CHAPTER II:
pep rally fun

( March 1986 )

CLEO RUSHED INTO THE GYM OF THE SCHOOL, HER SHAKO ON HER HEAD, COAT FASTENED, AND FLUTE IN HAND. Her spot was in front of the clarinet section which was conveniently right next to the trumpets so she could be next to Robin Buckley, one of her best friends.

      The sound of cheers for the cheerleaders doing their different routines was all that was heard as students continued to file into the gym and Cleo get into her position on the bleachers.

      "Thank God you showed," a harsh whisper from behind her had leaned over her shoulder, "I thought you'd never show."

      "And leave you to embarrass yourself for obvious reasons?" she scoffed, "like hell."

The marching band went on to play their pep tunes for the students of Hawkins High School for a few minutes more until the school's basketball team was introduced.

"Let's hear it for your Tigers!"

And then the boys in green and white all ran out together to rip a banner as they entered the center of the gym. The cheers that had been present for the cheerleaders had grown to be louder than ever. The band played loudly again, Cleo's flute never playing a wrong note or one out of tune.

      Jason Carver, captain of the basketball team, captain of calling expressive people rude names, and Hawkins High's resident asshole, had grabbed a hold of the microphone to speak over the students. Cleodora rolled her eyes as she brought her instrument away from her face with an unamused expression painting on her features.

      "Good morning, Hawkins High!" his voice boomed over the gymnasium and the audience in the bleachers erupted into cheers once more. "First off... hey," he attempted to gain the attention of the crowd, "first off I'd like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn't be here, give yourselves a big hand!" The audience once again cheered for themselves after he had spoken.

      Cleo leaned back where she was standing, "doesn't he literally bully the majority of the school?"

      "Maybe he appreciates us for all being his victims?" Robin mumbled back as the crowd died down.

      "And of course, of course, I have to give a special shout-out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the Tigers Cheer Squad." Cleodora gave a small clap for the girls. Not all of them were bad like Jason, some, like Chrissy, were actually pretty nice to others. "Chrissy... Chrissy, I love you, babe." Both Robin and Cleo cringed at each other during the public interaction.

"You know... I think I can speak for all of us when I say it's been a tough year for Hawkins." The room immediately was brought into a somber mood at the mention of the past year. "So much loss. And sometimes I wonder, how much loss can one community take? In dark days like this, we need something to believe in." Cleo gazed around her band section then to the audience to see who could've possibly been okay with what Jason was saying.

"So, last night," he continued, "when we were down by ten points at half to Christian Academy, I looked at my team, and I said think of Jack, think of Melissa, think of Heather, think of Billy, think of our heroic police chief, Jim Hopper." Cleo stood uncomfortably while listening to Jason insensitively name off those who had died in the past year.

"Think about every one of our friends that perished in that fire, what did they die for? For us to lose to some... some crap school?" Cleodora stared at the captain bewildered. How could he possibly speak about lost friends and sports in three seconds? And what was worse was that the crowd actually agreed with him.

She had finally gotten enough of Jason's speech and stepped down the bleachers and out of the gymnasium. Cleo's irritation with Jason was terrible but her temper was even worse, so to avoid throwing her flute, she left.