Sis Drills the Rookie

This was the last thing I needed. I was tired. My eyes were red from staying up too late studying for a mock exam our professor decided not to even do. She said she decided we needed more practice with the material first, but she was kind of a scatty person. I figured she just forgot the papers. I mean, I wasn’t underprepared for the material. And what professor doesn’t love an excuse to sit back for an hour.

And now, I was sitting in the career counselor’s office while she told me that despite my perfect 4.0, none of the satellites were interested in my application.

“They’ve been vague in their rejections, but I know where the gaps are. You have a perfect academic record, Peyton, but you’re not...” She paused, tapping her pen like she was considering how to break it gently. “Not a very well-rounded person.”

I balked, sitting up straighter. “What does that mean? I’m on the debate team. I can round all sides.”

“It means employers don’t just want someone who’s smart and bookish, they want some...” She waved her hands. “A personality. Hobbies. A reason for them to want to get a drink with you after a long week.”

I stared at her. I wasn’t sure which part offended me more, the implication that I didn’t have a personality, or that the people deciding my future apparently picked their hires based on who they wanted to drink with.

“So what am I supposed to do about that,” I said. It wasn’t really a question. I think we both knew I wasn’t going to grow a personality before the application window closed.

She brightened, like she’d been waiting for me to ask. She turned to her computer and clicked through a few tabs. This would be interesting.

“Well, the easiest thing would be a sports team. Something with a real time commitment, something that shows you can work with other people toward a common goal. Employers love that.”

“It’s April. The season’s almost over for everything.”

“I know. But your potential employers won’t know when you’ve started if you leave it off your CV.”

She kept clicking. Then she stopped, and a small, pleased smile came onto her face. “There’s one team still holding tryouts.”

I leaned forward.

“The cheerleading squad.”

“No.” I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest and set her with a serious stare. One of us had to be serious here. That wasn’t a serious suggestion.

At first she looked deflated and then a little annoyed. “See, Peyton? This is your problem. You only want to do what you want to do. You’re too uptight. Not a team player.”

I could feel my face heating. I wasn’t…not a team player. I could be happy on a team, I’m sure. I just hadn’t really found people I’d want to be on a team with…friends or whatever. I was busy. I took college seriously.

Plus, cheerleading was totally out of the question. My sister Brooke was in the final year of her Master’s and ran the squad. She bossed me around enough at home, I wasn’t about to give her a free pass to boss me around at college too.

“Tryouts are at 3pm today. Take my advice and go. Why spend all these years studying hard, getting onto an accelerated program, only to fall at the last hurdle?”

I shook my head, picked up my backpack and stormed out. I only made it half a step out of the door before crashing into someone and hitting the floor. My glasses slid off my face. I was crumpled in a ball looking at the ground, half in embarrassment and half in anger, staring at the shoes of whoever I just