V for Victory

  "V" FOR VICTORY

  Written by

  Kate William

  Created by

  FRANCINE PASCAL

  Copyright © 2015, Francine Pascal

  To Anders Johansson

  "OK, guys, let's get psyched!" Jessica said on Tuesday afternoon at practice. "We've got three days to get in shape for nationals. We looked great at State, and we're going to look even better in Yosemite."

  Jessica was determined to get the squad back on track. She and Heather had called for double practices all week, and the practice session that morning had been disastrous. The girls had wasted the entire morning trying to imitate Heather's combination jump—at Heather's suggestion, of course. Heather knew perfectly well that the other girls wouldn't be able to do it. It was just another opportunity for her to show off. But Jessica was determined not to waste any more time. She wasn't going to let Heather undermine her authority any further.

  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 1

  "I don't think I can take another minute of this!" Jessica Wakefield exclaimed on Saturday afternoon, her body tense with anticipation as the awards ceremony of the State Cheerleading Championships in Santa Barbara reached its climax. Jessica and her squad at Sweet Valley High were competing at State for the first time, and it looked as if they had a chance to take home the title.

  "I know," whispered Amy Sutton, her slate-gray eyes flashing with excitement. "I think I'm going to explode."

  "Well, at least it's finally show time," Jessica said, tightening her blond ponytail on top of her head and adjusting her sunglasses. They'd been sitting in the hot afternoon sun for nearly an hour while a series of merit awards were distributed. Now only the winning squads remained to be announced.

  "Attention, everybody!" called Victoria Knox, the state representative of the American Cheerleading Association. "The ACA is proud to present the top three cheerleading squads in the state of California. We recognize these squads as representing excellence in all cheerleading categories, including athletic ability, artistic impression, and most important, school spirit. And now the envelope, please!"

  The girls fidgeted nervously as an athletic-looking young woman in blue nylon shorts and a white T-shirt ran out onto the field. "Thank you." Ms. Knox smiled as the woman handed her an oversize envelope. She cupped her hand around the microphone and spoke into it. "Please hold your applause until all the teams have been named."

  "Why don't they just get on with it?" complained Lila Fowler, swinging her heavy mane of long brown hair over her shoulders.

  "Lila, shh!" said Jessica, straining to hear Ms. Knox's voice.

  "For their flawless execution and athletic prowess, the third-place award goes to Sacramento High," announced Ms. Knox, holding up a small copper trophy in the shape of a cheerleader.

  The audience remained quiet, but the Sacramento squad let out an enthusiastic shout.

  Amy leaned over to Jessica. "I can't believe it," she breathed. "Sacramento came in third!"

  Jessica flashed her an optimistic smile and held up crossed fingers. The Sacramento squad had seemed like their most imposing opponent. The girls from Sacramento had put on an extremely impressive athletic performance, finishing with a spectacular display of team jumps. "Maybe their routine was too technical," whispered Jessica to Amy.

  Ms. Knox's voice boomed out across the field. "And for impressive tumbling, innovative choreography, and an abundance of spirit, the second place winner is—"

  Jessica held her breath as Ms. Knox fumbled with the envelope, praying her school wouldn't be named. "Laguna High from Laguna Beach, California! Girls, please come onto the field to accept your awards."

  "We're going to win!" Jessica whispered excitedly to Lila, her cheeks flushed with excitement as the captains of the placing squads ran onto the field.

  "La-di-da!" said Lila, twirling a red-and-white pom-pom in the air.

  Jessica rolled her eyes. "You could at least pretend you're excited," she said. She knew that Lila had agreed to be on the squad only because she was Jessica's best friend. Lila had been on the team a long time ago, but she had quit, claiming that cheerleading was a boring, useless activity.

  "Well, this is it, guys!" squealed Annie Whitman, her green eyes sparkling. "It's all or nothing now."

  Patty Gilbert, Jade Wu, and Sara Eastbourne, all talented dancers, took up a quiet cheer. "SVH! SVH! SVH!" they intoned together.

  Jessica looked around at her squad as the others picked up the cheer, chanting softly and clapping rhythmically. All the girls were caught up in the excitement of the moment. Sandy Bacon and her best friend, Jean West, were huddled together, holding on to each other for support. Maria Santelli and Annie Whitman were tapping on the bleachers in time with the cheer. Even her twin sister, Elizabeth, seemed to be sharing in the enthusiasm. Jessica felt a swell of pride as she took in the squad she had put together. They had performed to perfection this afternoon, she thought with satisfaction, and they deserved to win.

  Jessica held her breath as the announcer ripped open the envelope containing the first-place winners. A drumroll began from the far end of the field, and Jessica could feel her heart beating in time with it. "And now," intoned Ms. Knox, speaking in an enticingly slow voice, "the—number one—cheerleading squad—in the entire state of California is . . . Sweet Valley High!"

  The crowd roared and jumped up spontaneously. Jessica was elated, swept up in the excitement as she was pulled up to her feet with the crowd. "C'mon, guys!" Jessica exclaimed, waving to her teammates to follow her down the bleachers. Jessica felt a rush of energy as the girls ran across the field, waving their pom-poms in the air. She almost couldn't believe it was true. Her squad had won the state championships! They were better than all of the cheerleading squads in California! They were going to nationals for the first time ever!

  Suddenly her cocaptain, Heather Mallone, shoved past her and sprinted to the podium ahead of the rest of the girls. For a moment Jessica had forgotten that she had to share her glory with her archrival, the beautiful new girl in town who had taken over her squad and was trying to take over the entire school. How typical, thought Jessica, wondering what kind of stunt Heather was going to pull.

  "Congratulations," said Ms. Knox, holding out a gold statuette as Heather reached the podium, the other girls behind her. Heather accepted the trophy graciously as warm applause filled the stadium. Jessica steamed as she watched Heather grab the microphone and stand poised in the middle of the field, waiting for the crowd to settle down. She's just basking in the attention, isn't she? thought Jessica to herself bitterly.

  Heather cleared her throat and flashed a big-toothed white smile at the audience. "I just want to thank everybody on my squad for all their hard work," she said, flipping her blond hair with a shake of her head.

  My squad! thought Jessica in indignation. She was the official captain of the squad. She was the one who had carried her squad through weeks and weeks of training the entire year. Heather had been cocaptain for only a few weeks. "Can you believe her?" whispered Jessica to Amy in indignation.

  "Jessica, please," said Amy. "This isn't the time to sharpen your claws." She turned her attention back to Heather, a rapturous smile plastered on her face. Jessica gritted her teeth, seething in frustration.

  "But most of all, I want to thank you," continued Heather in her annoyingly sexy voice, extending her hand in a gracious gesture, "you—the judges, the audience, and our friends, for recognizing my squad for what it is—the best in the state and soon to be the best in the nation!"

  Jessica's face burned as the crowd cheered in appreciation. All the Sweet Valley High cheerleaders were crowded around the podium, jumping and screaming. Jessica couldn't believe it. Was the entire squad blind? She moved forward to take the mike and make a speech of her own when the roar of the crowd interrupted her.

  "Com-bo jump! Com-bo jump!" yelled the audience, calling for a replay of Heather's famous combination jump, the jump with which they had finished their routine.

  Jessica stared aghast as Heather put on a dazzling solo display. She performed her combination jump with aplomb, pulling off a flawless triple herky and Y-leap combination. Then she ran across the field and performed a series of back flips, finishing off with a perfect landing in the splits.

  "Bravo! Bravo!" yelled the crowd, hooting and cheering for more. Jessica couldn't stand one more moment of Heather's sickening display. She slipped away from the circle of cheering girls and darted across the field toward the goalpost. She looked back to see if anybody had noticed her leave, but the girls seemed oblivious, completely entranced with the nauseating spectacle Heather was making of herself.

  Well, victory isn't as sweet as I imagined, Jessica thought, ducking into the deserted gym. She couldn't stand sharing the spotlight with Heather. Sharing it! thought Jessica wryly as she made her way across the stadium. Having it stolen right out from under me is more like it. She almost wished they had lost just so she could have seen Heather humiliated.

  Ever since beautiful blond Heather Mallone had stepped into the Dairi Burger, she'd been making Jessica's life a living nightmare. Heather had apparently been the big
star of the cheerleading squad at her old high school, Thomas Jefferson High, in Reno, Nevada. And she had decided to be the star of her new school as well, thought Jessica with annoyance. She had arrived on the scene at exactly the same time that Jessica's old cocaptain, Robin Wilson, had moved out of town. Not only had the girls voted unanimously to let Heather join the squad, but they had voted her in as cocaptain as well.

  That's when everything started falling apart. Heather had taken over the squad like an army invading foreign territory—she had introduced new cheers, new uniforms, and even a new diet-and-exercise program. And the girls had eaten it up. Even though the uniforms were cheap and skimpy, the diet unrealistic, and the exercise plan like a military regime, the girls had followed her every step of the way—all because she promised to lead them to nationals. She had undercut Jessica's authority at every turn, making Jessica look like the enemy and turning all the girls against her.

  Jessica seethed as she ticked off Heather's offenses in her mind. One day at practice while Jessica was sick at home, Heather had even had the audacity to fire Maria and Sandy, two of the most seasoned girls on the squad. Heather's irritating, singsong voice rang in her head. "We all have to make sacrifices for the good of the team," she had said. Jessica had tried to rally the girls around her, but they had all stood behind Heather's decision to let Maria and Sandy go. Then, at the big game against Claremont, Heather had led the girls in a cheer that Jessica didn't even know. Jessica had just stood on the sidelines, humiliated, while her team pranced and cheered without her. That had been the last straw. "I quit!" Jessica had yelled, throwing down her pom-poms and flouncing off the field.

  But Jessica Wakefield wasn't one to sit on the sidelines for long. So she had organized a squad of her own, recruiting her best friend, her sister, and a number of dancers at school. With a week of intense practice, she had put together a stellar squad, a squad that turned out to be so good, the American Cheerleading Association representative recommended combining the two squads for the state competition. She had Ken Matthews to thank for that. It had all been his idea.

  Ken, thought Jessica glumly, walking out of the silent gym and blinking at the bright sunlight. She sat down under a tree, feeling dejected despite the squad's victory. She felt as if she had lost everything that mattered to her. Not only had Heather stolen her squad, but her own sister, Elizabeth, had stolen her boyfriend.

  Jessica had been thrilled to be dating handsome blond Ken Matthews, the well-built captain and quarterback of the Gladiators, the Sweet Valley High football team. She had expected her sister to be happy for her, too, but Elizabeth had been strangely pessimistic about the whole thing. She had kept warning Jessica to go slowly, and every chance she got, she had discouraged her being with Ken. It almost seemed as if she were trying to undermine their relationship.

  And then one day Jessica discovered why. She was in Elizabeth's room when she happened upon a series of framed photos of Ken and Elizabeth in a photo booth—kissing. Driven by curiosity, Jessica had hunted out her sister's journal, only to discover that Ken and Elizabeth had had a secret fling while Elizabeth's longtime boyfriend and Ken's best friend, Todd Wilkins, was living in Vermont.

  Jessica hadn't minded at first. She was surprised that Elizabeth had been so secretive about the whole thing, but it was all in the past. Ken was interested in her, and not her sister, now. But Elizabeth wasn't content with letting the past be the past. She wanted Ken back, and she wasn't going to let anything stop her. She had even gone so far as to pull a twin switch, going out on a date with Ken disguised as Jessica. Ken had fixed a romantic picnic, and they had shared a kiss at the beach. Ken hadn't even realized it was Elizabeth until he'd kissed her. Jessica's face blazed with the memory. How could Elizabeth have betrayed her like that? How could Ken have confused them?

  Elizabeth Wakefield, her face creased with concern, watched Jessica run off the field. She jumped up to follow her but checked herself, remembering that she and Jessica weren't speaking.

  "We did it!" yelled Annie Whitman, grabbing Maria Santelli around the waist and spinning her around.

  "We're numero uno!" agreed Maria with a happy smile as Annie flung her in a circle.

  Elizabeth backed away from the circle of girls hugging and congratulating each other. She was happy for the squad, but she couldn't care less about nationals. In fact, it was all a big pain. She had agreed to be on the squad in the first place only because Jessica had blackmailed her. After Jessica had discovered the truth about Elizabeth and Ken's fling, she had threatened to tell Todd everything if Elizabeth refused to be on her new squad. Elizabeth had hoped the squad would go to regionals, lose, and be done with it. Who would have thought they'd get this far?

  "Hea-ther! Hea-ther!" yelled the girls, making a seat with their hands and lifting her in the air.

  "Hey, Jessica, c'mon, you're the cocaptain!" shouted Annie, turning toward Elizabeth.

  "What?" said Elizabeth, facing her with a startled expression on her face.

  "C'mon, you guys, let's get Jess," said Annie to Maria and Sandy. "After all, there are two heroes here."

  "No, no, I'm Elizabeth!" Elizabeth cried as the girls heaved her onto their shoulders. She struggled and tried to protest again, but the din of the crowd drowned her out.

  Elizabeth sighed and relaxed, realizing she would have to ride it out. She forced a grin on her face, waving stiffly at the crowds as the girls carried her and Heather across the field.

  "Jes-si-ca! Jes-si-ca!" yelled the girls, bouncing her in the air. Singing at the top of their lungs, they broke out into a round of "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow."

  Elizabeth was mortified. Everybody could always tell her and Jessica apart. How could the girls have confused them? Jessica and Elizabeth might look identical, from their long golden-blond hair to their sparkling blue eyes to the matching dimples in their left cheeks, but that was where the similarities ended. In their styles and personality they were completely different. Jessica was on the wild side. She always wore funky clothes and tried out outrageous new hairstyles. Her look reflected her personality: Jessica liked to be seen. Jessica was happy as long as she was the center of the action, whether it be the center of a party, the center of a shopping mall, or the center of a beach. Elizabeth, on the other hand, preferred the periphery. While Elizabeth liked having fun as much as her sister, she was more academic and socially minded. Elizabeth wrote a weekly column for The Oracle, the Sweet Valley High newspaper, and spent much of her spare time with her boyfriend, Todd Wilkins, or her best friend, Enid Rollins. Elizabeth was more conservative than her sister, preferring to wear comfortable clothing, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. From one look at them, from their styles to their demeanor, you could always tell them apart.

  Well, thought Elizabeth as the girls paraded her and Heather across the field, lately I have been acting more like Jessica than myself. Not only did she look like Jessica in her cheerleading attire, but she'd been acting like her too. When Jessica had started dating Ken Matthews, Elizabeth had been consumed with jealousy. She had found herself acting completely out of character—wishing the worst for her sister, hoping she didn't enjoy herself, trying to sabotage her sister's dates.

  And then she had pulled an uncharacteristically manipulative move. In a misguided effort to resolve her feelings for Ken, Elizabeth had disguised herself as Jessica and had gone out with him. Fortunately, when they had kissed, there had been no spark. Elizabeth had discovered then and there that the only person she wanted to be kissing was Todd. Ken had realized at the same moment that he was kissing Elizabeth, not Jessica. Elizabeth had explained everything, and Ken had been very understanding. They both had decided to go straight to Todd's to come clean about the fling they'd had when Todd was living in Vermont. But when she and Ken had driven up to Todd's house, they had found that Jessica had beaten them to it. Jessica had discovered Elizabeth's ploy and had driven straight over to Todd's, Elizabeth's diary in hand. Neither Jessica nor Todd had given them a chance to explain. Todd had broken up with her then and there. And she and Jessica hadn't spoken since. Elizabeth had never felt so alone in her life.