“Scanning for weaknesses,” the computer said as a bank of lights danced over Heathcliff’s body. “Weakness detected. Subject lacks front teeth. Preparing upgrades.” Tubes and hoses dropped down from above.
“That’s right,” Heathcliff said, laughing his maniacal laugh. “I want my big, beautiful, hypnotic teeth back.”
Suddenly, everything stopped. “Weakness detected.”
“What?” Heathcliff said. “What weakness?”
“Scanning.”
“No, forget the other weakness! I want the teeth,” he cried, but the cold, emotionless machine did not respond.
“Subject has elevated intelligence.”
“Huh? Oh yeah. I’m a genius. That’s not weakness!”
“Subject’s head is not big enough for his potential. Size of brain and skull prevent him from reaching maximum intellect. Preparing upgrades.”
“Wait!” Heathcliff cried. He tried to pull himself free of the bindings, but he was tied tight. When the tubes came down and the injections began, there was nothing he could do to stop them. He screamed for Gerdie, but she was locked out of the room.
“Just relax,” the computer said.
When Pufferfish and Gluestick announced that Heathcliff’s machine was working, Ms. Holiday took Matilda aside.
“I think you can call it a day, Wheezer,” the librarian said.
“Are you sure you don’t need me? I was hoping I might get to slug Heathcliff a couple times when he got back—you know, just to teach him a lesson.”
“Maybe some other time. Alexander told me he was proud of you,” Ms. Holiday said.
Matilda couldn’t help but smile. Brand wasn’t big on compliments.
“You’re having a good effect on him, Ms. Holiday,” she said.
Ms. Holiday blushed. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”
Matilda scooped up her cheerleading duffel bag and walked home. Once there, she quietly snuck inside to avoid her brothers, who would surely ridicule her skirt. She crept down the hall and into her room. Inside, she took off her cheerleading outfit, collected her makeup, hair ribbons, and pom-poms, and tossed them into the trash.
She took a shower to wash out all the hair product and the layers of mascara from her eyes. When she was completely free of foundation and lip-liner, she slipped into her robe and went to her closet to get dressed. Inside she found her favorite baggy black shirt and her combat boots. She put them on and finally felt like herself.
There was a knock at the door, and when she opened it she saw her mother and father standing there.
“What are you doing back here?” Ben asked. “The junior finals are in half an hour.”
Matilda blushed. “I quit.”
“You quit? Why?” Ben asked.
“It was stupid, Dad. I’m not a cheerleader. I didn’t fit in.”
“We’re very disappointed,” Molly said. “We didn’t raise you to be a quitter.”
“You’ve got a lot of room to talk,” Matilda grumbled. “Who are you to tell me about quitting?”
Ben and Molly looked at each other. “I guess you think we deserve that,” Ben said. “You think we just gave up?”
Matilda was furious. “Didn’t you?”
Molly shook her head. “Actually, no. We didn’t just give up. We worked on our marriage for many years.”
“You should have worked harder!”
Ben sat down on the bed and took Matilda’s hand. “That’s hardly a fair thing to say, Matilda. Your mother and I went to counseling. We tried very hard, but nothing we did could fix the fact that we just weren’t meant to be together.”
“But you love each other,” Matilda said. “People who love each other stay together.”
Molly took Matilda’s other hand. “Love is a mysterious and complicated thing. Some people who love one another can also make one another miserable. Worse still, they can make the people around them miserable, too. Look what we have done to you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, the outfits and the crazy hair,” Ben said. “You think we don’t understand what that’s about?”
Matilda looked at her outfit. “There’s nothing wrong with being different.”
“Of course you are right,” Molly said. “But being different should be a celebration of who you are—not a cry for attention.”
Kylie’s words came back to Matilda. Was she just wearing these odd clothes to get attention? Was she just acting out because her mom and dad were separating?
“Your mother and I have realized we are not right for each other, and that staying together isn’t good for you and the boys. You deserve to see parents who are happy.”
Matilda turned to her mother. “You’re not happy?”
Molly shook her head.
“Not like she should be,” Ben said. “Same with me. It’s hard to explain, but somewhere along the line your mother and I lost each other.”
“And someday we’ll be friends again,” Molly said. “Until then, we will still be your parents. We will still expect good things from you, including honoring your commitments. Those girls depend on you.”
“Your mother is right,” her father said. “You started something and you should finish it.”
Ben and Molly left Matilda in her room alone. She sat on the edge of the bed looking at the cheerleading outfit she had crumpled and tossed into the trash can.
Twenty minutes later, Ben and Molly dropped her off at the National Mall. Matilda was relieved to find Team Strikeforce’s bus in the parking lot near the competition stage. She wasn’t surprised that Tiffany insisted that the girls come even though they were short a person for the squad. Tiffany was probably thinking about next year’s competition and how they might beat this year’s winner with a team free of secret agents.
Matilda banged on the bus door. “I know you girls are in there, so open up! I want to say something to you.”
The door swung open. Kylie stood at the top of the steps. “They don’t want to talk to you.”
“It’s important! Please tell them!”
“I can’t. I don’t want to talk to you, either,” Kylie said.
Matilda frowned as she climbed aboard the bus. “You don’t have to talk. You just have to listen.”
She walked to the back where she found Jeannie, Shauna, Toni, Pammy, McKenna, and Tiffany in their street clothes.
“What do you want?” McKenna said, not looking up from her phone.
“Get into your uniforms,” Matilda said. “We’re going on, and we’re going to win this competition.”
Tiffany scoffed. “No thanks. You’ve made fools of us enough this week. We’re not going out there to have you quit again.”
“I’m not here to quit,” Matilda said.
“Well, we don’t want you,” Pammy said.
“Listen, I’m going to be honest with you,” Matilda said.
“That’s a nice change,” Kylie said.
“I didn’t want to be a cheerleader. My boss forced me to do it. Before I got here I thought this was a stupid sport filled with stupid girls. I couldn’t wait to finish my mission so I could leave. When I found out Lilly was the girl I was looking for, I didn’t think twice about how it would affect all of you.”
“Wow, this honesty thing kind of stinks,” Shauna said. “I liked you better when you were a liar.”
“I was wrong about all of you,” Matilda continued, ignoring the comment. “I’m not saying I get everything you do. The clothes still seem a little silly. But I do get that you love cheerleading and that you’re good at it and that you should have a right to at least compete to be the best. I shouldn’t take that away from you. So, listen, you have no reason to trust me and you don’t have to like me, but I’m here. I’m standing right in front of you and I’m saying I want to go out there and win.”
The girls stared at her for a long time until Tiffany shook her head. “Absolutely not.”
Matilda was crushed, but she said nothing. She only nodded and walked to the front of the bus. These girls had no reason to trust her. She was a liar. Winning was important to them, but so was winning with someone they respected. She stepped out into the parking lot, trying to tell herself that she had done her job. But her heart kept telling her the truth. She had been happy to destroy all these pretty, popular girls’ dreams. She was a jerk.