As the light from the camera’s blast faded, Paul glanced around in shock. Somehow, the camera had transported them from the house to the local high school! The shrill sound of whistles and the crash of pads sounded as in front of him a group of football players practiced a drill. Paul glanced down at himself and barely stifled a groan of disappointment. He was very clearly female, wearing a skimpy blue and white cheerleading uniform. Clenched in his hands were a pair of pom poms, which rustled as he shifted from foot to foot.
“Earth to Paula? Like, hello?”
Broken out of her thoughts, Paula glanced up suddenly. Two other cheerleaders were staring at her, annoyed looks on their faces. One was a busty redhead, the other an African American girl with long, dark hair. The redhead continued “If you, like, done zoning out, we have to go over the routines again. It’s senior night tomorrow and I am NOT having you mess it up because you are off in your own little world” she sneered.
Paula hastily nodded, and the redhead turned back to the main group. Looking around, Paula could see that there were about twenty girls in total grouped around in loose rows, waiting for instructions. She hurried over and took a place in one of the rows. A blonde girl standing next to her gave her a sympathetic look. “Don’t worry about Becca. She’s just totally freaked because the biggest game of the season is tomorrow.” She whispered. Paula nodded absently, feeling a degree of panic herself. She’d somehow turned them all into cheerleaders, and she had no idea where the camera had gone. Even worse, she was struggling to think of herself as anyone but Paula.
The group went over a series of basic cheers, then began working on their more advanced stunts. To Paula’s surprise, she found her new body was copying the movements of the other girls perfectly. Thank god for muscle memory, Paula thought. She wasn’t sure what she would have done if she had to try and perform the various stunts on her own.
After about an hour, Becca called for a water break. Paula happily hurried over to the large cooler sitting on a nearby bench. She had no idea cheerleading was so physically strenuous; Paula had always thought it was little more than smiling and waving at the crowd. Shows you what I know, she thought, embarrassed. At least she was pretty sure she knew where the other three had wound up. Rick was Becca, the busty redheaded head cheerleader. The African American co-captain was Olivia; her name had stayed the same, and even though she was unaware she seemed to take a special pleasure in yelling at Paula’s group of cheerleaders when they’d practiced tossing a girl in the air and catching her. Paula freely admitted her heart had jumped into her throat, half expecting one of the girls to be dropped.
But Olivia had relentlessly drilled them on proper form until Paula felt like they’d done it perfectly a dozen times, then nodded grudgingly. “Olivia’s just a perfectionist. Don’t worry Paula.” The blonde—who Paula had realized was Emily—whispered. Paula had figured out that she was the “new girl” on the squad now, so “Emma” had taken her under wing.
Finally, after another hour, Becca called it a wrap on practice. The girls quickly dispersed, eager to get home. Paula saw Becca and Olivia already talking to a pair of sweat drenched football players, Emma hurrying past to join them. That’s when she realized….