Be Excited B-E-Excited

Ashley was so sweet! Blossom felt really welcomed by Ashley and her friends, the warmth of it and the acceptance easing some of the anxiety she felt about being new to the school. It was so weird not knowing who everybody was, who their family was, and not having spent literally all her life around them. Not wanting to admit it lest it make her feel too sad or like she wasn't super excited and grateful to be her, Ashley was already a little homesick and felt very out of place in such a large school. Ashley's quick friendship helped and she felt herself being folded up into the group like she belonged.

"You and Jack sound so cute together, Ashley. And your story, it should be on Hallmark or something, for the reals!" she enthused. Well, not the part about the fight at McDonald's. That sure sounded like Jocelyn had been hit on while at work and then there'd been a fight. How stressful for her, how embarrassing! And she had a black eye, an old one. Blossom's heart hurt for her and she decided she'd try to find Jocelyn later and see - well, could Blossom even tell her what she knew? And should she? Jocelyn had said some things at lunch that shocked Blossom but that didn't mean she was a bad person, right? Maybe she'd been wrong about Jocelyn and needed to try and not be so judgmental.

Blossom carried the mood through fitting but was excited and perky again when the girls went out to the field. They weren't in uniform, this was just a flag football game, but they all wore the same color shorts and had the JV girl's last year spirit shirts on to make it clear they were a squad. Relegated to the end of the field, Varsity took the prime spot and JV was nearby, the Freshmen girls spent a lot of time warming up and started to sort themselves out. Most of them, Blossom included, were super self conscious being out for the first time and they lacked both the poise and experience of the older girls.

Taking it easy, still working on building trust and bringing their different cheer styles and experiences together, they didn't do anything too dangerous for stunts yet. Plus Ashley was a little distracted by her boyfriend which Blossom and some of the other girls were already happy for her about and a little envious, not too many of them had boyfriends yet.

When Ashley kissed Jack after his touchdown the whole squad surrounded her when she came back, sharing the moment of excitement and her budding romance that seemed so perfect seen from the outside with no clue of the hell she was putting Jack through.

During a break the girls wandered down the sidelines and Blossom stopped by where Thomas stood, flags dangling around his waist. "Hey, Thomas!" she waved and turned to look out over the field, still standing beside him. "The game looks pretty fun and I saw your teammate and you on that one play. You did so good!"

"Is Jocelyn here? I didn't see her."