Cheerleaders: The New Evil (11 page)

“T
his drawer is stuck,” Kimmy groaned, shaking the whole dresser in her attempt to get the drawer open.

“You can use the bottom one,” Ivy told her. “It's empty.”

“How did you unpack so fast?” Kimmy asked Ivy, bending to pull open the drawer.

“I left a lot of stuff in my bag,” Ivy replied, fiddling with her hair in front of the mirror. “You know. Stuff that won't wrinkle.” She shook her head. “My hair is totally frizzy. This room is so damp!”

Corky stood at the window, peering out at the pink and blue neon sign over the parking lot.
CLIFFSIDE INN.
No acancy.

“The
V
burned out,” she reported.

Kimmy glanced up from down on the floor. “What are you talking about, Corky?”

“The sign,” Corky replied absently.

“Can you see a cliff out there?” Ivy demanded, struggling to wrap a rubber band around her bushy hair. “Isn't there supposed to be a cliff?”

“All I can see is the parking lot,” Corky reported. “And the highway.”

“There is supposed to be a cliff. And a really pretty lake,” Kimmy told them. “My parents have been to New Foster.”

“I think Debra, Heather, and Lauren's room is on the other side of the motel,” Corky said, watching two large yellow Ryder trucks roar by on the highway. “We'll have to check it out. Maybe they have scenery from their window.”

“Does the TV work?” Kimmy asked. She shoved the bottom drawer shut and climbed to her feet. “There. All unpacked.”

“Who has time for TV?” Ivy replied, still struggling with her long hair. “The bus will be here to take us to the arena in a few minutes.”

“I can't believe the team isn't staying here!” Corky moaned.

Kimmy snickered. “I guess you and Alex had big plans, huh? If Ms. Closter catches you . . .”

Corky felt her face growing hot. “Shut up, Kimmy!” she replied, laughing. She picked up a hairbrush from the bed and heaved it at Kimmy.

Kimmy ducked and the hairbrush smashed against the dresser.

“Oh. Can I use that? I forgot mine,” Ivy said.

“Sure. Go ahead,” Corky told her.

Ever since the skating party at the river a few days before, Corky and Kimmy had been extra nice to Ivy. All because of guilt, Corky realized. How could we have misjudged Ivy like that? she asked herself. How could we have accused Ivy of those terrible accidents?

Ivy had been innocent, the three girls now knew. Ivy had
not
been possessed by the evil.

Corky and her friends hadn't mentioned the evil at all. None of them wanted to talk about it. Or think about what they had done. It was all too scary. Instead, they had spent the time concentrating on their routines, preparing for the Holiday Tournament at New Foster.

A busy but peaceful time, Corky thought gratefully.

No sign of the evil. No accidents. No frightening surprises.

Maybe the evil blew away, Corky thought hopefully, gazing out the window. Maybe it swept right past everyone at the party and kept on going.

“The team is staying right down the road,” Ivy reported. “The New Foster Motor Lodge. We passed it on our way here. The arena is right behind it, remember?”

“It looked even tackier than this place!” Kimmy commented, pulling on the top of her uniform and tugging down the sleeves.

“Stop complaining, Kimmy!” Corky scolded. “We're away from home, right? We're going to do our routines in front of hundreds of people. And we're going to win the basketball tournament!”

“Go Tigers!” All three girls shouted enthusiastically.

Laughing, they burst into the Hoop cheer.

Later they hurried out front to get on the bus, laughing and singing. Corky relaxed and gave in to the excitement of being away at a tournament. She had a feeling that everything was going to be okay.

Everything is okay,

Shadyside has come to play!

Everything is okay,

Shadyside is on its way!

Everything is okay,

Shadyside is going to WIN!

Corky and the five other cheerleaders finished the cheer in a wavelike ripple, dropping down into splits one after the other. They jumped to their feet and trotted to the sidelines waving red and white pompoms above their heads as the Tigers band broke into a march.

Corky glanced down the line of happy, excited girls. Even Debra, normally so cool and aloof, was flushed, her blue eyes wide with excitement.

“You kept hitting me with your pom-pom!” Corky
told Heather, shouting over the crowd. “You're dangerous!”

Heather laughed. “Sorry! I was staring up at the crowd. I didn't realize!”

The New Foster Arena was much bigger than Corky had imagined. The lights made the polished hardwood floor glow like glass. The red plastic seats appeared to rise straight up to the ceiling. And tonight, most of the seats were filled even though it was only the first game of the first round of the tournament.

The Billingham Lions cheerleaders—all ten of them!—were on the floor now, performing a rap routine. The crowd really got into it, Corky saw, watching from beside the Tigers' bench. Billingham was just a few miles from New Foster. A lot of Lions fans had shown up.

Tigers versus the Lions, Corky thought. It's perfect.

One cheerleader on the Lions' squad really stood out. She was tall and well built and very athletic, with long black hair that fell to her waist and a pale, pretty face with big green eyes. Dramatic eyes.

“That's Lena,” Debra said, leaning close to Corky to be heard. “That girl you're staring at. Her name is Lena something-or-other. She's good, isn't she? I remember her from cheerleader camp last year.”

Corky didn't have time to reply. It was almost time for the teams to be introduced. Time for one last pregame cheer.

Tigers, let's score!

Two points, then more!

[stomp stomp]

Tigers, let's score!

Two points, then more!

[stomp stomp]

“Louder! I can't hear you!” Kimmy shouted.

Tigers, let's score!

Two points, then more!

[stomp stomp]

“Louder! I still can't hear you!”

The crowd roared and stomped as the girls repeated the chant louder and louder. They ended with tuck jumps and trotted off the floor.

“That was great!” Corky cried breathlessly.

“Down! Everybody down!” Kimmy instructed.

They knelt on one knee as the teams came running onto the floor to be introduced. Alex flashed Corky a thumbs-up as he jogged past. Jay, following right behind Alex, had a wide, goofy grin on his face.

The players on both teams picked up basketballs and began warming up, dribbling back and forth, passing, shooting layups and jump shots. Alex and Jay were laughing about something, Corky saw. They both seemed really loose.

Why does it seem I'm more nervous than they are? she asked herself.

She hadn't felt this excited in a long time. The lights reflecting off the polished floor, the shouts of the
crowd, the thud of basketballs—all made her feel happy.

“Go TIGERS!” she shouted, jumping up and down, barely able to contain her energy.

The game got off to a good start. Alex jumped and tipped the ball to Gary Brandt, who took it in for an easy layup under the basket.

Tigers, let's score!

Two points, then more!

[stomp stomp]

It was two to nothing. As the half progressed, the Tigers never lost the lead.

With less than two minutes in the half, the Lions tied the game with a three-point shot by their center. The crowd went wild, roaring and stomping until the entire arena shook.

As a Tigers' time-out was called, Corky watched Lena, the Lions cheerleader, rush out on the floor. Lena performed three perfect handsprings, her long black hair flying as she moved.

Wow! Corky thought. She's awesome!

Corky had always been a talented cheerleader. Before they moved to Shadyside, Corky and her sister Bobbi had led their squad from St. Louis to the ESPN cheerleading championships.

But Corky had never seen a cheerleader as graceful
and
athletic as Lena.

“Couldn't you just
kill
her?” Lauren declared.

Corky laughed. She dropped to one knee beside
Lauren as the buzzer went off and the game continued. “Go TIGERS!”

Jay passed the ball in to Alex. Alex dribbled downcourt, almost lost the dribble, spun around, recovered, and passed it back to Jay. Jay moved under the net, pulled up as if to shoot—but passed it back to Alex at the foul stripe. Alex sank an easy jump shot.

The Tigers regained the lead and kept it. As the teams trotted off at halftime, both bands blaring, the scoreboard read
TIGERS
44,
LIONS
34.

“Confetti cannons!
Move
, everyone!” Ms. Closter was shouting, cupping her hands around her mouth. “Confetti cannons! Let's go!”

Corky glanced back reluctantly as the three cannons were rolled onto the floor.

“It's okay,” Lauren assured her, placing a hand on Corky's shoulder. She must have caught the doubtful expression on Corky's face. “Ivy and I checked them out before the game. No problem this time.”

“Aim them toward the Shadyside section! Up there!” Ms. Closter instructed, pointing.

“Okay, everyone! Let's make the handsprings perfect!” Kimmy shouted. “Let's show Lena she isn't the only one who can do them!”

Corky took her place in line behind the cannons. The cannons were drawing a lot of attention. Corky could see kids pointing to them, asking one another about them.

She was so busy staring up at the crowd, she nearly missed the start of the cheer.

HOOP—there it is!

HOOP—there it is!

HOOP—there it is!

TWO POINTS!

As the chant continued, the crowd picked it up, clapping and stomping. Again, the arena felt as if it were going to shake to the ground.

Corky stepped up to the cannon as the three cheerleaders began their handsprings. She grabbed the cord and prepared to trigger her cannon.

All three cheerleaders were ready, she saw.

She pulled the cord and raised her eyes to the crowd, waiting for the colorful blast of confetti to fly over them.

The wet gurgling sound startled her.

It was so bright out on the arena floor, so hard to see.

Corky didn't realize how horribly wrong it all was until the cries and screams from the stands pierced her ears.

“It's
burning!”

“Look out!”

“Ooooh—it stinks!”

“Stop it! Somebody
stop
it!”

She lowered her gaze to see geysers of steaming black tar spewing up from all three cannons.

The thick black tar rose high in the air, then splashed down over the seats with a loud
smacking
sound.

Spectators shoved toward the aisles to get out of the way. Angry cries and screams rose.

“Make them stop! Make them stop!” Lauren was shrieking.

But the boiling tar continued to spew out of the cannons.

I know who did this, Corky thought, holding her nose to try to shut out the foul stench.

I know who did this.

“T
he evil did this. It's all our fault.” Corky whispered, “
We
brought the evil back.”

“I know,” Debra whispered back. “But the evil has to inhabit someone. Who is it? Is it one of us? Someone who was at the skating party? We've
got
to find out.”

The six cheerleaders were huddled on a bench in the girls' locker room in the basement of the arena. Upstairs the arena staff was struggling to clean up the mess. Police officers were investigating, questioning anyone who might have had an opportunity to rig the cannons.

Ivy leaned against a metal locker, her eyes shut,
frowning. Lauren hovered over her friend, trying to comfort her. Lauren's skirt had a black stain down one side.