The Cheerleader // Rob Gronkowski

t h r e e

Chapter 3

"Good work today, ladies! Everyone who makes the final cut will be notified tonight. Returning members, please come with me," I called out through the megaphone. Tryouts were almost over, and I had to cut the candidate pool to 50 girls tonight. This was my least favorite part of being captain. I hated breaking girls' hearts.

Once my returning girls were huddled around me, I began explaining my plan, "I know we're all exhausted right now, but we are going to go out to meet with fans and cheer on the players for the last 45 minutes or so of open practice. Please go change quickly, and fix your hair and makeup. You all have about half an hour, and your outfits are laid out in front of your old lockers. Thanks ladies!"

Of course, my ulterior motive was that I wanted to see Rob, and figured this would be the perfect way to do it. The fans loved the cheerleaders, so no one would think twice about our presence at practice. I jogged into the locker room and got ready.

30 minutes later, we assembled on the practice field. Dressed in a practice tank with black capri leggings and red Nike sneakers, we looked adorable if I do say so myself. "Ready for our first appearance of the year?" I asked them. Returning members always had to compete for their spot, but if they made it to the final cut, they were basically guaranteed their spot back.

Michaela, a three-year veteran, yelled, "Let's do this thang!!"

I laughed, and then lead my team out the doors to Training Camp, grabbing blue and white poms on the way.

We could hear practice before we could see it - the screams of the fans, the grunting of the linemen running drills, and the smack of a football hitting a receiver's gloves. I gave a thumbs-up to the 20 girls behind me, "Showtime, ladies!"

We walked onto the sideline, smiling and waving at fans. I immediately headed over to Coach Belichick to make sure our little surprise visit was ok with him. After getting the thumbs up, I trotted back over to my team, "Ok girls! Take some pictures, sign some autographs, do a backflip or high kick or two, cheer on the players, just have fun and enjoy yourselves. Consider this part of your tryout," I winked.

I walked over to the most crowded section of the spectators, and then, noticing that all eyes were on me, did a round off-back handspring- back tuck over to them. "Hi everyone!" I waved, and giggled at their wide eyes. I began taking selfies and teaching cheers. The time flew by so fast, I didn't even notice the players beginning to head back to the locker room until I heard screaming from the section of fans in front of me. Suddenly, I was lifted off my feet and spun around, landing gently with my face to someone's chest. I looked up to see the laughing face of Rob Gronkowski.

I smacked his grass-stained chest pads, "You scared the crap out of me!"

Rob laughed, ignoring the fans reaching out to try to get his autograph, "Fancy seeing you here, Miss Hanna."

I shrugged, "I mean, cheerleaders have a job to do too."

"You just wanted to come see me, didn't you?" Rob stated matter-of-factly.

I put a look of mock surprise on my face, "You play football?!"

"You're so mean to me!" he yelled, and started to chase me. Laughing, I performed a series of back handsprings away from him. Gronk threw his hands up in the air in a mock I give up gesture.

"Go meet with your fans, I'll see you later!" I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled to him. Rob held up a thumbs up, and I walked away to regroup my teammates.