PomPoms & Perfumed Shoes

I look around my messy room with irritation as I search for my cheer shoes. My Cheer coach is really nit-picky about us dressing in very specific ways, and these shoes are part of the uniform. I gleefully shout in relief when I find the other shoe hiding under a pile of dirty clothes. I start thinking about the cheer routines we planned for today, and then my cheeks heated as I remembered that today’s basketball game would include Adam Parker, my super crush. Suddenly I check my reflection in the mirror, making sure my frizzy curls are somewhat manageable and cute. Everything looks fine, but then an odd thought hits me when I look back at those white shoes with our school colors painted on one side….

‘What if my shoes stink? What if Adam somehow fell to my feet, and then my feet smelled??? That would be sooo bad!’

So, I did the next most natural thing possible—I pulled out my perfume and began spraying the inside of my shoes. I smelled the first shoe and smiled with triumph—it worked! Good for me! And then I proceeded to start spraying the other shoe—at least three good sprays, ya know, to really make sure they smelled good. Mid-spray, I suddenly hear my mom’s confused and surprised chuckle at the doorway. “Um… Michelle… what are you doing?” she asked with humor.

I froze, my shoe still next to my face as my shoe-free hand finished pushing the spray nozzle, allowing cherry-blossom scented perfume to waft through the air. She probably thinks this is weird… I thought, and then quickly decided to act as nonchalant as possible, “Pfft… ya know… just… perfuming my shoes. Duh!” I’d said with a smile, dropping the offending shoe and spray on the bed, averting my eyes.

I notice her biting her lip to keep from laughing, her eyes already rolling over with laughter, “Uh-huh… and why would you possibly be doing that?” She’d asked as calmly as she could.

My façade shattered and I huffed out a low breath and let it all come out in a rush, “I just… I thought about how Adam is playing at the game today. And I thought… ya know, if maybe he fell to my feet during the game, and my feet smelled, he’d never look at me again. Then everyone would be like, ‘Oh, Michelle has smelly feet!’” I glanced back at her with embarrassment coloring my cheeks, “So I figured spraying them with perfume seemed the most logical option.”

She burst into full fits of laughter then, tears falling down her face as she nearly buckled over. I glared so hard back at her, crossing my arms and jutting out my lip. “Ok… I need to get these shoes on now so we can go…”

Her laughter somehow gets louder, “Oh yeah! Now that they’re game-ready!” she chuckled. I rolled my eyes.

The whole way to the game, mom just kept chuckling, commenting on how it was so cute that I would do that. I gritted my teeth, feeling the embarrassment. Her giggles were pretty contagious though, and I realized it was pretty funny… it’s just, it hadn’t felt funny when I was doing it. I thought it made sense? I guess when I really thought about it, though, who the heck has guys falling to their feet in the middle of a game? I don’t live in a movie, and that’s the only time something like that would happen.

So I went to the game, and I cheered as well as I could while also having my eyes glued to #7—Adam…. We were in the third quarter, and we weren’t cheering as readily anymore, so I had more freedom to ogle my crush, hoping he’d be able to steal the ball back from the other team so he could score.

Everything suddenly moved in slow motion, though, when one of the players missed a grab and went flying towards the cheerleaders—flying towards me. All the other girls were smart and jumped out of the way… but I was frozen to my spot, my pompoms raised to my chest as I watched with wide eyes. He slid straight at me, stopping right at my feet. I couldn’t breathe as I looked down at Adam. I’d been so focused on him, wondering if I’d get up the nerve to talk to him later, and then he was flying at me.

I could barely breathe, but the little voice inside my head was shouting at me, ‘Help him up! Say something! Ask him if he’s ok! Say hi! ANYTHING!' Instead, I said nothing, just gaped at him in baffled shock.

Finally, a couple of guys came to help him up, and I just kept watching helplessly. He finally stood, clearly disoriented, and then he glanced back at me, “Hey, you smell really good.” He’d said gently with an uneven smile, and seeming a little out of it from the hard fall.

I just watched in astonishment, my mouth falling down a little before I grinned, thinking, ‘Thank God I perfumed my shoes this morning! Ugh, that would’ve been so embarrassing!’ and then I thought nothing else about it. I was so happy about my smart thinking.

After the game, my mom came to find me immediately, pulling me along so we could get back to the car. She seemed oddly unsettled, a look of awe in her eyes, “I would not have believed you had you told me this if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes!” My mom suddenly said.

I raised my brows at her in confusion, “Um… told you about what?”

She turned to me then, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk so the other game goers had to move around us. “He fell to your feet… just like you said! You perfumed your shoes and then... he literally… fell right to your feet!” she said, her eyes widened in shock.

I tilt my head to the side as I think back to the game, replaying it in my mind, “Oh… huh…” I laughed, “I guess that was kinda weird, huh!”

She stared back at me with wide eyes watching me in unbelief, “Kinda weird?” She scoffed and blinked at me, “It was like you knew.” Then she started moving again, shaking her head, “Seriously, if I hadn’t been here, I would not have believed it.” She chuckled.

I shrugged, laughing with her, “To be honest… I wouldn’t have even said anything.”

She looked back in shock, “Why, because you were embarrassed?” She sounded a little apprehensive and regretful.

I chuckled back, shaking my head, “No, I wouldn’t have said anything because it wasn’t weird to me. I didn’t think it was strange… I was just glad I’d done it.”

She raised her brows in surprise and then she let out a soft, accepting laugh as she wrapped her arm around my shoulder, “Only you, Michelle. This stuff only happens to you.”