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Thursday morning the following announcements are made over the PA.

"Due to a recent suspension there is an opening on the pep squad.  Open tryouts will be held tomorrow, Friday September 14th.  All interested students should be at the football field no later then 4PM.  Tryouts will be from 4PM to 6PM and will run longer if there is an abundance of applicants.  Any student interested in being a member of the cheerleading squad is encouraged to attend."

"There have recently been reports of students dressing as ninja and assaulting other students.  Regardless of the motivation behind this activity it is in direct violation of the schools policy on violence on campus and must stop.  Any student caught dressing as a ninja will be suspended and any students found to be involved with violent acts will be suspended and dealth with to the fullest extent of the law."

Mr. Monnitoff asks the students involved with the school paper to remember to show compassion when writing about recent events at the school.

Mr. Heep tells TJ and Kirby that the drama club project is on hold as they work out creative issues with the upcoming production.

Cal is told by the coach that although he wont be in the game Saturday he might get some time on the field if Maxxon gets injured.

Donnie gets a formal invite from Mr. Monnitoff to join the school paper as a writer.

Matt feels great when he gets out of bed that morning.  Tired, but better then he's felt in a while.

T.J frowns at Mr Heep. "Greg, told me about the trouble with the play. Shame, I was enjoying the work. So are there any other projects we can do? Or will we just have to wait?" He glances at Kirby and shrugs. "I'm sure the project will be back on track soon. How long can they argue about it?"

Sylvia peers at the loudspeaker even as the announcement fades.  Pep squad.  Pep squad would entail a stupid uniform and pom-poms and the kinds of smiles that hurt your face.  Pep squad would require that she subject herself to the potential humiliation of a tryout in front of a hypercritical audience of popular girls who care less about whether she can stick her back handspring and more about whether she has the kind of ass for spankies.

Still, she misses the feeling of flight and precision she gets from gymnastics.  She misses the endorphine high of stretching till she hurts and exerting herself against the laws of physics.  She misses belonging.

Maybe a tryout wouldn't hurt.  She can always say no afterward.