Lacey recalled.

"I remember playing with Astoria a few times when we were little before my parents divorced. Mom always pushed her friends' kids on me whenever we went up there. Some crap about choosing better friends."

"What? Rammy and I were your friends!" Lacey needlessly pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. Astoria and her older sister were both pretty bossy."

"That's probably why she reminded me of you. We clashed at last summer's dance camp," Bianca revealed.

"She even has her version of Caterina. Not Kacie. This slut is named Monique," Yelena added.

"Oh, you mean she's her version of you. They are dance whores," Cat shot back.

Bianca raised her hand to stop Yelena from escalating the conversation.

"We didn't come over to fight. Not with you girls. We came over to stop that," the Sugarbee captain said, motioning to where Astoria continued to walk Kacie through her lap dance.

"How?" Whitney queried, despite having an inkling as to what Bianca meant.

"We have unfinished business with the Jennets," the dark-haired teen said, referring to the Guzzle Crossing dance squad. "And Sean does deserve a reward, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, and you cheer bitches suck at lap dances," Yelena couldn't hold back the dig.

"Did you just admit that Sugarbees are better strippers?" Kaitlin challenged.

"What's your angle?" Whitney questioned.

"No angle. I'm proposing a truce for the rest of our stay in the hotel," Bianca offered. "I never meant for things to escalate earlier with Austin. I do apologize, Lacey. I realize that tonight is not the time or place for our feud. I really do feel bad for distracting from Finn's mom's new charity."

"You better not be pulling something," Lacey warned, her suspicions raised.

"I swear that I'm not. Now, if I have your permission, Whitney, we'll show those Guzzle suckers how Honey Hollow takes care of its heroes."

"Very well. You have my permission and agreement on the truce. It's in effect until we leave the hotel tomorrow."

"What?! You can't let these sluts touch Tarv--"

"Quiet, Cat!" Whitney commanded.

The cheer co-captain fumed as she watched their school rivals march over toward Sean. Then, shaking her head, she questioned Whitney's judgment. If anyone is going to show up Guzzle Crossing bitches, it should be us!

"Holy shit!" came a cry from the cheerleader table. "It's a fight outside!"

Whitney, Lacey, and Kaitlin all turned to see Dexter shoot to his feet while staring at his phone. Then, they watched as he profusely thanked Zoey for granting him an interview. The sophomore reporter even grabbed his crush's hand, raising it so he could give it a thank-you kiss.

"Hold on!" Whitney ordered, blocking Dexter as he raced around the table. "What did you say about a fight?"

"The campaign announcements turned into a brawl!" Dexter relayed before running around the school's queen bee.

Whitney and Lacey turned to face each other. Both had the same thought, but it fell to the redhead to voice their mutual concern.

"Rammy's out there!"