Three Cheers for...Who? by Nancy Krulik Page B

“Look! I have a new leopard-print backpack.” She turned around so everyone could see it.
    But the girls were all too busy talking about cheerleading to care about Suzanne’s backpack.
    â€œYou remember that funny basketball cheer?” Katie asked.

    â€œOh yeah,” Emma W. said. “Salt makes you thirsty and pepper makes you sneeze ...”
    â€œWhen it comes to shooting baskets, we drive you to your knees,” Katie said, finishing the cheer.
    â€œWhat’s so funny about that?” Suzanne said. “I think it’s dumb. What do salt and pepper have to do with basketball, anyway?”
    â€œIt’s just a rhyme,” Katie told her. “And it’s got a good beat.”
    â€œSince when are you and Emma W. cheerleaders?” Suzanne said.
    â€œWe’re not,” Katie said.
    â€œMy sister is,” Emma W. explained. She leaped up and did a split in midair. Her back leg was bent but her front leg was straight.
    â€œThat’s called a herkie,” Emma W. said.
    â€œIt looked kind of jerky to me,” Suzanne said. “Now, my backpack, that’s really something to cheer about.”
    â€œSure. Whatever,” Mandy said.
    â€œDo they ever do flips or cartwheels in their cheers?” Becky asked Emma W.
    â€œI think so,” Emma W. said. “They’re working on new routines because there’s a big statewide competition coming up.”
    â€œTeach us a cheer,” Zoe said.
    â€œThe defense cheer is pretty easy,” Emma W. told the girls. “It’s mostly clapping and stamping your feet.”
    All the girls lined up behind Emma W. Well, almost all the girls. Suzanne never lined up behind anyone. She liked to be in front.
    â€œD-D-D-Defense! D-D-D-Defense!” Emma W. and Katie shouted out.
    â€œD-D-D-Defense!” the other girls cheered back.
    Suzanne stomped off angrily toward the school building.
    Uh-oh. Katie knew for sure that Suzanne would find some way to make sure everyone was paying attention to her again.
    And that meant a good D-D-D-Defense was exactly what Katie was going to need.

Chapter 4
    â€œCan’t wait for the bell to ring. Makes my hips start to swing. School rules! Yay school!”
    Katie walked into the school yard the next day just in time to see Suzanne leading a cheer. Behind her were Becky, Miriam, and Zoe. They were wearing white shirts with the number 4 and the letter B in red felt pinned to the front. They each held a pair of white, plastic pom-poms.
    â€œWe’re the 4B pom-pom squad,” Suzanne informed Katie. “I’m the captain.”
    â€œCool,” Katie said. “Can I join?”
    Suzanne rolled her eyes. “You obviously didn’t hear me, Katie. I said we’re the 4 B pom-pom squad. You’re in 4 A .”

    Katie looked at Suzanne. It was clear that Suzanne was still really mad at Katie for taking all the attention away from her backpack yesterday. Katie didn’t understand why Suzanne always made such a big deal out of little things.
    â€œSuzanne, sometimes you can be such a baby,” she said.
    â€œCan a baby do this?” Suzanne jumped up and bent her back leg, just the way Katie had done yesterday. Only, instead of landing on her feet, she tripped over her shoelace and slammed into a tree. “Ouch,” Suzanne groaned.
    â€œAre you okay?” Katie asked.
    â€œOf course,” Suzanne said. “I meant to do that.”
    Somehow Katie doubted that. But Suzanne wasn’t as hurt as Katie was. Starting a pom-pom squad that Katie couldn’t be on was so mean. And Suzanne had definitely meant to do that .

    â€œGet that Jell-O, grab some meat! 4B’s eaters are hard to beat!”
    Katie heard Suzanne and the rest of the 4B pom-pom squad cheering as soon as she walked into the cafeteria. They were cheering while the 4B boys piled food onto their trays.
    â€œA cheer for lunch?” Emma W. asked