"Do you really think, I should go for cheerleading?" Paige asked, her head leaning back against the headboard of her queen size bed.
"Of course you should," her best friend Lina encouraged her.
"Who would have a better chance at joining the team than you?" Martha chimed in as well.
"It's not about the athletic stuff. I know I can do it. But Aliza is a bitch when it comes to choosing new team members and I really don't think she likes me."
"Does she even know about you?" Lina asked, raising her head that has been dangling off the side of the bed, where she laid next to Paige.
"Unfortunately, she does. I once accidentally bumped into her in the hallway," Paige said.
"Uff, how can you even still be alive after such a faux-pas?" Lina asked in mock dramatics and let her head fall back again.
"It's not funny," Paige insisted, "she really does hold grudges for a long time. Believe me."
"But that was like three years ago?" Martha asked and Paige sighed heavily.
"Yes, but still. I just can't shake the feeling that she doesn't like me because of it."
"So what? You should still go for the try outs. If it doesn't help, at least it won't hurt, right?" Martha suggested.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Paige admitted, nodding slowly. "I will go for the try outs," she decided.
"That's our girl," Lina said, unaware how nerves began to tie a knot in Paige's stomach.
The knot in her stomach remained and got even worse as the day of the trial training approached. She thought she had seen Aliza's menacing glances every time she passed her in the hallway, but tried her best to blame it on her own paranoia.
Channelling her nervousness, she put her everything into the try outs and even landed some of the more complicated jumps and figures. She almost collapsed with exhaustion when the trial was finally over.
Aliza had made her jump through literal hoops, pestering her way more with small details and different figures than any of the others. But in the end, she seemed satisfied -- at least Paige hoped so.
In line with the other applicants, she waited for the final feedback and her hope shrunk with every rejection that brought Aliza closer to her. Finally, she stopped right in front of her. After a quick glance and an almost unnoticeable nod from one of her team mates, she turned her attention back on Paige.
"Congratulations," she then said with a bitter sweet voice that made Paige shiver. "You earned yourself a spot on the team. And to show that you belong to us now, you can use our private changing room and showers. Follow me."
Paige could hardly believe it and she had to supress a happy giggle, fearing that Aliza could change her opinion again if she noticed. She followed her and two of the other cheerleaders to the changing rooms. Outside a wooden door, they stopped.
"This is our changing room. We won't need to shower, since we were only the judges. But you look like you really need to clean yourself up, so go ahead and we will see you next week for our first training."
They pushed her through the door before she could even object.
"How long do you think it will take her to notice that we swapped the signs with the boys' changing room?" One of the cheerleaders asked Aliza, once the door shut behind Paige.
"Long enough," Aliza smiled mischievously. "And if I'm right, they should return from their training any second now." She quickly glanced at her watch and when she heard voices drawing closer, she turned around to face the door again.
Blowing a quick kiss she whispered "April fools", before heading in the other direction of the voices, her friends trailing closely behind her.
A pungent smell of sweat and old jerseys hit Paige and she had to press her hand over her nose to stop the smell from tormenting her nostrils. She moved away from the dirty laundry bag in the corner and the further away she got the fainter the smell became.
Looking back, this should have been her first warning sign, but her brain was too busy buzzing with the exciting news of having made the team to analyse her current situation correctly.
She was just about to slip out of her shirt, when she heard the door opening again and an array of voices filled the small space. They did, however, stop quite abruptly when they saw her.
"Well, well, is this our reward after a good game or did you just get lost?" A red-haired boy asked, leaning casually against the lockers.
"Mixed up the changing rooms, huh?" Another joined in.
"But since she's already here..."
Paige was rooted to the spot. Had they tricked her? And then it finally clicked in her stupid little brain.
April fools
, she cursed silently and almost slapped her own forehead at the realisation. How could she not have noticed that they had picked the freaking first of April for the try outs? Obviously, it had not been a coincidence.