Tempting The Ice King

PYRAMID

The sound of my ringtone cut through the rhythmic clapping of the cheerleaders.

"Hailey, focus!" Coach Laurel snapped at me. She prowled the cheer mats, watching our footwork like a hawk. She was always ready to yell at us for the smallest mistakes.

"Coach," Brie tiredly panted, "you've been drilling us since 6 AM. Don't you think we deserve a break?"

Coach Laurel brought her wrist up to her eyes so she could stare at her watch for no less than two seconds. "Moving on to pyramids," Coach said, completely dismissing Brie.

The girls hopelessly mumbled in defeat. No one moved; they either slumped onto the mats or crouched down to take a break.

"Get in position!" Coach Laurel yelled at us, her voice echoing through the arena.

I sighed before helping some of the girls get back on their feet. "Let's get into position, I'll talk to coach after practice," I promised them.

I walked over to Brie and Jia, hoping to join their pyramid, but Coach Laurel stopped me before I could even reach them.

"Hailey, join Tessa's pyramid," she blankly commanded.

A deep frown settled on my forehead. "Coach, her group is already full. Jia and Brie need two more people," I argued.

"Join her group," Coach seethed through her teeth.

"Fine, but I won't be a flyer. She has a history of getting cramps when she has to catch me," I said, my jaw clenching tightly.

The girls curiously followed me as I made my way over to join Tessa's group.

"Coach, for Hailey's safety, she shouldn't join Tessa's group-" Jia tried, but Coach was quick to cut her off.

"Hailey, you will be the flyer of Tessa's group. Tessa, one more mistake from you and you're off my squad," Coach pointedly stated, sending a cold smile in Tessa's direction.

"Since when did it become a crime to get cramps? And besides, nothing happened to her; she's perfectly fine," Tessa snapped.

Brie took a step closer to us. "Well, that's the thing, Tessa. We don't know if you really got a cramp that day. I call bullshit. You really wanted her to fall, didn't you?"

"Again with this bullshit. I didn't drop her on purpose. I got a cramp in my leg!" Tessa yelled at Brie, catching the attention of the entire hockey team.

"It's always the quiet ones," Brie shook her head in disbelief. "Let's draw a vote," she continued before turning to face the rest of the girls.

"I agree," Jia chipped in.

"All those in favor of Hailey joining Tessa's group, raise your hands," Brie uttered, and a heavy silence stretched across the arena.

No one raised their hands.

"Does that settle it?" Brie asked Coach Laurel with a smug smile on her face.

"We will continue this conversation. For now, pack up and get some rest. Practice for today is over," she tiredly announced.

I ran up to Coach Laurel before she could leave the arena. "Coach, about the situation with Tessa-"

"I was testing a theory, Hailey. I knew the girls would stick up for you," she calmly explained.

"A theory?" I frowned deeply.

"The situation between the two of you has divided the squad. And as captain, it's your responsibility to set things right and unite your squad."

I shook my head in disbelief. "So now it's my responsibility to fix this? She's the one who dropped me. I could have died that day."

"But you didn't," she said, stopping dead in her tracks. "I don't expect complaints from my cheer captain, Hailey. I expect solutions. That's why I made you the captain of this squad. You're good at solving things. And most importantly, you treat everyone as equals. You're not biased."

I ran a frustrated hand through my hair. "What do you want me to do? Apologize to her?" I questioned in disbelief.

"I expect you to fix this before nationals, another slip up and I won't be able to cover it up. You're professionals, start acting like it," she snapped at me before leaving the arena.

I scoffed in disbelief. "Maybe I should step down from my position as captain," I whispered to myself.

I sharply turned on my heels, heading straight toward the locker room. I cleared my throat, and the girls all paused to rest their tired gazes on mine.

"Let's try to work together during the next practice. Coach Laurel knows what she's doing," I pointedly stated.

"Hails, we were just trying to help you," Ellie carefully explained.

"I didn't ask you to help me," I said, letting out a heavy sigh. "I trust Tessa. And so should you. She's our cheer sister, and I trust that her intentions were never to harm me," I pointedly stated.

But who the hell was I trying to fool? I couldn't even fool myself.

"What's up with the modern-day propaganda, Hailey? That b***h can't be trusted. And you know it. She's a f*****g psycho," Brie finally snapped.

The room was drowned in silence.

"Did you just call me a b***h?" Tessa questioned in disbelief. "For making a mistake? What is your problem with me?"

"My problem is that you always get away with murder. You're not the victim here, Tessa. You almost killed Hailey, and you didn't even apologize," Brie continued, and the girls nodded in agreement.

"She didn't show remorse either," Jia added, folding her arms across her chest. "We can't just sweep this under the rug."

"Jia's right, you should apologize to Hailey," Ellie told Tessa with a serious look on her face. "That's the least you could do."

"I won't apologize for something I didn't do." Tessa pointedly stated. My hands balled into fists at my sides.

She's still refusing to apologize. At this rate we'll never get past this.

"So then don't be surprised when we treat you like s**t. You can't be trusted. You're a threat to everyone's safety in this room," Brie pointedly stated.

"When have you not treated me like s**t?" Tessa whispered under her breath before slipping out of the locker room.

"What the hell was that? And when did you become the devil's advocate?" Jia wildly questioned.

"Just let it be," I whispered under my breath. I turned to the rest of the girls. "No practice for tonight, so get some rest and I'll see you guys tomorrow morning."

The girls slowly started leaving the locker room, kindly saying goodbye to me and Jia.

"Can you lend me some sunscreen?" Jia asked and I simply nodded before heading over to the showers.

Jia suddenly screamed, and I stopped dead in my tracks. "What the f**k?" She whimpered out in fear.

I slowly turned the corner, running back to her. I stumbled over my feet as I stopped in front of my locker. My blood turned to ice.

A severed hand lay inside my locker, bloody and blue.

There was a sticky note stuck to the back of my locker.

He used this hand to touch what belongs to me. Since he couldn't keep his hands to himself, I decided he didn't need them at all. One down, one to go.