Counting the votes took about five minutes, but it seemed like an hour for me. Captain of the cheerleaders is quite an honor. At least that’s what I was ____1____.
As Coach Maguire appeared, all eyes zeroed in ____2____ her.
“Girls,” she began. “It’s my pleasure to announce that Terry Shaw has been elected Captain of the cheerleading team.” A great cheer was heard throughout the gym.
How ____3____ this be? I hadn’t ____4____ a practice, or a game, in the three years. Was everyone blind? Didn’t they realize that I had worked three years to ____5____ the title?
All the way home, I sobbed. The next morning, I held my uniform close to me. I knew I couldn’t ____6____. As heartbroken as I was, my true love was ____7____ with my teammates.
How very ____8____ it was to go to that first practice after Terry had been named captain. When I arrived, Terry asked me if I had any ideas on how to improve our routines and talked about how we could make the team better. We? Was she kidding? I just wanted to ____9____ her and she kept making it harder and harder for me to do that. It wasn’t just that she showed interest in me-her interest was warm and ____10____.
Terry always made sure to ____11____ me when discussing changes in our routine and eventually I ____12____ myself and we grew to be very close friends.
At the end of the year, the annual Sports Award Banquet was organized. We decorated the hall, talking about all the good times we had ____13____ during our last year together. I just wanted to ____14____ that moment in time.
Later in the evening we arrived and listened as the various trophies were awarded to the most valuable player of each sports team. Of course the team captains all received trophies too. With great ____15____ I cheered for Terry.
Just as Terry walked off the stage, Coach Maguire stepped up to the microphone again and announced that there was one final trophy to be awarded. The cheerleading “Spirit Award” would now be presented to the girl who showed the most dedicated ____16____.
When I heard my name announced I imagined I was as ____17____. Terry was coming toward me. We hugged each other, and Terry whispered, “Nobody ____18____ this more than you.”
Terry never knew that quitting was all I had on my mind the day she was named captain. She read the ____19____ in my shallow words of congratulations and embraced me in spite of myself, planting tiny seeds of kindness and respect. From her effort grew a ____20____ that, to this day, I hold close to my heart.