Revenge of the
Cheerleaders
Also by Janette Rallison
Playing the Field
All's Fair in Love, War, and High School
Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Free Throws
Fame, Glory, and Other Things on My To Do List
It's a Mall World After All
Revenge of the
Cheerleaders
Janette Rallison
Copyright © 2007 by Janette Rallison
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
First published in the United States of America in 2007 by
Walker Publishing Company, Inc.
Distributed to the trade by Holtzbrinck Publishers
For information about permission to reproduce selections from
this book, write to Permissions, Walker & Company,
104 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rallison, Janette.
Revenge of the cheerleaders / by Janette Rallison.
p. cm.
Summary: High school cheerleader Chelsea seeks revenge against her younger sister's rock-and-roller boyfriend after he embarrasses her once too often, but when she falls for his older brother, things become really complicated.
eISBN: 978-0-802-72138-9
[1. Dating (Social customs)—Fiction. 2. High schools—Fiction. 3. Schools—Fiction. 4. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 5. Cheerleading—Fiction. 6. Washington (State)—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.R13455Re 2007[Fic]—dc222007002372
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Book design by Nicole Gastonguay
Typeset by Westchester Book Composition
Printed in the U.S.A. by Quebecor World Fairfield
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All papers used by Walker & Company are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in well-managed forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.
To everyone out there who knows
that reading can and should be fun.
You're the people who make
writing worthwhile.
Special thanks to Devon Felsted for not only answering my
Pullman questions, but for even knowing how many
stoplights there are in town. I miss the small-town life!
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 1
My wings and halo were too large. I looked more like a pale butterfly than an angel, but a person can't be picky when it comes to Halloween costumes, and it's not like I'd paid for it. My best friend, Samantha, dug it out of her old drama costumes for me.
I had spent the last hour transforming my long blonde hair into glittery curls, and now she used the curling iron to even up one of my ringlets. After she hairsprayed it into place, she took a step back from me. "You're gorgeous, Chelsea."
"You don't think the dress is too tight?"
She tilted her head. "Well, you don't want to look too much like an angel, do you?"
"Not if Mike and Naomi are going to be there." Mike is my ex-boyfriend and Naomi—newly crowned homecoming queen—is my ex-friend and the girl he dumped me for. This is why I have to look extra good whenever I go places where they might be. And because Pullman, Washington, is a small town, that's just about everywhere. Super models probably slack off more with their looks than I have over the last month.
Mike and Naomi would almost certainly be at Rachel's masquerade party. It's a standing rule: when any of us on the cheerleading squad have a party, we invite the whole football team. Mike is a running back. So he was sure to come.
Samantha gave her long green medieval princess dress one last look in the mirror and fastened a rhinestone tiara atop her bun. I'd already told her that medieval princesses didn't actually wear tiaras, but Samantha just shrugged, and said, "Well, they should have."
You can't argue with that kind of logic.
Besides, the tiara worked for Samantha. She's the type of girl who looks likes she's destined to become a beauty pageant queen. Perhaps I wasn't destined to ever be an angel though, because I kept knocking my wings into things as I walked through her house.
"How am I going to drive in this?" I asked, trying not to scrape the pictures off the hallway wall as I passed by. It had taken ten minutes to pin them on the dress. I wasn't about to unpin them for the car ride.
"Maybe you could lean forward," Samantha suggested. "Or roll down the window and drive sideways. The police wouldn't dare pull over an angel. That has to be some sort of sin."
Before we walked out the front door, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the window and paused to straighten out my halo. It was really just a headband with a wire sticking straight up and a metallic silver garland that circled over my head. Only all those years of being shoved in Samantha's closet had bent it into an odd oval shape and it kept tilting down. "Why don't I just catch a ride with you?" I hesitated mid-step. "Although, if Mike and Naomi are especially obnoxious I might want to leave early . . ."
Samantha fished her car keys out of a small sequined purse, which also hadn't been around in the middle ages, but you know, should have been. "Don't let them bother you so much. The best way to show Mike that you don't care is to date someone else. Remember, there are more fish in the sea, and better yet, more players on the football team."
We walked out into the cold night air, and I wished I'd found a warmer costume. Something that involved a coat and scarf. "I'm not dating anyone else from the football team," I said. "Cheerleaders shouldn't. It's too hard to cheer for guys who've dumped you. Lately I've been tempted to clap every time he's tackled—and see, the crowd might notice that."
Samantha opened her car door and slid inside. "So find someone else. Football players won't be the only guys at the party."