Drew woke up. Her head felt a little muzzy. She only had a few mixed drinks the night before, but it felt like it was more. But she was a lot better off than either Callie or Iola. Cheerleaders have a reputation for partying hard, and Janine's girls were no different, including Callie and Iola. Drew, on the other hand, thought ahead last night and downed two big bottles of water in the limo going home, and she was mostly okay afterwards.

As she waited for the tub to fill for her usual morning soak, she got her phone and, just for the heck of it, she texted the two.

After a while, Callie and Iola texted back. Iola's text was several dozen words long, and it was hard to believe that they were coming from such a cute, petite and usually-sweet girl. As for Callie's text, it was just one word: "shaddup!" Drew laughed out loud at both texts.

She texted again, and reminded them that they were supposed to meet up at her house by ten, to help her practice for her tryouts on Sunday.

Callie texted back, "shaddup!"

-----

Drew had moved back their thing for the afternoon, giving the two more time to recover from last night's excesses. That allowed Drew to have a more leisurely morning, and more water.

During late breakfast, she got to hear from her father about his ginormous shopping day, and what Carson called the delivery fiasco. She was glad her dad was back in fighting form, echoing the old Bill Fayne in his heyday. She also got to take a look at everything Carson had bought. She was a bit envious of the stuff he got, but was surprised she wasn't that much envious. Suits and pants... meh. Carson gave her one of the terabyte drives and a couple of the 128GB USB thumb drives. She joked that she'd prefer it if she got the new Mac Air instead. Carson laughed and shrugged that off.

"No way, Drew. The new Mac's mine."

"Okay." Drew cleared her throat. "Ummm, Pop? Just wanted to say, I have this thing with the girls?"

"Hmmm?"

"I'm practicing for my cheerleading tryouts, which are tomorrow, and we want to do it in the backyard... Is that okay?

"Sure. When?"

"This afternoon?"

"Okay. I'll rake the yard, and get it ready before lunch."

"I didn't mean that! You don't need to..."

"S'all right."

She gave him a hug. "Thanks, Pop."

"No prob."

That afternoon, Iola, and then Callie, arrived. They were both wearing shorts, rubber shoes and cutoff tees, ready for a workout. Callie brought her beat-up portable player and Iola brought three pairs of pompoms.

For her part, Drew went upstairs and changed into an exercise sports bra and a pair of board shorts (over her thong sports gaff, of course). She was worried that she might... come out or hurt herself, so before going down, she did some lunges and jumping jacks in front of her full-length mirror while wearing the gaff, and everything remained in place, and no painful parts.

"Hey, guys," Drew said, giving them a twirl.

"Cute! Guess you're set," Callie said.

"Pop made you guys that, by the way." Drew pointed to a big glass pitcher on the kitchen table full of a red drink, and choked with ice.

"What's that?" Callie asked.

"Virgin Bloody Mary. Pop sez it's good for curing hangovers."

"Bloody Marys curing hangovers is a myth. It doesn't work. Besides, you said that's a virgin Bloody Mary."

"Well, it's full of vitamin C, which is supposed to be good for hangovers, and it'll help you rehydrate? Which is also good?"

Iola lunged at the pitcher. "I don't care. I'll try anything." She poured a glass and downed it in one motion.

"You okay? Would you rather we cancel this thing?"

"No!" both of them exclaimed.

"And neither of you have brought up Exam Week next week, you know..."

"We're fine, Drew," Iola said.

"This is the only time you have to practice for tomorrow, Drew," Callie said, after downing a glass of Carson's brew. "We HAVE to do this."

"Okay, okay. Pop got the backyard cleaned up and raked for us, so let's go."

Outside, they saw the Nances' backyard was mowed down. To the farther edge, piled up against the fence separating their yard from the neighbors', was a big pile of grass cuttings, twigs, leaves, dried branches and lots of little rocks.

Carson had just laid down a big canvas sheet over the just-mown grass, and was nailing it down by the corners with tent stakes. The sheet was probably something left by the caterers during the last monthly party.

"Good afternoon, girls," Carson said, finishing up.

"Hi, Mr. Nance," Callie said.

"Thanks, Pop," Callie said, reaching up and giving Carson a kiss on the cheek. "Now go away." Drew smiled at him merrily.

Carson swatted her on her behind, and left the girls.

"So?" Drew said, and gestured with her arms at the back yard.

"Cool," Callie commented, and put her aunt's beat-up fifteen-year-old CD player on the foldout picnic table Mr. Nance had set up against the wall. She walked on the canvas and noted that it was mostly flat and springy enough. Good.

The first thing Callie and Iola did was to teach Drew the ten basic cheerleading positions, including the ready position, with hands behind her back, and with feet shoulder-width apart.

Soon, Drew learned about the "High-V" (arms at a 45 degree angle to the body and pinky fingers to the back, the "Low-V" (which was the same as a High-V, but with arms down), the "T" (the arms at a 90-degree angle to the body, and again, pinky fingers to the back), the "Broken T" (same as a T, but with arms bent. This time, however, the pinky fingers were to the front), the "Touch Down" (arms straight up, in-line with the body, and then bringing arms to ears, and pinky fingers to the front), the "Low Touch Down" (the arms straight down this time, in-line and tight to the body, and slightly forward. Pinky fingers to the back this time), the "Daggers" (arms bent and hugging the body, pinky fingers to the front), the "Right L" and "Left L" (the appropriate arm in a T and the other arm in a Touch Down), the "Right Punch" and "Left Punch" (one arm in a Touch Down and the other arm on the hip), the "Left Diagonal" and "Right Diagonal" (one arm in a High-V and the other arm in a Low-V), and then the "Left K" and "Right K" (one arm in a High V and the other arm in a Low V across the body). And then they'd repeat everything again, but this time with the pompoms.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Drew didn't understand the pinky thing until she learned that the pinky position was important because it helped change her torso's position somehow, and that it helped fluff out her pompoms when she held the pose.

Soon, Drew had memorized the poses, and they spent time getting Drew drilled enough that she could strike each of the ten positions (eleven including the Ready Position) on command. Drew also learned the squad's standard cheers, and soon had them memorized.

"Snappier, Drew!" Iola instructed as Drew did her moves. "Your moves should be sharp. It should be like hitting a brick wall. And no limp wrists! The wrists shouldn't be cocked but in line with your arms. And the thumbs! They should be outside of your fists and your pinky fingers in back! Swirlies, Drew! Swirlies!"

Drew grumbled.

"And smile, dammit!"

Grrr...

Callie added a few other pointers:

"Drew, even though you want to hit that brick wall, your arms should not be way behind you. You should be able to just barely see them out of the corner of your eyes when looking straight ahead."

"Your shoulders should be relaxed for every motion, and not up at your ears! Relax 'em!"

"Drew, instead of swinging your arms around, up into your High-V, bring them straight forward in front of yourself and hit. And you gotta do this for any motion. Remember - use the shortest distance."

Iola had disappeared but soon came back with Carson in tow. He had Drew's freestanding floor-length mirror, and following Iola's instructions, set it up against the tree at the edge of the yard.

"Thanks, Mr. Nance," Iola said.

"What's that for?" Drew puffed, stopping after Callie had finished speed-drilling her in all ten positions for about five minutes.

"Sometimes," Iola explained, "you might think that you're doing the moves correctly, but you might not be, so it's good to practice against a mirror."

"Oh."

She turned to her dad. "Don't you have something to do, Pop?" she grumped. Unconsciously, she had automatically fallen into the Ready Position.

Taking the hint, Carson laughed and went inside the house again.

They all took a break at that point, Drew drinking Gatorade and Iola and Callie finishing off another pitcher of Mr. Nance's virgin Bloody Mary.

Drew giggled. "I thought Virgin Marys don't work on hangovers."

"Shut up," Iola said. "It just so happens, your dad makes great tasting Virgin Marys."

"If you say so," Drew giggled.

While they were resting up, they listened to a bunch of songs that Callie brought. It was what Drew was supposed to use for her dance routine.

"Dance routine?" Drew asked.

Iola explained: "Coach Stoeger is gonna make you run through the standard moves, all of the standard school cheers, and then a dance routine."

"Dance routine?" Drew repeated, trepidation in her voice.

"Really, kid," Iola giggled. "A dance routine. So, let's pick out a song and let's make up your routine."

"Dance routine..." Drew mumbled.

Iola laughed. "Oh, you're so cute, Drew!"

Drew asked them for a demo, and the two ran through a couple of their own routines, dancing to "I'm a Machine" by David Guetta and Crystal Nicole, and "The Edge of Glory" by Lady Gaga.

Drew clapped in delight and was amazed by her friends' talents, which gave her the determination to try it as well. So they went through the songs that Callie brought again.

They listened to "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani, "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga, "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" by Selena Gomez, "Don't Hold Your Breath" by Nicole Scherzinger, "Yeah!" by Usher, "Shut Up and Drive," by Rihanna, "All Hail the Queen" by Queen Latifah, "Under Construction" by Missy Elliott, and a bunch of older pop classics like "Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie.

But even with the dozens of songs they listened to, Drew just couldn't find one she felt she could put together a routine to comfortably. She even doubted she could dance at all. Callie and Iola looked at each other despairingly.

"But, Drew," Callie said, "you're gonna need to have a dance routine."

Drew thought it over. "How about I start with something a little less, ummm, hardcore?"

"What!" Iola exclaimed, "you think this is hardcore? This is NOT hardcore!"

Drew waved her down. "You know what I mean," she grumped.

"Okay, okay. Let's look for something more your speed, then."

Drew finally settled on a thirty-year-old song by Paul Davis. It was a well-known song for cheerleaders and had all the prerequisite hooks and a catchy melody. And was a little more tame and laid back, which was what Drew wanted.

In a while, they had the basics of a routine. Drew was not that versed yet with all their cheerleader moves, but she brought something else: she had more power than the girls, which allowed her to jump higher and move faster. And she was flexible enough that her difference from real girls was not apparent, at least in regular cheerleader routines.

So as they tested the set further, they kept expanding it, capitalizing on Drew's special skills of precision, speed and power. And by using these, they were even able to find some show-stopping gimmicks that they were sure none of the other girls would have thought of, and with Drew's precision timing, they were confident she'd nail them tomorrow.

Near the end of their practice, Drew felt wrung out, and she hurt in places that she didn't know existed. But she had to admit, it wasn't a bad kind of hurt. She just needed more exercise. Thinking ahead, she planned to talk with Nurse Sally soon, and try and develop some exercise routines for her that wouldn't cause muscle definition yet would improve her flexibility and endurance.

As she went through her moves, the biggest thing she found out about herself was that, with the right... adjustments to her underwear, she could move as freely as she needed and still remain hidden. No splits, of course, but jumping jacks, for example, were a snap, and no one would be the wiser about her... extra equipment.

Before they knew it, the sun had almost set, so they decided to quit for the day. They contented themselves on having gotten Drew to go through her routine almost flawlessly at least twice, and they had been able to teach Drew all the basic moves, as well as their standard cheers.

Iola finally decided they should go in already when the lights out in the street started clicking on.

All of them took showers - Callie in the bathroom downstairs, Iola in the guest bath, and Drew in her en suite bath.

Drew hurried through her shower, and just contented herself with a generous slathering of her moisturizer instead of her regular routine. She had wanted to spend more time under the shower - the hot water was very soothing to her tired muscles. But she needed to finish first so that she could put on a fresh gaff before the girls came up, which she knew they would soon.

She had put on her special panties just in time: just after she finished adjusting herself in her tight-fitting gaff and stepped out of her bathroom, Callie, and then Iola, came barging in, wrapped in towels. Apparently, Drew had neglected to lock her bedroom door.

"I think your dad saw me!" Callie whispered, embarrassed that Carson had seen her in nothing but a towel, and then she cut herself short when she saw Drew was wearing what she thought was a pair of normal, high-cut sheer panties and nothing else. "Oh, wow...." She just stood there staring at Drew.

Drew blushed to a deep crimson and demurely wrapped herself in a towel.

Iola giggled. "Stop drooling and close your mouth, Cal."

Callie continued to stare until Iola playfully hit her on the top of her head. "Earth to Shaw! Hellooo!"

"Ummm, sorry, Drew. I guess..." Callie trailed off, not having thought of an appropriate excuse for gawking.

"S'okay, Callie," Drew said. "We're all girls here. No harm done."

Iola nonchalantly continued dressing. She turned around, took her towel off with her back to the others, and put on a pair of panties. After that, she turned around and casually finished toweling herself dry, put on a bra and then started powdering herself. She tried to hide her grin but couldn't quite manage it.

Drew, took the cue from Iola and tried to act normally by resuming her dressing. She put on a bra, which Callie watched closely, and sat in front of her dresser to put on her makeup and style her short pixie-cut.

"Hey, Cal," Iola whispered. "Stop staring, stop being weird, and get dressed already."

Callie shook herself and started to get herself ready as well.

Iola tried to smooth over any awkwardness, and asked what was next. Drew said that her dad was taking them out to dinner.

"Yayyy!" Iola enthused.

As they walked downstairs, Callie tried to apologize again. Drew gave her a long hug and said to not worry about it. That brought things back to normal. Well, almost normal - after all, all three of them knew something was going on. Iola was delighted, however, and schemes were starting to float around in her head.