The Tryout

The school’s most prominent sport is football, and every Friday night, there is a football game that most of the school attends. Christina goes with Megan and is enthralled by the cheerleaders who perform at half-time. Despite being only a year older than Christina, they seem filled with confidence and spunk, and Christina wants to experience that. She imagines becoming a cheerleader and riding off together on horses. Reflecting on this, Christina realizes that the cheerleaders are popular and don’t get teased for their clothes or what they eat. She ties her hair in a ponytail and buys some loafers in an attempt to fit in. She stoops to the level of mocking one of her classmate’s outfits, which makes the girl cry.

Christina feels bad for the rest of the day, and she complains to her dad’s friend, Sam, after school about how much her peers focus on clothing. Sam tells Christina that her dad was always the center of attention growing up, and Christina thinks about how easy it is for her dad to make friends. Christina’s dad takes her golfing and encounters a group of white men on the course who doubt Christina’s dad’s golfing ability.