The Pom-Pom Wars Read online

  THE POM-POM WARS

  Written by

  Kate William

  Created by

  FRANCINE PASCAL

  Copyright © 2015, Francine Pascal

  To Jean and Burt Rubin

  "We're just about ready to begin the cheer-off," Coach Schultz announced. "We flipped a coin and Jessica Wakefield's squad will perform first. One more minute, girls, and then you're on!"

  As they waited for their music to start, Jessica felt her heartbeat quicken in anticipation. A surge of adrenaline flooded her veins, and then the music began.

  For a few minutes, Jessica wasn't aware of anything or anyone but the seven other girls she was performing with.

  Her entire being was concentrated on the act of keeping in synch with her squad and performing her arm movements, footwork, and jumps with flair and precision.

  The routine ended with each girl performing her most dramatic and polished jump combination and then they piled themselves into a pyramid. As Jessica and Lila boosted Jade to the top and then took their places at the side to support the girls at the bottom, the crowd leapt to its feet in a standing ovation.

  The applause was thunderous. All eight girls fell on each other, hugging and laughing. "We did it!" Maria cried.

  "Not a single mistake!" exclaimed Lila.

  "There's no way Heather can beat that, no way," declared Jessica, her cheeks flushed with triumph. "We're going to regionals, you guys. I'm sure of it!"

  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 1

  Jessica Wakefield sat on the edge of her twin sister Elizabeth's neatly made bed, a clothbound notebook gripped in her hands. "I don't believe it," she said to herself, staring at the diary with wide, shocked eyes. "Liz and Ken—a hot and heavy fling—and I never even knew about it?"

  The night before, hidden under Elizabeth's pillow, Jessica had found a small picture frame holding a strip of black-and-white photo-booth snapshots. Not terribly interesting, Jessica thought, until she realized that the boy Elizabeth was smooching with in the photos was Ken Matthews, not Elizabeth's longtime steady, Todd Wilkins! The same Ken Matthews who just so happened to be Jessica's new boyfriend.

  The pictures weren't dated. Dying to know more, Jessica had taken the next opportunity to sneak into her sister's bedroom and search Elizabeth's diary for clues.

  She'd expected a brief mention of Ken somewhere to explain the photo, along the lines of, "A bunch of us went out and Ken and I got silly in the photo booth. I've always had a crush on him, he's such a hunk, but of course he'd never be interested in me—he's more Jessica's type." Instead . . .

  Propping a pillow against the headboard of Elizabeth's bed, Jessica leaned back and rested the diary against her tucked-up knees. Flipping back a few pages, she reread the first journal entry that related to Ken. Elizabeth had written it just a few weeks after Todd and his family moved from Sweet Valley, California, to Burlington, Vermont, leaving behind a—supposedly—heartbroken Elizabeth.

  "Ken called me this afternoon, and we went to a movie tonight," recorded Elizabeth. "It almost seemed like a Saturday-night date, but of course he's just looking after me like Todd asked him to. Still, when we said good night, I was startled by the way I felt as I looked into his eyes. If I didn't know better, Diary, I'd think I was falling for Ken. . . ."

  Jessica turned the page. "I can't give in to these feelings." Elizabeth had underlined the word "can't" about ten times. "He's Todd's best friend!"

  But Elizabeth did give in, and this was where the diary really started to get juicy. Jessica scowled. It would be fun to read, if the boy Elizabeth was writing about was anyone but Ken . . . ! Half of her wanted to hurl the diary across the room; the other half couldn't tear her eyes from the page. She had to read each and every gory detail.

  "I almost don't want to write this down," Elizabeth confessed. "I hope no one ever finds out about it. I can't believe I let myself get so carried away. . . ."

  It made Jessica squirm to read her sister's swooning account of her first kiss with Ken. "We couldn't seem to stop touching each other, maybe because for weeks we'd been dying to do this, but holding back. Where will this end, Diary? There's no going back now. . . ."

  On the next page Elizabeth was overcome with remorse. "Todd called. He doesn't seem to suspect anything. Why should he? I'm his girlfriend and Ken's his best buddy. If he can't trust us, who can he trust? I decided there was one surefire way to get rid of the guilt: Stay away from Ken. Who was I kidding? I might as well tell the ocean to stop crashing on the shore."

  Jessica snorted. "'Tell the ocean to stop crashing on the shore'? Ugh, Liz, you are so corny. How did Ken stand it?"

  Despite her disgust she kept reading, captivated by this tale of forbidden love. "We met at the beach again tonight," Elizabeth wrote. "I told my family I was going over to Olivia's to study for the French test. Diary, I've never felt so bad—and so good—at the same time. Ken kissed me like no one's ever kissed me before. . . ."

  Jessica's blue-green eyes flashed with jealousy. How dare he kiss Elizabeth like that! Ken was supposed to be in love with her, Jessica. Had he really said outrageously mushy things to Elizabeth, like, "You're the sweetest, most beautiful girl I know, I think about you every minute of the day, I adore you"?

  "This was ages ago," Jessica reminded herself. "Liz and Ken momentarily lost their minds, that's all."

  The affair seemed to go on forever, though. It had lasted only a few weeks, but Elizabeth spent pages and pages describing every secret rendezvous, every delicious stolen glance and kiss. Jessica pored over the diary, scandalized at the thought of her usually upright and honest sister doing so much lying and sneaking around. "I'm trying really hard to act normal around Ken at school so no one guesses what's going on between us. Luckily even Jessica doesn't seem to suspect anything, and she's got a nose for these things."

  "Well!" Jessica declared indignantly. "Excuse me for not having such a devious mind that I could even imagine you'd be such a cheating two-timer!"

  She dropped the diary on the bed and closed her eyes, suddenly feeling drained. First I quit the cheerleading squad, and now this. What a night!

  The disturbing image of Elizabeth and Ken in a passionate embrace faded from Jessica's mind. It was replaced by an equally disturbing image from a key moment in that afternoon's football game against Claremont. Just as Jessica had been about to lead her squad into one of their standard school-spirit routines, her new cocaptain, Heather Mallone, had called out a cheer Jessica had never even heard of. While the other girls pranced and shouted, whirling and shaking their pom-poms and dazzling the crowd with their fancy footwork, Jessica had just stood there with her own arms hanging limp at her side, looking and feeling like a total idiot. The home-team fans had leaped to their feet in thunderous approval; Jessica had hurled her pom-poms to the ground and stalked off the field, the two words she shouted—"I quit!"—completely drowned out by the applause for Heather's snappy new routine.

  "The day that girl drove into town in her little white Mazda Miata was the worst day of my life," Jessica grumbled bitterly. From the start blond, beautiful Heather Mallone had been a thorn in Jessica's side. Head cheerleader at her old school, Heather had bulldozed her way onto the SVH squad just as Robin Wilson, formerly a cocaptain, announced that her family was moving to Denver. Jessica had proposed that she remain the squad's sole captain. Instead the other girls had voted unanimously: They wanted Heather as cocaptain.

  She brainwashed them, pure and simple, Jessica thought glumly, remembering how Heather had shown up one day with cute new practice uniforms for the whole team. Putting us all on that gross wheat-germ-and-broccoli "Cheer to Win" diet, and bragging constantly about how her old squad were the state champions for ten years in a row. "Grr," she growled out loud. "Just thinking about it. . . !"

  It had been bad enough when Heather had been just the new girl on the squad, showing off her great jumps and combinations every chance she got. When the squad had named her cocaptain, in Jessica's opinion at least, they had created a monster. The first thing Heather did, one day when Jessica was sick and couldn't make practice, was to kick Maria Santelli and Sandy Bacon off the squad. "We've got to trim the fat if we want to make it to regionals," Heather had declared coldly. Jessica was the only one who had protested Heather's high-handed decision; blinded by dreams of glory, the other girls had backed Heather a hundred percent. And now Heather's gotten rid of me, too, Jessica thought, punching Elizabeth's pillow. She knew how I'd react when she pulled that stunt at the game today—she knew she'd drive me right over the edge!

  It burned her to a crisp to think that Heather Mallone had gotten the last word—or rather, the last cheer. "If I'm not a cheerleader, I'm nothing and nobody," Jessica mourned. "All I've got is Ken, and it turns out Liz had him first!"

  Reaching for Elizabeth's diary, Jessica reread the last few entries about Ken. Apparently, the stress of secrecy had finally gotten to the pair, and after repeatedly trying to stay apart and then running back into one another's arms, they had finally managed to make the resolution stick.

  "I did it," Elizabeth wrote on a page that was smudged and crinkled by teardrops. "After school Ken an
d I went for a walk in the park, and I broke things off with him. We got pretty choked up, but I know deep in our hearts we both understood it was the only thing to do. I'm lonely and he's lonely, so we just kind of naturally turned to each other, but an actual out-in-the-open relationship would have been impossible and wrong. We could never have felt good about it. I think we'll be able to stay friends, though. There aren't any hard feelings. I'll always have a place for him in a secret part of my heart. And we promised each other: under no circumstances will we ever tell anyone about what happened between us. Never, ever."

  Jessica closed the diary, a thoughtful expression on her face. One sentence of Elizabeth's in particular made a strong impression on her: "I'll always have a place for him in a secret part of my heart. . . ."

  "That explains it," she deduced. "That's why Liz has been acting so weird lately and practically trying to talk me out of dating Ken. She's jealous!"

  The realization gave Jessica a big emotional boost. It had definitely been unsettling to learn that her sister was once involved with Ken, but whatever had happened in the past, it was clear now that the only girl Ken got hot and bothered about was Jessica herself. It must drive Liz crazy to see us together, Jessica thought with a smug smile. Serves her right!

  No, what was most interesting about Elizabeth's secret diary, Jessica decided, wasn't that Elizabeth had a fling with Ken Matthews. Jessica couldn't blame her sister for that—after all, Todd was three thousand miles away at the time, and Ken was the most adorable boy in Sweet Valley. No, it was that they'd managed to keep it a secret for all this time. She never told me or Enid or anybody, mused Jessica, and I'm sure Ken didn't tell anyone, either. He certainly hasn't mentioned it to me! Which means Todd never found out that his supposedly devoted girlfriend cheated on him with his best friend.

  Yes, that was very interesting, decided Jessica. Very interesting indeed!

  "Poor Jessica," Elizabeth said to Todd as she dipped a tortilla chip into a bowl of spicy salsa. "Everyone's out celebrating the Gladiators' big victory, and she's sitting home alone!"

  A party had spontaneously erupted at Winston Egbert's house, which was now packed with high-spirited Sweet Valley High football players, cheerleaders, and their friends. Standing by the refreshment table with Todd, Enid, Maria, and Sandy, Elizabeth glared across the room at the glamorous figure of Heather Mallone. "Jessica's sitting home by herself," Elizabeth repeated in a disgusted tone, "while Heather hogs all the glory."

  "Talk about a guy magnet," said her best friend, Enid Rollins, tossing her auburn curls. "You'd think they'd be embarrassed to be seen drooling that way in public."

  "It's not just the guys," Todd protested in defense of his gender. "Girls like her, too."

  True, the crowd gathered around Heather was coed. "You're right," Elizabeth conceded, dipping another chip, "and that's the worst part. I can't believe Jessica's old cheerleading friends, especially Amy, aren't showing more loyalty to her. Instead, they're kissing up to Heather worse than ever!"

  "They expect her to lead them straight to the cheerleading nationals," Maria Santelli reminded Elizabeth, "and I hate to say it, but I really think she can do it."

  Elizabeth shook her head. "Maybe, but if you ask me, there are more important things than just winning competitions. I thought cheerleading was supposed to be about having a good time. Whatever happened to team spirit and good sportsmanship?"

  "That's not Heather's philosophy," said Sandy with a sigh of resignation. "She's out to get what she wants, and if anyone stands in the way . . ." She drew her index finger across her throat to illustrate her point.

  "Heather gave me and Sandy the boot because she thought we were holding back the squad," said Maria. "She had to find another way to get rid of Jessica, though."

  "And now she has total control of the squad," concluded Sandy. "Talk about sly!"

  Elizabeth poured herself a cup of soda, still fuming on her sister's behalf. Personally, she didn't see the attraction of cheerleading, but she knew it was important to Jessica; it was one of the few hobbies, besides shopping and boys, that her sister really got into body and soul.

  Elizabeth remembered how happy Jessica had been the day the squad voted her cocaptain. I didn't get it, she admitted to herself. How could anyone be that excited about something as silly as cheerleading? In Elizabeth's opinion girls should have better things to do than hop around in short skirts, cheering on the boys' teams. Of course, at Sweet Valley High the cheerleaders performed at both boys' and girls' games, but still . . . Jessica was such a great athlete—she could have easily made the tennis or softball or gymnastics teams. But no, it had to be cheerleading.

  This difference in attitude was typical of the sixteen-year-old twin sisters. They were identical in appearance, with the same slim, athletic figures, honey-blond hair, turquoise eyes, and sun-warmed complexions, but no one who knew them well ever mixed them up . . . unless, that is, Elizabeth and Jessica wanted to be mixed up! They'd swapped identities on more than one occasion, but for the most part Elizabeth was happy to be the thoughtful, sensible, serious twin, and Jessica was happy to be the carefree, outrageous, irresponsible twin.

  Of course, both girls knew that their personalities were more complex than that, but their reputations had a basis in truth. In addition to being a conscientious student, Elizabeth spent a good deal of her free time writing articles for the SVH newspaper, The Oracle. She finished her homework before making phone calls, and if she had a big test the next day, she resisted the temptation to blow off studying in favor of a movie or beach date with Todd. Jessica, on the other hand, reversed these priorities; her social life always came first. As for worrying about the future—college, a career—she was too busy enjoying the present!

  I always thought I'd be psyched if Jessica quit cheerleading and put her energy into something more meaningful, Elizabeth reflected now, but it shouldn't have happened like this. . . .

  "So you weren't able to talk Jess into coming to the party, either?"

  Elizabeth blinked up at the speaker, startled from her reverie, and her cheeks flushed hot pink. Ken Matthews, the blond, well-built quarterback of the Sweet Valley High football team, and Jessica's current boyfriend, was smiling down at her. Jessica's current boyfriend . . . and once upon a time Elizabeth's secret love . . .

  Elizabeth glanced quickly at Todd and was relieved to see he hadn't noted her telltale blush. "Uh, no. She said she didn't feel like talking to anybody, and she especially didn't want to run the risk of bumping into Heather."

  As if on cue, Heather herself flounced up to the refreshment table. She was no longer in her cheerleading uniform, but the tight black dress she wore was just as short, revealing plenty of long, suntanned leg and quite a bit of shoulder and cleavage, too.

  "Too bad about your sister," Heather said in passing to Elizabeth. "I guess she wasn't cut out to be a cheerleader. I'd say today's game separated the women from the girls, wouldn't you?"

  Before Elizabeth could make a retort, Heather sashayed off with a cup of fruit punch. "The nerve of that girl!" she exclaimed.

  "She's a monster," agreed Maria. "Poor Jessica never stood a chance."

  Ken ran a hand through his bright-blond hair. "I hate to see someone like Heather get the better of Jessica," he declared. "If only there were something I could do to cheer her up!"

  "Just don't use the word 'cheer' around her," suggested Enid.

  "There's gotta be something." Todd winked at Ken. "And if anyone can figure out what it is, it's you."

  The others laughed. Elizabeth, meanwhile, felt as if the false smile she wore might crack her face in half. I'm surprised they don't see right through me, she thought. But, then, it wasn't always that hard to keep a big secret. She and Ken had successfully hidden their clandestine romance from the whole school—no one ever found out. We wore masks, she remembered. We became actors, reading lines from a carefully crafted script.

  And now, after thinking that her relationship with Ken was over and done with, safely locked away in the past, Elizabeth found the old, confusing feelings crowding back to the surface. She watched Ken's face as he talked to Todd and Aaron and Bruce about a highlight of the football game. It was a handsome face, and an honest, open face . . . a face that, just a moment before, had been glowing with sincere concern and affection for Jessica. He's not wearing a mask anymore, Elizabeth thought. I'm the only one who still has something to hide. . . .