Fabulous Five 002 - The Trouble with Flirting by Betsy Haynes Page B

and two varsity
cheerleaders, ninth-grader Kaci Davis and eighth-grader Colby Graham.
    After everyone was lined up, Miss Wolfe sat down in the
fifth judge's chair. "Ve are now ready to begin," she said, nodding
to Dekeisha Adams.
    The next few minutes were a blur as Melanie waited for her
turn to come. Her heart was pounding so loudly she could barely hear the other
contestants' cheers. But she could see that Dekeisha was fantastic, and so was
Beth. Heather Clark was good, and Alexis, and the next thing she knew it was
her turn.
    Melanie sprang to the center of the floor and introduced
herself to the judges. Then she took a deep breath and got into position for
her cheer. She had chosen the same one she had yelled in her dream, that
fantastic dream where she had inspired the team to victory and the crowd had
chanted her name in thanks.
    "Got the spirit? Let's hear it! " she
screamed. "Give me a W!"
    Silence. For an instant she was stunned. Then suddenly she
realized why. This was tryouts. There was no crowd to return her cry. Closing
her eyes quickly, she pictured the crowd and heard them scream "W"
back to her.
    "Give me an A!" she yelled. Again, her make-believe
audience responded. By the time she had spelled out W-A-K-E-M-A-N
W-A-R-R-I-O-R-S and finished with a double somersault, her imaginary crowd was
on its feet roaring.
    Melanie opened her eyes. The judges were all smiling, and
she raced back to her place in line on legs that were almost crumpling beneath
her from relief.
    She tried to watch the rest of the girls go through their
routines. Melinda Thaler tripped going onto the floor, and Jana forgot her
routine halfway through and had to start over, but most of the girls were good.
Taffy Sinclair was prissy, as usual, but Melanie could tell that the judges
liked her. It was obvious that they liked Laura McCall and Tammy Lucero, too.
    After everyone had finished, Melanie fidgeted as the judges
marked their score sheets. There were only eight positions on the squad. She
would die if she didn't get one of them.
    Finally Miss Wolfe stood, picking up a piece of paper and
holding up her hand for silence. "Here are the names of the seventh-grade
girls who will form the junior varsity cheerleading squad. Dekeisha Adams, Beth
Barry, Alexis Duvall, Melanie Edwards, Tammy Lucero, Laura McCall, Mandy
McDermott, and Taffy Sinclair. Congratulations, girls, and thank you to
everyone else who tried out."
    Melanie was so excited that she thought she would burst. She
began jumping up and down and shrieking with the other seven girls who had made
the squad. It wasn't until she and Beth were jumping and giggling together that
a terrible thought hit her. It must have struck Beth at the same instant
because both girls froze and stared at each other.
    "Jana," whispered Melanie.
    "She didn't make it," said Beth. "Where is
she?"
    They looked first among the crowd of sad-faced girls who
were leaving the gym, but Jana wasn't among them. She wasn't in the middle of
the winners and friends who were congratulating them, either.
    "Oh, my gosh," said Melanie. "Where could she
be? I feel terrible."
    "So do I," said Beth. "I was so excited about
making the squad that I completely forgot about her. I'll bet she's crushed.
She wanted to make cheerleader as much as we did. I hope she didn't think we
deserted her and then went away somewhere to cry." Just then Melanie
noticed someone trying to push her way into the gym through the crowd that was
leaving. "Look!" she cried. "It's Jana. And she's smiling! "
    "I made it! I made it!" Jana cried as she rushed
toward them, her face aglow. "And so did Funny Hawthorne. We're going to
be seventh-grade coeditors of the yearbook."
    "Wow! That's great," said Melanie. "We couldn't
find you, and we were worried."
    "Sorry," said Jana. "And congratulations to
you guys for making the squad. When I found out I didn't, I just had to duck
out and check The Wigwam staff. You know," she added thoughtfully, "it's
a good thing I'm