SVH10-Wrong Kind of Girl (3 page)

"Oh, you're wrong, Liz! There's nothing like being a cheerleader." Annie seemed amazed that anyone would put anything above the cheering squad, until she remembered whom she was talking to.

"Oh, boy, am I dumb!" Annie smacked her forehead with the heel of her hand. She was so upset she didn't see the hint of laughter in Elizabeth's eyes. "Of course.
The Oracle
is just as important. You have to be almost a genius to write the way you do!"

That did it! Elizabeth couldn't hold the amusement in. It started with a giggle. And soon, before Annie's stunned gaze, Elizabeth was doubled over with laughter.

"Oh, Annie, you're too much!" Elizabeth got out between gasps. "I don't think Mr. Collins knows he's working with a bunch of geniuses!" She knew that the faculty advisor for
The Oracle
would get at least as good a laugh out of Annie's innocent remark.

"You know what I mean, Liz," Annie said pleadingly.

"For heaven's sake, don't apologize, Annie. I know what you mean. Doing flips in front of a big crowd at a game is probably more fun than writing an article about Chrome Dome's latest set of rules, anyway," she said, remembering the dull story about the principal, Mr. Cooper, she'd gotten stuck with the week before.

Annie's eyes lit up at the thought of doing

flips in front of a big crowd. "I'm going to make it, Liz. I just know it!"

Annie was almost dancing around the room with excitement, and Elizabeth couldn't help but admire the graceful way she moved. She'd be perfect on the squad--that is,
if
Jessica gave her a chance. Those rumors about Annie just had to be exaggerated. She couldn't be as horrible as Jessica said she was.
But how do I find out the truth?
Elizabeth wondered.

"Annie, with all the schoolwork you've been doing, I guess you don't have much time for dates," Elizabeth ventured, feeling about as subtle as a Mack truck.

"Oh, sure," said Annie casually. "I think it's important to have a good social life. Actually, that's about the only good thing in my life these days. Hey, Liz, look at the time. We'd better get some work done." Annie opened her math book and binder.

Elizabeth tried to concentrate on the math problems, but at the same time she was coping with a surprising and disturbing discovery. Annie obviously had no idea of just how bad her reputation was. The poor, lonely girl saw the string of boys as her only companions. She couldn't possibly know her nickname was Easy Annie. How much was rumor and how much was fact? Elizabeth wondered.

Well, at least Annie was in a more positive mood than earlier in the evening, Elizabeth was relieved to see.
If she stays in this mood, and I can work on Jessica, just maybe we can pull it off.

Elizabeth knew she was being overoptimistic about changing her twin's mind, but it was worth a try. Annie deserved a chance to change her life, and Elizabeth was determined to help her.

An hour later, Annie stretched her arms overhead and yawned. "Wow, I'm beat, Liz, but I think I know what I'm doing. You're really great at explaining things."

"You think so?" Elizabeth hoped she would be just as great at explaining things to Jessica.

"Do you have time for a soda?"

"I really don't, but thanks, Annie." Elizabeth picked up her bag and sweater and got up to leave.

Just then the front door swung open.

"Hi, kitten, we're home," the tall, striking woman said to Annie. She flashed a dazzling smile at Elizabeth. "Hello, I'm Annie's mother."

"Hello, Mrs. Whitman. I'm Elizabeth Wakefield."

"Elizabeth! So glad to meet you," Mrs. Whitman gushed, her words slightly slurred from drinking.

"Mom, Liz has to leave," Annie cut in anxiously. "She came over to help me with math. Thanks a lot, Liz," she said, half pushing Elizabeth toward the door. The happy, confident mood of a few minutes earlier had vanished.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your pretty little tutor, kid?" The man lounging in the open doorway leered at Elizabeth, making her skin crawl. Annie was rigid with anger.

"This
is Johnny," Annie said through clenched teeth.

"Hello, Mr.--?" Elizabeth wished she had left five minutes earlier.

"Just call me Johnny, sugar. All the cute little girls call me Johnny."

"Johnny, I said Liz had to leave," Annie said, pushing him aside and walking Elizabeth to the elevator.

"Liz, I don't know what to say." Annie scuffed the toe of her shoe back and forth on the hall carpet as they stood waiting for the elevator.

"Annie, you don't have to say anything."

"What's the use of kidding myself, Liz? Nothing ever works out the way I want it to."

"You've got to believe in yourself, Annie!" Elizabeth insisted. "Hey, I believe in you. Could a genius like me make a mistake?" That almost brought a smile to Annie's face.

Riding the bus home, Elizabeth reflected on the situation. It was easy enough to encourage Annie, but trying to manipulate Jessica would, be something entirely different. "OK, genius," she muttered, "think of something."

Three

Jessica was in her element. On the patio at the rear of the Wakefield house, she was drilling Cara Walker on every move she'd need to know to become a member of the Sweet Valley cheering squad once again.

"All you have to learn are some new cheers, and the fancy moves we've added since you were there," Jessica explained. "And of course you know all about following the captain."

She meant herself, of course. Robin Wilson was co-captain, but she didn't really spend as much time on the squad as Jessica. So the girls looked to Jessica for leadership, which was exactly the way it should be, Jessica felt.

Cara looked exhausted from the workout she was getting. Sweat poured down her face, and her breath was coming in gasps. "Jessica, practice never used to be this tough," Cara wailed. "What do you think I am, an Olympic athlete?"

"You're doing fine," Jessica assured her. "Just work on that split a little."

Cara stretched her tanned legs forward and backward, feeling muscles tighten and tendons strain.

Jessica was satisfied. With her personal coaching, Cara was sure to get back on the squad with no trouble.

"Are you pretty sure I'll make it?" Cara asked from her torturous split beside the Wakefield pool. "I mean, I'd die of embarrassment if my old teammates didn't think I was good enough anymore."

"I guarantee it," Jessica said.

Cara smiled. "It'll be good to be back. Who else is going to be chosen?"

"Well, I'm not sure," said Jessica. "How do you like Sandra Bacon?"

"Oh, she's all right," Cara said. "Not always the most graceful, though. Remember the time--"

"At Lila's pool party," Jessica finished, breaking into a delighted giggle.

"Could you believe how she was showing off up there on the diving board? Like she was about to execute a triple-flip swan dive or something." Cara lifted herself out of her split.

"And Mark wasn't paying the teeniest bit of attention to her." Jessica snorted. "Until she fell off the edge of the board and into the water on her belly."

Cara doubled over, holding her stomach in helpless laughter, tears pouring from her eyes at the memory. She heard Jessica clearing her

throat and wondered if she had gone too far. After all, Jessica
had
suggested Sandra for the cheering squad. But then Cara saw the large blue sneaker in front of her face. She looked up. There stood Steven Wakefield, the twins' brother. Cara felt her cheeks turn crimson. Steven Wakefield, the boy she'd had a terrific crush on for years and years, was standing there, and she was groveling around on the patio like a snake!

Cara immediately rolled around and sat up.

"Hi, Steve," she murmured, blushing to the roots of her hair.

Steven didn't seem upset by her contortions, Cara decided. She looked more closely and decided he hardly even seemed to know she was there.

"Hi, Steve," Jessica was saying. "What brings you home from college?"

"Huh?" said Steven.

"Cara's going to be back on the cheering squad," Jessica said. "Isn't that great?"

"What?" Steven said, glancing around at Cara. "Oh, sure. I guess so." He hurried into the house.

Jessica frowned. Cara would be just right for Steven, if he would only wake up and stop mooning over Tricia Martin. The whole Martin family was nothing but trouble, the trashiest people in Sweet Valley, and Steven had to be mixed up with them. Elizabeth was constantly telling her that Tricia was a special person, but

Jessica knew that one Martin was as bad as another.

"I guess I messed that up, all right," Cara was saying. "Boy! He must think I'm some idiot!"

"He does not," Jessica declared. "He's just-- preoccupied. Sooner or later I'll get the two of you together. Just you wait."

Cara glanced toward the house, where Steven had disappeared. She sighed. "Well, I've got to be going. See you at the tryouts." She gathered up her books.

"OK," said Jessica. "And don't worry. If s in the bag."

As Cara disappeared around the side of the house, Jessica hurried inside. She knew that look on her brother's face spelled trouble. She found him in the kitchen, reaching for the telephone.

"What happened?" she inquired.

Steven looked grim. "An accident."

Jessica's heart leaped into her mouth. "What? What kind of accident?"

"Tricia's father," Steven said. "He hit a woman on Palmetto Drive."

"Oh, no!" Jessica cried.

"I've got to call Tricia," Steven said. "She must be really upset."

"Is the woman hurt badly?"

Steven shook his head. "I don't think so, but I don't know for sure. I found out about the accident from a friend of Tricia's. I
do
know that Mr. Martin's in jail for a few days."

"Jail?" Jessica gasped, horrified.

"He was busted for drunk driving again."

Jessica sank down onto a chair, furious that the Wakefields were in any way associated with the revolting Martin family.

"Oh, Steve," she said, "I told you the Martins were all rotten. For Pete's sake, why don't you let me fix you up with Cara? She's terrific!"

"Knock it off, Jess," Steven said. "Tricia needs me. I've got to get over there." He anxiously began dialing the phone.

Jessica stomped out of the kitchen, feeling only helplessness at her brother's infatuation with Tricia. She couldn't get over the feeling that one day her brother would come to grief because of his love for that girl.

The gym at Sweet Valley High looked like backstage at a Broadway musical casting call as the seventy-five hopefuls showed up for cheerleader tryouts the next afternoon. It was sheer bedlam, girls everywhere dashing around trying cartwheels and cheers, squealing as they greeted each other.

"Wow!" Robin Wilson was wide-eyed. "How are we going to handle this mob?"

"Can you belive it," said Helen Bradley, the bubbly redhead. "You'd think we were giving away Mr. America."

Jessica climbed onto a bench, stuck her whistle in her mouth, and issued a screeching blast. "Attention, everybody," she yelled.

It took a couple more whistle blasts, but

finally the crowd quieted down and focused their attention on Jessica.

"I'm Jessica Wakefield, in case anybody doesn't know, and this is Robin Wilson. We're co-captains. This is Helen Bradley and Jean West and Maria Santelli."

The cheerleaders got a nice round of applause, which pleased Jessica. She was happy to see a good turnout of students up in the stands, too, including Helen Bradley's good-looking brother, Tim.

Elizabeth was also there, taking notes for an
Oracle
story. With her was Enid Rollins.

"I know why you're here." Enid fixed her lovely green eyes on Elizabeth. "To write a story. But why am I here? I know you didn't drag me along to hear who I think does the best splits."

"Quiet, slave," Elizabeth teased. "You're here because I need somebody who can talk about something other than cheerleading."

Back on the floor, Jessica continued her introductions. "Now, girls," she said, "I want you to meet the person we all depend upon, the brains of the organization, the heart and the soul of the squad, and please don't rip his clothes off."

The other cheerleaders were all giggling, knowing what was coming.

"Here he is," said Jessica. "Our manager-Ricky Capaldo."

Ricky Capaldo, his face red as a fire engine, came trotting out from under the stands, giving Jessica a murderous look. Ricky was small and

dark and shy, and not what anyone would call handsome. But those who looked closely were sure to notice his warm brown eyes. He put up with a lot of teasing, but all of it was friendly. Even Jessica was fond of him. Ricky carried a clipboard with several sheets of paper on it, a list of all the names of the girls trying out. In a few minutes, he got the girls separated into five groups spread out across the gym.

Jessica's silver whistle blasted again.

"OK, everybody, today's tryout is to pick twenty-five semifinalists. We can already see that it's going to be tough--after all, Sweet Valley High has the most talented and beautiful girls in California."

That got a loud cheer.

"Good luck!" Jessica shouted.

Ricky Capaldo moved swiftly up and down the gym, handing out scoring sheets to Jessica, Robin, Helen, Jean, and Maria. The five members of the squad stood in front of the five groups, showing them the routines and calling out the cheers.

Jessica was in front of the group that included the last part of the alphabet. She saw Cara Walker and winked. Then another face came into her vision, a smiling, eager, beautiful face. Annie Whitman. Jessica turned away.
She really had the nerve to show up!

Each girl came forward as her name was called and did the basic Gladiator cheer, the side kicks, the Y-leap, and the final flourish, yelling: "We who are about to win, salute you! Go, Gladiators!"

It didn't take long for the members of the squad to see that the seventy-five aspirants could easily be reduced to about forty. There were the freshmen, who almost never got on the squad, and knew they were practicing for their sophomore year. Then there were the ones who couldn't get off the ground, or tripped and went sprawling, or got stage fright and ran out of the gym.