My Journey to Varsity Cheerleading Read online

  MY JOURNEY TO

  VARSITY CHEERLEADING

  ABBY MOODY

  Copyright © 2019 Abby Moody

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 9781795152334

  CONTENTS

  1

  Chapter One

  A Dream Come True

  2

  Chapter Two

  My Story

  3

  Chapter Three

  The Sleepover

  4

  Chapter Four

  Sunday Morning’s

  5

  Chapter Five

  The Field Mouse

  6

  Chapter Six

  Devastated

  7

  Chapter Seven

  Dr. Whack

  8

  Chapter Eight

  Awakening

  9

  Chapter Nine

  The Jayhawks

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Face Plant

  The ER

  New Strength

  Diagnosis

  ER, Again

  A New Trust

  Tryouts

  CHAPTER ONE: A DREAM COME TRUE

  We walked out of the stadium double doors to find a crowd of people waiting for us. We parted through the fans to take our designated positions. Our marching band formed a line behind us, standing like toy nutcrackers. I stood side by side my teammates in our formation, facing the sea of eyes watching our every move. I stood with my shoulders back, chin up, and a big smile. I had dainty diamond earrings in, my blonde hair was pulled half-up and curled, and I had perfectly applied deep-red lipstick on.

  My partner stood directly behind me, he looked like a human Ken doll. He was clapping and waving at the crowd, with a smile that could light up the entire stadium. I looked up at the massive structure towering above our heads. It was covered with glass windows, metallic beams, and the giant, silver letters spelled out “AT&T Stadium”.

  I saw my parents towards the back of the crowd, waving and trying to get my attention. My dad’s Canon camera was held high above everyone’s heads, already recording me. I beamed at them, and was truly thankful for such supportive parents to come watch my dream unfold today.

  My squad was wearing our red crop top uniforms, with our straight skirt. The letters across our chests read: Razorbacks. A camera man squeezed through the fans, and knelt down directly in front of us, zooming in on our faces. The side of his camera read “ESPN”. He moved slowly down our line, filming all of us. When he got to me, I instinctively waved my red pom-pom above my head, looking up at the stadium. We were taught to not look directly into the camera, unless the camera man tells us to. We wanted to look as if the camera was not there, and we were acting natural. Even when the camera passed, my squad was still waving and smiling at the fans.

  I noticed in front of me, a little girl about five years old was wearing a Razorback cheerleader uniform, and was watching me intently. She started jumping up and down, tossing her pom-poms in the air and catching them. One of her pom-poms went rogue and landed about an inch from me. I immediately knelt down and picked it up.

  “Here you go!” I said, handing her pom-pom back to her. Her smile lit up, and she said, “Mommy! Take my picture!”

  Her mom was wearing red cowboy boots, jeans, and a trendy white shirt with a hog on the front. The little girl stood beside me, as I bent down to her level and put my arm around her. We posed for a picture, and I gave her a hug before she skipped back to her mom.

  Beside them, there was a group of three young, teenage girls with their IPhones out taking photos of us. Although, I noticed them taking more pictures of my partner Judah standing behind me. He was very good-looking, so I couldn’t blame them. They looked like they were freshman in high school, that notoriously awkward stage. They were talking loudly after snapping their photos, and I tuned in. People always assumed we couldn’t hear them, but really we could.

  The girl with a head of natural, brown curls said, “I wanna become a Razorback cheerleader someday!”

  “I plan on trying out too!” The little blonde-headed girl with aqua eyes said, who was wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

  The two other girls looked at her with confusion. The curly-haired girl said, “But… you’re only on JV…”

  “The Razorbacks take the best of the best…” The other girl added.

  “You girls are trying out. I can too!”

  “Yeah, but…” The brown-haired girl started to say, then looked to her friend.

  “We’re on the varsity squad.” Her friend said smirking.

  I watched the blonde-headed girls face fall in defeat. It lit a fire inside me from once buried memories.

  Suddenly, the band started playing our fight song. I was a captain, and was calling the cheers and dances for today. I held out our signal for my favorite dance to the fight song, and the squad followed. I danced in sync with my teammates, who were also my best friends. We hit each motion on beat, and knew our routines like the back of our hands. We had performed hundreds of times before. When the fight song ended, the band played several more songs that we had routines to. We danced and cheered to each of them. I kept my eyes on my parents most of the time, and would occasionally look at the teenage girls. They watched us in awe. When our last song ended, an announcer spoke over the pep rally and everyone was silenced. His shiny, expensive-looking shoes clicked across the pavement as he walked in front of us with his crisp, black suit and microphone in hand. His face was clearly powdered, and his grey hair was gelled to perfection.

  “Thank you to all the fans coming out to support the Razorbacks today at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium! It’s truly an honor to be able to play here today against the Texas A&M Aggies. Who’s ready to take home an Arkansas victory?!”

  The sea of people yelled and clapped together.

  “Now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for… let’s CALL THOSE HOGS!”

  Our squad led the crowd in the hog call in unison. Everyone’s hands were above their head, wiggling their fingers.

  “WOOOOO” The crowd echoed. Then we all punched the sky chanting “Pig Sooie!”

  We repeated two more times, then all yelled “RAZORBACKS!”

  That was our cue to leave and head inside the stadium. On our way out, I stopped in front of the lanky, blonde-headed girl with a mouth full of braces. She looked as if she had seen a ghost. I said, “I just want to let you know you’re absolutely beautiful… And you can do anything you set your mind to.”

  She beamed, and looked like she was about to cry. And she said, “Thank you, thank you so much.” Her two snotty friends were glaring at her.

  “Abby! We’ve got to go!” Judah said to me, rushing by with the rest of the team. I smiled at the girl, then started to jog away when something caught my eye.

  That girl was wearing old, worn-down Nfinity shoes. My heart stopped and I froze.

  “Abby!!” My coach called for me. I blinked, and ran to catch up with my team.

  We were in the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader’s locker room until the game started. We took tons of pictures, and felt like real celebrities. All of us girls were re-touching our makeup and hair. I put another coat of deep-red lipstick on, looking into a mirror lined with huge, bright bulbs. I tossed the lipstick into my backpack, and grabbed my pom-poms. I looked myself up and down in the full-length mirro
r. I almost teared up from realizing my ultimate dream was coming true. I was truly thankful to be here with my team, about to run onto that field, in front of 100,000 people.

  “It’s game time! Let’s go!!” My coach called from the door. We all lined up and made our way outside the locker room, and into the tunnel. Our football team stood behind us, with our head football coach leading them. They looked like a pack of raging, wild hogs. They were restraining themselves. Some were jumping up and down. You could see the intensity in their eyes from inside their helmets.

  One of our male cheerleaders held the gigantic Arkansas State flag. He was in front of us all, ready to dart across the field. We all stood together in the tunnel in a deafening silence. Our hearts were racing. We each grabbed our partner’s hand. I grabbed Judah’s and looked up at him.

  “This is it.”

  “Are you ready?” He asked, squeezing my hand tighter.

  Smoke billowed in front of us through the opening of the tunnel. Our vision of the field was fogged. The fight song started playing.

  We took off. We ran through the smoke, onto the turf. My heart was beating between each step. The music boomed in the stadium, vibrating in my chest. About 100,000 people were looking down at us. Judah and I waved to the crowd. Cameras were flashing. Adrenaline was overtaking me. It was as if everything was happening in slow motion. I was watching our Arkansas flag flailing in front of us. I glanced sideways and saw our Razorback fans jumping up and down, chanting our beloved fight song. I thought I heard some boo’s from the Aggies section, but that didn’t bother me.

  Halfway across the field, I started feeling robbed of breath. We were sprinting for our lives, so we wouldn’t be trampled by our raging football players behind us. Taking deep breaths through my smile, I caught a face that looked oddly familiar. In the stands, just a few rows up, there was that group of teenage girls with their hands above their heads chanting along with everyone. That same girl and I made eye contact, and I waved at her as we ran past.

  Finally reaching the end of the field, we took our positions on the sidelines. The game was about to begin, and I made sure to soak up every moment of being out there on that field. I wasn’t nervous at all, and never got nervous cheering in front of large crowds. I fed off the crowds’ energy and it gave me adrenaline. When I was cheering, I was thriving. I said a small prayer to God, thanking Him for the journey He has led me down, and where I have ended up today.

  During that game, a new dream manifested itself within me. I wanted to write a book to that girl I saw that day. I was once a young, awkward, teenage girl sitting in a crowd, wishing to become a college cheerleader one day.

  For some reason, people think that I breezed my way into college cheerleading, and had a super successful high school career. Let me tell you this: that is anything but the truth. To clear things up, I had many setbacks before I became a college cheerleader. Nothing extremely devastating ever happened, and I am forever thankful for that. But I still endured hard times, and that was enough for a young, teenage girl to handle. I went through girls being hateful to me, being left out, and being told “I wasn’t good enough”. I had a crush on a boy all of high school who never liked me back. I was knocked down over and over through trials and setbacks. And most importantly, I wanted to give up, but God pulled me through those times and I became stronger. I wouldn’t be where I am today without relying on God to give me the strength to overcome those setbacks.

  I had several awkward social encounters and tons of embarrassing stories that I’ve written for you in this book. I was not the “cool” girl in high school. I didn’t go out to parties, I never drank alcohol, and I was saving my virginity until marriage. Those things right there equaled a social outcast and a “prude”. So through high school, I had a set group of friends and we found other ways to amuse ourselves and get into trouble. I was shy around groups of people; but around my friends, I was a total goon.

  In my later years of high school, I came out of my shell and developed confidence in myself. I stopped caring about my popularity status and wasn’t as shy. It was once I stopped trying to convince everyone I could be “cool”, and started striving towards God’s Plan, a natural confidence developed inside me. It was a confidence telling me I was enough for God, and that’s all that really mattered.

  I want to write my story for young girls who are going through the same pains I have gone through. I want to tell you to never give up on your dreams, and you are intelligent and beautiful. When people are telling you, you aren’t good enough, please believe me when I say this: YOU ARE ENOUGH. You do not need to spend your time convincing others that you are. Trust me, it will get you nowhere. All that matters is that you are PERFECT in God’s eyes, and you are enough to Him. You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. Whatever dream God has laid on your heart, it is meant to glorify Him. God’s Plans are bigger than our plans, and He has something HUGE in store for each of you. That is why I am sharing my story, of how God was glorified through my trials and success in high school and college.

  CHAPTER TWO: MY STORY

  One Sunday evening, the essence of spring filled the air. My story begins lying on my trampoline, daydreaming about who I would grow up to be, thinking I want to impact as many people as I can.

  My name is Abby Moody, and I grew up on the outskirts of a small town in Missouri, called Carl Junction. Most people have never heard of it, so I usually just say I’m from southern Missouri. Carl Junction had no stoplights, there were chickens occasionally roaming the parking lot of my high school, and the most exciting field trip we took was to see Big Brutus, which was a giant tractor in the middle of a corn field. My home was in a country club neighborhood, nestled into a cul-de-sac. It was stucco and stone, with pearl white pillars framing the glass front door.

  On warm evenings, my mom would be outside watering her flower pots. While my dad would be mowing his precious zoysia grass, and instructing the neighbors and the FedEx guy not to ever walk across it. My parents were successful in their careers. My mom owned her own hair salon in town called Hair with Flair. No matter what kind of day someone was having, her warm, glowing personality was contagious. She has a slim figure, piercing blue eyes, and a brilliant white smile that can brighten anyone’s day. Her carefully teased, honey blonde hair graced her shoulders. She was strikingly beautiful. My guy friends would say, “Your mom is so hot! If only you looked like her.” She’s usually decked out in Carl Junction Bulldog gear of red and black. When she’s watering the flowers or doing any kind of yard work, she wears the same over-sized, white t-shirt printed with hot air balloons and paint stains. That’s usually how I spot her in the yard when I can’t find her. The multi-rainbow color stands out amongst the greenery.

  My dad has been a pharmaceutical sales rep for over twenty years. He has an athletic, slender build – mostly from his karate background. He’s a black belt, and made sure to let any potential boyfriend of mine know. He has neatly combed, faded black hair, and has kept the same hair style for as long as I can remember. He has gentle green eyes, and is always sporting classy black slacks and a button up dress shirt. When he’s not dressed up, he’s wearing the same black karate instructor t-shirt, and dark green sweat pants that he’s had for twenty plus years. He believes rules are just guidelines, and it’s up to him if he wants to follow them or not. It drives my mom insane – she’s an avid rule follower.

  I also have one older brother, whose name is Eli. He was the one I always looked up to, and have decided to name my future son after him. He has my dad’s gentle green eyes, tossed caramel brown hair, and a stout, muscular build. He makes almost every situation funny, usually making sarcastic comments under his breath. He lets out a loud “S” sound when he laughs – almost like he’s hissing – throwing his head back and moving his shoulders up and down. He’s the star of the family, being good at everything he does. He published his own CD, played baseball in college, and became a pro-triathlete. Casual. He’s extreme
ly over-protective when it comes to me dating boys. Sometimes it would frustrate me, but I know he is that way because he cares. We hardly ever fought. Except for when he used to zip me in my Little Mermaid sleeping bag for hours in the basement. Or, push the pressure point on my wrist that would instantly make me drop to my knees, even in the middle of church service. Other than those few incidents, my parents and my brother have always meant the world to me. Sadly, Eli was seven years older than me and didn’t live at home anymore. At the time, he was in Springfield attending Missouri State University.

  Meanwhile, I was only a freshman in high school on the junior varsity cheer squad. My friends gave me the nickname, “human surfboard”, because apparently I was flat on both sides. I was average height, lanky, and had long, thin, naturally board-straight blonde hair that hung by my waist. I had my mom’s blue eyes, and a mouth full of braces. I had multi-colored braces at the time, with my favorite colors aqua and pink. Unfortunately, the colors were beginning to fade, so it just looked like food was always stuck in my teeth. I was actually born slightly deformed. My head was a cone shape, and my right leg was curled up to my thigh. I have one eye that crosses inwards when I try to focus on things. So, I’ve had glasses since I was a baby, and had contacts since I was six-years-old. But, I can still move my one eye when I want to. You can consider that my special talent. Thank goodness that was fixed though, and I didn’t turn out still looking like that.

  I noticed from my trampoline the stars began to sparkle above, one by one. The sweet, floral wind brushed through my hair as I floated between each bounce. The pure serenity of the evening made me truly appreciate the life I lived.

  I watched my dad dismount his prized zero-turn lawnmower. I was never allowed to drive it, or even touch it. He put up my English Mastiff, Buster, back into his kennel for the night. Buster galloped through the door, leaving a white, slimy slobber on my dad’s sweat pants as he passed by. We also had a Yorkie named Lilly. She was our little princess, and is probably one of the most spoiled dogs in the world. She had never set foot on grass for various reasons, and we do dress her up every once in a while. She usually slept between my parents, on their king-sized bed, with her head on the pillow, and flannel sheets tucked around her. Buster and Lilly were members of our family.